T-L Photo/KAILEY CARPINO St. Clairsville Director of Public Service and Safety Jeremy Greenwood discusses allowing Ascent Resources to use some city streets so that workers can access a potential oil and gas well pad.

ST. CLAIRSVILLE — St. Clairsville officials discussed allowing Ascent Resources to use some city streets so that workers can access a potential oil and gas well pad.

Director of Public Service and Safety Jeremy Greenwood said that Maple Avenue/Ohio 9, Newell Avenue and North Sugar Street would be affected.

Greenwood said Ascent would be responsible for paving and maintaining those roads, and having those roads repaved at no cost to the city would be a major upside to the project.

“I think it’s a good thing because they’re going to rebuild the streets. They will maintain those streets as long as the well pad is in operation,” he said.

Ascent would need to drive a lot of heavy machinery on the route during the first few months of the project to build the well pad.

Greenwood said that after the well pad is completed, Ascent would repave all three roads to repair any damage and maintain them for the remainder of the project.

Greenwood said the well pad could be in use for 20 years, meaning that Ascent would pay for all road maintenance for that time period.

Greenwood said the city received a grant from the Ohio Department of Transportation in the amount of $500,00 to repair North Sugar Street. He said Ascent already stated that it would be willing to work with ODOT to make sure the grant funds can still be used for the project.

Planning and Zoning Director Tom Murphy said he believes the grant money could still be used to repair North Sugar Street if council decides to move forward with the easement.

Law Director Joseph Vavra said he would look into the issue further.

Greenwood said parking could be restricted on the three streets during the project. He said he may have to discuss that with Ascent.

According to Greenwood, city officials would issue a Code Red alert for local residents to inform them if parking is restricted. Greenwood also said that city workers would place door hangers on residents’ front doors and call them to make sure that all residents were aware of any parking restrictions.

“What typically ends up happening is if there’s somebody else parked there, we would get a hold of the police and say, ‘Hey, we need this vehicle moved,’ and they go out and try to find the owner,” Greenwood explained.

Greenwood told council that Ascent would like to have the new well pad up and running by May. He said the project is “last minute,” and council would have to make a decision quickly.

Councilwoman Terra Butler said she had concerns about traffic and parking, and she would like to get public feedback before making a decision.

“I don’t think anybody’s going to like it, but I think we should at least kind of have discussions with people that it’s going to directly affect on that route,” she said.

Butler said city officials should also discuss the project with the school district to see if the easement would affect school bus routes.

“I would want to make sure that it’s not going to cause any major disruptions as far as bus routes, stuff like that,” she said.

Police Chief Matt Arbenz said he looked at the route and did not see any major potential issues.

“We’ll deal with it as it comes if it becomes an issue. There’s no bottlenecks or anything like that, that I can perceive,” he remarked.

Greenwood said he also does not foresee any major issues and hopes to minimize any concerns caused by the project.

All members of council voted to allow Greenwood and Vavra to negotiate with Ascent further. Once negotiations are complete and council has a contract from Ascent, council will vote on whether to approve that contract.

In other news, council also discussed the 2024 city budget.

Finance Director Annette Whealdon said the proposed budget is completed, and she asked council members if they had any questions before deciding on whether to pass it.

Butler said she would like clarification on some of the items listed in the budget. She asked Whealdon if she could meet with council in a special session to go over the budget in more detail.

City officials plan to host the special meeting at 6 p.m. Monday in council chambers. The meeting is open to the public, and the city budget will be the only topic of discussion.

Council President Jim Velas said the budget must be passed by April 1.

Council’s next regular meeting is set for 7 p.m. March 18 in council chambers.