Photo by Emma Delk Martins Ferry Service/Safety Director Andy Sutak gives his report during Wednesday’s council meeting.

MARTINS FERRY — City Council unanimously approved the purchase orders for components of a water line project on East Road totaling more than $13,000 on Wednesday.

One purchase order worth $6,096 was for the Wilson Blacktop Corporation of Martins Ferry, and the second, worth $7,290, was for Robinson Pipe Cleaning.

Service/Safety Director Andy Sutak discussed the need to approve the purchase orders during his report at the meeting. He said the Wilson Blacktop Corporation purchase order covered the aggregate for the water line project, including the materials to fill holes in the ground made for the project. He noted that this payment was higher than the original purchase order for the project.

The second purchase order to Robinson Pipe Cleaning was for the company to clean out one of the major sewer lines in the Broadway Street and Grant Avenue area. Sutak noted that the pipe cleanout cost was unknown until the company “went in there and looked at it.”

“Our guys went in and did what they needed to do to facilitate the sewer, to put the cement in and make sure everything was stable,” Sutak said. “The cleaning put us to the point where we could get in there and take care of the sewer base itself.”

Council heard from Justin Smith, Moundsville Volunteer Fire Department Assistant Chief, regarding discussions between MVFD leadership, Law Director Paul Stecker, Mayor John Davies and Sutak to sell one of the department’s two fire chief vehicles.

Smith said the group reached an understanding Wednesday morning that there is a route to sell the red Ford Explorer to the Bridgeport Fire Department. He said Stecker would have an ordinance prepared to vote on to sell the vehicle by the next council meeting on Wednesday, Dec. 4.

In an answer to a question from Councilwoman Suzanne Armstrong, Smith confirmed they would be selling the vehicle to the BFD for $10,000. He said a path forward had been determined for the sale so they would not sell the vehicle for more than $10,000.

Stecker elaborated on the proposed sale of the vehicle. He outlined that the “general rule” is that the vehicle must be sold for “fair market value.” However, since the vehicle is being sold to a political subdivision, the BFD, it could be donated to the BFD. He noted that for this to occur, the donation would have to be an “act of counsel.”

“We can do an ordinance that would say ‘We’re selling it for $10,000 and then donate the excess fair market value to Bridgeport,” Stecker said. “Then you guys [council] could pass that if you choose.”

Stecker said that if the vehicle was worth $20,000, the council would “essentially” sell it for $10,000 and then donate an additional $10,000 to the BFD to cover the market value sale cost gap.

Armstrong questioned whether the council was “actually” making this proposed donation. Stecker responded that they would not be making the donation but just selling the vehicle for “less than fair market value.”

“You’re not actually giving them any cash or anything,” Stecker added. Armstrong responded that she now understood the path to selling the vehicle to the BFD.

Armstrong then questioned whether the BFD had discussed the possibility of paying “more than $10,000” for the vehicle. Stecker confirmed this and added that during the previous MVFD administration, the late former MFVFD Chief Tom Kelly and the former MFVFD Assistant Fire Chief Jack Regis Jr. made a deal with Bridgeport to sell the car for $10,000.

“They’ve [the BFD] had that money set aside for over a year because we were supposed to get the other chief vehicle back on lease last Aug. and we didn’t get it until this summer,” Smith said. “I would like to honor past Chief Kelly and Assistant Chief Jack Regis Jr.’s promise to Bridgeport, so that’s what the cost of the vehicle will be.”

Councilman Benjamin Neiman also followed up with Davies regarding 88-year-old Martins Ferry resident Emma Davis. Davis fell due to recent work to repair water breaks in her neighborhood, damaging the end of her driveway. Due to the incident, Davis had to have a tooth pulled.

Davis’s daughter, Bellaire resident Becky Dutcher, addressed council during the Wednesday, Nov. 6 meeting to take action regarding the situation. In response to Neiman’s inquiry, Davies said the damage to the driveway was fixed the day after the fall.

Council unanimously approved the cancellation and rescheduling of the Wednesday, Dec. 18 council meeting to a later date.