The Appalachian Center for Economic Networks (ACEnet) will use state grant money to determine if the Athens Community Center parking lot can host events like the Athens Farmers Market.
At yesterday's meeting, Athens City Council authorized Leslie Schaller, business coordinator at ACEnet, to accept an $18,000 state grant to fund the research for a possible Public Market Pavilion at the Athens Community Center.
ACEnet will hire design professionals and traffic consultants to determine if moving the farmers market to the community center is possible, said Councilman Jim Sands, D-at large.
Although the Athens Farmers Market was allotted space at the community center parking lot during the planning 10 years ago, Council's recreation committee opposes the move because traffic congestion might increase, Sands said.
Things have changed
Sands said. The community center is a popular spot parking lots are filled a lot of the time the farmers market is a hugely successful event and traffic is a big problem.
The farmers market will need to move before the summer, he said.
In other business, Council members approved purchasing and installing light-emitting diode (LED) traffic lights to replace the final incandescent bulbs in Athens traffic lights.
Fifty percent of Athens' traffic lights and all of the city's pedestrian signals use LED lights now, said Street Department
Director Andy Stone. City electricians will begin installing the remaining lights within 30 days.
Incandescent is literally a technology over 100 years old
said Mayor Paul Wiehl. So it's time to change it out.
The operation will cost over $45,000, but the Appalachian Regional Commission awarded the city a $15,000 grant to install the lights, according to city documents.
LED traffic lights last longer and burn brighter so they are easier to see and safer in traffic, Wiehl said. LEDs use 90 percent less energy overall than regular incandescent bulbs, which utilize only 10 percent of their expended energy to light the bulb, he said.
Though it may cost the city a lot initially, the LED lights will pay for themselves in one year, Stone said. The city will pay a quarter of the usual electricity costs, and maintenance costs decrease because LED lights last 15 years while their incandescent counterparts must be replaced every one to two years, Stone said.
This is a win-win situation because it reduces carbon footprint and energy costs
Stone said.
17
Archives
Sarah Beth Hensley
