ATHENS, Ohio — At its meeting on Monday night, Athens City Council voted unanimously to appropriate $600,000 to begin urgently needed repairs on Joneswood Drive, which recently suffered from major slippage after recent heavy rains.
Mayor Steve Patterson said the damage has taken away “half of the width of the street.”
The council also heard first reading of an ordinance to pursue a civil lawsuit against a Woodward Avenue property owner for building a brick paver patio and curb without city approval — and then seeking a special use permit after it was completed. Another first-reading ordinance amends the educational requirements for city engineer to allow longtime city water plant manager Jarod Balderson to take that role.
Joneswood Drive repairs
Council suspended its rules and then voted unanimously to pass Ordinance 0-48-25, “Declaring A Real and Present Emergency, thus Obviating the formal Bidding Procedure, for a Slip Repair on Joneswood Drive.”
Introduced by Councilor Solveig Spjeldnes, 1st Ward, the ordinance appropriates $600,000 from Street Fund 220 to begin the Joneswood Drive repairs.
The ordinance authorizes city Service-Safety Director Andy Stone to move immediately to hire an as-yet named construction firm to begin repairs — using 30-foot I beams to shore up the road — without having to follow normal bid advertising procedures.
Patterson said Stone is in contact with contractors he is familiar with for such work. Once one is selected, the slip repair should take six weeks to two months to complete, he said.
“The Joneswood road stabilization and repair will start as soon as possible,” Stone told the Independent in an email.
Audience member Barbara Stout, whose elderly father lives on Joneswood Drive, expressed concerns that an adjoining street also is showing signs of a potential slippage. Terrace Drive is marked by a series of fissures, she said, sharing photos of the street.
Stout said if Terrace Drive were to suffer major slippage, it would leave her father, who is in his ninties, all but stranded.
“This slip [on Joneswood Drive] did not come out of nowhere,” she said. “It was noticeably sinking for quite some time.”
Stone told the Independent in an email, “There is some evidence of a minor slip on Terrace between Riverview and Columbus Rd. It is not on the scale of Joneswood, but it is something we will address, albeit in a different manner than the Joneswood slip. I do agree that if we lost the road on Terrace we would have an access problem in that area, so we will act.”
City moves to file civil suit
Council heard first reading of Ordinance 0-51-25, which authorizes city Law Director Lisa Eliason to file a civil lawsuit in the Athens County Common Pleas Court for injunctive relief against Cameron Tope/Emerson Property Management, LLC.
Tope owns a duplex at 37 and 37 ½ Woodward Ave. The patio used to have a grass lawn, but last summer the area was covered by a brick paver patio with a curb at the street. The work was done without a special right-of-way permit from the city’s code enforcement office; Tope sought a retroactive permit after the work had been completed.
Eliason said the property owner has been notified of the city’s intent to file a civil suit. If the owner removes the brick paver patio and curb before the ordinance has its third reading, she said, the matter could avoid going to court.
Mayor to appoint Balderson as engineer
The council approved Ordinance 0-46-25 on first reading Monday, which will allow Patterson to appoint Jarod Balderson, water treatment plant manager, as the new city engineer. Currently the manager of the city’s water plant, Balderson as engineer would be in charge of Engineering and Public Works, described in the ordinance as the “city’s largest and most complex department.”
The ordinance amends the educational requirements established by another ordinance related to fringe benefits for non-union personnel. Although Balderson earned an accredited bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering, he does not hold a professional engineer license. The ordinance would give Balderson two years to pass the Ohio engineering principles and practices exam.
After Monday’s council session, Patterson said Balderson has done an exemplary job managing Athens’ “most important asset,” its Water Treatment Plant, which provides water to city customers as well as Ohio University and The Plains.
Asked if he could have advertised the job to outside candidates, Patterson said he always considers that possibility but that in this case, a highly competent, longtime city employee with leadership qualities was available for internal hire to be the next city engineer.
Councilor Jeff Risner, 2nd Ward, said Balderson will be a “great hire” and is another example of the city promoting from within to reward longstanding employees for their service. Patterson previously appointed Ron Lucas as director of the city’s human resources department after serving as deputy service safety director, and current Service Safety Director Andy Stone previously was director of Engineering and Public Works.
Ordinances approved on third reading
- Ordinance 0-39-25 authorizes $6.2 million in major work on the Stimson Avenue Bridge. Since being authorized in March, the project has received an additional $829,410 from ODOT’s Small Cities Fund. That brings the total state share to $5.3 million and drops the city’s share from $1.8 million to $900,000. The city’s portion will come from Street Rehabilitation Fund 572.
- Ordinance 0-40-25 allows the service safety director to dispose of surplus firearms and equipment — including 32 firearms, 23 Tasers, 19 radios and eight cases of ammunition — as a trade-in with a federally licensed firearms dealer, and to sell remaining property to other municipalities.
- Ordinance 0-41-25 enters the city into a perpetual amended easement and right-of-way agreement with Columbia Gas for maintenance of water and sewer lines. Council member Alan Swank, 4th Ward, said this will bring up to date an almost 100-year-old pipeline.
In other matters, council:
- Suspended rules and voted unanimously to pass Ordinance 0-47-25, an agreement with Washington County Commissioners which allows those arrested in the city to be housed at the Washington County Jail, when necessary, at a cost of $100 per day. The quick passage was necessary so the 1-year agreement can begin in May, and relates to the closure of the STAR Community Justice Center in Nelsonville.
- Heard first reading of two ordinances related to uptown street closure and allowance for vending and peddling for the Juneteenth Celebration on June 19. The annual celebration will involve closing East Union Street between Court and University Terrace from 1 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Heard first reading of an ordinance that allows for the addition of one full-time program specialist in athletics and fitness at the Athens Community Center, while reducing the lesser-paid position of operations specialist from two positions to one position. Patterson said the operations specialist who is retiring received maximum pay for the position, which is comparable to what the higher-paid program specialist will receive.
Athens City Council’s next regular meeting will be at 7 p.m. on Monday, April 28, 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.
Dani Kington contributed to this story.
NOTE: This story has been updated to include comment from Stone.
