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Marietta City Council's Finance Committee weighed its options to spend city funds on property acquisition Monday.
Eight properties within city limits that did not sell at the county delinquent tax sales in November and December have been under review by the legislative body since early January, with the option to petition the Washington County Common Pleas Court for first rights at clearing the liens and taking over ownership of the parcels. The properties are:
¯ 113 City View.
¯ 205 Cedar St.
¯ 119 Gilman Ave.
¯ 901/903 Jahn St.
¯ 115 Grove Ave.
¯ 765 Buckeye Ave.
¯ 313 Van Bergen St.
¯ 304 Market St.
Of those eight, the legislative body reached consensus Monday to move forward with petitions on four; City View, Cedar,Van Bergen and Market, to mitigate continuous illicit drug activity or for city infrastructure planning.
"Three of those eight properties are on the west side and some are beds of drug activity," said Councilman Geoff Schenkel. "How much longer do we let those go on?"
Schenkel noted that the Market Street property, which had been condemned by the city code enforcement official, had already seen its "no entry" signs torn down and was illegally in use again.
Councilwoman Susan Boyer also called on Councilman Bill Gossett, with whom she served on a past blight committee, to recall past promises of property owners to fix their structures with no follow-through.
"I have very little faith in the individual to fix up the property just from purchasing it an an auditor's sale," she noted. "If we turn around and sell a property we have more control over the conditions of the sale to enforce a timeline for abatement."
For an estimated $20,000 in city funds, the legislative body moved forward with legislation on the four properties, intending then to follow the remainder at the next auditor's sale which is tentatively planned for September, according to Washington County Auditor Matthew Livengood.
Council next meets for its regular business meeting at 7:30 p.m. Thursday in room 10 of the Armory, 241 Front St.
Janelle Patterson can be reached at jpatterson@mariettatimes.com.