City officials are reminding residents that even though Marysville has a street sweeper again, they have a primary role to play in keeping the streets clean.
“Just be neighborly. That is all we are asking,” Councilman Henk Berbee said at a recent meeting.
Council member Deb Groat said that with the warm weather, she has been outside more. She said she has seen more trash laying in the streets.
She said there needs to be “a neighborhood commitment to keep our neighborhoods clean.”
“Keeping the streets clean, that is on you and me fully,” Groat said. “That is on you and me.”
The council member said trash in the streets goes into the storm sewers and eventually into Mill Creek.
“You are saving your city money by doing these things and you are being a good community citizen,” Groat said.
Berbee also asked residents not to blow grass and yard clippings into the street. He said the debris in the street can be annoying and even dangerous for travelers on bicycle or motorcycles. He asked city law director Tim Aslaner if the city has any type of ordinance about blowing yard debris into the street. Aslaner said there are rules against bringing excess mud or dirt onto the streets, but nothing about yard waste.
“At some point, legislation becomes ridiculous,” Groat said. “Can we just use common sense?”
In other news:
—The City of Marysville received a pair of checks — one from Union Rural Electric and the other from Ohio Emergency Management Agency — totaling more than $50,000.
At the meeting, Beau Michael, director of development and energy services with Union Rural Electric (URE), presented Mayor J.R. Rausch with a capital credit check for $25,041.94.
“As a coop, we are a nonprofit organization, any profits we had at the end of the year we return to the members, the City of Marysville being one of those members,” Nicol said.
Rausch said he appreciated the check and the work URE does.
City Administrator Terry Emery also informed council of a $26,532.96 check the city received from the Ohio Emergency Management Agency as a reimbursement for expenses incurred when city firefighters were sent to North Carolina as part of the Hurricane Florence relief effort in September 2018.
“It was nice to get the funds back for the work that was done,” Emery said.
Additionally, he said it is nice to be recognized for the work done by city employees.
—Rausch reminded council members and the public the next council meeting will be held at 7 p.m., Tuesday, May 28, in council chambers, 209 S. Main St.
Typically meetings are held on the second and fourth Mondays of the month. Rausch said the city would be closed in observance of Memorial Day.
Emery said Memorial Day in Marysville will begin with a ceremony “to honor those lost at sea” at 8:15 a.m. on the Main Street bridge. The parade will begin at 9 a.m. at the intersection of East Fifth and Plum streets and use Fifth Street to get to Oakdale Cemetery.
Councilman Nevin Taylor reminded participants and residents that no candy should be thrown.
“It is to honor and show respect to the fallen soldiers,” Taylor said.
-Public Service Director Mike Andrako told council that remediation at the former Clark station at the intersection E. Fifth and S. Vine streets is “95% complete.”
He said the tanks have been removed and top soil will be laid when the ground dries a bit. He said the city will put a fence around the property for a few weeks to allow grass to grow on the site.
He said the city will mow the property.