(Photo by Amber Phipps) Rebecca Johnson with MOV Grant Writing LLC passes out copies of her presentation on the Mid-Ohio Valley Aquatic Center plans and detailed layout at the special Marietta City Council meeting Tuesday.

Marietta City Council held a special meeting Tuesday night to discuss ordinances and the potential construction of an aquatic center.

The Streets Committee agenda included the proposal of the aquatic center which would require making Betsy Mitchell Lane into a one-lane road.

Rebecca Johnson with MOV Grant Writing LLC and Gene Hollins, an attorney with the Mid-Ohio Valley Aquatic Center, presented the council with plans and layouts for the construction of an aquatic center.

“We’ve got the funding figured out but we’re still waiting on the pricing since we’re not that far down the line with the architectural ideas,” said Hollins.

Hollins said they are planning on having a competition, therapy and training pool in the facility which will be welcome to everyone in the community. There might be membership costs but he said they have plans to work out something with the local schools.

(Photo by Amber Phipps) Marietta City Councilman Mike Scales explains the approval process during the discussion on Tuesday night about the aquatic center proposal.

Local schools and colleges would have access to the pools instead of driving down to Parkersburg. The proposal also included the discussion of hosting swimming competitions.

Councilwoman Erin O’Neil asked about contingency plans and brought up a conversation on why they couldn’t simply decrease the size of the pool rather than bringing it all the way out to the sidewalk, requiring the vacation of a portion of the road.

Hollins stated that decreasing the size of the pool would cause it to not meet Ohio High School Athletic Association standards for competition pool requirements. His understanding was that the city has grant money to put toward improving the sidewalk on Betsy Mitchell Lane so the proposal was to construct the aquatic center and replace the sidewalk as well once the road becomes one lane.

The council had a range of questions about the proposal which mostly focused on what the construction of the aquatic center would do to traffic in the area.

“There should be compelling reasons not to do it there, but I do think understanding its effect on the traffic would be good,” said Councilman Jon Grimm.

(Photo by Amber Phipps) Marietta City Council met Tuesday night for a special meeting to discuss the proposal for an aquatic center that would require the vacation of Betsy Mitchell Lane in Marietta.

The council decided it would be a good idea to get the numbers on traffic reports for Betsy Mitchell Lane as well as a detailed plan before any decision is made.

Councilman Mike Scales stated during the meeting that even if the proposal is approved at the next council meeting, there would be a long process before it takes effect.

“I see this as a tremendous opportunity,” said Councilman Harley Noland. “It’s a great location for both our college and our middle school, and we should move heaven and earth to make this happen.”

The special council meeting included a brief discussion on the approval of agenda ordinances, including:

¯ Ordinance 171 – An ordinance to create three temporary laborer positions in the Public Works Department, which was amended.

¯ Ordinance 183 – The appropriation of funds going towards recreation and city projects.

¯ Ordinance 184 – An ordinance to enter a contract with GeoStabilization International LLC for the Hillcrest Slip Repair Project.

¯ Ordinance 185 – To appropriate sewer funds for treatment disposal professional services.

¯ Ordinance 186 – To appropriate corporation services health insurance funds.

¯ Resolution 58 – A resolution to authorize McKee HMA LLC to connect with city water lines.