Athens City Council met Tuesday to discuss two ordinances for Project 329, which aims to improve sidewalk accessibility and traffic signals in the uptown area.
Council President Chris Knisely said changes will be made on Washington St., State St. and Mill St., which have the most difficult sidewalk areas for pedestrians.
The first ordinance allows Service Safety Director Andy Stone to enter an LPA Federal Local-Let Project Agreement supporting and administrating federal expenditures for all phases of the project with the Ohio Department of Transportation.
The second ordinance authorizes Stone to advertise and accept bids where necessary and enter into contracts for the uptown project.
Councilmember Jeffrey Risner, D-2nd Ward, said the city received $1,005,000 in grant funding from the Ohio Department of Transportation.
Section 3 of the ordinance authorizes Stone to expend up to $2,205,000 allocated toward the project.
The Council also held a special Committee of the Whole meeting to discuss a possible letter to be sent to the National Forest Service to support a name change for the Wayne National Forest in response to requests from Native American tribes and community members.
“We concur that it’s important to have a name that reflects the historical importance of the only national forest in Ohio. As Ohio is the Iroquois word meaning ‘great river,’ we think the use of this word provides a significant heritage link,” Knisley said. “For those reasons, we support a name change to incorporate ‘Ohio’ to convey its significance to the state and for the forest to be (renamed) the Ohio National Forest.”
