Officer Matt Wintrick Presentation

• Ward 3 officer, Officer Matt Wintrick presented to our block club about the role he plays in our ward.  He can provide support to our ward for non-emergency issues such as: noise nuisances, yard or house upkeep complaints, attendance at community and block events, building code violations.
• Officer Wintrick works day shift hours but we are always welcome to call and leave a message on his cell if he isn’t working. He will promptly return calls or emails.  Mike and Ann Marie can vouch for that through his willingness to attend our block club meeting!
• He often does bike patrol around the ward, particularly in the warmer weather.
• If we have time sensitive issues or emergencies that we need to report, we were instructed to call the police department directly.
• He confirmed that he or someone from the police department will be in attendance at our block party this summer.
• He also provided some tips for our homes to keep us safe.
  • Keep a light on in the front or back of the house at night, if possible—motion detector lights are especially helpful.
  • Don’t leave anything in your cars in clear view and lock your cars
  • Lock up first floor windows and doors at night, as most people sleep upstairs.  During the day, lock your front door when working in the back yard and keep purses and similar items out of view (not on the kitchen counter) etc.  Although it’s a monthly expense, he encouraged alarm systems when not at home. Very few burglaries occur at night as they don’t want to chance being confronted by homeowners.  During his career, he has never seen a burglary at a home that had a working alarm system. If they chance it, they know the police are responding in a couple of minutes.
  • One neighbor asked about a recent attempted break-in on Elbur.  It was shared that this occurrence happened during the work day and the person(s) weren’t successful in their attempt.  This also seems to be an isolated report but the homeowners reported it in case it leads to a pattern.
  • Another neighbor mentioned that a car parks in front of her driveway and speeds at the same time every morning down our street.  Officer Wintrick offered to look into the situation the following day.
    • Update: Officer Wintrick approached the student at St. Ed’s and expressed our street’s concerns about his speeding and parking.  He received a warning and Officer Wintrick noted he will be present on our street to monitor the situation. The school’s policy is to contact the student’s parents whenever there is police interaction so his parents will also be contacted about our complaints.
• Officer Wintrick also made a few suggestions for our block club (and all block clubs):
  • Keep the business and work of the block club about the block and don’t let politics creep in.
  • Consider having a block club meeting in someone’s back yard, especially in the warmer months.
• If you would like to contact Officer Wintrick directly, call his cell at: 216.701.3308 or email him at: matthew.wintrick@lakewoodoh.net.  He is an excellent resource for us!

City Updates from Councilman John Litten

• ​Cove Park improvements are underway
• Final installation at Kids’ Cove at Lakewood park will begin soon if not already
• Lake Ave. reconstruction (Belle to 117th) will begin next week
• Use the Lakewood Ohio app to report any issues you may see
• People can always call or email Councilman Litten— contact info is in the sidebar and on the useful links page
• Tons of other city events can also be found on our city’s website.
• A neighbor asked about the gas line replacement that is occurring on Lewis and if there are plans for this to happen on Elbur as well.  Ann Marie contacted John about this and he is getting more information about this. More info to come.

2018 Block Party

• Block party co-chairs, Mike Callahan and Joel Moyer spoke about our next block party.
• Save the date for Saturday, July 21st for the block party, with a rain date of July 28th.
• Mike and Joel will host a meeting for anyone who would like to volunteer to help with the block party.  They are looking for assistance in the areas of:
  • Set-up/take-down,
  • Food/grilling
  • Games
  • Entertainment (music, karaoke)
• The prep meeting will take place on Thursday, June 14th at 7pm on Mike’s front porch at 1519 Elbur Ave.  Please contact Mike or Joel with questions.  Mike can be reached at: mikec@elburavenue.com and Joel at: joelm@elburavenue.com

Next Meeting

The next meeting of the block club will be in August.  Exact date, time, and location TBD. We would love to have the meeting in a neighbor’s backyard if anyone is up for hosting.  Please contact Ann Marie or Mike if you’re up for it!