During their regularly scheduled meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 24, the Tyler City Council received a presentation on the outcomes of the Fall 2009 Neighborhood Empowerment Works (NEW) Program.
During the eighth NEW Program, City of Tyler Departments came together and made many improvements to a neighborhood in City Council District Two. These improvements include park landscape improvements, installing a new bus shelter, removing old appliances from yards in the area and enforcement of the unimproved parking surface code.
The NEW Program is designed to enhance the quality of life for residents through the concentrated delivery of services and programs provided by the City. Working in partnership with the neighborhoods, the City’s goal is to raise awareness of code and zoning ordinances, provide information on accessing City services and promote clean and safe neighborhoods.
The boundaries of the neighborhood selected as the eighth NEW were Gentry Parkway to North Englewood, to Crescent Drive, to West Vance to North Ross Avenue.
The NEW program enhances the quality of life for Tyler residents – one neighborhood at a time – by intensely concentrating City services in a specific area for four weeks. Various City departments use information gathered from the neighborhood meeting as well as an examination of the area to identify services that could make an immediate impact on the neighborhood.
Outcomes from the eighth NEW program include:
- 76 junk vehicles were tagged for removal;
- 56 trashed lots were cleaned;
- 6.8 miles of curb and gutter were edged by City staff;
- 29 tires were removed from property within the target area;
- 12 smoke detectors were installed by the Tyler Fire Department;
- 10 homeowner yards were cleaned;
- The Tyler Police Department issued 37 police citations and made 16 arrests. They supplied a total of 258 man hours;
- A new bus shelter was installed;
- Keep Tyler Beautiful planted 250 daffodil bulbs in neighborhood yards and Cresent Park;
- Trees were trimmed and 40 cubic yards of waste removed; and, A guardrail was installed.
“The NEW program is an important tool that the City uses to stop neighborhood decline in its tracks,” said Mayor Pro Tem Donald Sanders. “By involving the neighbors and leveraging City services, the program has proven to be successful in encouraging reinvestment in Tyler’s older neighborhoods. Get rid of the grime…get rid of the crime.”
The next NEW program will begin this spring and will be held in District Four.
Neighborhood Empowerment Works, improving the quality of life in our community one neighborhood at a time.