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ELKINS -- Elkins City Council has voted to change the name of a block of Lincoln Avenue, and assign new addresses to the properties on that block.
During the most recent City Council meeting, the nine present council members voted in favor of Resolution 1948, which renames a block of Lincoln Avenue as North Lincoln Avenue, and establishes “corrected” addresses for those impacted by the name change. First Ward Council member Cody Kerns was absent from the meeting.
The resolution designates the portion of Lincoln Avenue “extending north from Harrison Avenue to Washington Avenue” as North Lincoln Avenue, according to the Agenda Item Report attached to Resolution 1948. It also establishes “corrected addresses” for seven properties along the street in order to provide “consistent odd- and even-numbered addressing.” Resolution 1949 also authorizes Elkins City Clerk Sutton Stokes to update city records and notify affected property owners, emergency services, utilities, postal authorities and other appropriate entities.
Resolution 1948 states that it was brought before City Council by the recommendation of the Municipal Properties Committee.
Before Council voted on the resolution, Stokes explained that a resident in the affected block reached out to the City Clerk’s Office for clarification as to what her address was. While she was under the impression that her address was listed as North Lincoln Avenue, the Post Office has it listed as just Lincoln Avenue. The resident and the post office reached an agreement to call the address North Lincoln despite the conflicting records.
“But in looking at clarifying her address, and this is what often happens, we all know the addresses in Elkins are often out of order or have other issues,” Stokes told Council. “I think that if the city wants to fix that… we need to look at readdressing the entire city.”
Stokes noted that Elkins Fire Department Chief Steve Himes once told him that readdressing the city would be a pain “and then it’d be right forever.” Stokes said the system the City would adopt would be the same one used in Randolph County with “distance-based protocol.” This way, there would always be room for new addresses and it would be very informative to those who understand and have to use the system, he noted.
While Stokes usually fixes addressing issues one at a time, he explained that after receiving the call from the resident, he asked to present the matter to the Municipal Properties Committee, as that block of Lincoln Avenue “had enough problems” when it came to addressing.
Stokes also informed Council that, just before the meeting, he received an email from another resident of that block who was against the renaming. That resident said he clearly considers the area to be just Lincoln Avenue, and did not appreciate the burden of having to change the address with the bank, his utilities, the government, etc. That resident also said he’s never had an issue with his original address, and suggested putting a sign at the entrance to the block that identifies what street it is and the address range.
Stokes said he also received an email from the original resident who called about her address. In her email, she stated that she had to hunt down a delivery truck that had her new couch because the movers could not find her address, even after she explained it to them over the phone. At the end of her email, the resident stated, “Just think if we were calling an ambulance!”
Several council members agreed that the issue of addressing in Elkins could become a matter of public safety if first responders have trouble finding homes. Fourth Ward Council member Andrew Carroll asked Captain Andrew Roth, who was filling in for Himes during the meeting, how the change would look on the first responders’ end.
“It would be beneficial to the Fire Department to change the addresses,” Roth said. “It’s a problem throughout the city, but we’ve learned to try to work around it as best we can. This would greatly help us.”
Second Ward Council member Lisa Severino asked Stokes whether, if the city were to do a major readdressing effort in the future, the new North Lincoln Avenue block would have to be renamed again. Stokes said that was a good question and he would have to look into that, as usual protocol for readdressing tries to eliminate similarly named streets, such as Davis Street and Davis Avenue.
Fifth Ward Council member Burley Woods commented that, when he moved back to Elkins, he had to contact the City of Elkins and Randolph County Emergency Communications because his home had two different addresses. Woods said if he had to call 911, with the address they had listed, they would have dispatched first responders to a fire hydrant. He said, in the records, his house did not exist, despite having been there since the 1940s.
“Unfortunately, it is a headache and it’s not going to be easy, and people don’t like change, but, you know, it’s something that I think as we age in population in the City of Elkins, I think it will be beneficial,” Woods said.
The Elkins City Council will meet again Thursday at 7 p.m. at the Phil Gainer Community Center.