Athens, Ohio-Rotz of the residents of the neighbors about a blind curve, a narrow street without sidewalks and the loss of a green belt, the city council of Athens voted in the Hooper Street of R-1 and R-2-Single-Family and Duplex Housing-zu R-3 during a special session for REZONE 5 ACRES.
The coordination when the council members Micah McCarey and Solveig Spjeldnes were absent, was an important step for developer Hill Tide Partners of South Carolina to advance with plans for the construction of an affordable residential project from up to 80 units – part of 18 acres, which contain plans for houses outside the city limit.
The Council heard in other shops
- First reading of a regulation that would almost double the city's costs for a training facility for public security on Kenny Drive;
- First reading of a changed regulation for the construction of a common usage route on Columbus Road, which increases the financing of the Odot project and the city for the project to an estimated 1.8 million dollar; And
- Second reading of a regulation that corresponds to 932,000 US dollars from several sources to cover the final payment in the City Fire headquarters in the Stimson Avenue.
Controversial reconciliation
City Councilor Alan Swank, 4TH Ward said that the rededication of eight packages in the 111 Hooper St. until Regulation 0-56-25 is only the first step to approved an affordable residential project of up to 80 units that is distributed over 5 acres. The heavily forested area is located along a slope opposite the Monticello Village Apartment. The property belongs to Sean White, co -owner of the Little Fish Brewing Company in Athens.
Taylor Koch, a partner of Hill Tide Partners, informed the Council that the company wants to start an application in July at Ohio Housing Finance Agency for tax credits with low income with low income that includes a competitive process. The projects selected for the Lihtc Awards should receive notification after Thanksgiving, he said. Lihtc projects have to create apartments for people who live in the area at 50% or 60% of the middle income.
The project would have to go through the city's approval process.
The strong resistance to the project comes from the residents of Nottingham Drive, including Diana Marvel, who said that she had moved from the US state of Washington to Athens and learned from the Rezoning proposal after being closed in early May. She spoke twice against the project, even at a public hearing on June 2, when she said that the proposed project would ruin the experience of homeowners like her who wants to live in a quiet area that is zoned for individual homes in single -family houses.
In a letter by e -mail to the city council on June 9, Marvel said that the project “would destroy an existing area that Athens turned home to a special place”. She said there are areas along Columbus Road, which are much better suitable for the development of mixed residential areas, since this area has access to health services, public transport and simple access to the highway.
“Change the zoning is not just a breach of contract. It is unethical that the city approved this change,” said Marvel, who works for Ohio University. “This proposed reconciliation will pave the way for an important apartment development in less than five, but for eighteen tomorrow, a large part of which is currently a green belt. This development would supposedly bring a company to our backyards and withdraw the current residents of their lifestyle.”
During the public hearing on June 2, the resident of Nottingham Drive, Aaron Romero, said a narrow street with a blind curve near the proposed project area was “incredibly dangerous”. He asked the city councils to visit the location before making a final decision. A stream of the website could also be affected by the project, he said.
The costs for training courses increase
The Council heard the first readings of two regulations in connection with the construction of a training facility for public security on the southwestern side of the city – one of them more than the city's share in the project.
The original regulation corresponded to 2.9 million US dollars for the project, almost all of which came from the 2024 expenditure costs. At that time, the city made only 400,000 US dollars from the city's coffers. However, the regulation stated that “future water and road devices will be requested for this project to connect the waterline and the road from the end of the Kenny Drive to the Eiiiotviiie Road in order to increase access and redundancy in the water system.”
The change in consideration increases the project budget by almost 2.2 million US dollars to a total of $ 5.1 million. Additional funds included an additional 800,000 US dollars from the Street Fund 220; 600,000 US dollars from the Water Fund 740; 400,000 US dollars from the channel fund 750; and 381,000 US dollars from the Sewer Fund 755.635.
Andrew Chiki, deputy director of service security, informed the council that the city divided the project into two contracts: one for road, water and sewage work and the other for the construction of the facility itself.
The contract for road work will go to York paving, said Chiki, whose low offer was well under the estimate of the engineer of just over 2 million US dollars.
“We checked and checked and checked triple to ensure that this was legitimate because it was a bit surprising,” said Chiki. “But it looked at it.”
Between the low bid and a grant of 200,000 US dollars from the Odot office for jobs and trade, the offset costs of almost 1 million US dollars mean, said Chiki.
“It is really exciting from this purpose,” said Chiki.
The acceptance of the Odot grant was the subject of the other regulation related to the project.
The construction contract for the facilities will compete for pepper construction, said Chiki. The 1.6 million dollar bid by Pepper was slightly higher than the engineer's estimate, but bids that are within 20% of the estimate are acceptable.
Chiki said that the project includes the installation of a prefabricated burning tower for fire and police training exercises for scenarios including active fires, forced entries, limited rescues and other scenarios. An additional building for shared use is built with a secure outdoor property for police and public work.
The warehouse building enables the city to consolidate several rooms that are currently used for storage, and these spaces for another use, said council member Jessica Thomas, who represents the committee for city and security services.
Odot increases the financial financing of the common use
The Council also discussed a proposed 1 mile usage path on Columbus Road.
Odot will cover 90% of the costs. City Councilor Jeff Risner, 2nd Ward reported that the agency agreed to increase the upper limit for its share of just over $ 1 million to $ 1.38 million. This enables the city to increase its share in the project by $ 75,000 to a total of $ 425,000. Of this amount, 160,000 US dollars were previously approved for engineering and design, with 260,000 US dollars from the Street Fund 220.
The total cost of the project is 1.81 million US dollars.
The combined pedestrian/bicycle path will help to improve the safety of pedestrian and bicycle security on Columbus Road. The supporters recently appear before the council to receive support.
The changes to the budget returned the regulation to the first reading.
Failure saving of the fire center
Without discussion or changes, Council heard the second reading of a regulation that approved a final payment of 932,000 US dollars for the pepper construction for the new fire station on the Stimson Avenue.
The proportion of the lion in the payment covers the almost 722,000 dollars that the city sent to Pepper Construction in November 2024. Payment was actually applied for by e -mail fraudster who directed the funds on a fraudulent account with a bank in Kentucky.
The funds for the Make -up payment include 52,000 US dollars for general fund accounts for fire brigade and other administrative services. During the building on application interest $ 150,000 of $ 150,000; and 200,000 US dollars from an insurance claim.
The remaining $ 210,000 are suitable for add-on projects such as additional parking space, an art walk and a fitness court. At former council meetings, council member Michael Wood, 3RD Ward criticized the city for not presenting these projects for approval.
Andy Stone, the director for the city's service security director, said that the projects are part of the first plans for the project.
