Central Heights Community Outreach hosts meeting to talk road conditions and crime
By Brandon Davis
Published in News on August 22, 2016 1:46 PM
Members of the Central Heights Community Outreach organization met at Central Heights Free Will Baptist Church, located at 3202 Ervin Drive, Saturday morning to present concerns about potholes, crime and new housing developments to Mayor Chuck Allen, City Manager Scott Stevens and city councilman for District 6 Gene Aycock.
James Morgan, president of the Central Heights Community Outreach, opened the meeting with concerns from the members about not receiving attention from the city.
He said the road conditions were poor and crime has increased over the years. Morgan also said the Central Heights neighborhood needs sidewalks, police patrol, speed limit signs and a crime watch program.
He said the neighborhood is "embarrassing" but said, "We don't get anything unless you ask for it."
Allen said that he and Stevens will meet with the outreach organization two to three times per year in order resolve the issues.
Stevens addressed the organization's concerns about the lack of police presence in Central Heights citing the decrease in police officers on the force as a major reason.
He said that the city has received an increase revenue, however, and that the city is offering incentives, like a scholarship program, to recruit and maintain law enforcement within the city.
Stevens said there has been a 6 percent increase in officers over the past year.
Aycock said he is not Central Heights' city councilman, but said he will work with the neighborhood as he lives in the neighboring Bayleaf subdivision.
Another member shared her concern for safety, as crime has increased over the past 30 years. Members asked Stevens for surveillance cameras to be placed at the end of streets and asked for increased street lighting. Stevens said there is $100,000 in the city's budget for street lighting, and said LED lights will be added to the city's street lamps in six to nine months.
A member of the Central Heights Community Outreach organization asked about potholes being filled and the potential for sidewalks to be laid in the neighborhood.
Stevens said the city rates from one to 100 -- from brand new streets to the worse street conditions. He said the city will pay attention to the "areas of most importance." He said the city has $500,000 annually for street repairs, but Central Heights rates as a 20 on the scale.
"The potholes out here and the street issues, we can address those immediately," Stevens said. "Things that require significant funding, again, it's a fairness issue. How do we do it across the city? Because other cities have the same complaints."
"We can come up with a to-do list and start working on them," Allen said. "We certainly want the members to get some results from the meeting. Any time we can get communities to engage in the community, it's good for us and good for the city."
The last meeting among Central Heights members and the mayor and the city council occurred nine years ago.
"It was proven to us back in 2007 that we can have this kind of dialogue and it can get positive results," James Morgan said, who has served as president of the outreach program for five years. "What we got here today, I think will take us even further than we went from 2007 to the present.
"I have confidence in what they told us here today."