MAYOR PHIL Wallace announced at Thursday's Martins Ferry City Council meeting that the city will be eventually installing a new main waterline, running from the water plant to Fifth Street.

The mayor said this will be done in effort to help stabilize the system overall and aid in keeping the lines pressurized in the event of future breaks.

Wallace, along with Service/Safety Director John Davies, Development Director Stanley Stein, Fire Chief Ed Duke and Joseph Bencur met with a representative from the state of Ohio and engineering consultant Jeff Vaughan of Vaughan, Coast & Vaughn Engineering of St. Clairsville to go over the proposed installation.

The mayor also explained that U.S. Rep. Charlie Wilson, D-Ohio, will be in town next week to talk with the mayor and council about the same issues, primarily regarding funding.

Wallace then announced that in lieu of naming an interim police chief in the absence of Chief Barry Carpenter, he has named Lt. Phil Hartman the officer in charge. Hartman is the department's current highest ranking officer.

Carpenter is being investigated for allegedly breaking into the home of a city woman who served as a surrogate mother for celebrity couple Matthew Broderick and Sarah Jessica Parker. He is on unpaid leave until the criminal case is resolved.

Meanwhile, Auditor Rita Randall announced the results of a meeting last week with Belmont County officials regarding funding. Declining sales tax revenues and state allocations mean Martins Ferry will lose $50,000 in funding this year and a minimum of $50,000 the following year.

"I am now working on a budget with these new figures and once I have something, will contact the finance committee for a meeting to discuss (the budget)," Randall said.

Councilman Robert Hunker was absent so members in attendance voted 5-1 to table the third reading of ordinances dealing with salary increases for the service/safety director and street department superintendent. Councilman Paul Riethmiller was the only member to cast a "no" vote on the motions.

In making his motion to table the ordinances, Councilman Bill Suto said he felt it was best to make sure all council members were in attendance before a decision is made on the salary increases.

Other ordinances up for second readings ended up being adopted 6-0 after motions to suspend the rules were passed and the ordinaces were approved as read. Those include: the creation of a junior fire cadet program with the Martins Ferry Fire Department; the sale of two pieces of property on lot 1131 that the city no longer needs, one for $5,446 and the other for $1,620; and finally to authorize repayment for heavy equipment.

In other business:

-- Resident Donald Woods wanted to clarify a parking issue after an unidentified member of council reported him for parking a pair of recreational vehicles on an empty lot adjacent to his residence. The police were called and asked Woods to move the vehicles.

He was told that, according to the city's traffic code, recreational vehicles are not permitted to park on a lot that has been zoned residential. It was further explained that he was unable to park the RVs on the street.

Woods later asked if he could park in a section of his yard if he were to pave it for use as a driveway. Council President William Deaton will seek clarification on the matter and get back to Woods with an answer.

-- Jeff Porecca of Porecca's Limousines said the alley behind his building at 508 Vine St. is severely rutted and that he has been unable to remove a vehicle from his driveway for more than a year. He brought pictures showing the damage. Service/Safety Director John Davies assured Porecca he'd have someone at the location today to assess and fix the situation.

-- Richard Hord wanted to bring to council's attention a few upcoming meetings of importance. Hoard said that, while not finalized, there may be a town hall meeting Sept. 22 at the Martins Ferry Public Library with state officials. He also said the Martins Ferry Chamber of Commerce, in conjunction with the Belmont County commissioners, will be holding a PowerPoint presentation and informational meeting on the 2010 census on Sept. 9 at 7 p.m. at the American Legion in Martins Ferry.

Hughes can be reached at mhughes@timesleaderonline.com.