Athens City Council met on Monday to discuss a special consideration of a petition that involves establishing new community authority for the Ridges.
According to a previous Post report, approval of the new community authority, which assists in the construction and financing of the plan, by the Athens County Commissioners, Ohio University Board of Trustees and the Ohio Controlling Board, is expected to be granted in October.
CEO of Community Building Partners, or CBP, Joseph Recchie, presented to council that the purpose of this project is to repurpose and revitalize a historic part of campus. With the Ridges still mostly intact, Recchie said he wants to optimize its usage.
One of his goals is to create housing units within the Ridges’ site. Recchie said the new infrastructure improvements will be intended for housing, which will make it easier and more accessible for living spaces.
The total cost of infrastructure, estimated by CBP, is set to cost about $7.1 million, according to a previous Post report.
Athens Mayor Steve Patterson is optimistic about increasing housing opportunities in the City of Athens. He said the Ridges would potentially provide 700 added affordable housing units for the community.
Councilmember Solveig Spjeldnes, D-1st Ward, shared concerns from community members about children’s parks in the area; she hoped that the future of parks would not be abandoned because of this new project.
However, Recchie assured council that it is not in his interests to move away from prioritizing the parks for the community.
“The existing park playground would continue to be just the way it is. We do not wish to disturb that in fact, quite the opposite,” Recchie said. “With the new community authority, there may be some ability to support further development of that playground area because the kids there and the more (they) use, the better the services.”
Council approved the one-reading resolution.
