Published: July 08, 2009 12:30 am      

Attempting to connect

GREENVILLE — The individuals who attended Tuesday night’s City of Greenville Town Hall meeting were presented with information about the city’s current and future projects and initiatives.

Several key city administration officials were on hand to address any specific concerns or questions residents may have had regarding Greenville.

But few people actually showed up to participate.

Less than two dozen individuals, most of whom were connected to the City of Greenville, came out to Municipal Auditorium for the event, one of two Town Hall meetings the city had scheduled. The second meeting is set for next Monday evening inside the Fletcher Warren Civic Center.

Those who did speak up had a lot to say, however.

City Manager Steven Alexander talked about the city’s vision statement, guiding values and goals, and also took a look at plans for the upcoming city budget. On the latter topic, Alexander said the city is having to take a conservative approach to spending, given the nature of the national economy.

“We’re very concerned about how long this economic situation is going to last, and what it means for us next year,” Alexander said, adding that, so far at least, the city has been holding its own. “It is not impacting us as much as other cities you may be hearing or reading about.”

Among the major programs which Alexander highlighted were the wastewater treatment plant upgrade; the Interstate 30 overpass and Highway 380 improvements, the establishment of a Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone, the Cobisa project and the possible future of the former Austin Elementary School building.

When it came time for public comment, Fleta Tidwell raised a concern she had voiced at City Council meetings in the past; namely crime in her Langford Street neighborhood.

“My community, basically, is infested,” Tidwell said. “Mainly, it is the drug activity.”

Police Chief Harold Roseberry noted his officers have been actively addressing the problem, with units assigned to other areas of town often joining the neighborhood’s patrol cars in monitoring certain locations.

“This makes it the most heavily patrolled area in Greenville, by far,” Roseberry said, adding that arrests and citations in the neighborhood have risen significantly since the first of the year. However, Roseberry explained he had received requests for increased enforcement from groups in two other neighborhoods so far this week.

Alexander said one of the potential solutions is a proposed citywide inspection program targeting rental properties, which the City Council intends to address at a July 20 retreat.

“I think, if it is approved, it can only have a positive impact in our neighborhoods,” Alexander said.

Mayor Tom Oliver also encouraged Tidwell to contact the local judges who deal with drug offenders.

“We just need to make sure we are all aligned in ridding this city of illegal drugs,” Oliver said.

Byron Taylor, who recently started the Citizens Urban Renewal Effort group, asked about a lack of available quality housing in North Greenville.

Assistant City Manager John Adel explained that programs which have been underway for the past few years have helped add close to 100 new homes to an almost five-square-mile section of the city.

“But because it is such a large area, it’s been difficult to see the impact of that,” Adel said.

Craig Bird was one of those in the audience who wondered why there weren’t more people in the audience.

“You’ve got more city people here than residents,” Bird said.

One woman explained she worked three part time jobs, while taking care of a disabled son, and said many of the citizens of North Greenville felt abandoned by the city, because the city wasn’t doing enough to help them meet the demands of increased code enforcement and paying for utility bills, among other concerns.

“That’s your answer why they are not here,” she said.

Alexander said he didn’t have an immediate response as to how the city could help, but admitted some in the community might feel disconnected from what the city was doing, which is what the Town Hall meeting was trying to correct.

“We were specifically asked to hold a meeting on this side of town, to connect,” Alexander said, noting how announcements regarding the meeting were listed on the city’s web site, in the Herald-Banner, on local radio stations, on the city’s cable television channels and elsewhere, in the hopes of raising public awareness.

Teresa Young said in the future, city officials might want to send the announcements to churches in the area, to be included in church bulletins.