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Boardman residents address problems
BOARDMAN
After a string of burglaries hit Clifton, Maple and Shadyside drives, residents decided to come together and form the North Boardman Neighborhood Association.
“Our goal is to maintain the integrity and property value of our neighborhood. If people wait and wait to deal with problems, eventually it becomes overwhelming,” said Carl Foote, the association’s leader.
The association formed in October in response to the burglaries and because of information from residents, police were able to make arrests.
“Since then, we’ve been pretty crime-free,” Foote said.
But the group isn’t addressing only crime; it’s also cleaning up the streets in other ways. The association will pick up litter, tidy devil-strip areas and note which properties have high grass from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Foote said.
The group will work primarily on Maple and Shadyside drives Saturday.
Township Administrator Jason Loree said the North Boardman Neighborhood Association is one of about a dozen associations/ block watches in Boardman.
“We would like to see even more. We’re trying to work with them — the North Boardman group asked for safety vests for the cleanup for example — and get a coordinated townshipwide effort,” Loree said.
The township is interested in acquiring the website started by the Boardman Coalition Against Crime, a nonprofit group that supported the passage of a 2011 police levy, he added.
“We want to use that site for outreach and make ‘United Against Crime’ signs available to businesses and residents to put in their windows. The township also is on Facebook, and we want to develop special sections for each neighborhood group to share information,” Loree said.
He said if any residents want information on joining a neighborhood association or creating their own, they can call Boardman police at 330-726-4144.
Foote said he appreciates help from the township and Youngstown neighborhood associations that he has contacted for advice and guidance.
“I go to their meetings, and they come to ours. We have to support each other,” he said.