The letter to Mr. Ball and my address to city council on November 25th 2019 addresses the fact that for years the city administration and city council has ignored the requests of the citizens to attend to our needs regarding the “preservation of the public peace, health and safety” in the east end!
Dear Mr. Ball:
As you know, I spoke before city council on November 25, 2019. My comments addressed long standing safety concerns for residents living on Edgewood Road and in the surrounding neighborhoods (‘East End”). The combination of increased traffic, illegal semi-truck traffic (including gasoline tanker trucks and tractor trailers with open cargo beds) and a blatant disregard for posted speed limits (a 24 hour traffic study in the area ordered by your office several years ago found 466 vehicles traveling at speeds from 40 to 69 MPH in a 25 MPH zone) is an accident waiting to happen. When that accident occurs, depending on the circumstances, it could be deadly. The next day you sent me the following email:
"If you would want to draw out your team’s vision for Edgewood Road we think this would be very helpful in the planning process.… Please let me know how we can help to develop visuals of options for the improvements to your neighborhood.
I want to thank you for your interest and desire to find a solution to the safety concerns raised and the significant danger they present. Now that the holidays are over and Mount Vernon has a new mayor, safety-service director, police chief and has seated a city council with several new members, hopefully we can finally move forward to preserve the residential integrity of the East End and make it safer for the families and children who live there."
To that end, some clarification would be helpful. Your email refers to my “team’s vision”. To whom and what are you referring? For more than 20+ years, myself and many East End residents have raised and reiterated the concerns I discussed with council. We have offered numerous proposals to alleviate those concerns, unfortunately to no avail. Our voices have been ignored, no meaningful action has been taken and the problems have gotten worse. There is no “team”, only worried citizens with legitimate complaints who justifiably feel their City government doesn’t care about them.
You also refer to a “planning process” and “to develop visuals of options for the improvements to your (emphasis added) neighborhood.” While sounding like a lofty goal, it is somewhat vague. As indicated, there are several factors giving rise to the concerns in the East End. High volumes of traffic utilizing secondary streets as primary thoroughfares infringe upon and damage residential neighborhoods in a variety of ways, including increased safety risks and decreased property values. Traffic can be reduced by providing alternative routes (a bypass proposed by former Mayor Mavis and your office) and making residential streets less attractive to cars and semi-trucks that choose to use them (a police presence and enforcement of speed and prohibited traffic laws are preferred, speed bumps are a viable alternative). Remove the benefits of using residential streets and you will reduce traffic on those streets. Proposals to widen Edgewood and or extend it to Cochocton Road are counterproductive to resolving the current issues and, in fact, exacerbate them. Additionally, you once suggested “calming effects”, the planting of trees and shrubs along Edgewood, in lieu of speed bumps, to reduce speeding. If you widen Edgewood to its current right of way, where will those trees and shrubs be placed?
Finally, I understand you used the words “your neighborhood” in your email to refer to the East End. The phrase, however, unfortunately explains the City’s past prevailing attitude toward those living on Edgewood Road and the surrounding neighborhoods. It is not “my neighborhood”. It is not just the neighborhood of those who live here. It is part of “our City”, yours, mine, the Mayor’s and everyone else who lives in and calls Mount Vernon home, and as such, it is “our neighborhood”, “our concern” and “our collective problem”. It has been said that when you damage one part, you damage the whole. The East End and Mount Vernon are no different. The administration and city council have a vested interest in, and the responsibility for, protecting the value of properties and the quality of life in the East End, and ensuring the safety of its residents. Hopefully, with a sincere and cooperative effort, that can be accomplished. How can I/we the residents of the East End assist in this effort? I look forward to hearing from you in the near future.
Dennis Swingle
740:398:7906
PS: Tanya Newell, I request that this letter be read or recognized at the next city council meeting on 2/10/2020 and additionally that it be included in the city council record. Please advise me if for some reason this cannot be accomplished.