Resident of the Fulton Street neighborhood, Raven Corvus, talks with city council about more clean up possibilities on Fulton Street. Screenshot courtesy of the city of Jamestown’s website

Over the past year, problems on Fulton Street have been constantly reported to the City Council.

In recent months, condemned houses on the street have come down, and one resident of the neighborhood is now reporting to the council that while things are getting better, the area is still in need of some help. At Monday’s voting session, Raven Corvus, who lives on the corner of Fulton and East Eighth Street, told the city council that Fulton Street has gotten a lot better.

“It could still use a little bit more work,” Corvus said. “There’s quite a lot of drug houses still on East Eighth. … I see on a daily basis with my nine cameras so much that goes on there.”

Corvus acknowledged that the city does not have enough police officers to continually babysit the road, but there are a number of houses that if looked into could make a big difference. She also raised a question about when the rest of the condemned houses are slated to be demoed. City development director, Crystal Surdyk, said there is still a focus on the houses on Fulton Street and while there is not enough funding to try and get the houses on East Eighth Street done at this time too, work is continuing to get the ones down on Fulton Street.

Corvus also addressed the issue of a possible clean up, which she said she was told was not possible because they cannot go on other people’s property.

“There’s suitcases and garbage not even on the property, just on the sidewalk and stuff,” Corvus said. “Every time the wind blows, all of us have to go out to our yards and clean up all the garbage because it just goes everywhere.”

Following the recent wind storms, Corvus said everyone has to pick up the garbage and she can get a few bags in her yard alone.

Corporation Counsel Elliot Raimondo said the residents could go around and pick up the garbage, but the city could not sanction it for insurance reasons, and because they do not know all of the details of the garbage such as who it belongs to or if it is not considered garbage by someone. He added he and his neighbors will go around and pick up garbage in his neighborhood, but it is something that cannot be sanctioned by the city.

Corvus asked if the residents went around and picked up the garbage and put the bags out if the Board of Public Utilities would pick it up for them, and Raimondo said it could be looked into. Corvus added that she knew a dumpster was asked about before and they were told no, but if they got heavy-duty bags and went around and did that if that was something residents could do.

“Just to clarify, it wasn’t a no with the dumpster, it’s we have to go through a process,” Surdyk said. “To enter a property that doesn’t belong to the city, we have to go through a process in order to be able to approve that. We have been having conversations about what that might look like.”

Surdyk said it may be something such as the city could bring a dumpster, but there are some properties that the city still cannot enter. Corvus asked why it matters if the owners are not there, and Surdyk said residents may be able to go pick up the garbage, but even then the city cannot.

Hands On Jamestown is also coming up on May 16, and will soon be advertised and tools will be handed out to do cleanup downtown, and Surdyk said they would not necessarily have to do it downtown and Fulton Street residents could do their own neighborhood. She added that might be an opportunity to rally the neighbors and get it going.

“We’re willing to do it ourselves just to get the eye-sore out of there,” Corvus said. “You know, because it is nice now that I think three houses have been demolished; it looks great.”

Surdyk said more houses are scheduled to come down soon.