MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Morgantown City Council members have voted to hold a nuisance property hearing for 324 Dewey Street, 619 Brockway Avenue and 625 Pennsylvania Avenue in accordance with City Code Section 1149 on June 16 at 5 p.m.
Each side will be given 20 minutes to present their case and then council will have an unlimited time to question each.
Morgantown Interim Police Chief Eric Powell gathered statistics for the properties from January 1, 2020 and acknowledged one of the properties has been an issue, but overall there is not a crime wave in that area of the city.
“There is some evidence that we have received quite a bit of calls from 625 Pennsylvania Avenue,” Powell said,”Not so much with the other property.”
Powell added that going back 10 years car tampering, property crime and burglaries have gone down slightly.
A portion of the 1149 of Morgantown City Code says,“Such public nuisance endangers the health, safety and welfare of the community and is dangerous and detrimental to the public health, may violate the laws of the City and/or State as well as obstructs the community from reasonable and comfortable use of property. A public nuisance may arise from the unreasonable, unwarrantable or unlawful behavior associated with the property, either real or personal, which hinders the neighboring community and the general public from enjoying the common and public rights enjoyed by the general community in like areas where no such public nuisance exists.”
Interim City Manager Emily Muzzarelli addressed the city response to the homeless encampment in Greenmont, now referred to as Diamond Village. Muzzarelli told council members there were four verified trash complaints so far this year.
“No citations were issued to the property owners, however,”Muzzarelli said,”Since then, a good amount of the trash and debris has been picked up, primarily by the effort of social service agencies including Health Right. No one in our Code Enforcement Department spoke to any individuals suffering homelessness.”
When a portion of the camp was determined to be on city property Muzzarelli told council members no action was taken by the city and the tents were removed voluntarily. Muzzarelli went on to tell council members $100,000 of city funds are granted to agencies that specialize in helping unsheltered people in our community.
Muzzarelli asked council members to communicate with city officials or department heads before accepting information on social media as fact. Doing so she says makes it very difficult for city workers to complete their responsibilities.
Muzzarelli acknowledged a newer city employee told residents in the encampment camping anywhere in city limits was against city code in error. She said that employee has been corrected and understands city policy.
“I ask that you don’t immediately believe everything you hear or read on social media and check your facts before spreading information,”Muzzarelli said,”The city always has their phones available and try to do our best to respond to any emails we get.”
Councilor Zack Cruze told Muzzarelli he thought it was coincidental that immediately after two legal observers were placed at the entrance to the camp, visits from code enforcement and police ended.
“That one police officer made a mistake and said it was illegal to camp, I wonder if that’s because you know that’s the one we have on recording showing up at 4:30 a.m. with other officers,”Cruze said,”I will do my job ma’am, and gaslighting is not appreciated.”