ATHENS, Ohio — During Monday’s Athens City Council meeting, two council members asked the city administration to intensify its plans to mitigate flooding problems.
Storms on Sunday night and Monday morning dropped up to 3 inches of rain in Athens, causing widespread flooding in the city. Many of those areas also were flooded following storms in mid-August.
Michael Wood, 3rd Ward, said during the Sept. 21 regular council meeting that damage from flooding on Richland Avenue, East State Street and other areas shows that a faster pace is needed for mitigation efforts.
“I heard from residents on Congress [Street] who reported that the storm drains that were just cleaned out are already overwhelmed,” Wood said. He added that a Richland Avenue resident expressed to him that historic flood events seem to be happening every few weeks “but discussion plans only go so far.”
“I wish the administration were here to speak to this; it’s an all-hands-on-deck situation,” Wood said. “We need a comprehensive plan.”
Mayor Steve Patterson and City Service-Safety Director Andy Stone both were absent from Monday’s meeting. During the council’s Aug. 24 committees meeting, Patterson said short-range goals involve conducting the annual dredging under bridges and around culverts in September.
Mid-range plans involve installing industrial-strength trench drains on Richland Avenue, as well as eventually installing deep detention tanks in areas, including the south end of Richland Avenue. On East State Street, smoke testing for storm drains and sewer mains is underway.
But “dredging isn’t going to do the trick,” said council member Alan Swank, 4th Ward. “That’s just putting a Band-Aid on a sore.”
Swank showed videos of Richland Avenue at 1 p.m. Monday, about nine hours after the storms. One video showed water coursing down a hill at the University Courtyard Athens apartment complex, sheeting onto Richland Avenue. Another showed an overwhelmed Richland Avenue storm drain.
If the drain was overflowing that badly Monday afternoon, Swank said, imagine what Richland Avenue was like the night before around 2:30 a.m.
Swank’s last image was a photo from a retention pond fixture at The Summit at Coates Run. A cement fixture where a center pipe captures rain water and sends it toward the Hocking River was topped with debris — indicating the pond boundary had been breached by water, Swank said. That would potentially be a hazard as the hill behind the pond could give way in the future.
“We’re going to have to do something very, very quickly because we’re at about the point to lose businesses, and lose homes,” Swank said.
East State Street homes that repeatedly experience flooded basements also are a city responsibility, Swank said. Backflow valves need to be prioritized in at least three homes recently damaged by flooding involving sewer water, he said. And that should not fall on homeowners, he said.
“It’s the failure of our systems that is requiring those [backflow valves] to be put in, to protect their private property and livelihood,” Swank said.
Renovating East State Street to withstand heavy rains could cost the city millions of dollars, but needs to be addressed, Swank said.
Council member Jessica Thomas, At Large, said the council needs to “stay in our lanes” and allow city administration to address specific flood mitigation plans that will assist property owners. Swank, however, said although he believes in separation of the three branches of city government, the council can initiate spending ordinances. The council controls city funds, he said.
With at least four significant flooding events since June, Swank said the council needs to move forward with an action plan “if nothing’s getting done.”
Council member Beth Clodfelter, At Large, said she has invited Natalie Kruze Daniels, director of Ohio University’s Environmental Studies program, to speak during the Sept. 28 council committees meeting. Daniels will put forth a flood mitigation program for Richland Avenue, Clodfelter said.
Danger at top of Richland addressed by student senator
Connor Gaugler, an Ohio University sophomore and member of OU’s Student Senate, read the council a prepared statement on the dangers of pedestrian traffic trying to cross at the top of Richland Avenue near Bentley Hall.
On March 25, OU Student Senate passed Bill 2526-14, titled, “A Bill to Urge The City of Athens to Improve Pedestrian Safety on Richland Avenue.” The bill was sent to all council members via email from Gaugler, he said.
“The empirics support the idea that action must be taken,” Gaugler said. “In a poll of 444 Ohio University students, faculty members, and Athens residents, 85.6% found crossing in this area to be unsafe, 52.9% had nearly been struck by a motor vehicle while crossing there, and 91.5% believed that the City of Athens needs to take action to make crossing in this area safer.”
The area at issue includes the bridge at the top of Richland Avenue near President Street, West Mulberry Street and the Bentley Annex.
Gaugler said he conducted an informal traffic analysis with Swank and found that students’ travel time to classes is substantially lengthened as they try to navigate a crosswalk near Buffalo Wild Wings and the bridge. He suggested the city consider rumble strips to slow vehicle speeds, or possibly a beacon-assisted crosswalk.
“I am not here to place blame,” Gaugler said. “I am here today because the students of Ohio University, and the residents of Athens shouldn’t have to wait until there is a tragedy before this gets the attention of this Council.”
Clodfelter, who chairs the council’s Transportation Committee, agreed to meet with Gaugler next week to discuss options.
In action taken Monday, the council:
- Adopted Ordinance 82-26, which increases the amount of time violators are given to pay traffic meter fines, from five to 14 days.
- Adopted Ordinance 85-26, which authorizes fund transfers from several city departments to the medical fund of $30,000 each to provide early retirement buyouts for 11 city employees through the 2026 Employee Retirement Incentive Program.
- Heard first reading of Ordinance 87-26, which repeals a prior ordinance that would have leased the former fire station on Columbus Road, and instead authorizes the service-safety director to seek sealed bids in order to sell the property. The city had sought a lessee for more than a year. The price of the sealed bids must be at least $150,000 or above, based on one-third of Athens County’s assessed valuation of the property.
- Heard first reading of Ordinance 88-26, which would convey the former fire station on Columbus Road to the Athens Community Improvement Corporation, in the event the property cannot be sold. Swank said concurrent ordinances for the fire station are necessary so that the city doesn’t have to start over again in the event of no bids to acquire the property.
- Approved new member appointments to three boards: Stacy Strauss to the Board of Zoning Appeals; Fiona Davis, Brittany Multer Hopkins, and Aoife McLaughlin to the Environment and Sustainability Commission; and members to the Comprehensive Plan Review Advisory Commission, including Aaron Leatherwood, Matt Seifert, Alicia Sweeney, Kristie Thomas, Mark Weinberg, Natalie Wittmann and Kim Kelly. The process of selecting new members has been an endeavor since March of last year. More members may be appointed to bring the total serving to 11, a matter that the council will consider at a future meeting.
Athens City Council’s next meeting will be at 7 p.m. Monday, Sept. 28 at Athens City Hall, Council Chambers, third floor, 8 E. Washington St. Meetings are also streamed online. Regular sessions are on the first and third Mondays of the month; committee meetings are on the second and fourth Mondays.
