PORTSMOUTH, Ohio — Portsmouth City Council will decide Monday whether to place a renewal of the city’s street resurfacing levy before voters in November, as members also take up nearly $300,000 in appropriations for a bridge project, a housing development and emergency water treatment costs.
Council meets at 6 p.m. Monday at City Hall, 500 Chillicothe St., according to the meeting agenda.
On third reading, council will consider asking voters at the Nov. 3 general election to renew the city’s Street Resurfacing Levy, after determining that the maximum tax rate allowed without a vote of the electors would be insufficient to fund the work, the agenda said.
Members will also take third-reading votes on two appropriations: $52,500 from the general fund to provide matching money for planning, design and development of a housing project at 802 and 804 Chillicothe St., and $108,471 from the general fund for design, engineering and right-of-way acquisition needed for improvements to the Valley Street bridge.
On second reading, council will consider amending the city’s salary ordinance to reflect a contractual wage increase, retroactive to Jan. 1, for General Truck Drivers and Helpers Local Union No. 92, the dispatchers’ union. The change would also extend hourly pay classifications to cover a range of Portsmouth Municipal Court positions, including bailiffs, deputy clerks, probation officers and case managers. A separate second-reading measure would amend the city’s sewer code to add a new section on prohibited discharges.
Two first-reading measures are requested to be passed as emergencies so they take effect immediately. One would accept a grant from the Ohio Department of Public Safety’s Office of Criminal Justice Services, through the Recovery Ohio Law Enforcement Fund, to support the local drug task force and would establish a dedicated account for the money. The other would appropriate an additional $139,000 from the city’s waterworks fund to buy chemicals for the filtration plant, which the city said is needed to keep the plant supplied. A third first-reading item would update the city code governing maintenance of weeds, grass and brush.
City Manager Sutherland has also requested council consider two additional appropriations not yet formally scheduled for a reading: one for the police department and another to purchase playground equipment for Mound Park, according to a separate conference agenda released ahead of the meeting. Dollar amounts for those two items were not specified.
The information contained in this story was obtained from the City of Portsmouth.
