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MARTINS FERRY -- Martins Ferry City Council discussed plans to upgrade the city's water treatment plant Wednesday.
Service Director Andy Sutak said the city is in the process of upgrading the plant. He said the project is projected to cost about $5 million. Sutak said he plans to work with Auditor Jack Regis Sr. to research funding options, available loans and interest rates.
Sutak said he hopes the project will cost less than expected so that extra funds can be used to upgrade city wells.
"Any savings that we have, what we would like to do also is to revamp some of our wells and the motors and pumps in the wells and clean them and make sure our whole facility is 100 percent efficient, clean and ready to move into the future," he said.
All members of council present at the meeting voted to allow Sutak and Regis to look into funding for up to $5 million.
Council also unanimously voted to authorize an emergency contract to upgrade the water plant's filter beds.
"That's one of the first things we need to get done and done as quick as we can. It will really benefit our water projection, things like that," Sutak said.
In other news, Mayor John Davies said that following the town hall meeting on Monday regarding the income tax, he has heard many concerns from EMS workers.
"They said they're going to get laid off, and I said no," Davies said.
Davies said the general fund would be most affected by the proposed income tax increase, and the EMS department does not fall under the general fund.
Davies also said he would like to raise the hourly pay for part-time police officers.
"These other towns are paying $20 an hour and we're not paying that, so we're having a rough time getting the part-timers in," he said.
He said part-time officers in the city earn about $16 an hour.
"Even if you pay them $20 an hour, you're still saving money in benefits," Davies said of their part-time status.
All members of council approved increasing the hourly rate to $20.
President of Council Kristine Davis said that Solicitor Paul Stecker will have to create an ordinance to make the decision official.
Davies also said that heating repairs at the recreation center are almost complete, and a breaker is set to arrive today. He said that once the breaker is in, the repairs will be complete.
City wastewater operator Mike Reese said the wastewater department will be performing smoke testing on the sewer system on Oct. 24-25, so residents may see smoke coming out of the ground and storm sewers. He said the work will be done at the Floral Valley and Glenhurst subdivisions and from Aetna Street to Willow Avenue.
"I don't want anyone to be worried. The smoke is nontoxic," Reese said.
He said the testing is required by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency.
Sutak said the city has been meeting all of the EPA guidelines and thanked Reese for his work keeping the sewer system up to code.
Also during the meeting, Regis said the city got a bill for $8,807.36 from Lexipol for equipment for the police department. Council voted unanimously to allow Regis to pay the bill.
Councilman Robert Hunker was absent from the meeting.