Athens City Council met Monday evening to discuss city projects and future events in Athens.
The Council approved a measure to transfer a liquor license for Sol Mexican restaurant to the new restaurant, which is supposed to open in the same location. Council President Sam Crowl also discussed Athens Earth Day events taking place April 14 in Walter Hall, featuring different environmental organizations.
The Council then heard comments from city officials where the mayor discussed issue 3, which would raise income taxes for City of Athens residents by a rate of 0.3%. Mayor Patterson highlighted an upcoming town hall meeting hosted by the League of Women Voters, where he said they would discuss the proposed income tax increase.
The town hall is tentatively scheduled for April 14 at 5:30 p.m. The mayor also said the city held a press conference earlier on Monday to discuss Issue 3.
Patterson also shared that Athens County received a certification from AARP stating Athens is an age-friendly community to live in, specifically for older residents.
Ordinance 0-25-25 was introduced by Councilmember Alan Swank, 4th Ward, which will allow a resident on Grosvenor Street to build a wooden fence crossing an unused city alley. The ordinance on third reading passed.
Councilmember Jessica Thomas, At-Large, introduced Ordinance 0-26-25 on behalf of Councilmember Micah McCarey, which authorized a budget increase for the Dairy Lane and Stagecoach Road sewer as part of the larger sewer expansion project.
This ordinance involved sidewalk construction and bike path repaving and was approved at the meeting.
Ordinance 0-27-25, also introduced by Thomas, authorized the funds to install a CityFibre network, a broadband internet provider.
Finally, Ordinance 0-28-25 was introduced by Councilmember Jeff Risner, 2nd Ward, and approved to allow the City of Athens to accept grant funding from the Northeast Ohio Public Energy Council.
Councilmember Solveig Spjeldnes introduced Ordinance 0-29-25 for second reading and requested some amendments. The ordinance authorizes the Athens Service-Safety Director to close streets for all major events in the year, such as the Halloween block party and Pride street fair.
The first amendment proposed to Spjeldnes was to add “Boogie on the Bricks” on June 14 to the list of approved events. After some discussion, the amendment was approved to be added to the ordinance.
Spjeldnes also suggested adding an emergency clause to the ordinance, meaning it would go into effect immediately after passing, as opposed to the usual 30-day delay. Patterson objected to this, stating the ordinance has nothing to do with the safety of citizens, so an emergency clause would not be appropriate.
The Council then decided to move to suspend the rule requiring three readings of an ordinance before approval to pass Ordinance 0-29-25 in time for the “Dora Kickoff Book Fair” May 17.
Before the Council could vote on the ordinance, Swank introduced a motion to amend Ordinance 0-29-25 again and remove Ohio Brew Week from the list of approved events. Swank was concerned because the Brew Week event overlaps with the first home football game of the year.
Swank said there would be an estimated 30,000 people in attendance for the game against West Virginia University, and some city officials were concerned about large crowds and alcohol overconsumption. However, Swank did not get a second to his motion.
The Council approved the suspension of the rules and passed Ordinance 0-29-25 by a 3-1 vote, with Councilmember Swank being the “nay.”
