Athens City Commission on Disabilities and street luge were among the topics discussed at the Athens City Council meeting last night.
City Council members passed an ordinance creating the City Commission on Disabilities. One of the goals of the commission is to make Athens residents more responsive to the needs of those with disabilities, said Councilwoman Deborah Phillips, D-4th Ward.
The commission will include one representative from the mayor's office, one representative from City Council and nine citizens of Athens, Phillips said.
Some of the issues the commission will deal with include policies that affect zoning within the city, the fire department, police department and housing codes. The Athens Area Task Force on Disabilities, a local group of disabled citizens and their concerned friends and relatives, has pushed for the formation of the Commission, she said.
(A lot of what the group deals with) are aspects of life that you wouldn't think about unless you had to deal with it
Phillips said.
The group said it hopes to tackle housing codes within the city, she said.
Also at last night's meeting, council members discussed the possibility of a street luge competition in mid-April. Some concerns include the number of volunteers involved in the clean-up process and the street closings, and how the street closings are going to affect residents who live on the race course, said Councilwoman Carol Patterson, D-2nd Ward.
The street luge competition will be discussed more on March 1.
In other council news, the Herrold Square Apartment complex was approved. The complex would house a total of 45 people, with 30 one-bedroom apartments, five efficiency-style apartments and five two-bedroom apartments. It will be near O'Bleness Memorial Hospital.
The construction of the complex will begin within the next year after the designers need to refine some design details, said Jim Bloom, a partner of Diversified Properties, an Athens realty group.
Council members also passed a resolution requesting the speed limit on Pomeroy road to be reduced to 40 miles per hour. A request will be sent to the Ohio Department of Transportation, Patterson said.
The city passed an ordinance on Sept. 15 to conduct a speed-limit study of Pomeroy Road. 17
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