Resident again asks council for police presence at dog park
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A Marietta resident again spoke to Marietta City Council Thursday about changes he requested to a local dog park.
Julie Stoffel, who volunteers at the Marietta Community Dog Park, went before council two weeks ago to talk about drug use at the park. She told council Thursday the park is being taken over by drug problems and the volunteers were there to take back their park.
The park, located at Jackson Hill Park on Cisler Street, has drug users comfortably coming out at noon instead of waiting for dark.
"They're being really obvious," she said, adding no one is prohibiting them from using drugs there.
"It's pretty scary to me," Stoffel said. "We're asking they come through on a regular basis and do a quick drive through the park."
She shared photos with the council of drug paraphernalia found in July. She said people were trying to do the right thing and clean it up, but they didn't know how to safely do it.
"I'm just here for help," she said. "I've been researching how to get drugs out of the community and the No. 1 thing on lists was to request police patrol. No. 2 on every list was to request additional lights."
Safety-Service Director Steve Wetz said he spoke with Marietta Police Chief Aaron Nedeff after the last meeting and he didn't have a problem with more patrol of the area, they just needed to schedule someone to cover it.
"And lighting will make a huge difference," said Third Ward Councilman Bill Gossett.
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Scott Kitchen with the Marietta Community Tennis Association spoke to the council about public tennis courts in the city.
He presented council with five concerns, including the need for more public tennis courts, the "inadequate" maintenance plan for the city's tennis facilities and the "chaotic" schedule of court time. He said there needs to be dedicated pickleball courts and the lighting is "substandard".
He provided solutions, such as rebuilding courts 3 and 4 at Gold Star Park and resurfacing courts 1 and 2 with lines for tennis only. He also suggested two to four pickleball courts be built in a park and adding pickleball lines to other surfaces, such as basketball courts.
"We spent all the money at Gold Star Park," Kitchen said. "It could be our (Parkersburg) City Park. It could be our showcase."
Forty-five public tennis courts are in Wood County while Marietta only has five.
Council President Susan Vessels asked about the cost of resurfacing the courts.
Kitchen said it would be about $31,000 to fix courts 1 and2, but it would be about $200,000 to "rip out and replace the upper two courts."
"The upper two are shot. They are awful," he said.
Councilwoman-at-large Susan Boyer asked how many tennis players are using Marietta's five courts.
In the tennis association, emails are sent to 85 players, with between 70 and 75 actively playing.
"We play only doubles now. There's just not space for more," he said.
City Engineer Joe Tucker said the price for resurfacing is "quite conservative," but there are basketball court locations that could accommodate pickleball players at Gold Star Park, Indian Acres and Jackson Park.
"We're beyond needing courts," Kitchen said. "We are woefully short on courts."
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Christie Thomas, executive director of Marietta Main Street, discussed the Designated Outdoor Refreshment Area, dubbed DORA.
The possibility of expanding into the west side was brought up with three businesses interested in participating, she said.
Fourth Ward Councilman Geoff Schenkel said any expansion was held off on recommendation of businesses, but this fall is a good time to revisit it.
Thomas said the feedback she's received indicates people want DORA to have expanded hours and more days.
Marietta has the most limited hours and days as compared to other Ohio cities, she said.