Athens City Council President Chris Knisely spoke to Student Senate Wednesday about the role City Council plays in Athens.
City Council and Student Senate are both legislative bodies in Athens. City Council meets every Monday night at 7 p.m. on the third floor of the City Building. Its meetings are available to stream or view on YouTube afterwards. The body discusses the city budget as well as taking care of the city infrastructure and citizens.
City Council is currently working on a pilot program to grind the edges of the sidewalks to make them more accessible. The city has also worked with engineering students in the past on infrastructure problems, such as creating a water filtration system.
Knisely encouraged members of Student Senate to participate in particular committees where student representation is welcomed. Some of those committees are the Affordable Housing Commission, Community Relations Commission, Disabilities Commission and the Environmental and Sustainability Commission. City Council is always open to receiving resumes even if there are no openings.
Knisely also expressed concerns for local business, especially in the summer. There is an Uptown Business Association to support local business owners.
“Whenever you can, shop local,” Knisely said.
The meeting began with Noah Yonkers, a senior studying energy engineering, speaking out and asking for permission to keep skateboarding equipment by the basketball courts. Equipment was initially moved for the courts to be repaved with the promise of it being returned, but the skateboarders have since been told that they can no longer keep their equipment there.
The meeting continued with the approval of a senator for the Academic Affairs commission, supplies for the NEDA walk table and supplies for the sustainability week.
