MINERAL SPRINGS — Community vigilance is the best solution to a recent spike in burglaries in Mineral Springs, Councilwoman Peggy Neill said.

Neill said she was “completely shocked and concerned” when she learned from a Sheriff’s Office report that the total number of residential and commercial burglaries during an eight-month period in 2009 is five times higher than a comparable period in 2008.

Between May 1, 2008, and Dec. 31, 2008, there were four home burglaries and no commercial burglaries in Mineral Springs.

But between Jan. 1 and Aug. 27 this year, those numbers increased to 17 home burglaries and six commercial burglaries.

A man robbed employees at Farley’s Pizza at gunpoint in July. Jon Gajewski, a manager at the restaurant, said he was surprised something like that could happen in a small town like Mineral Springs.

“You never say never but we never felt any fear of someone coming in and doing this,” Gajewski said.

Police are frequently in the restaurant’s vicinity. he added, whether it’s a traffic officer using radar or a deputy patrolling the area.

Gajewski said he was pleased with the county’s response to the robbery but didn’t see a need for drastic changes in the town’s public safety plan.

“I think it’s due to the economy,” he said. “People are just desperate and making bad decisions. You never know when you put people in those kinds of conditions how they’re going to react.”

Neill brought the crime numbers to the Town Council’s attention at its Sept. 10 meeting.

She plans to inform residents and encourage them to become more aware of their surroundings.

“It’s so neighbors can watch out for each other,” she said.

She is also working with the Union County Sheriff’s Office to help set up a community watch group, or perhaps multiple groups, in the town.

Mineral Springs does not have its own police department and relies mostly on the Sheriff’s department for protection.

Other shop owners think businesses should be taking more preventative steps.

“We’ll probably be looking into installing some cameras outside soon,” said Burt Fincher, co-owner of Mineral Springs Fertilizer.

The Sheriff’s Office was able to make an arrest in the Farley’s Pizza robbery after a surveillance camera at the gas station across the street captured a man on video.

Neill said a public safety newsletter will go out to residents in early October and a community meeting with the Sheriff’s Office is planned for the end of October.

— Do you have an idea for a story about Mineral Springs, Wesley Chapel or Waxhaw? Contact staff writer Elisabeth Arriero at 704-261-2226 or earriero@theej.com.