By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
After coming to Bowling Green City Council earlier this month armed with photos of nuisance violations in the neighborhood between the BGSU campus and downtown, David Pfleger returned Monday evening with a thank you.
The beer keg stuck up in a tree had been removed, and the mattress in a yard had been picked up, among other improvements.
Pfleger expressed his appreciation to Mayor Mike Aspacher and City Council for listening and acting on his concerns.
Earlier this month, Pfleger showed City Council 34 photos of indoor furniture littering yards, trash collecting around houses, vehicles parked in lawns, a boarded up window, straw bales used as insulation around a house, a beer keg lodged high in a tree, a gutter falling down, cars blocking sidewalks, a mattress in a yard, a tarp over a roof and a broken out window for the entire winter – most in a few blocks between East Wooster Street and East Poe Road.
But more must be done, Pfleger said, noting that the city should make the complaint process easier for residents.
As it is now, various violations are assigned to different city departments – including public works, code enforcement, the police division and the Wood County Health Department.
“There should be a one-stop shop for complaints,” he said Monday evening. The city should establish one phone number or one email address for residents to use to report nuisance violations. Then the city can send the report to the proper office.
The process is also flawed in that it’s left to citizens to initiate any action, Pfleger said.
“More often than not, it’s left up to citizens to report the problems,” he said earlier this month. “There needs to be a shift in enforcement from reactive to proactive.”
And the city should report back to citizens to let them know what action is being taken, Pfleger said Monday evening.
Also at Monday’s meeting, Municipal Administrator Lori Tretter reported to council that city officials and BG Economic Development Director Kati Thompson have been making their annual business retention and expansion visits to local industries.
Unlike last year, city officials are hearing positive reports from plant managers about hiring workers. In 2022, local businesses shared their difficulties hiring and retaining workers, Tretter said.
“We are hearing much more positive reports” about workforces, unlike last year when “it felt dire,” she said.
