Martinsville Bulletin, Inc.
P. O. Box 3711
204 Broad Street
Martinsville, Virginia 24115
276-638-8801
Toll Free: 800-234-6575
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Martinsville City Councilman Danny Turner (left) pets a stray black cat that jumped into a city van and sat down with council members before they left the municipal building Monday afternoon to tour the Chatham Heights and Northside areas. Looking on is Mayor Kathy Lawson. Regardless of species, everyone must be eager to take a trip with the city council, City Manager Clarence Monday joked. (Bulletin photo by Mickey Powell) |
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
By MICKEY POWELL - Bulletin Staff Writer
A loitering problem at J. Russell Mason Memorial Park seems to have ended, Martinsville officials said on Monday.
According to officials, large crowds that seemed to be comprised mostly of Hispanics frequently gathered for soccer games at the park on Ainsley Street across from the Clearview Early Childhood Center.
To his understanding, city Councilman Danny Turner said “most of the cars were from North Carolina.”
City Manager Clarence Monday said the crowds left “large amounts of trash,” and drug paraphernalia had been found.
But the problem recently has gone away. Officials said they understand the soccer matches now are being held elsewhere.
City staff and Martinsville City Council members examined the park Monday afternoon as their toured the Chatham Heights and Northside neighborhoods by van.
Those areas will be the focus of the council’s neighborhood meeting at 7:30 p.m. today at McCabe Memorial Baptist Church on Clearview Drive. Residents of the neighborhoods are invited to come and share any concerns about the neighborhoods, or city issues in general, with council members.
During the tour, council members examined properties about which the city recently had received complaints. Most complaints were about either trash in yards for long period of time or shoddy appearances of homes.
“There is no reason to have trash pile up when we have curbside collections (in Martinsville) every week,” said Mayor Kathy Lawson.
City Fire Marshal/Building Official Ted Anderson noted that the owner of a house in the 500 block of Dillard Street is making progress in improving the appearance of her home. He said city officials are working with her to improve the appearance because she is on a fixed income.
The property “looks 100 percent better than it did last year,” he said.
Officials noted that trash had been removed from a yard in the 800 block of Burgess Street.
They are watching properties in the 500 block of Franklin Street, 300 block of Wren Court, 800 and 900 blocks of Royal Drive and 100 and 300 blocks of Greyson Street to determine if they adhere to the city’s property maintenance code, they indicated.
Monday said police have told him they frequently respond to problems in the Palace Court/Royal Drive area. Those problems range from reports of loud music to domestic disturbances, he said.
Police have stepped up their routine patrols of that area, Monday said. |
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