Athens City Council will vote on the resolution during Monday night’s meeting opposing the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline.
Councilwoman Jennifer Cochran, D-At Large, introduced the resolution during last week’s meeting.
“Though it is far removed for our municipality, we as a city have taken steps to protect our water supply and we want to support the Standing Rock Tribe in protecting their water supply,” she said at last week’s council meeting.
The resolution was drafted in part at the request of some Athens residents.
“Resolutions generally offer local government a chance to formally express an opinion together,” Councilman Kent Butler, D-1st Ward, said. “But a resolution is a gesture and is not a law.”
In September, activists held a protest Uptown in front of the Athens County Courthouse about the construction of the pipeline, which would be a $3.7 billion project and would run from North Dakota through South Dakota, Iowa and Illinois. It would transport 470,000 barrels of crude oil per day.
“It is very important that we show our support,” Cochran said.
Council will also vote to allow the design engineering of the waterline replacement project.
The project will replace the main water lines and water services by updating meters and installing new fire hydrants on Grand Park Boulevard and Dalton Avenue. Grand Park Boulevard will receive an as asphalt overlay once the waterline installation is completed.
York Paving, an Athens-based company, won the bid for project. Engineering for the project will cost $60,000 dollars, which will come from the city’s water maintenance fund
