JAMESTOWN – Four city residents appeared at the Jamestown City Council meeting Monday night to voice their concern over the deterioration of their neighborhood.
Residents Corey Rasmussen and Frank and Victoria Knapp spoke to the council, explaining that they’re seeing an increase in drug activity, poor housing conditions, and vandalism in their neighborhood on Eagle St. – just off of Willard St.
The residents thanked the city police department for their work, but also said they felt more needs to be done to address the problems they’ve encountered.
Victoria Knapp said one house in particular has become an ongoing problem on their street.
“This property has brought other property values in the neighborhood down due to its condition. In addition the people living their have attracted other individuals to the neighborhood who have also failed in the upkeep of their living conditions. They also allow kids to stay out past curfew and blatantly disrupt the rest of the neighborhood. The drug activity at that house is obvious as well,” Knapp said. “These activities have resulted in my house and our neighbor’s house to put security cameras up. We should not have to live like this because city officials have failed to rectify a situation that has been brought up to them many times, whether it be through contact with the police department or housing officials.”
In addition to Knapp’s concerns, Rasmussen added that at one point he tried to speak to his neighbors as ask that they try to be more considerate of others in the neighborhood and he was greeted with slashed tires on his vehicle the next morning.
Following the appearance by the residents, Jamestown City Council member Tony Dolce said lawmakers are aware of the problem and its frustrating more can’t be done.
“We want them to know that it’s not for a lack of effort. The JPD is out there and the [Housing Inspectors] are out there. But it’s frustrating for us because we get the phone calls and that is the number one complaint that we get,” Dolce said. “But our hands are tied in many cases because of the legal aspect of this. We just can’t go in and kick people out. We have to follow the laws of the state and the laws of the country. Unfortunately many people understand their rights, but they don’t understand their responsibilities in being good stewards and good neighbors.”
Jamestown Police Chief Harry Snellings also said unfortunately there’s only so much officers can do, but he also said he encourages residents to stay in communication with the police.
It’s always situational, depending on what the activity is. But drug activity generally is not an overnight response. It takes time to investigate. We have to develop probable cause and make sure that that activity is going on. The day to day neighborhood issues we can address as they come up and I always tell everybody make sure you call us. We can’t address them if we don’t know it’s going on.”
Besides concerns over their neighbors, Rasmussen also voiced his concern over poor storm water infrastructure on Eagle St., saying that a recent storm caused significant damage to his driveway and garage because of poor drainage.
The residents who appeared before the council on Monday night said that if there is no improvement in their neighborhood, they will likely be forced to sell their homes and move out of the city.
Leave a Reply