×

Marietta Council votes to authorize lawsuit

MARIETTA — Marietta City Council passed legislation Thursday authorizing litigation against the Washington County Commissioners.

The legislation authorized the hiring of Matthew A. Dooley, an attorney with O’Toole, McLaughlin, Dooley and Pecora Attorneys & Counselors of Sheffield Village, and allowed for Dooley to pursue mediation and possible litigation against the county concerning the intergovernmental agreement of 2011.

“This issue has been on the table for long enough,” said Councilman Mike McCauley, chairman of the Water and Sewer Committee and the primary councilman addressing the sewer dispute since its inception in 2011. “We entered a contractual agreement with the county and they’ve not lived up to their end of the deal. And while some people may ask why we are hiring an outside attorney to do this, here’s my answer: he’s specialized in this field and specialized to handle this fight.”

Councilman Tom Vukovic, chair of the Finance Committee, also spoke to the appropriation of $250,000 to pay for the resolution of the dispute.

“We are putting the money in place to move forward with litigation,” he said.

No commissioners or Devola residents were present at the meeting to voice a dissenting opinion to council’s unanimous decision.

In other business:

Safety-Service Director Jonathan Hupp announced changes to leaf season management in Marietta Thursday.

“We have had issues with residents exploiting dumping sites at parks for far too long,” he said. “So to end that poor practice, we will no longer be allowing dumping of any kind, including leaves, at Lookout Park or Indian Acres or Buckeye Park. Instead we will be providing every Monday, beginning Oct. 24, a new drive-thru drop off point where residents can bring their leaves to the leaf sucker and have those taken care of.”

Hupp said residents may also rake leaves to the edge of their tree lawns for pick up by the city so long as the leaves remain in piles and not bags.

“The bags hinder efficiency and if we see them, we’ll simply pass by,” he explained.

The new leaf drive-thru will be open from 3 p.m to 7 p.m. every Monday along the 400 block of Gilman Avenue.

Hupp reminded council that unlawful dumping at a park is a minor misdemeanor and punishable by a fine not less than $5 and not more than $50. Also, damaging storm drains due to raking leaves into the road carries an additional $100 fine per day.

Cindy Oxender, R-at large, thanked the city administration for finding a “creative resolution” to the issue of dumping at the city’s parks.

NEWSLETTER

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *

Starting at $4.62/week.

Subscribe Today