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

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

Council members performed the first reading of Ordinance No. 105 (24-25), which would enact a camping ban on city property except for in designated areas.

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

It would make unauthorized encampments a fourth-degree misdemeanor and repeated violations a third-degree misdemeanor, with the penalty for unauthorized encampments being decided by the court, according to the proposed code section, but states the court should consider whether or not a person immediately removed all their property and litter when asked or if before their hearing a person used private resources or service providers to address the reason that led them to committing unauthorized camping as mitigating factors when deciding penalties.

The efforts to create a camping ban on city property stem from complaints shared during a Sept. 23 Planning, Zoning, Annexation and Housing (PZAH) and Public Lands and Buildings Committees joint meeting by business owners located near the Washington County Homeless Project’s homeless drop-in center and which included noise, people yelling or cursing, people bothering business’ employees, people camping at or behind businesses on Front and Second streets and more.

Council took no further action on the ordinance after the first reading was performed.

Council also performed 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 fully dissolve the engineering department and would amend the city’s table of organization to reflect the merger. Ordinance No. 115 (24-25) would abolish the recreation program and public facilities officer manager position and merge its duties and the engineering office manager’s duties with the duties of the public works department’s office manager and would amend the table of organization to reflect this.

The same person right now is performing the duties of these 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 administration’s plan to “streamline their operations” and the ordinances are an “effort to reduce redundancy” and will provide cost savings.

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

Council also performed the third readings of Ordinance No. 94 (24-25), Ordinance No. 95 (24-25) and Ordinance No. 96 (24-25), which are related to adult-use marijuana, and then unanimously passed them.

City Law Director Paul Bertram previously told The Times, Ordinance 94 (24-25) changes the city ordinance related to medical mairjuana by adding new definitions related to marijuana that the state of Ohio created during the process of setting up adult recreational marijuana and it adds dual use dispensaries to the ordinance; Ordinance 95 (24-25) sets the number of adult-use recreational marijuana dispensaries that will be allowed in Marietta to two and it regulates the use of adult-use recreational marijuana; and Ordinance No. 96 (24-25), deals with adult recreational use marijuana, dispensary licenses and zoning.

No discussion was held on the bills before council passed them.

Council also conducted readings of two ordinances related to spending American Rescue Plan Act funds and then unanimously passed them.

Council amended Ordinance No. 111 (24-25), which authorizes the city’s safety service director to enter into a contract with Northeast Sweepers & Rentals Inc. to purchased a 2024 RAVO R5 street sweeper and trade in the city’s current 2018 Schwarze Tornado A7 street 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.

Then a motion was made by Ward 1 Councilman Micahel Scales and Ward 3 Councilman Bill Gossett to suspend the rules and dispense with the third reading of the ordinance.

At-Large Councilman Jon Grimm asked why the third reading did not need to be conducted and Scales answered it was because the city’s current street sweeper is “on it’s last leg” and if the city uses it and something goes wrong with it the city would lose $70,000 on the purchase deal.

Bertram said the purchase agreement is only good until Nov. 14 and the city could lose the contract price if they wait.

Council then unanimously voted to suspend the rules and dispense with the third reading and then approved the ordinance.

Council conducted the first reading of Ordinance No. 117 (24-25) which would allow the city’s safety service director to enter into two change order with Wolf Creek Contracting for the city’s Americans with Disabilities Act upgrades project for 304 Putnam Street, with the change orders not to exceed $66,588.78.

The ordinance states the change orders would be paid for with ARPA money.

Scales, who introduced the ordinance, said this would leave $6,000-$8,000 left of the original $9.4 million in ARPA funds the city needs to have committed to a project by the end of the year and asked for councilmembers to think of ideas of how to spend the money.

Scales made a motion to suspend the rules and dispense with the second and third readings of the ordinance and Ward 2 Councilman Bret Allphin seconded the motion. Then council unanimously voted to suspend the rules and dispense with the second and third readings of the ordinance and adopted 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 mdillon@newsandsentinel.com