Here's what you need to know about Monday night's Athens City Council meeting:
Athens’ food projects are working
Community Food Initiatives, a local nonprofit that promotes access to healthy, fresh food in Appalachia, has had council members’ support for several years — and it’s paying off.
Mary Nally, director of CFI, gave a presentation at the meeting Monday night to update council members, who have given $6,000 a year to the nonprofit in the past, on how the organization is doing.
CFI was able to donate more than 84,000 pounds of food to Athens, Meigs, Morgan, Vinton and Washington counties in 2016, Nally said. The organization also invested $12,769 in the local food economy and gave 42,500 pounds of seed potatoes to 678 families across 12 counties in Ohio and West Virginia.
Nally said she appreciated council’s support but added that CFI hadn’t received any funding from the Vinton County commissioners, who preside in an area that has been a food desert for years.
“I would challenge the county commissioners to step up,” Councilwoman Chris Fahl, D-4th Ward, said.
Athens citizens may be paying less for utility gas
Eddie Smith,
Athens has progressively been using less and less gas throughout the years, Smith said. In 2014, Athens residents paid $4.4 million in total for gas, whereas in 2015 they only paid $2.69 million. Smith said aggregation could cut the costs down even further.
Council President Chris Knisely said council’s ultimate goal is to make utility bills cheaper for residents.
“Our ultimate goal is to reduce the amount that consumers pay for natural gas,” Knisely said. “This helps that happen.”
This wouldn’t be the first time
East State Street will soon be more accessible for cyclists and walkers
Athens City Council members discussed the proposed East State Street improvement project, which, according to preliminary projections, would cost more than $6 million.
The project will include a six-foot bike lane, which will create a larger buffer between the sidewalk and the road. Additionally, the wide bike lane will help drivers adhere to a recently passed Ohio law that requires cars to stay more than three feet away from bikes while passing them.
Most of the funding will come from grants and funds the city as built up over time, Athens Mayor Steve Patterson said.
“We’ve been allowing funds to grow so that they can be used in different projects,” Patterson said. “It’s a significant way to recapture some of that revenue.”
