Third Ward Neighbors Urged:
Lock Doors, Add Motion Lights
By LIBBY CUDMORE • allotsego.com
ONEONTA – To protect your homes, lock windows and doors, keep valuables out of sight and, foremost, install motion lights, OPD Lt. Douglas Brenner advised a Third Ward meeting hosted Wednesday evening by Common Council member David Rissberger.
“Generally, these kinds of criminals are like cockroaches – you shine light on them, and they scatter,” Brenner said, speaking at a meeting called on the wake of concerns about student rowdiness. Fraternity and sorority members were among attendees.
Rissberger himself testified to the lights’ effectiveness. “I was handing out fliers about this meeting at around 5 a.m.,” he said. “I went to Laurie Zimniewicz’s house, and her lights came on. They scared me!”
Zimniewicz installed her lights after a flower pot went missing. “And if you all have motion-triggered lights, if there’s a foot chase, we can see which way they’re going!” Brenner said.
Between July and August, several robberies were reported in Center City, but those instances have dropped off, reported Brenner. More officers have been assigned to the area, which Brenner also noted has cut down on noise complaints and problems. “Don’t ever hesitate to call us,” he said.
Several residents requested more police on Elm Street, citing noise complaints from college students on their way home from the bars. “One drunk girl was screaming about how she was a senior,” complained neighbor Lisa Yelich. “Who cares, be quiet!”
“It’s a nightmare on Elm Street,” added Vickie Lyell, who lives there.
OH! Fest was also brought up. “It’s a good thing, but we have to be careful,” Rissberger said. “If the city is putting money towards it, are we allowing drinking with city money?”
He suggested that the concert be held in Damaschke Field, which only has one point of entry where security could turn away concert-goers who might get too rowdy. “That’s what I’m going to push for,” he said. “It’s just getting too dangerous.”
Rissberger stayed after to host a meeting with the Alpha Omicron Pi sorority and the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity, who’ve both offered to get more involved in Third Ward activities.
“We’re trying to be as involved as possible, we don’t want to be the students you see out on the streets,” said Terry Shine, president of Phi Kappa Psi. “We want to make a difference in our community.”