Council OK's street closing

The area's biggest event isn't for another seven months, but one of the first steps has been taken.

Members of the Portland City Council agreed Monday to close a portion of North Morton Street during the Tri-State Gas Engine and Tractor Show in August - a move that has been made for at least 10 years.

The street will be closed to through traffic Aug. 20-30 between Pearl Street and the Tri-State campgrounds.

Employees of a factory and a business located on Morton Street will have access to their places of employment during the closure. The street is being closed to make the area safer for pedestrian traffic crossing between the Jay County Fairgrounds and the Tri-State campgrounds.

The annual Tri-State show will be held this year from Aug. 25 to Aug. 29.

"The show is one wonderful thing for the city of Portland," Bill Gibson, council president, said to Al Confer, president of the Tri-State Gas Engine and Tractor Association.

In other business Monday, council members voted to void eight city-issued checks totaling $323.94.

The checks were issued more than two years ago and never cashed, said city clerk-treasurer Randy Geesaman. Most of the checks were for water meter deposits. The largest check, which was $245.42, was a payroll check for a city pool employee. The most recent check was issued Dec. 6, 2007.[[In-content Ad]]