Council Clerk Michele Newbanks, left, leads the first reading of an ordinance during a Marietta City Council meeting Thursday night as Council President Susan Vessels, right, listens. The ordinance would prohibit camping on city property except in designated areas. (Photo by Michelle Dillon)

MARIETTA — The Marietta City Council introduced a camping ban on city property and the merger of two city departments, passed three adult marijuana use ordinances and two ordinances related to spending ARPA funds Thursday.

Council members performed the first reading of Ordinance no. 105 (24-25), which would prohibit camping on city property except in designated areas.

The ordinance would add a section to city code that would prohibit camping sites from being maintained in a location on city property for more than 24 hours and would prohibit sleeping on city property, according to the proposed code section.

It would make unauthorized camping a fourth-degree misdemeanor and repeat violations a third-degree misdemeanor, with the penalty for unauthorized camping to be determined by the court, according to the proposed code section, but states that the court should immediately consider whether a person should consider or not immediately. have removed all their possessions and rubbish when asked, or whether prior to the hearing a person has used private resources or service providers to address the reason for committing unauthorized camping as mitigating factors when penalties are decided.

Efforts to create a camping ban on city property stem from complaints shared during a joint meeting of the Planning, Zoning, Annexing and Housing (PZAH) and Public Lands and Buildings Committees on Sept. 23 by business owners located near the project for homeless people in Washington County. downtown and that included noise, people yelling or cursing, people disturbing business employees, people camping at or behind businesses on Front and Second streets and more.

The council took no further action on the ordinance after first reading.

The Council also carried out the first reading of Ordinance no. 114 (24-25) and Ordinance no. 115 (24-25) during the meeting.

Ordinance no. 114 (24-25) would merge the city’s engineering department with the public works department, which would completely dissolve the engineering department and amend the city’s organizational chart to reflect the merger. Ordinance no. 115 (24-25) would abolish the position of director of the recreation program and public servants and merge the duties and responsibilities of the director of the bureau of engineering with those of the chief of the bureau of the department of public works and amend the organizational chart to reflect this. .

The same person currently fills those roles, according to Ward 4 Councilwoman Erin O’Neill, and would place the position in the public works department.

She said the role would still provide administrative services for engineering.

O’Neill, who sponsored the ordinances, said they are part of the city government’s plan “streamline their operations” and the ordinances are year “redundancy reduction effort” and will provide cost savings.

No further action was taken on the ordinances after their first readings.

The Council also carried out the three readings of Ordinance no. 94 (24-25), Ordinance no. 95 (24-25) and Ordinance no. 96 (24-25), which are related to the consumption of marijuana for adults, and then adopted unanimously. them.

City Law Director Paul Bertram previously told The Times, Ordinance 94 (24-25) amends the city’s medical marijuana ordinance by adding new definitions related to marijuana that the state of Ohio created during the process of creating recreational marijuana for adults and adding dual-use dispensaries to the ordinance; Ordinance 95 (24-25) sets the number of adult recreational marijuana dispensaries to be permitted in Marietta at two and regulates the use of adult recreational marijuana; and Ordinance no. 96 (24-25), relates to adult recreational marijuana, dispensary licenses and zoning.

There was no discussion of the bills before the council passed them.

The council also conducted the reading of two ordinances related to the expenditure of American Rescue Plan Act funds and then passed them unanimously.

The Council amended Ordinance no. 111 (24-25), authorizing the city’s director of safety services to enter into a contract with Northeast Sweepers & Rentals Inc. for the purchase of a 2024 RAVO R5 street sweeper and trade in the city’s current 2018 Schwarze Tornado A7 street sweeper. sweeper for a cost not to exceed $256,800.92 and then conducted a second reading of the ordinance as amended.

The amendment to the resolution was to add that the money would come from ARPA funds, according to Bertram.

A motion was then made by Ward 1 Councilman Micahel Scales and Ward 3 Councilman Bill Gossett to suspend the rules and waive the third reading of the ordinance.

At-Large Councilman Jon Grimm asked why the third reading should not be conducted and Scales responded that it is because the current city sweeper is “on the last step” and if the city uses it and something goes wrong, the city would lose $70,000 on the purchase transaction.

Bertram said the purchase contract is only valid until Nov. 14 and the city could lose the contract price if it waits.

The council then voted unanimously to suspend the bylaw and waive third reading and then approved the ordinance.

The Council carried out the first reading of Ordinance no. 117 (24-25), which would allow the city’s director of safety to enter into two change orders with Wolf Creek Contracting for the city’s Americans with Disabilities Act retrofit project for 304 Putnam Street, as amended. orders not to exceed $66,588.78.

The ordinance states that change orders will be paid for with ARPA money.

Scales, who introduced the ordinance, said that would leave $6,000-$8,000 of the initial $9.4 million in ARPA funds the city must commit to a project by the end of the year and asked councilors to consider to ideas about how to spend. the money.

Scales made a motion to suspend the rules and waive the second and third readings of the ordinance, and Ward 2 Councilman Bret Allphin seconded the motion. The council then voted unanimously to suspend the rules and waive the second and third readings of the ordinance and passed the ordinance.

The next city council meeting is 7:30 p.m., Nov. 21, in Room 10 of the Marietta Armory.

Michelle Dillon can be reached at [email protected]