(Photo by Gwen Sour) Marietta City Law Director Paul Bertram shares the reasoning as to why Resolution 81, which urges the state to approve a moratorium on injection wells, was to be reconsidered at Thursday evening’s meeting.

Marietta City Council held a special meeting Thursday evening to correct and reconsider language in a recently approved resolution calling for a moratorium on new injection well permits in Washington County and to advance several infrastructure and administrative ordinances.

Mayor Josh Schlicher and Clerk of Council Michele Newbanks were absent from the meeting. Council President Susan Vessels served as acting mayor, while Councilman Mike Scales presided as acting council president.

Council voted unanimously to reconsider and amend Resolution 81 (24-25), which urges the Ohio General Assembly to enact a three-year moratorium on additional Class I and Class II injection wells and to halt the import of brine or other waste into existing wells in the county. The amendments, City Law Director Paul Bertram explained, addressed formatting and typographical errors that occurred when emergency language was added to the resolution during its previous passage.

“When we added the emergency clause, the formatting in the document glitched and altered certain words,” Bertram told council. “We’ve since corrected the language to ensure clarity and accuracy before forwarding it to the state.”

During public comment, residents voiced ongoing concern over injection well activity and potential impacts on local water sources.

(Photo by Gwen Sour) Jackson Patterson shares his concerns regarding injection wells at Thursday evening’s Marietta City Council meeting in the Armory.

Jackson Patterson said his home is about 250 yards from a proposed injection well site and that his family depends on a natural spring for water.

“There are six different families down there that will be affected,” Patterson said. “If that well fractures or breaks, it’s over for my family – we have no access to city water.”

Council then moved through a series of ordinances addressing infrastructure projects and city organization. All passed unanimously after suspension of the second and third readings.

Ordinance 246 (24-25) authorizes a $40,000 contract with Strand Associates for on-call wastewater engineering support services related to the Front Street and Greene Street sanitary sewer design project. Councilman Ben Rutherford said the goal is to keep timelines aligned.

“We’ve got a collapse by Front Street, and we need to get it engineered,” Rutherford said. “We want this to move in step with the Front Street project so everything is ready to go once construction begins.”

Ordinances 247 and 248 (24-25) approve change orders for emergency repairs to the Marion Street sinkhole and storm sewer culvert project, contracted to Jimmy Harper Construction of Vienna. The change orders total roughly $118,000 and account for necessary field adjustments during repair.

Safety Service Director Steve Wetz stated that the changes were due to the city finding another damaged culvert as well as repairing surrounding structures to the street, including a driveway.

Ordinance 249 (24-25) establishes a Public Utilities Division to unify the city’s Water Treatment, Water Reclamation, and Utility Administration departments.

Councilwoman Erin O’Neill said although the ordinance wasn’t an emergency, it was important to move now.

“While this doesn’t fall under an emergency per se, it does fall under the timeline for getting these jobs posted and in place before the end of the year,” she said.

Ordinance 250 (24-25) creates a Public Utilities Director position to oversee the new division. Ordinance 251 (24-25) appropriates and transfers $254,312 from the city’s general fund for salary adjustments, benefits, and building and park maintenance. The measure also funds converting a retiring police evidence officer position into a civilian role to return one more officer to street duty.

The next regular meeting of Marietta City Council is scheduled for Oct. 16.