Letter to the Editor: Officials deserve thanks
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One huge point missed (in an Aug. 26 letter)! Mayor and city council are responsible to respond to their citizens' concerns, and the author has never been in their position of taking daily complaints from citizens since 2017, asking their elected officials to do something about this big problem.
There are hundreds of our citizens adversely affected by congregating dozens of drug addicts into one housing complex -- residents having people in their yards throughout the nights, residents cannot leave anything outdoors anymore, like bikes, grills etc, or they were stolen. Walking into your own home never knowing when you're going to be approached next from someone strung out on drugs wanting money from you. Commercial businesses in neighborhoods calling you constantly concerned about the huge increase in shoplifting from residents of the units. Businesses complaining that routine customers are afraid to continue to shop because these residents are hanging out in the neighborhood and customers are scared of them approaching for various requests.
The area just on 7th Street from Superior Toyota to Wendy's generated over half a million in taxes to the city in just the first 6 months of this year, and that does not include sales tax, user fees, etc. These are the funds that pave our streets, pay our policemen, firefighters, public works employees, etc. So if the author was an elected official taking these constant calls for 7 years, is the author saying she would tell her constituents "Sorry, there is nothing your government can do for you, just learn to live with it." Really?
The author stated that at the URA meeting a realtor stated they had worked with this owner for a couple years and the motel could not be sold because of its poor condition. Banks could not loan on it due to its poor condition. Private enterprise should be the first solution, but if after many years of trying it becomes clear that will never happen, then your government needs to step up and help.
And, the timing is good, as the state of West Virginia, through the DEP using federal Covid money is offering up the money for demolition. This saves Parkersburg tax dollars from the general fund being spent to do the demo work; and as everyone knows, Covid funds are drying up quickly.
As my past profession was partly to acquire current businesses, I can assure you when making offers to buy out a business, not only do you negotiate real estate values, but loss of income to the seller, relocation expenses, etc. This is all very common. Some people do not like change, but others like to see change and progress.
This is one case in which a large group of citizens have reached out for many years to their elected officials and asked for their help. To their credit, they came up with a solution that resolves the big problem, creates a new development opportunity at the entrance to our town, with NO additional debt and NO additional taxes. That is local government doing a great job for their citizens and their community. For that, we should be thanking mayor and council for a job well done!
John Reed
Parkersburg