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MARTINS FERRY — Martins Ferry City officials discussed city finances and funding for several projects at Wednesday’s council meeting.
Mayor John Davies said that he attended an Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation meeting last week, and he said that the city should receive funding from the organization. He said that the funds will support the Beretta Drive project which has been in the works for about a year. He said the guardrails on the road have slipped over the hill on Beretta Drive which is off of U.S. 250.
Davies said that Service Director Andy Sutak did a good job presenting at the meeting. He said that the city partnered with Pease Township to pave and repair from County Road 22 to State Route 250.
“There will be guardrail replacements, paving, and ditch line and slip repair,” he said.
Davies also said that the city recently received a new valve-working machine for the water plant. He hopes the machine will help prevent water breaks.
“It seems to be a pretty unique piece of equipment — did a pretty good job. We’re going to start exercising valves throughout the city,” he said.
Sutak said that the new valve machine will make it easier to turn off the water until the water break is fixed.
“There’s been a couple times where we couldn’t shut the water off, and those guys were in the hole. That water was still pouring out, and we had 15 fire hydrants open which took some of the pressure down, but it wasn’t enough. They’re trying to fight through that water, and that water is 40 degrees or so, so this will make it easier, faster and better,” he said.
Davies also said that there is one valve in the city that needs to be replaced.
“We have one valve that we just can’t stop the water,” he said.
He said that it will be replaced next week.
“They’re going to come in and replace that one. It’s about $37,000 or $39,000 to replace that,” he said.
Davies said that city officials are working to finalize a maintenance plan for the water plant upgrades.
Sutak said that he, Davies and Auditor Jack Regis recently had a meeting with an underwriter to discuss financing for the water plant upgrades. Sutak said that the underwriter has a lot of experience working with city governments and municipalities.
“We felt we should go with a one year note to see how the market plays out for the next couple of years,” he said.
Regis said that the meeting provided valuable information.
“He (the underwriter) laid it out pretty good for us and made it a lot more clear than what it was at the beginning,” he said.
Sutak said that the city is looking to borrow $4 million at this time even though city council voted to allow him to borrow up to $6 million for the water plant upgrades at the last council meeting.
He said that financing for the project will be more flexible by only borrowing $4 million at this time.
Sutak also discussed the Ohio Department of Transportation’s plan to repair the pedestrian bridge over State Route 7 to Purple Rider Stadium.
Sutak said that the state would pay the full amount for the repairs, but the city would have to pay if council wanted to place a logo or design on the bridge. He said that the colored cement work for a logo that spans the length of the bridge could cost $600,000 to $700,000.
Sutak said that he plans on having a meeting with ODOT representatives to look into less expensive options for a design on the bridge.
Councilman Robert Hunker suggested wiring letters that say “Martins Ferry” in the fencing on the sides on the bridge instead of using colored cement.
Regis said that he is working with the finance committee and other officials to create a budget for next year.
“We’re looking at the police department now. We’ve got a lot to review there,” he said.
Regis said that the city has been working hard to cut as few services as possible.
“We want to move ahead, so hopefully, we can get that done without a whole lot of changes or reductions in services,” he said.