At the Steubenville City Council Meeting last night, City Councilwoman Kimberly Hahn brought up the problem of vacant or abandoned properties.

She asked for new measures to combat the problem after three houses were set ablaze in the Labelle neighborhood by an alleged yet unknown arsonist this past Friday.

Hahn proposed a few strategies to start speeding up review of vacant properties, including hiring former judges to speed up backlogged property cases.

Utility Director Chuck Murphy also let the council know that the city has been partly approved to proceed with a $7 million loan to repair its water lines.