Portsmouth Ohio’s longest-running neighborhood watch program continues its long history of service to the community.
For over a month, the Mound Park Neighborhood Watch members have worked very hard to raise awareness about no parking zones around the park area. The yellow paint has faded over the years and visitors could hardly see the curb paint.
Cars would block the view of vehicles entering or exiting the park side streets, which led to many dangerous situations.
The neighborhood watch was very active in reporting the dangerous situation that led to many “close calls” of children nearly being hit and car wrecks narrowly avoided.
Portsmouth Police gave friendly reminders to visitors about the parking situation, including parking within 10 feet of a fire hydrant.
A member of the neighborhood watch donated “No Parking” tape and stakes to make people aware of the zones while the city organized the final step.
Portsmouth city council members Andy Cole and Lyvette Mosely took action, not only alerting the City Manager but also getting their hands dirty.
A group member spent hours clearing the area around the curbs to make them more visible and accessible for future painting with assistance from Councilperson Andy Cole. After the area was cleared, the city provided a street sweeper to put the final touches on the cleaning effort.
City Traffic Supervisor/Special Project Coordinator, Aaron Smith got all the permissions needed for the group to complete the job.
Ultimately, the city gave the neighborhood watch the proper curb paint and supplies to paint the curbs. Volunteers arrived to begin the painting process.
Councilperson Lyvette Mosely told SCDN she was very proud of the hard work being done around the city. She mentioned the projects at Spartan Stadium and the hard work being done in Sciotoville, Portsmouth’s 6th Ward.
About the painting project, Mosely said “It’s all about safety. Safety for the kids. Safety for everyone.” The council person has been spotted many times around the ward doing cleanup projects and interacting with the community and is faithful to show up at any group work day.
The efforts to better identify the parking areas didn’t happen overnight. Karen Hill, the administrator of the Mound Park Neighborhood Watch, called many officials and spent several hours informing them about the dangerous situation.
The Neighborhood Watch in Mound Park is an excellent example of how the program is supposed to work and has been an effective support group.
