ATHENS, Ohio – At its regular meeting June 17, Athens City Council passed an ordinance authorizing Mayor Steve Patterson to join the Southeast Ohio Recycling Terminal Council of Governments.
Ordinance 0-53-24 authorizes Patterson to “take all steps necessary to join the Southeast Ohio Recycling Terminal (SORT) Council of Governments (COG); and to provide the annual dues payment.”
The mayor may now submit a written request for admission to become a member of the SORT COG and, if accepted, to execute the COG agreement and pay the $500 annual dues payment.
The Athens-Hocking Solid Waste District and the village of Amesville officially formed the COG — Ohio’s first COG for solid waste management — on May 16. The COG was formed to absorb operations of Athens-Hocking Recycling Center, whose future became uncertain when the city of Athens switched its trash hauling contract from AHRC to Rumpke in December 2023.
The audience burst into applause once the ordinance was passed. Area residents have pushed the city to join the COG at multiple previous council meetings and in a letter-writing campaign. One individual inquired about the solid waste district’s proposed parcel fee, which is not tied to the city’s COG membership.
Joining the COG does not guarantee the city will ultimately contract with the COG for waste services, or break its contract with Rumpke. Athens Service-Safety Director Andy Stone told the Independent on June 17 that the city “is prohibited by law from entering into a contract for service with SORT unless it could provide the same service at a lesser cost.”
Also on Monday, council passed Ordinance 0-45-24, which “authorize[s] the mayor to pay the 2024 membership fee for the Outdoor Recreation Council of Appalachia (ORCA), to provide financial support from the city’s transient guest tax for the Baileys Trail System, along with other recreational activities.”
This ordinance included an amendment proposed at the May 20 meeting that makes the city’s $90,000 membership fee contingent on “sufficient, legally available, [and] lawfully appropriated” tax proceeds and a general fund reserve balance of at least 9%. The amendment was introduced after City Auditor Kathy Hecht warned that ORCA membership was not financially advisable for the city.
In April, Hecht warned the city that the general fund balance had fallen below its statutory minimum threshold of 7.5% of annual expenditures. At the council’s May 20 meeting, Hecht said the fund balance was at 6%. The city’s goal is to bring the reserve to at least 9% .
At Monday’s meeting, council member Solveig Spjeldnes, 1st Ward, asked Athens City Treasurer Josh Thomas if the city was “anywhere near” 9%. Thomas said it was not.
Council also heard the first reading of Ordinance 0-65-24, which amends zoning requirements for tobacco and cannabis establishments.
The Athens City Planning and Development Committee considered the issue last Monday, based on a recommendation from the Athens City Planning Commission. The proposed rezoning is a response to the legalization of recreational marijuana, passed by ballot initiative in November 2023.
Although the state Division of Cannabis Control has started to accept applications for recreational cannabis sales, the legislature is still discussing measures limiting recreational use.
Council member Alan Swank, 4th Ward, said the proposed ordinance would need to be changed because it assumes “a proliferation of cannabis shops here in town.” Currently, only existing dispensaries can obtain licenses for recreational sales. The only dispensaries in city limits are Harvest of Ohio, 711 W. Union St., and Debbie’s Dispensary, 544 Richland Ave.
Stone said he has heard that the state will require recreational cannabis shops to be at least 1 mile apart, although he has not seen it stated officially. If true, he added, that limitation will be “significantly more restrictive than what we’ve proposed in the zoning code.”
The planning commission’s proposal states, “[Establishments distributing cannabis] shall be at least five hundred (500) feet from a school, public library, public playground, public park, or any other cannabis establishment.”
“The planning commission’s recommendation for this was to establish something in our zoning code that we could live with that was in place in such a condition that the state of Ohio chooses to change the way that they’re going to approach this,” Stone said.
Stone added that there is still potential for the state legislature to change the regulations, so the planning commission thought it would be wise to establish zoning regulations “so that it was an allowed use, but [not] an overabundant use.”
“What the planning commision put in place, functionally, would allow for one establishment per block in the central business district,” Stone said.
Stone stressed that this is not a licensing provision for the city of Athens, it is a zoning change that allows or prohibits use of a particular parcel.
Council President pro tempore Jeff Risner said it would be best to leave the proposed ordinance as written by the planning commission until the legislature has voted on pending bills. The proposal will have its second reading at council’s next meeting on Aug. 5.
Athens City Council’s next regular meeting will be at 7 p.m. Monday, Aug. 5, in Athens City Hall, Council Chambers, third floor, 8 E. Washington St. Meetings are also available online. Regular sessions are on the first and third Mondays of the month; committee meetings are on the second and fourth Mondays. Regular meetings are not held in July unless otherwise ordered by the council.
