Photo by Art Smith Some of the items scattered around the yard at 605 Pearl St. Tuesday.

A fence around the property is going up as soon as possible. Public Safety Service Director Steve Wetz said Tuesday it will be a six-foot chain link fence with one gate, installed by contractor Ken Strahler.

Wetz is hoping that can happen next week. After the fence is installed, there will be no access unless it is directed by the Public Safety Service Director, or possibly the Marietta City Police. Those details will be determined.

Additionally, the city will seek a court injunction for demolition. That will take longer than the fence, but councilman Geoff Schenkel confirmed that City Law Director Paul Bertram III was starting the groundwork on the injunction Tuesday.

The chain link fence cost for installation and eventual removal is $7,200. The demolition, if approved by the court, may be in the $25,000 to $30,000 range.

Council members who attended a Monday night finance committee meeting at the city’s 304 Putnam St. building apparently were expecting an executive session about the long-discussed property and its problems. The Pearl Street code violation issues were being addressed by the finance committee because of a short-lived administration proposal to buy the property from owner John Parsons of Vincent.

In fact, Parsons was in the public seating at the last city council meeting, according to persons who could identify him. He had met with members of the administration twice before the June 15 meeting. A resolution to authorize the city’s purchase of his property, Resolution 108, was produced by Bertram but was pulled before the meeting and not discussed.

For the Monday committee meeting, there also were half a dozen Harmar neighborhood residents who showed up. Some had been before council several times before to address the same topic, The Compound, as neighborhood residents call the structure at 605 Pearl St.

Finance chair Mike Scales invited members of the public to speak before the executive session, which was closed to the public. The residents again raised a number of questions, including why any action on the structure has taken so long. Scales would occasionally nod and say, “That’s a very good question.”

The issue is now back in the Planning, Zoning, Annexation and Housing Committee chaired by Schenkel. There will be a request for legislation at the next scheduled council meeting, authorizing the city to seek the injunction for demolition.

Monday’s executive session included all current council members except Cassidi Shoaf and Council President Susan Vessels. The session also included Mayor Josh Schlicher, Safety Service Director Steve Wetz, Budget and Purchasing Director Mitch Dimmerling and Southeast Ohio Port Authority Executive Director Jesse Roush, contracted by the city as a planning and development consultant.

In the past, the entire council has heard neighborhood complaints that report unauthorized occupancy, illegal drug activity, other illegal issues and extreme levels of trash and waste matter. Schenkel said the Pearl Street site has been a problem at least since 2018, when he arrived on council. Formal notices from the city were sent to Parsons in January of 2020 regarding a number of violations.

“Maybe the violations have seemed kind of academic when viewed on paper, but I think the Harmar residents who came to the meeting Monday showed council members the human element that gives a face, a voice, a soul to what has been occurring. It’s for real,” he said.

Nancy Taylor can be reached at ntaylor@newsandsentinel.com.