Apr 8, 2013 3 min read

WAYNESBURG – Waynesburg Borough Council agreed Monday to send a letter to a local businessman whose places of business, both situated in residential areas, have begun to rile neighbors.

Council will send the letter to Wade’s Body Shop at 71 Maiden St. expressing concerns about vehicles parked outside the Maiden Street garage as well as on a lot the company owns off Findley Alley on the South Side.

Borough manager Bruce Wermlinger said he had received complaints from residents near Findley Alley about trucks running for extended periods of time and vehicles blocking the alley.

Wade’s has about nine damaged vehicles on the lot and they look unsightly in a residential area, he said.

The same problems have existed for years at the Maiden Street garage, Councilman Darwin Fitch said. Sidewalks at the garage are damaged and people can’t use them because vehicles are parked blocking them, he said.

Wermlinger said he has called the owner, Jim Mason, in the past about vehicles parked in the alley near the garage and Mason apologized, but the problem was never corrected.

The trouble exists, Councilman Mark Fischer said, because Wade’s is operating what could be called a heavy industry in a residential community.

Mason should try to be a “good neighbor,” Fischer said. If he continues to upset more and more people, council eventually will have to resort to “heavy handed” methods to deal with the problem.

Fischer suggested council send Mason a letter expressing its concerns and asking him to address them before council has to take stronger action.

Mason, contacted after the meeting, said that while he parks damaged vehicles on the Findley Alley lot, vehicles never sit there running. Asked about the Maiden Street garage, Mason said, he didn’t know about the specific complaints. “It’s a busy place, I won’t deny it,” he said.

In other action, council approved advertising for bids for summer paving projects. Wermlinger said he expects to spend $150,000 to $200,000 for the work this year.

The borough will repave Race Street, from Woodland to Porter streets; Liberty Street, High Street to past the housing authority building; South Street, Morris to Fruit; Strawberry Street, West to Nazer; Cherry Alley, West to Mongtomery; Morgan Street, High to Franklin; Church Street, High to Greene; Spring Street, Fourth Avenue to Second Alley; Fourth Alley at the Spring Street intersection; and Second Alley, Spring to West.

Council agreed to meet April 22 to review applications for borough manager. Wermlinger will be leaving the position this summer. The deadline for applications for the position is April 17.