Is it an alley or a throughway for nuisances?

Ironton City Council Thursday night suspended the rules and gave the required three readings to and final approval of an ordinance that closes a portion of Pond Alley.

That piece of roadway runs between Pleasant and Vine streets from Seventh Street to Walnut Alley. But Jack Hopper, who lives on South Seventh Street, said Pond Alley is hardly an alley and creates headaches for the people who live along it. He said people who use the alley often drive too fast in an area where children play.

“This (alley) doesn’t benefit the city. Someone is going to get hurt,” Hopper said.

The potholes, Hopper said, fill up with water when it rains and passing cars splash mud.

“Is there any opposition to this (closing the alley)?” Councilman Aaron Bollinger wanted to know.

“No,” Hopper replied. Some residents even signed a petition asking that the alley be closed.

Council President Mike Lutz, who sponsored the ordinance, said he has talked to other people who live along other portions of Pond Alley and have also expressed a desire to see their parts of the alley closed.

Also Thursday, Paul Glanville, of 12th Street, brought a plastic ice cream tub full of pieces of his street. His point was that the street is in desperate need of repair.

“I get out two or three times a week,” Glanville said, “and this is what I get.”