Kids to benefit from Cravat gift to Ferry
By LINDA L. HULL, Times Leader Staff WriterArticle Photos
AN UNEXPECTED gift benefiting the residents of Crawford Heights in Martins Ferry was presented Thursday night at a meeting of the Martins Ferry City Council.
Cravat Coal Co. has owned a piece of property at the top of Crawford Heights for at least 20 years, according to Martins Ferry Mayor Phil Wallace, and on that property the citizens made a playground and shelter for picnics and neighborhood gatherings.
Just recently the property came up for sale and the coal company realized that they had a buyer who was willing to pay cash so that he could build a home on the land.
That's when the Cravat Coal Co. and two officers and members of their board of directors, Belmont County Northern Division Court Judge Frank Fregiato and Harrison County Probate Judge Matthew Puskarich generously and compassionately handed over the deed to the property.
Fregiato said, "We had the money, cash, but we unanimously rejected the money for the property so we could hand it over to the city of Martins Ferry."
"On behalf of Cravat Coal and my family, I am honored to provide this great thing for the community. As a juvenile judge I'm honored to do this for the kids," said Puskarich.
He then added, "Although I work in Harrison County, I'm always proud when someone asks me where I was born, to say Martins Ferry. It has a special place in my heart."
The deed, given to Wallace Thursday night, involves more than 3 acres of ground, free and clear, and the residents of Crawford Heights are once again able to gather at the shelter while their children play on the playground.
Wallace said, "This is a blessing in disguise for the citizens. The playground can be used here for years and future generations can enjoy it, also."
Wallace noted that the grass will be cut on Friday morning by the city, and he is sure that the citizens will once again take pride in keeping the grass cut in the future.
In other business, Wallace announced that the cost of building permits will go up $5 in the future. The last raise was in 2003.
It was announced that residents will no longer be able to make their water bill payments at The Citizens Bank. They must go to the city building instead in order to billed in a timely fashion.
Wallace told council that the city is looking for 20 more parking meters, and he said that the $2 sanitation sticker idea isn't working. He said that the cost would be lowered to $1 and when the stickers run out, it will be mandatory for the residents to put all their garbage in cans or it won't be picked up.
He said, "This town is getting cleaned up, and we're going to keep doing it."
Wallace announced that the Belmont County commissioners will have a town hall meeting on the fairgrounds Sept. 5.
Also discussed was the fact that the city will be resetting headstones, and trees will be removed at the cemetery. Street paving will continue next week as long as the weather holds out.
Richard Hord, a citizen of Martins Ferry, asked council about the street sweeper that has been out for repairs after it caught fire.
Street Superintendent John Davies said that the cost to repair the street sweeper will be about $22,000.
Hord asked when it would be in operation, and Davies said he had no idea. Hord then asked if people had to move their vehicles on sweeping days.
Davies said, "We aren't ticketing them but when the street sweeper is back in operation, we'll give them a notice the first time and then ticket them the second week we're back."
He added, "I'm not telling them to move, but they can."
Councilman Paul Riethmiller was appointed as liasion to the Martins Ferry School District "for now and the foreseeable future because of a lack of communication with the school board."
Wallace told council that the insurance company that handles South School informed him that they would not insure an empty building. The mayor announced that the Division of Development will be going do to occupy offices in that building. He also noted that he is trying to get prisoners from the Belmont Correctional Institution to come and clean out the building. Wallace announced that the Belmont County Board of Elections will be using the gymnasium for election day.
The next meeting of the city council will be held Sept. 4 at 6 p.m. in the city building.
Hull can be reached at lhull@timesleaderonline.com.
|
rockdrummer
|
|
|---|---|
|
08-22-08 11:02 AM
|
The mayor wants to clean up he town. His idea is to charge citizens for putting out more garbage and make sure that the garbage is in cans. So what will happen is people don't own enough cans, and won't want to pay the $2 or $1 per bag, so they'll go out in the middle of the night and throw the extra bags wherever they can, thus creating more garbage around the town. Good thinking, Phil.
|