ATHENS, Ohio — At its regular meeting on Monday night, Athens City Council heard third reading of an ordinance authorizing multiple fund transfers to yield the $932,000 owed to Pepper Construction for building the new fire station on Stimson Avenue.
As at previous meetings, councilor Michael Wood, 3rd Ward, objected to the addition of $210,000 for an expanded parking lot, a fitness court and an art walk that he believes should have received council approval before being done.
“I’m still … I guess the polite term is ‘upset’ about the whole thing,” Wood said. “I’m inclined to vote against it.”
At the council’s May 27 meeting, Service Safety Director Andy Stone said that the projects were part of a community asset component that the council had discussed in the project’s early stages.
On Monday night, Wood said that answer was “pretty flip.” Neither Stone nor Mayor Steve Patterson were at the meeting.
Had the items come before the council individually, “It’s probably stuff we would have done,” Wood said. Since they had not, he said, he was inclined to “at the bare minimum, abstain.”
However, that possibility presented a procedural obstacle. The ordinance declared an emergency, allowing the payment to be sent without having to wait 30 days, as is the case with ordinances passed under normal rules.
But passing an ordinance as an emergency requires five affirmative votes — and council members Micah McCarey, At-Large, and Alan Swank, 4th Ward, were absent.
Deputy Service-Safety Director Andrew Chiki said that the city would still have to pay the bill whether the fund transfers were approved or not. Failure to pay would affect the bond the city took out on the project “and that would be pretty painful,” he said.
According to Treasurer Josh Thomas, Stone has said that when a large project can be expanded “at a much-reduced rate, it’s within our best interest to do this.”
“You’re correct that better communication along the way would be helpful,” Thomas told Wood.
When the vote finally occurred after lengthy discussion, Wood abstained. But Law Director Lisa Eliason said Wood couldn’t abstain unless he had a conflict of interest.
Wood hesitated before changing his vote to yes for a 5-0 count.
Asked later if he felt pressure to change his vote, he said, “I mean, given the nature of needing every vote, there certainly is pressure to go along to get along.”
Wood offered there are times that council members do not vote on items “and that happens pretty frequently.” Had all seven council members been present, he said his vote would have likely been a “no.”
Community engagement position feedback
The council also unanimously approved an ordinance changing the title for the diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility training coordinator to community engagement and accessibility coordinator.
The council took some criticism on the issue from Michelle Hahn, a member of the Athens City Commission on Disabilities. She said the commission is glad to see that the new title includes “accessibility coordinator,” indicating that the city is attempting to at least partially comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
However, Hahn said the commission was not contacted directly about the new position title and “only heard about this through the grapevine.” She added that the job should require certification through the Great Plains ADA Center.
In other action Monday, the council:
- Approved a resolution requested by the Ridges New Community Authority to replace board member Dominick Brook, who is resigning, with James Kaufman. Kaufman will take the lead on the project for Ohio University, stated a letter from Joseph Recchie, chair of the New Ridges Authority. In a related matter, the Ohio Controlling Board’s Department of Administrative Services — on behalf of Ohio University — requested as of Monday that the state controlling board convey 27 acres of Ridges land to Ridges Community Development, LLC, at a cost of $534,218. The land transfer includes 459,427 square feet of buildings. The transfer is a necessary step in the authority’s plans to develop housing on The Ridges.
- At the request of Law Director Eliason, approved joining an amicus brief filed by the city of Columbus in support of the city of Cincinnati. Eliason said the request came from the Ohio Municipal League. The case involves whether a Cincinnati resident, Mark Miller, has the legal standing to challenge Cincinnati City Council’s approval of a low-income housing development.
Due to a summer recess, Athens City Council’s next meeting will be held Aug. 4 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.
