Athens City Council discussed at yesterday's meeting an ordinance that would add a new item to the Nov. 2 ballot to increase the percentage of Athens residents' income tax that goes toward street rehabilitation.
Athens city officials want to increase the amount of income tax collected for street rehabilitation from .1 percent to .12 percent, said councilwoman Chris Knisely, D-at large. The increase would be added onto the current tax until the current tax expires at the end of 2011, she said.
If citizens' votes pass the item, they would pay .22 percent of their income taxes to street rehabilitation and sidewalk repairs for about a year, Knisely said.
Money to fix sidewalks and walkways are pulled out of the streets fund
but they aren't street repairs Mayor Paul Wiehl said.
Knisely said she is unsure of the dollar amount the income tax percentages represent.
City Council members also discussed requiring all rental and commercial property owners to install carbon monoxide detectors in properties run by fuel-burning devices, such as gas and oil.
Athens Fire Chief Bob Troxel said the city should require property owners to install carbon monoxide detectors.
It only takes an hour for someone to die from high levels of carbon monoxide Troxel said.
Detectors should have a non-lithium battery backup and a digital readout, which tells fire officials the seriousness of the leak when they arrive on the scene, Troxel said. He added that lithium batteries are not good because they cannot be replaced.
Detectors last about five to 10 years and the batteries must be replaced periodically, Troxel said. He added that the best detectors are plug-in detectors with a battery backup in case of a power failure.
Although City Council members have discussed requiring all Athens residents to have detectors in their homes, there is not a way to enforce this rule, said councilwoman Sherry Coon, D-2nd ward. But, the city can enforce installation in the rental units because the units are inspected every year.
Detectors should be installed in bedrooms in case they go off in the middle of the night, Troxel said.
We're not a normal community
He said. We have a high percentage of rental units. We need to make these as failsafe as we can.
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Alex Stuckey
