T-L Photo/SHELLEY HANSON CITY WORKERS patch potholes in an alleyway in Martins Ferry.

MARTINS FERRY — The Purple City is making some headway on its pothole-filling plan, and people are starting to take notice.

“The street department is patching potholes. They’re finishing behind St. Mary’s now. … They have Ninth Street and Bulltown to do and Floral Valley and a couple other smaller holes in Bulltown,” Mayor John Davies said during a recent Martins Ferry City Council meeting.

Some other areas that will soon be tackled include holes left behind by recent waterline breaks, including one on Mackey Avenue and Zane Highway, along with one from a sewer break on Seventh Street. All will be done by a contractor because of the scope of the projects; they are not patch jobs.

“Those are pretty good size jobs to take on for us,” Davies said.

Because of the progress made on street patching, Davies said he was going to move some street department workers over to water and sewer to help catch up on other projects.

“We’re going to start with the sewer department and get catch basins cleaned out,” Davies said. “We’re going to send four people over to sewer and keep four in street. We’ll continue to do what we’ve done in street.”

During the recent council meeting, Davies received praise from a resident who thanked him for the patching of potholes across the city.

Davies noted he wants to purchase a new dump truck for the street department, as the current one is in dire condition.

“We have one the frame is going on it. … That frame breaks, one of our guys could get killed or our people. We’re not using it right now. That needs to go to the scrap heap. I don’t even know if you could sell it other than for a junk price. It’s a liability,” Davies said.

Council ultimately approved spending $10,000 for a downpayment on a new vehicle, a 1-ton four-wheel drive that includes a snowplow and salt spreader. He said the total price is $41,805.