Athens City Council Planning and Development Committee met Monday to discuss enlisting in a study with the United States Army Corps of Engineers, or USACE, to improve the conditions of the Hocking River.
The study is set to cost the city nearly $296,000 each year from the fiscal year 2024-2026, and the funding will be taken from the city's stormwater fund, which is already included in all residents’ utility bills.
Once complete, the study would determine a course of action for the city, to improve the quality of the Hocking River. The federal government pays for the first half, $100,000, of the funding stream mechanism and a local partner pays for the other half, Service-Safety Director Andy Stone said.
“This is an opportunity for us to … look at environmental remediation of the riverbed, channel and also to fix the problem at White’s Mill,” Councilmember Alan Swank, D-4 Ward, and planning and development chair said.
The USACE has the authority to mitigate environmental damage that previous projects have caused, according to Section 1135 of a federal statute, Stone said.
Stone said the project would focus on the portion of the Hocking River between the White’s Mill Dam and Richland Avenue, which has been identified as a potential candidate to improve the waterway and make it more environmentally friendly.
Swank said in the late 1960s, a new channel was created for the Hocking River and the waterway was rerouted to fix Athens’ flooding problems; however, that has caused long-lasting environmental effects, including a lack of wildlife, increased sediment and practically deforestation of the canal.
“We didn't know what we know today in terms of the impact on the environment,” Swank said. “By rerouting and creating a channel we thought we had solved the problem of flooding and by and large we had. However, over the last 60 years, we've created a lot of other problems.”
He said the study could also potentially fix those issues and help bring back vegetation and fish.
Councilmember Solveig Spjeldnes, D-1st Ward, voiced concern with sentiment build-up located in the river. She asked if the program would improve the aesthetics in that portion of the river.
Mayor Steve Patterson said the project could help the city better understand how to manage the sentiment build-up within the river, and how to prevent future tragedies from happening in the area.
“The plan would not be to disrupt the look and feel of the geography with the fall itself, but whatever it is, that is down below (the falls), could help with correcting some of the hazards that exist if someone were to try and go over the White’s Mill Falls,” Patterson said.
Councilmember Jeff Risner, D-2nd Ward, said he believes Ohio University should be willing to pay for the majority of the project because the university was the one experiencing most of the downfalls of the flooding.
Risner said flooding affected areas like Porter Hall basement, which went underwater, Grover Center and the basketball courts were destroyed. But, not many other Athens residents were not experiencing the same harsh effects of the flooding.
“It was OU that really benefited from (the waterway reconstructing) and it seems to me it'd be very nice if OU would come to the plate and say, ‘You're right. We're indebted to you. Here's a bunch of money. Do it,’” Risner said.
Risner said he would be willing to speak with OU President Lori Gonzalez about the study and the university’s potential financial involvement.
The Planning and Development Committee also discussed rezoning requests. Other committees also met to discuss updating flood maps, paving and road improvements and the potential future investment of city funds.
