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Council will talk more on armory lease

Marietta City Council will meet two more times before a decision is made on the lease of the Armory’s gymnasium.

Council introduced legislation Thursday to enter into a 20-year lease with the Marietta City School District’s Board of Education but motions to suspend the second reading and both the second and third readings of the ordinance failed.

Instead, today at 2 p.m. council’s Lands, Buildings and Parks Committee will address concerns voiced over a fully-fleshed comparison of costs to refurbish the gym floor and make updates needed to bring the gym in compliance with current sporting standards, and the length of the lease.

Then on Monday at 1 p.m. a Special Council Meeting has been called to potentially suspend the third reading of the ordinance and vote on the lease.

The bid from the city school district offered $60,000 as the start-up cash to begin receiving matching funds for the gym renovation which will include refinishing the floor, restoring the brick walls and painting the ceiling, installing lighting and electric, protecting the windows and heating/air conditioning system for the ground floor and securing the unrenovated towers.

The city is eligible for up to $100,000 in matched funds from the state capital bill for the renovation of the gym floor so this offer would begin the $120,000 of a possible $200,000 in potential investment in the second level of the city building.

In exchange for their investment, the school system asked for prioritized practice space during the school year, August 1 through May 31, with specific hours built into the lease for not only practice time but also science fairs, school dances and other academic extracurriculars.

Councilwoman Cindy Oxender called for both of the meetings following the failure of the motions to suspend the rules.

“I’m not saying I’m against the 20 years,” noted Councilwoman Cassidi Shoaf. “But I’d like to have a better answer for those who ask for the reasoning behind 20 years, I’d like to be able to tell them why it was the best option over 5-, 10-, and 15- year leases at a lower buy-in ratio or with a private donor making up the difference.”

Both Oxender and Councilman Mike McCauley voiced their disappointment in Shoaf and Councilman Mike Scales’ hesitation on the lease, stating the arrangement was made with the sole bidder in 29 years to offer to refurbish and put the gymnasium back into use.

Council was also called upon by members of the audience both for and against the lease.

“I ask council to be visionaries,” said Mark Weihl, of Marietta. “All the Marietta City Schools are asking is for the permission to reset the gym to its original use and expand it to all levels of students and athletes of our city.”

But members of the preservation group Armory Square Inc. raised concerns over the length of the lease and the cost of utilities.

“I know the veterans who worked in this armory would be thrilled to know we’re contemplating the use by students in a restored gym,” noted Bob Newman, of Marietta. “They would simply be delighted. And the schools need this space in the armory to comply with Title 9 which requires they provide adequate space for both boys and girls that they don’t have for practices.”

But Newman said he disagreed with the utilities charge amount discussed by council of $100 per month and said heating the gym on that cost was not realistic.

Safety-Service Director Jonathan Hupp noted that the gym is not currently heated, and City Law Director Paul Bertram added that an accelerator clause of a reassessment of utilities cost every five years is included in the lease language before council.

The concerns will be further discussed today with a projected vote Monday.

¯ Council also voted to reinstate longevity pay and step raises for its non-union salaried employees.

Shoaf noted the work of both the city auditor and department heads to find the funds to support those back-pays in the current budgets of each department and said the financial strain it puts on the city’s general fund will make up the $10,000 shortfall not found in other departmental budgets.

After not getting a unanimous support on the armory ordinance Councilwoman Oxender blocked the financial ordinance concerning the longevity pay from reaching a vote for adoption Thursday night. She stated that council should treat timing for adequate digestion of information equally- equating receipt of the final lease wording Thursday to last week’s availability of the transfers to make up for longevity pay.

Tax issue

¯ Council also voted to place the income tax increase on the November general election ballot. The vote was 5-2 in favor of the resolution proposing a raise of the income tax from 1.7 percent of earned income to 1.85 percent. Oxender and Shoaf voted against it.

Councilman Mike McCauley said he didn’t put faith in the survey conducted by Marietta Main Street, shared on city social media and in The Marietta Times of which the majority of results showed respondents to be against an income tax increase.

Shoaf noted that she does not separate her vote to place the issue on the ballot with her support for or against the increase.

“We put this on the ballot we’re saying this is our last option, our best option and I don’t think that we have come back from last year’s failure on the (primary ballot in May 2017) and proved how we are spending our money wisely and that we have exhausted all resources to meet our financial struggles before asking for more,” she said.

Councilwoman Kathy Downer said it was insulting to voting citizens to not put the issue on the ballot, to which Shoaf disagreed, noting her view that the role and job of an elected official is to be the most informed and take the time to guide the decisions and finances of government on behalf of the public.

All meetings of council take place in room 10 of the Armory, 241 Front St.

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