Athens City Council discussed an ordinance to allow a new beverage company to enter into a four-year, $70,000 contract with the city to exclusively sell its products at various city locations at the council's meeting last night.
The Recreation Department of Athens has had a five-year agreement with Pepsi, which allowed Pepsi to be the exclusive vendor on the scoreboards at the Athens Community Center and Jaycee Fields, in addition to refreshment stands at various events.
Council members are not sure if Pepsi will renew its contract, which ends this year, so a bid was placed to find a new beverage company.
The contract states that the recreation department receives 30 percent of the beverage company's revenues, said Carol Patterson, D-2nd Ward.
Also discussed at the meeting was the new vending ordinance that will raise the costs of vendors parking on the Baker Center side of N. Union Street to $1,000 annually. It also was discussed to have the vending costs increased by 3 percent each subsequent year.
Council will decide each year the cost of Halloween weekend vending. Many of the vendors only use their license during Halloween weekend, members said, so a use it or lose it clause was included in the new ordinance. The clause will state that all vendors must use their license for a set minimum number of days a year to prevent one-day only usage.
Also at the meeting, Leslie Schaller, coordinator of Start-up Services, spoke on behalf of the Community Food Initiatives group, a nonprofit that helps people in cities to grow their own food and promote self-sufficiency.
One of the main projects council and CFI would like to expand is composting. Jim Sands, D-at large, spoke to council about the project, which was developed two years ago and previously discussed in council. However, Sands said it is more logistically difficult than originally anticipated
costing more than they expected and requiring a license.
The city provides curb-side pickup of leaves and yard waste in the fall, but CFI would like to expand that project to be year round to include compost piles. A project of that sort probably will cost about $200,000 annually.
Composting and pick-up services would be a small step toward an environmentally friendly way to dispose biodegradable products.
This is a revolutionary thing to make people aware of the larger picture Sands said.
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Meghan Nicholson
