Property owners on Cleveland Street who balked at repairing a collapsed retaining wall in front of their homes have a right to appeal a legal opinion by the city's solicitor that they in fact own the part of the wall in front of their residences. In pursuing an appeal, they should be prepared to pay whatever legal costs are associated with that action.

But whether or not they intend to proceed, if necessary, until all avenues of appeal are exhausted, they should have been willing to express more appreciation to city officials on Thursday than what they chose to do. The city has found a way to reconstruct the wall without any expense on the homeowners' part, but some homeowners remained hellbent on pursuing their position that they don't want ownership of the wall and don't believe it is theirs - whether the wall is fixed or not.

Again, the appeals option remains open, although pursuing an appeal could end up being more costly than if the residents had simply rebuilt the wall at their own expense.

Rather than the wall reconstruction continuing to be a headache for the homeowners, the Butler Redevelopment Authority will oversee the engineering and design of the wall, as well as the hiring of a contractor. It also will oversee the construction of a new wall, without penalty or expense for the homeowners.

The change in the city's previous stance that the residents have the wall rebuilt at their own expense came after it was determined that, since the majority of homeowners in that area of Cleveland Street have low to moderate incomes, federal grant money could be used to rebuild the wall.

At a public hearing Thursday dealing with the work, it is understandable that city officials were frustrated over the residents' no-ownership focus. However, viewing the situation from the residents' perspective, those officials must understand that the wall issue has been a protracted source of agitation for the residents.

Still, the residents should step back and better appreciate what their city leaders in this instance have been able to accomplish for their benefit.