JAMESTOWN – A group of concerned citizens from the north side of Jamestown were at city hall Monday night to voice their concern over the recent discovery of a methamphetamine operation. The group was attending a city council work session and wanted to know what was being done to the property and home at 57 Spruce St. to ensure the rest of the neighborhood is safe. That is the location where three residents were charged earlier this month after police discovered they were making meth inside the home.
Jamestown police Chief Harry Snellings was in attendance with the residents, along with other members of the city council. Councilman Tony Dolce, who represents that area of the city, said he understands the concerns of the residents but emphasized that because of the production was taking place on a small scale, it didn’t pose a serious risk to residents.
“Chief Snellings explained to them the difference between an actual full-blown meth lab – which is something we saw several years ago on Palmer St and which was on a much higher level than this, which was a small, homemade operation,” Dolce explained. “Again, we don’t want to diminish this situation. We want to make sure this is safe, but as far as the Chief is concerned and according to the report that he’s been given, it is safe.”
Dolce also says that last week, authorities swept through the entire property to ensure that no dangerous chemicals were present to pose a significant risk to public health.
“They went in there on Thursday afternoon and completely got everything outside – the port and the backyard – cleaned up,” Dolce said. “So at least from an exterior stand point, it’s clean. Now at this point we have to determine if the interior is safe and then what the next step will be and determining what the fate of the house will be.”
Just over 10 years ago, city police and other local authorities had their hands full closing down a major meth production operation on Palmer St. on Jamestown’s west side. Because of the amount of chemicals that were being used in that operation, the home was eventually destroyed.
Jamestown Police Chief Harry Snellig says that the most recent meth operation discovered on Spruce St. was much smaller in scale. He said while that means it doesn’t pose nearly as significant a risk to public health, it does make it more difficult for authorities to detect the manufacture of meth.
“It’s difficult to actually identify now because they’ve gone from the traditional method of using a full-blown meth lab to producing it in what we refer to as a single bottle cook method. So you have less chemical usage and you have less fumes and odor. So it’s not as easy to detect. You have less debris. So some of the things we tell neighbors to look for is excess debris in yards like two-liter bottles, canisters of camping fuel or various other things used in meth production.
Besides concerns about public health, some residents were also concerned about pets that were living in the home. Chief Snellings says the animals will be taken to a rescue operation to be checked and cared for.
In all, about 15 residents attended the city council work session prior to last night’s voting session.
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