Public Safety, Homelessness Concerns Raised
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A local resident raised several concerns to the City Council's Public Safety Committee that are in the process of being addressed by the mayor and the council.
Melissa Paterniti voiced several concerns Monday regarding safety, especially pedestrian safety. "I've taken several of these concerns to the Public Works Committee and it seems to not be getting done," she said.
One concern is drivers not stopping at pedestrian crosswalks.
Paterniti said the city is not doing enough to address the problem.
"I guess the question I have is, 'Do we just have to wait for one more person to die?'" Paterniti asked.
She claims the city currently has several crosswalks that are only marked with a sign in the hope that drivers will stop for pedestrians.
"In the city of Jamestown, there's probably eight to 10 crosswalks in the middle of the road with a yellow sign, thinking people are going to stop," she said. "The signage isn't enough."
Another concern is of motorists rolling through stop signs.
"I don't know what it is," she said. "I don't know if it's because people think that it's just an option."
Paterniti asked the City Council to consider changing one of the city's main intersections between Buffalo, Crescent and Second streets into a roundabout.
Another public safety problem, she noted, is the obstruction of traffic signs in the city.
"There's so many signs in the city of Jamestown that have trees obstructing them," she said. "I sometimes have to call the mayor to get the stop sign uncovered with the tree because I've tried every other route."
Zach Altschuler, executive assistant to the mayor, presented the mayor's proposed response to address public safety. The initiative, known as Vision Zero, would tackle some of the concerns brought up by Paterniti by applying for grants that would fund public safety projects in the city.
While Vision Zero is still in early development, the mayor's plan to increase pedestrian safety offers a solution to the public's concern, he said.
HOMELESS POPULATION
Paterniti also expressed concerns about the city's issue with homelessness, stating she believes the homeless population is increasing. She said people are even sleeping under viaducts where there is garbage.
"If we don't get a handle on that, it will only get worse," she said.
At the conclusion of Monday's City Council work session, Mayor Eddie Sundquist provided an update on the city's issue with homelessness, something he said is not often talked about, but is incredibly important.
"Many of you may have noticed, and we have seen an increased amount of homelessness," he said. "There's certainly a lot more and more visible in certain areas."
Sundquist said the city's leadership team recently held a meeting to address the issue of homelessness in the city and consider ways to partner with different agencies to help people who are in need of shelter.
"We are continuing to work with those agencies in order to address this issue," he said.
While Sundquist said the city cannot easily eliminate homelessness, there are several ways the city can work with partnering agencies to improve the issue.
"I get a chance to speak with the Chautauqua County Homelessness Coalition and we will be convening a special meeting just to focus on the city of Jamestown and the rise in homelessness and need for shelter that we are starting to see here," Sundquist said.
The mayor emphasized the need for people to work together to solve the problem of homelessness.
"It is something that we need to work together to take care of," he said. "All of our departments are on alert of this."