The weekend’s high winds caused a dugout at Eljer Park to collapse. At Monday’s city council meeting, officials said they’re still working out the cost to repair the dugout.
(Journal-Tribune photo by Will Channell)
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The Red Cross and City of Marysville are working together to protect the community from house fires.
Todd James, executive director of the North Central Ohio Red Cross, spoke to city council Monday about the organization’s program to install new smoke detectors in local homes.
James said the most common type of disaster the Red Cross responds to are fires in single-family homes. He said an average of seven people per day die from fire in the country. About half of those are in homes with no smoke alarms, he said.
The “Sound the Alarm” program sees Red Cross representatives going into homes at the owner’s request and installing new smoke alarms.
“While we’re in there, we also take a little time to educate them on how they can be prepared for emergencies,” James said.
While the program is ongoing throughout the year, the American Red Cross has an event every spring where the organization aims to install 100,000 smoke alarms in 1,000 cities across the country.
“This year, we’ve selected Marysville as one of those cities,” James said.
On April 27, Red Cross volunteers will meet at Partners Park and go door to door in Marysville, hoping to reach 800 to 900 homes.
James said the smoke alarms are free, and there are no income guidelines.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re in a 100-room mansion or a one-room hut,” James said.
The Red Cross has already reached out to city administration, with Fire Chief Jay Riley recommending the best areas in Marysville to install them.
“We’ve tried to pick out some neighborhoods where we’ve gone into homes where there haven’t been smoke detectors,” Riley said.
That typically means older homes and trailer parks. Riley said newer housing developments already have working smoke alarms.
Red Cross Disaster Program Manager Adam Warnement said the Red Cross just completed the same program in Findlay. The organization reached 650 homes in that time.
Warnement stressed that the Red Cross is providing families with information in addition to smoke alarms. Representatives distribute literature detailing fire safety during the event, and go over safety plans with families.
Warnement also said some local churches will have sign-up sheets for families interested in new smoke alarms. He said that will minimize the amount of door-to-door “walking around” volunteers will do.
He said residents who don’t answer their door will have a chance to set up a time to install an alarm later.
“If they don’t answer the door, they get a door hanger with that information,” Warnement said.
Afterward, Public Service Director Mike Andrako told council that Sunday’s severe winds caused a dugout at Eljer Park to collapse.
“That’s going to be a pricey fix,” Andrako said. “We’re working on how much that’s going to cost to repair.”
Councilperson Nevin Taylor asked if insurance will cover the damage at Eljer, or if the city will pay for it out of pocket.
Andrako said while the city will have to pay for repairs, fixing the dugout shouldn’t cost as much as other repairs made in the past after flooding.
“Typically, we’re on the hook to replace that,” Andrako said.
That’s not the only damage the weekend’s wind caused. The city welcome signs on Collins Avenue and North Main Street fell down. Some tree limbs in the city’s parks were knocked down as well.
He said sanitation crews will add an additional wood chipper to their routes to keep up with any branches residents put out for them.
“We’ll use that second chipper until that volume comes back to normal,” Andrako said.
Also at the meeting:
– Chase Cutarelli, member of the Marysville High School Gender and Sexuality Alliance, briefly spoke to council about his group’s desire to paint a community mural in the city.
“It would be sort of a thing to get a lot of kids involved from different backgrounds,” Cutarelli said.
Council referred him to Marysville City Planner Chad Flowers as a starting point.