Mound Park Neighborhood Watch Says ‘Safety First’ – Scioto County Daily News

Portsmouth, Ohio’s oldest neighborhood watch program continues its long history of community service.

For more than a month, members of Mound Park Neighborhood Watch have worked very hard to raise awareness about the no-parking zones around the park. The yellow paint has faded over the years and visitors could barely see the paint from the sidewalk.

The cars were blocking the view of vehicles entering or exiting the side streets of the park, leading to many dangerous situations.

Neighborhood watch has been very active in reporting the dangerous situation which has led to numerous “close calls” of children being nearly hit and near-miss car accidents.

Portsmouth Police friendly reminded visitors of the parking situation, including parking within 10ft of a fire hydrant.

A member of the Neighborhood Watch donated “No Parking” tape and stakes to raise awareness of the zones while the city staged the final stop.

Portsmouth City Council members Andy Cole and Lyvette Mosely took action, not only alerting the city manager but also getting their hands dirty.

A member of the group spent hours cleaning up the area around the curbs to make them more visible and accessible for future painting with the help of Councilman Andy Cole. After the area was cleared, the city provided a street sweeper to put the finishing touches on the cleanup efforts.

City Traffic Supervisor/Special Projects Coordinator Aaron Smith secured all necessary clearances for the group to complete the job.

In the end, the city gave the neighborhood watch the appropriate curb paint and supplies to paint the curbs. Volunteers have arrived to begin the painting process.

Councilwoman Lyvette Mosely told SCDN she was very proud of the hard work being done in the city. She mentioned the plans at Spartan Stadium and the hard work being done in Sciotoville, Portsmouth’s 6th Ward.

Of the painting project, Mosely said, “It’s all about safety. Safety for children. Safety for all. The council person has been spotted around the neighborhood several times doing clean-up projects and interacting with the community and is loyal to showing up for any group work day.

Efforts to better identify parking areas did not happen overnight. Karen Hill, the administrator of Mound Park Neighborhood Watch, called numerous officials and spent several hours briefing them on the dangerous situation.

The Neighborhood Watch in Mound Park is a great example of how the program is supposed to work and has been an effective support group.