The Lima Township Neighborhood Watch held its spring meeting on Wednesday, April 8 with over 30 residents in attendance.
Bill Coury, who heads the program along with his wife Roben, opened the meeting describing what the program is about. “It’s basically people helping people, and helping to make their community a better place to live.”
Township resident Gary Adams raised the issue of people who follow UPS and FedEx trucks on their routes, and steal packages after they are dropped off. Adams and Coury alerted residents to be on the lookout for this, and to alert the authorities if this suspicious behavior is witnessed.
Township Supervisor Craig Maier mentioned that if residents go out of town in the winter, especially snowbirds, to make sure they have their driveways plowed in their absence, to make it appear as if someone is home. An unplowed driveway is an indication to thieves that no one is home.
Coury also passed along a tip he received. If your panic button for your car alarm works from the bedroom, keep your keys on your bedside table. That way, if you hear suspicious noises, you can activate the car alarm from bed, and potentially scare away an intruder.
Also discussed was the upcoming severe weather season. Coury said that “It’s prudent to double check our safe places (in the home), to make sure you’ve got some water, a flashlight, and some dry blankets in case bad things happen, so you can stay warm.”
Coury also reminded people not to store batteries in an emergency flashlight when it’s not in use.
Coury said that the Neighbor Watch program is in need of block captains, especially in the northeast corner of the township, toward Dexter. Block captains form the backbone of the system, and these people are in charge of coordinating communications between neighbors in their area.
There will also be almost 30 new neighborhood watch signs put up throughout the township this spring, and volunteers are needed to help put up these signs. If you would like to volunteer, or find out more about the Lima Neighborhood Watch program, feel free to email Bill Coury at [email protected].
Coury also reminded residents that the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) will be holding a meeting on Thursday, April 16 to discuss the roundabout, which is scheduled to be built at the intersection of M-52 and Werkner Road next year. The meeting will take place at the Washington Street Education Center at 4 p.m., with a second session taking place at 5:30 p.m.
