Category Archives: Westgate Heights

False Alarm at what cost?

False Alarm at what cost?

We do our best to fight crime, to burglar proof our homes by replacing old doors and window entries, by installing alarm systems hoping to protect our homes only to get a slap in the face by our City of Columbus Administration.

I was called this morning to check on an alarm setoff at a friend’s house. I met the police officer there who confirmed that there was no entry to the house and that all was secure [good news]. The Officer was outstanding in service, friendly and even though this wasn’t his precinct was very concerned and helpful regarding our neighborhood. He shared that the city is now making it expensive for when a police officer has to come out to your home because of an alarm signal set off [bad news].

He advised that you will continue to get two free runs per year, but after that you will have to pay the alarm call which breaks down as follows:
200 1st call (free per year)
400 2nd call (free per year)
800 3rd call – YOU PAY
1,600 4th call YOU PAY
and so forth.

He said that the Heroin epidemic in our neighborhood is fueling this. He said the addicts are breaking in during the day, especially garages.

They are bold and could care less to cause 100’s of dollars to your property just to get a 20 dollar item. And we are to be empathetic to these burglars and not take our gun and shoot them between their eyes or shoot off their manhood just because they have an addiction problem?

I’m telling you, we need to band together to protect our properties. What more can we do to protect our home and property and stay in our neighborhoods safely?

Frustrated about the Westside-Hilltop.

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140-146 N Roys AV- Owner: CRAIG ALGER – 01/26/14

140-146 N ROYS AV CRAIG R ALGER

01/26/14/11:15 AM/Sunday/Went out to shovel my platform garage driveway and noticed a guy clearing out a garage. Turns out to be the owner, Craig Alger, of the property at 140-146 N Roys Ave. I went to him and introduced myself and asked him if he is going to remove these items he is setting out. He said that if it was in the summer he might but given the winter not so. I advised he needed to call Columbus 311, 645-3111 and schedule a bulk pickup. Advised him he can call on Monday. I don’t think he will. Once he left this is what I found in the 300 gallon trash receptacles.

RM3028841
RM3034382
RM3030871

Ironically the trash can right in front of the garage, RM3033452, he left empty.

This is unacceptable for a property owner to burden our community such as this, especially when he owns several properties and should have the resources to take care of his tenants trash. Additionally, he overfills by weight these trash cans on a Sunday and our next trash pickup is not until Wednesday. The set out items are not really too much of a concern given the many pickers we have in our area and as a matter of fact as of this writing, 01/27/14/Monday, the set out items are all gone! One trash can had layers of broken glass in it. The other had wood and such items. The trash cans are filled to overweight capacity.

Another example of a property owner, 5 parcels of properties in fact, that thinks he can use the city to manage his trash disposal needs when he should have hauled this off himself or paid someone to do so. The trash cans were filled to the top with trash and appears to be heavy items not just typical trash which will result in excessive weight for when they need to be picked up. Craig was driving a black car, I believe a Mazda. License plate number: BQ51NN

Contact info as listed on the Franklin County Auditor Site:
CRAIG R. ALGER
P.O. BOX 163977, COLUMBUS, OHIO, 43216-3977, 614) 578-7944
Last Updated         2009-01-06

These are the other properties he owns

010-132259         440 E BEECHWOLD BL         ALGER CRAIG         E BEECHWOLS BLVD ZOOLAND
010-052453         140-146 N ROYS AV ALGER CRAIG R         140 TO 146 N ROYS AV HILLTOP
010-068401         733-735 S WARREN AV ALGER CRAIG R         WARREN AVE WILSHIRE HTS
030-000036         999 GRANDVIEW AV ALGER CRAIG R         999 GRANDVIEW AVE GRANDVIEW TERRACE
610-231670         7383-389 FALL CREEK LN ALGER CRAIG R         TERM OF WORTHINGTON ROW CONDO TWNHMS 26

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140-146 N ROYS AV – Alley Illegal Dumping

12/17/13/8:15 PM/Caught a pickup truck dumping boxes into the 300 gallon receptacle behind the row housing, 140-146 N ROYS AV – Alley. I sternly asked what he was doing and he said throwing stuff away. I asked if he lived around here and he pointed “over there” but didn’t give an address. I asked then why is he using this particular trash receptacle. I opened the trash receptacle lid and saw he was dumping construction waste – boxes of heavy tile. I told him that he could not do that and needed to schedule bulk pickup to the property needing the disposal for these construction items. (I already knew that construction debris would not be scheduled but just needed the guy to understand that he can’t be dumping his construction debris in these trash receptacles.) I told him that dumping these heavy items will result in these trash receptacles not being emptied and then I would have to call about them. He seemed shocked that I approached him and eagerly agreed and took the boxed items back out and put them in his pickup truck and took off. Clearly he was a dumper. Situation resolved but clearly we need to relook at having these 300 gallon receptacles in our communities.

Package Delivery

Worth reposting from 11/29/2012:

Please, please if you are having packages delivered ask a trusted friend or neighbor to secure the package for you or even have the package sent to a trusted friend or neighbor’s house instead that is typically home during delivery time to take the package for you.

Just a couple of pointers and options if you have home package delivery.

• When ordering from a company add a comment to the special comments field or special delivery box stating to “hide package from street view”.
• Most companies now provide a tracking number to track your order. Monitor this closely so you will know what day your package is to be delivered and on the day of delivery to know what time it was delivered.
• When you know the day of delivery ask your neighbor or have a friend to watch for the delivery of the package to pickup and secure once delivered.
• Another option is to have your package delivered to your place of employment or to another residential location where a person is always home.
• Once you have tracked that the package has been delivered, ask a neighbor or friend to pick up your package.
• If you find that your package is scheduled for delivery and you have not made any accommodations for the secure pick up of the package upon your absence, post a sign on your door stating that you will pick up the package at their facility.

Simple suggestions indeed but the reality is we cannot just “hope” that a package will be there when we get home. I believe kids just love an opportunity to steal a package from a door or porch just for the thrill of knowing what could be in it. Also with the recent news exposure of people following behind delivery trucks just for the opportunity to steal that just delivered package!

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92 N ROYS AV – Construction waste and yard waste (Media Post)

92 N ROYS AV

ANDREW BUSS
187 BEECH RIDGE DR
POWELL OH 43065

This property continually has construction waste and yard waste.

010-052463…..92 N ROYS AV…………BUSS ANDREW….92 N ROYS AVE…HILLTOP
010-078289…..768 S TERRACE AV…..BUSS ANDREW….768 TERRACE AVE..WESTLAND EXT
010-030863…..866-868 SULLIVANT AV..BUSS ANDREW..866-868 SULLIVANT AVE..MARTINS WESTERN
610-208586…..400 GREENCAMP DR…BUSS ANDREW R..THE VILLAGE AT WORTHINGTON SEC 2

10/15/13/1:29 PM/Submitted via Columbus311, http://311.columbus.gov

Request Description: Illegal dumping of trash
Request Comments: Property continually has construction debris and yard waste dumped by the 300 gallon receptacle

Customer Name: Thornburgh, Stanley
E-mail: westgateheights@yahoo.com
Contact City, State Zip Code: Columbus, OH 43204

Incident Location: 92 N ROYS AVE
Property Type: Occupied Structure

Location Comments: Grace St and N Roys Ave

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102 N ROYS AV (Media Post)

DALLMAN TROY A
DALLMAN JENNIFER R
102 N ROYS AV
COLUMBUS OH 43204

This property continually has trash in it’s alley ease way. I really suspect that they just dump the trash over the fence.

10/15/13/1:00 PM/Submitted via Columbus311, http://311.columbus.gov
Request Description: Illegal dumping of trash
Request Comments: Illegal dumping of tires behind 102 N ROYS AV

Customer Name: Thornburgh, Stanley
E-mail: westgateheights@yahoo.com
Contact City, State Zip Code: Columbus, OH 43204

Incident Location: 102 N ROYS AVE
Property Type: Occupied Structure

Location Comments: Grace St and N Roys Ave

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98 N ROYS AVE (Media Post)

98 N ROYS AVE
COLUMBUS OH 43204

Illegal dumping of van car seat with yard waste on top

10/15/13/12:50 PM
Request Description: Illegal dumping of trash
Request Comments: Illegal dumping of van car seat with yard waste on top

Customer Name: Thornburgh, Stanley
E-mail: westgateheights@yahoo.com
Contact City, State Zip Code: Columbus, OH 43204

Incident Location: 98 N ROYS AVE
Property Type: Occupied Structure

Location Comments: Grace St and N Roys Ave

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124 N Roys Ave – mattress by dumpster (Media Post)

124 N ROYS AVE
COLUMBUS OH 43204


10/15/13/12:24 PM/Submitted via Columbus311, http://311.columbus.gov
Request Description: Illegal dumping of trash
Request Comments: Illegal dumping of two mattresses. Occurred between Oct 14 and 15th

Customer Name: Thornburgh, Stanley
E-mail: westgateheights@yahoo.com
Contact City, State Zip Code: Columbus, OH 43204

Incident Location: 124 N ROYS AVE
Property Type: Occupied Structure

Location Comments: Steele Ave and N Roys Ave

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USPS Delivery Complaint – 09/19/13

09/19/13/9:47 AM/800-275-8777/Called to file a complaint regarding the non-regular postal carrier not correctly depositing the mail in my locked mail box. He/She puts the standard mail in the outgoing mail door instead of taking the extra second to put thru the slot inside the door that will deposit the mail into the secured lock section of the mailbox. Advised that this has happened so frequently that I didn’t even bother calling the Hilltop Branch – Georgesville location, 614-351-0137, location because number one: you can never get thru and number two: they say they will “note” my address but it still happens again. I’ve made calls to this same number to complain about my prescriptions being left at my door instead of putting inside the locked mailbox (the whole purpose of me installing the regulation USPS box to begin with). I am constantly told that it is because there was a temporary carrier that day and he/she did not have the key. I queried, “That is my problem how?” I even went on to say then can’t you at least keep the package one extra day if you don’t have the key? Advised that I live in a neighborhood prone to theft so installing the locked USPS regulation mailbox and providing a key to the USPS local office (as per the instructions), should not be an issue. I said they have the key – make a copy of you have to. Additionally I said that just because I live in an area that is not the typical suburban safe neighborhood and that my area tends to have higher crime and theft stats should not preclude me from receiving inferior customer service.

We wonder why our postal rates keep going up and we continually get poor customer service at the stations or delivery or even trying to attempt to call an office or even the toll free number and have to either deal with a busy signal or wait for over 10 minutes to get a person.

I also attempted to go to USPS.com to file the complain on line but after two unsuccessful attempts (Problem processing request) I gave up.

I provided all the information to the lady who didn’t seem to familiar as to what to do but she took my information after some hesitation and put me on hold for about 5 minutes and said she had entered everything and also put in there for the substation to call me to discuss the matter. She provided me with a case number and she said that going forward always use this case number when calling in to address this issue: CASE# [].

I will say the lady was very nice.

Seems the USPS needs to find a way to be competitive in today’s market perhaps looking at Postal Services in other countries like the German Postal service: Deutsche Post, Germany’s only universal provider of postal services, is part of Deutsche Post DHL, the world’s leading mail and logistics Group, who seem to be very successful. Perhaps the USPS can learn something from this model.

Finally interestingly enough on the USPS website to file a complaint, there is no category to express a concern about the delivering of the mail, i.e.: postal carrier.

InquiryTypeProblem: CategoryReceiving Mail: Topic: No Delivery/No Attempt > My Mail Arrives at Different Times
Additional Detail: What time does it arrive:Arrives at Inconsistent Times
Date Problem Began:09/18/2013

Additional Information:

Columbus, Ohio – Hilltop Delivery Station – 43204
I have repeatedly made calls to the supervisor advising that when we have a non-regular postal carrier, I frequently get my mail delivered into my locked mail container (USPS approved) in the outgoing mail slot instead of being put into the slot where it will be secured. I don’t understand how given this is a regulation mailbox that the postal carrier cannot put the mail correctly in the slot. I am getting tired of this and expect a return reply as to a set in action plan to prevent this activity from occurring again. There is no excuse for this. Contact me with your plan to stanthornburgh@….09/21/13/3:29 PM/614-351-0138/Received VM from lady at local carrier station that a hazard card will be placed in my box to prevent further mail being placed outside the locked portion of the mailbox. 09/24-25/13/Received call from Supervisor from carrier station.  The message indicated that they would flag my account to ensure that this does not happen again.

Jeez, as always one can never get good customer service from the USPS.

09/26/13/Mail delivered outside of locked mailbox again.  CASE# CA114541541

09/30/13/Called 800-275-8777/To report mail delivered outside of locked compartment of mailbox again.

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"I'm gonna paintball your house because my pitbull got out and attacked your dog but it's your fault"So it’s Thursday, 04/05/2012 at about 5ish PM and I’m over at my close friend’s house in Mommy Dearest land, my analogy of the M/I Homes community that he lives in.  You know the type, vinyl siding, 4 styles to neighborhood, driveway and two car attached garage in front.  A stark contract to my 1920’s urban transitional neighborhood with charm and character that varies from beautiful virgin wood construction homes to falling about homes with dirt back yards and “strong” dogs of the pitbull or pitbull mix variety.

My neighbor calls me to inform me that our new neighbors renting the property belonging to BRADLEY D, WHITE and CINDA C WHITE, 2455 MCCOMB RD, GROVE CITY, OH 43123 has for the fourth time allowed their pitbull to get out and roam the neighborhood.  The previous occasions were uneventful but I guess yesterday was a different story. The pitbull went to the property behind them on N. Roys Ave and proceeded to attack a chow mix dog that was on a line tied to the back porch.  The chow mix dog suffered minor injuries and I guess the police were called and the pitbull was taken away.  I couldn’t get this confirmed but chances are the pitbull was untagged and I’m very sure the renters at 145 N Chase Ave do not carry homeowners insurance let alone probably knowing what it is.  It is my understanding that the pitbull will be put down so that kind of tells me that they probably could not prove that the dog had it’s rabies vaccinations.  I’m saddened to hear of animals having to be put down because of the neglect and stupidity of their owners.  Sad.

Anyway, today, I find out that one of the kids from 145 N Chase Ave decided to take his paintball gun and plaster the back of the house with paint pellets where the chow mix dog lives.  The kid although seen with the paintball gun was never caught in the act so calling the police would not result in anything than further retaliation towards the nice people with the chow mix.

It amazes me the misguided and stupidity of ignorant people who cause an action but will blame it on the victim because their action caused a loss back to them.  I doubt if they will get their pitbull back and the chow mix today is limping around and they are waiting to see how their dog recovers from this.  Clearly the people at 145 N. Chase Ave are totally to blame for this situation but they somehow feel that they are now the victim of this occurrence.  This is what I am faced with daily living in the Hootin Hollerin Hood!