Residents Develop Ways to Curb Crime
By SHELLEY HANSONEast Wheeling residents are working on ways to curb crime in their neighborhood, including brightening up street corners and determining who owns dilapidated properties.
During their crime and community meetings held Monday at the Greater Wheeling Coalition for the Homeless building, 84 15th St., residents developed a few ''action points'' to work on.
One included installing a street light at the corner of 15th and Wood streets. To do this, residents' signatures must be collected and submitted to city officials, who in return are expected to ask American Electric Power to install a new street light there.
Residents noted the corner provides a place for people to deal drugs at night.
Residents also hope a tree at the 15th Street alley corner, between Jacob and Wood streets, can be trimmed to allow more street light to shine through. This, too, is an area where suspicious activity occurs under the shade of the tree at night, residents said.
Also during the meeting, Bob Wallace, law enforcement coordinator for U.S. Attorney Sharon Potter's Northern District of West Virginia office, talked to residents about helping local law enforcement take advantage of federal grants and programs.
Wallace is the former Bellaire police chief. He offered residents some advice related to the street lights. If an unneeded light or lights somewhere else in the city could be found, they could be moved to that corner. This may save costs for the city, he said.
Other "action points" included:
- Residents want information about specific crimes reported by them, such as what action has been taken by police or the prosecutor's office.
- Residents want information about nuisance reports and ownership status of 98, 100 and 129 15th St. They also want to know the status of curbing ''foot traffic'' at 100 and 104 15th St.
''I've checked with the assessor, and the tax bills are being sent to a company that is now defunct,'' said Lisa Badia, coalition executive director, about 129 15th St.
- Residents also want to remind the Wheeling Police Department to not identify people reporting crimes to the suspects.
''I haven't talked to (Chief Kevin Gessler) - I don't know how it's been addressed,'' Badia said about protecting residents' identities.
Guest speaker Nancy Prager, city development director, also talked about her office and its duties. Matters related to planning, building codes and inspection, federal Community Development Block Grant funding, first time homebuyer and brownfield programs all filter through her office.
When it comes to dilapidated structures, Prager said the inspection department staff is limited and is doing the best it can. She noted there are four people working in that department, one of whom is dedicated to code enforcement.
''If we could catch them earlier, then we wouldn't be tearing them down,'' Prager noted of buildings.
She updated residents on a property razed by the city that involved a common wall with another home. While tearing down 121 14th St., damage occurred to 119 14th St., which belongs to Vivian Lamb and her daughter, Edwina Lamb. Prager said the city has a contractor working to repair damage to the Lamb home. After the meeting, Edwina Lamb said she wanted to talk with Prager about the work, but Prager had already finished her presentation and had left the meeting before Lamb arrived.
