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Marietta City Council passed a total of seven new ordinances and five new resolutions with emergency designations Thursday night, suspending rules on second and third readings and following with motions to adopt.
All 10 passed unanimously, with five of six council members present. Councilman Mike Scales was absent for a continuing surgery recovery but should be returning for Jan. 26 committee meetings.
The new legislation includes:
¯ Ordinance No. 184 (22-23), authorizing the Director of Public Safety and Service to enter an agreement with the Washington Soil and Water Conservation District for certain services involving administration of the city's Storm Water Management Program.
¯ Ordinance No. 185 (22-23), authorizing employment of one additional firefighter for the city for the period of April 1, 2023, through Aug. 31, 2023. Councilwoman Cassidi Shoaf said there is a pending retirement in the fire department and the "overlap" employment period will help with training and avoid the gap that would happen if the new hire needed to train offsite with no employee backup.
¯ Ordinance No. 186 (22-23), authorizing the city to pick up the statutorily required contribution to the Ohio Public Employees retirement system for all the employees of Teamsters Union #637, as directed by Internal Revenue Service code. Shoaf said the ordinance was basically a paperwork formality required by the IRS.
¯ Ordinance No. 187 (22-23), establishing the salaries of certain elected city officials effective Jan. 1, 2024. Shoaf said changes brought the salaries into the minimum range required for qualifying for Ohio Public Employee Retirement pension eligibility.
¯ Ordinance No. 191 (22-23), to determine that certain parcels of real estate along the east bank of the Muskingum River that are owned by the city are not needed for any municipal purpose, and to authorize and direct the Director of Public Safety and Service to advertise for bids for the lease of the parcels and return to council with his recommendation of bid acceptance, within 30 days of the bid opening. The parcels in question are known as Lease Area Number 1, which is .191 acres; and Lease Area Number 2, which is .105 acres.
¯ Ordinance No. 192 (22-23), appropriating and transferring funds.
¯ Ordinance No. 193 (22-23), authorizing and directing the Director of Public Safety and Service to advertise for bids for the anticipated purchase of various street construction materials for use by the Public Works Department (formerly the Street Department) during the coming construction season.
¯ Resolution No. 77 (22-23), authorizing the Director of Public Safety and Service and the Chief of Police to enter into an exclusive revocable joint use agreement with the county commission of Tyler County, WV, for use of the police department boat. Councilman Bill Gossett said Marietta had not used the boat in several years and it can be used effectively by Tyler County, which will do maintenance and repairs as needed.
¯ Resolution No. 78 (22-23), a resolution of support from council authorizing the city Community Development Director to submit an application to participate in the Ohio Department of Transportation's Transportation Alternative Program (TAP) grant for the East Muskingum and Sacra Via Parks Restoration Project, Phase II. Councilwoman Susan Boyer said the resolution does not deal with the Start Westward Monument itself, but involves lights and trails. The resolution is to give permission to enter the application process. Although council members present voted unanimously to approve the resolution, Scales sent word that he would like it to be known that he opposes the measure, since anything approved in a TAP grant would involve a matching amount from the city.
¯ Resolution No. 79 (22-23), directing the Director of Public Safety and Service to enter a subrecipient agreement on behalf of the city with the Washington-Morgan Community Action Program for the administration of a Community Development Block Grant COVID Rental/Utility Assistance Program.
¯ Resolution No. 80 (22-23), authorizing the city to participate in the State of Ohio Cooperative Purchasing Program through the Ohio Department of Administrative Services, Office of Procurement Services.
¯ Resolution No. 81 (22-23), authorizing the Director of Public Safety and Service to adopt the most recent Ohio Department of Transportation Pre-Qualified Consultant List for Engineering Services for FHWA Federal Aid Projects.
Boyer said Resolutions 80 and 81 both allowed the city to be in large purchasing groups in an effort to keep prices down.
In another piece of legislation, Ordinance No. 183 (22-23), authorizing the advertising for bids and entering a contract or contracts for collection of solid waste and recyclables in the city, was passed on suspension of rules for third reading and a subsequent motion to adopt. Councilman Bret Allphin said the city's current contract does not expire until the end of June, but past experience showed it was wise to have the legislation ready sooner than it had been in the past.
There were first readings of three ordinances:
¯ Ordinance No. 188 (22-23), amending a section of codified ordinances regarding impoundment and/or immobilization of vehicles, and declaring an emergency.
¯ Ordinance No. 189 (22-23), amending a section of codified ordinances involving construction of streets, alleys and storm sewers, and declaring an emergency.
¯ Ordinance No. 190 (22-23), amending a section of codified ordinances involving design standards, and declaring an emergency.
Nancy Taylor can be reached at ntaylor@newsandsentinel.com