MORGANTOWN — Main Street Morgantown has added its voice to those calling for increased focus on behavior in the city’s downtown business district.
In a recent letter addressed to City Manager Kim Haws, Main Street President AJ Hammond points out that business owners and employees are concerned about the apparent rise in open drug use, theft and assaults occurring downtown.
The letter echoed remarks shared publicly by community members and members of Morgantown City Council in recent weeks.
Hammond told The Dominion Post that a goal of Main Street’s ongoing transition is to expand beyond organizing events downtown and become a more active participant with the city in addressing the issues facing its members.
“Our organization is made up of all these folks who are down here every day who are realizing and being impacted in one way or another,” he said. “It made us decide that it really needs to be a focus of ours to work with the city and all the key stakeholders to improve the safety and well-being of our downtown. To create a vibrant, friendly, welcoming downtown for everyone, it needs to be safe.”
The issues are not new. Many of the problems faced today are identified in various plans and studies available on the city’s website dating back to the 2010 Downtown Strategic Plan.
They’re also extremely complex and being faced, to varying degrees and with varying success, across the country.
The city has dedicated some $2 million of its American Rescue Plan money to initiatives aimed at addressing various facets of the downtown issue.
Those expenditures include $800,000 to assist Milan Puskar Health in moving its health clinic and Friendship House out of the downtown; $600,000 to aid housing programs with the West Virginia Coalition to End Homelessness and the Fairmont Morgantown Housing Authority; $300,000 for Bartlett House and Morgantown Community Resources, the entity that facilitates Hazel’s House of Hope; and $200,000 for the recently created city ambassadors program.
The city was also the driving force behind Hope Hill Sobering Center, which held a ribbon-cutting ceremony at Hazel’s House of Hope this past Thursday.
“The City of Morgantown shares the community’s concerns when it comes to loitering, drug use and other illegal activity in our downtown area,” Morgantown Communications Specialist Hollie Gregory said. “We are in correspondence with the Morgantown Police Department to propose changes to city codes and ordinances, which may allow issues such as disorderly conduct and public intoxication to be addressed more effectively.”
Gregory said the city is seeking candidates to fill a new Street Outreach Coordinator position to help connect individuals and resources.
Lastly, she said, a plan to re-envision Wall Street is being developed, and the city is exploring the idea of adding more gates and light sources around the city in order to deter illegal activity.
Hammond said Main Street intends to stand alongside the city in its efforts.
“We’re working to create a more vibrant and healthy downtown,” he said. “That’s the goal. Our goal is not to point fingers or cast blame on anyone. It’s to be part of the solution. That’s what we hope to do.”
