Athens City Council members discussed sustainability efforts within the Athens City School District building project with Superintendent Tom Gibbs at Monday’s meeting.
Gibbs presented to the council updates on what has been happening with the city school building project. The project includes construction of two new elementary schools and renovations to Athens Middle School and High School.
So far, there have been two planning committee meetings. The number of rooms in each future elementary school and the size of those rooms has been discussed.
The number of students in each classroom is also being discussed. The state of Ohio typically requires each classroom to hold 25 students. Athens, however, prefers to have 20 to 22 students per room.
“We’re having those difficult conversations about how many students per class,” Gibbs said.
Council members asked if implementing net-zero building in the elementary schools would be possible. Other schools have done this before, but Gibbs said that he has to fulfill. He plans to address promises that were made first, as net-zero recently became a concern.
“I’m certainly not saying that it’s not possible,” Gibbs said. “There’s other districts that have done it.”
Councilman Sam Crowl, D-3rd Ward, said that some people who didn’t support the levy support the schools using net-zero building. This is why the topic wasn’t discussed before. Even though these people did not vote in favor of the levy, their opinion should still be included, Crowl said.
“There’s lots of pieces I think,” Crowl said. “As long as the community can continue to be a part of that consensus.”
Councilwoman Chris Fahl, D-4th Ward, said sustainability should be addressed since the city is known for its green efforts.
“One of the legs on the three-legged stool is sustainability,” Fahl said.
Fahl encourages the planning committees to re-examine how many parking spaces they have allocated in order to promote walking. Fahl also proposed city council co-host some of the planning meetings in order to better involve community members in the planning process.
“The city is out here and willing to meet on a regular basis with the school district” Mayor Steve Patterson said. “We’ll work closely together.”
The city also heard a presentation from Daniel Brown on bringing the Athens Brick Criterium. The event would take place on June 21 and 22. A sprint taking place up Jeff Hill and a bike race on a closed circuit would occur over the two days.
“The date is ideal,” Brown said. “It’s right in the peak of criterium season.”
The criterium would help bring tourism into the city during the summer months. The last time the Athens Brick Criterium took place was over 20 years ago in the fall of 1986. Both councilman Pat McGee, I-At Large and Crowl recall the criterium taking place in the past.
“I have great memories for this event,” Crowl said.
