The City Council officially approved the creation of Pilot Residential Districts for infill housing projects in the city, targeting places in need of help such as Fulton Street, which continues to be a place of concern and conversation among council members.

Councilman Bill Reynolds, R-Ward 5, brought the matter of Fulton Street up once again at the voting session, saying he has been down there himself, not only to see construction happening on Spring Street but also to see the conditions of some of the houses and areas there. He reported being shocked at the conditions of some of the houses, saying they were in total disrepair including things such as roofs falling in and more.

“No wonder people are hanging and trying to find a place to lay down in some of those places,” Reynolds said. “But, the street is cluttered with trailers and trash and people wanting to move the stuff out, and there’s got to be a way we can clean that up because it’s only creating more of a mess.”

Reynolds added he was sure there were some other pockets around the city in similar conditions, including some that he knew of in his ward, but he said it is something the administration needs to continue to focus on and try to do what they can to help.

Crystal Surdyk, city development director, said the majority of the houses in disrepair are slated for demolition on that block in the next month.

“A lot of that is going to get cleaned up, and needs to be done as part of that process,” Surdyk said.

Councilman Randy Daversa, R-At Large, said he has also recently visited Fulton Street and spoken with residents, adding that he was “really taken aback” by all of the activity happening there. Some of the residents also showed him videos of some of the activity, he said.

“It’s really something, so I think we all should work together and try and get something to them,” Daversa said.

Surdyk emphasized that the criminal activity going on at Fulton is not a Department of Development issue, and while they will take care of what they can on their end they cannot control what people are doing.

Councilman Jeff Russell, R-At Large, said he believed the Fulton Street issues to be multi-faceted.

“I think it’s multi-faceted down there, issues with mental health and possession of weapons, drug addicts, the blights, it’s very multi-faceted down there,” Russell said. “I’ve seen and been paying attention to multiple press releases coming out on the police department website and the paper and it looks like the chief is not announcing that from the rooftops per say but I do see there’s a lot more police activity going on down there and more arrests being made and raids. I appreciate the chief stepping in down there and the men and women of the police department for taking care of some business down there.”

The council also officially approved the changes to the zoning code around Jackson-Taylor Park and the loan to the hydroponic farming operation, Ramsay Agriculture, who is setting up at two locations in the city.