MARTINS FERRY ­– The Purple City failed in its attempt to secure a $400,000 Land and Water Conservation Fund Grant, but officials aren’t giving up.

Service Director Andy Sutak told council last week after reading the rejection letter from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources that he would be inquiring about how the application from the city could have been better, or if it could have been tailored more specifically to what ODOT was seeking.

“Like I said, started already with the application, looking at some things … is there something we missed? Is there something we could do better or just pretty much go with the same thing and reapply and see how this falls into play with everybody else,” Sutak told council. “It’s like I said, we’re competing against everybody else.”

Sutak said he was also inquiring about which communities did receive the funding so he could compare Martins Ferry’s next application to theirs.

“We’re not going to stop,” Sutak said. “We’re going to continue to fund this, to rejuvenate our park and hopefully for next year, we can get accepted.”

He told council he was upset over the rejection and felt officials had submitted a “great application.”

“I thought it was a great need for our city,” Sutak said. “I thought it would really help the enhancement of our city park and community. So, I don’t know what the … criteria was that made the difference, but I will find out and I’m going to fix it and try to make a better application if that’s what it takes to get accepted.”

According to the U.S. Department of the Interior website, the funds primarily come from oil and gas lease revenues “on the Outer Continental Shelf.”

“The LWCF is based on a simple concept: take revenues from the depletion of resources – offshore oil and gas – and use them to conserve other resources: parks, wildlife refuges, forests, open spaces, trails and wildlife habitat,” according to USDI.

Council also passed several ordinances beginning with the appropriation from the General Fund for $10,000 to tear down a property on Center Street due to “imminent danger.”

Council finished by approving the appropriation of the 2022 budget funds. It was passed unanimously by council members Thomas Burns, Jack Regis Jr., Schramm, Robert Hunker, Bruce Shrodes, Suzanne Armstrong and Rick Rodgers.

Burns said the grant money was intended to improve the park’s entertainment areas, such as the pool, ballfield and possibly the recreation center.