The Athens City Council convened for both its committee and general meetings Monday evening to discuss various topics, including planning and development, transportation, public safety services, as well as finance and personnel matters.
The transportation committee discussed various topics, such as the Municipal Parking Garage, which plans to provide free parking days in December 2026, including Dec. 4-5, Dec. 10, Dec. 17, Dec. 19 and Dec. 24.
Councilmember At-Large Beth Clodfelter brought the matter to Council's attention.
“In the month of December 2026, there will be several dates on which it will be free to park in the city parking garage, in an effort to encourage people to come and shop and do their holiday shopping at local businesses,” Clodfelter said.
However, Councilmember Alan Swank, D-4th Ward, suggested postponing the decision on free parking days until the construction of an automated kiosk system in the garage is finalized.
The city and safety services committee addressed two topics that sparked discussions not only among councilmembers but also with the community.
The city’s proposal seeks to allocate approximately $160,000 from the general fund to cover the costs of street lights.
Councilmember At-Large Paul Isherwood further elaborated on the matter.
“The proposal would be to add a utility charge of $2.50 to households and businesses in the city, and that would raise approximately the $160,000 to cover that cost and to take pressure off the general fund,” Isherwood said.
Aaron Thomas, owner of A-roc Entertainment and an Athens resident, spoke up against this proposed issue.
“I don’t want to be a cheap person when it comes to $2.50 a month, but it is $30 a year, and right now on top of everything else with the 0.2% city income tax that is going to be hopefully on the ballot in (May), on top of the tax increase from a couple years ago, on top of six levies getting passed two years ago and maybe three more this year, it’s kind of stretching the potential money in the city of Athens,” Thomas said.
Thomas discussed how these tax increases, as well as additional utility charges and increases, can quickly add up.
“The median income in Athens is under $50,000, so people don’t understand this is one of the poorest areas in the state of Ohio,” Thomas said. “It may be $30 here, but then it’s another $100 in trash, and then you've got another $100 in the water … so I think we need to find some other ways to come up with the money besides taxing anymore in this area.”
Councilmember Michael Wood, D-3rd Ward, discussed his concerns with the proposal.
“I think my other real nagging issue here is that there’s nothing that says that it stays $2,” Wood said. “It’ll inevitably go up, right? And people have even less say over it … so I’m worried that it’s $30 now and then three years and $60, right?”
Council carried on discussing the matter and then transitioned to financial and staffing concerns.
Following the committee discussion, Council held its regular session, during which it talked about the recent snow storm.
Swank discussed an email sent to Council by a former Council member concerning the current state of the city's sidewalks.
“I just want to use this opportunity to relay what this former city council member said, folks, if you can get out and shovel your sidewalks, particularly around places like schools that were heavily traveled,” Swank said.
Mayor Steve Patterson forewarned Council and Athens residents in attendance of the forecasted snow in the next couple of days.
Patterson said the city is running low on road salt and, despite contacting the Ohio Department of Transportation, has not been able to receive any additional road salt from what is already in stock.
“The only reason I’m sharing all this is I want everyone from today moving forward when you’re driving around the city of Athens, please, please be extremely careful as you’re driving,” Patterson said.
The ordinances for the second reading were presented and quickly handled, followed by a discussion on the ordinances for first reading.
Following discussions about the ordinances being presented for their initial reading, Council proceeded to resolution 03-26, requesting all elected officials institute a hiring freeze for all full-time positions until a position review is completed, which was swiftly adopted.
Athens residents voiced their concerns regarding issues that had not been tackled in existing legislation before the meeting was concluded.
