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PARKERSBURG -- Parkersburg City Council will consider the first reading of an ordinance Tuesday allowing alcoholic beverages to be carried and consumed along a six-and-a-half block stretch of Market Street.
That's on the agenda for the regular meeting at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday in council chambers on the second floor of the Municipal Building, to be followed by an Urban Renewal Authority session in which members are set to make decisions about three properties.
The Private Outdoor Designated Area (PODA) ordinance comes to council after being referred by the Municipal Planning Commission on a 9-1 vote at its December meeting. Under the proposal, alcohol may be consumed on public property as long as it is in an approved container, purchased from a licensed permit holder and consumed within the designated time frame.
Dubbed the Market Street Designated Area, the zone would run along Market Street from Third to Ninth-and-One-Half Street. The original proposed time frame was 4-11 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays and 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturdays between April 1 and Oct. 31, but the Planning Commission expanded it to 4-11 p.m. Monday through Friday, with the same hours on Saturdays.
Downtown PKB Executive Director Amanda Stevens has said other cities that have adopted similar legislation reported economic benefits and no problems with people being disorderly. Marietta has had a similar program in place for several years.
The Actors Guild of Parkersburg and Discovery World on Market have also expressed support.
In other business, council is set to vote on a resolution authorizing an election to renew the levy that provides a portion of the Mid-Ohio Valley Transit Authority's funding. At council's Jan. 9 meeting, representatives of the public bus service said they are asking for the levy to be renewed at its current amount. Parkersburg's levy provides $2,265,366.53 a year for the authority, with a Vienna levy generating an additional $928,174.82, according to the legislation.
Another resolution would repurpose $122,637.70 in American Rescue Plan Act funds provided to the Parkersburg Utility Board to be used for a fire hydrant supply project for Ridgeway Avenue. Council approved $200,000 as matching funds, along with $200,000 from Wood County, to leverage state money to extend water and sewer service to promote development on Fort Boreman Hill. The bid came in lower than predicted, and the utility is seeking to use the remaining city funds for another project.
Council will also consider Mayor Tom Joyce's nomination of Amy Gonzales to the Planning Commission and a resolution appointing Tom Farrah and reappointing Dave Poling and Joyce to the Wood County Recreation Commission.
After the meeting ends, council will reconvene as the URA to consider whether to acquire via eminent domain a dilapidated former church at 1301 Avery St. The fair market value is listed as $25,000.
They will also be asked to consider two bids to purchase vacant lots at 1120 and 1122 Avery St. One, for $8,000, is from James Craddock, who plans to develop rental units on the site. The other, for approximately $3,000 depending on donations, is from the Cross Church, which owns nearby property and says in its application it would initially "maintain the property and limit foot traffic currently using it."
The agenda also includes, under returning business, an item seeking permission to demolish a structure at 1349 St. Marys Ave. Additional information was not available Friday.