City Council hears from Athens farmers’ market, discusses fire truck payments and issues with saved vacation time.
Athens Farmers Market advocates and vendors poured into the Athens City Council meeting Monday night to show their support for the new push to relocate to a more permanent, indoor setting.
The farmers market is currently located is the parking lot of the Athens Mall on E. State Street, which the vendors say is less than ideal.
“The open air environment we operate in is becoming more difficult,” Leslie Schaller, a member of the task force in charge of finding a new location for the market, said.
In recent months, the task force reviewed a total of 14 locations, inspecting them for a list of criteria including cost, space, accessibility and utilities, City Planner Paul Logue, a member of the task force, said.
By far the most viable option currently being discussed is a local dog park outside of the Athens Community Center, Logue said.
The tentative plan would be to convert part of the park into a pavilion where vendors would have access to power, plumbing and a more permanent structure, he added.
“We shared the recommended site with the vendors and received their recommendation to go forward,” Laura Black, a spokesperson for the task force, said, adding that the plans are still hypothetical at this point.
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Council members raised some concern about the increase in traffic to the area, especially in regard to a traffic light at the entrance to the Community Center.
“I’m really worried about increasing traffic in that location,” Councilwoman Jennifer Cochran, D-At Large, said “At this point, it’s not safe so adding increased flow concerns me.”
Nevertheless, council members responded positively toward the project.
Councilman Jeff Risner, D-2nd Ward ended the discussion by echoing those sentiments.
“I support this. I think it’s a great idea. I don’t think there’s any problems we’ve heard tonight that can’t be overcome,” he said.
Council also revisited the issue of city employees’ accrued vacation time.
Risner said he will draft an ordinance to assert the authority of the city council as the determinant of the vacation time dispute.
“Only city council has the power to work with or grant benefits to employees,” Risner said.
The dispute arose from a memo sent Aug. 10, from Athens City Deputy Auditor Laura Kreider.
The memo stated that on Oct. 3, all city employees would lose any accrued vacation time past three years.
Athens Mayor Paul Wiehl echoed concerns with the confusion over the acquired vacation time for city employees.
“I’m aware we only have one mechanic for city vehicles. We have a skeleton crew doing sewer maintenance,” Wiehl said.
He added that many city employees are attempting to use their vacation time before possibly losing it in early October.
Cochran mentioned she had spoken with a city administrator about the confusion.
“In an ideal world, you (the city) would provide years,” Cochran said.
Risner acknowledged that the problematic memo needed to be addressed.
“That doesn’t deal with the issue that has employees panicking,” he said.
An ordinance will be introduced next week by Risner.
The city will also be receiving two new fire trucks: a pumper truck and a ladder truck.
The pumper truck will cost about $585,000 with the ladder truck weighing in at $1.2 million.
Ohio University has already contributed $25,000 toward each trunk, equalling a $50,000 donation from the university this year.
“One-third of the calls they (the fire department) receive are to the university anyway,” Wiehl said.
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