Last one about Athens – then I’ll get back to writing about coastal NC; sun is out, so the snow is beginning to melt. Maybe we can get back to the beach in a few more weeks.

ATHENS, Ohio – Back where we used to live, Athens City Hall may be considering a proposed $2.50 monthly utility fee to help cover the cost of powering the city’s streetlights, a proposal that drew strong reactions from residents during public comment at Monday’s meeting. The photo shows Aaron Thomas, who gave a great speech about the high cost of living in Athens.

And the salt needed to treat snowy and icy roads is in short supply.

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First — let’s talk fees, aka taxes… $2.50 per month, $30 per year – expected to raise at least $160K a year to pay the light bill.  

Council member Paul Isherwood outlined the proposal, saying a proposed charge would be added to household and business utility bills to offset electricity expenses currently paid out of the city’s general fund.

“There are seven hundred AEP-owned lights in the city, for which we are charged a flat fee, and about another four hundred or so streetlights that the city owns itself, and we are charged for the electricity to those,” Isherwood said.

Isherwood said the new fee would generate enough revenue to cover those costs.

“The proposal would be to add a utility charge of $2.50 to households and businesses in the city,” Isherwood said. “That would raise approximately $160,000 to cover that cost and to take pressure off the general fund.”

While council members framed the proposal as a way to stabilize city finances, residents who spoke during public comment expressed concern about the cumulative impact of new and existing fees and taxes.

Aaron Thomas of Avon Place said the added charge may appear small, but it would place additional strain on residents already facing rising costs.

“I want to address this about the potential $2.50 a month hike,” Thomas said. “I don’t wanna be a cheap person when it comes to two dollars and fifty cents a month, but it is thirty dollars a year.”

He said the proposal comes at a time when residents are already facing possible tax increases and higher fees.

“On top of everything else, with the possible .02 percent city income tax hopefully on the ballot in November, on top of the tax increase from a couple of years ago, on top of six levies getting passed two years ago and maybe three more this year, it’s kinda stretching the potential money in the city of Athens,” Thomas said.

Thomas emphasized that many residents have limited incomes.

“The median income in Athens is under fifty thousand dollars,” he said. “This is one of the poorest areas in the state of Ohio.”

He said retirees and residents on fixed incomes would be especially affected.

“Forty percent of the residents are retired, are on fixed income,” Thomas said. “So it may be thirty dollars here, but then it’s another hundred dollars in trash, and then another hundred dollars in the water, and then you got a fifteen hundred dollar increase if six more levies pass.”

Thomas urged council to look for alternatives.

“I think we need to find some other ways to come up with the money besides taxing any more in this area,” he said. “For some people in my neighborhood, that’s on a fixed income, thirty dollars is a lot of money.”

He used rising grocery prices as an example.

“I spent thirty dollars on two gallons of orange juice and a pound of bacon,” Thomas said. “So it adds up real quick.”

“I just wanna see if we can find other ways to cover that hundred and sixty thousand dollars in electric and some other fund besides throwing another tax on the city of Athens,” he said.

Holden Hodges of Richland Avenue echoed Thomas’ concerns and called for a different approach.

“Even if it is a small thing, like he (Thomas) was saying, they add up,” Hodges said. “I think that we need to take a progressive taxation strategy so that we aren’t unduly stretching people who can’t pay.”

He suggested that residents with higher incomes should bear more of the burden.

“If other people have more money to pay, then it makes more sense to have them cover it,” Hodges said.

Council member Michael Wood said he agreed with residents’ concerns and supported exploring alternatives.

“I think that we need creative solutions in that regard,” Wood said. “I very much agree with what Aaron (Thomas) said and everyone else.”

In other news, Athens is facing a critical shortage of road salt as winter weather continues to impact the region. Mayor Steve Patterson urged residents to use caution on city streets in the coming days.

Forecast calls for up to 2 inches of snow ahead on Tuesday — and coastal Carolina will be getting more snow on Wednesday, but we’re not out of salt.

During his remarks, Patterson said the city’s salt supplies are nearly depleted and that efforts to secure additional reserves from other agencies have so far been unsuccessful.

“Anybody who’s tracking the weather these days, when it comes to our road salt, we’re at a point where we’re running extremely low on salt, on road salt,” Patterson said.

Patterson said city officials contacted the Ohio Department of Transportation and ODOT District 10 in search of additional supplies.

“We have reached out to ODOT to see if we couldn’t get some reserve from them, and the answer was no,” Patterson said. “They, too, are running extremely low.”

The city also reached out to Athens County officials.

“I then asked our street department to reach out to the county engineer, Jeff Maiden, to see if they had salt that they had in reserves, and the answer was they are almost out of salt as well,” he said.

While Athens has placed an order for more salt, Patterson said the city is still waiting for delivery.

“We do have an order that’s in, so we’re waiting for that salt to come in,” he said.

Until the shipment arrives, Patterson said the city will need to conserve its remaining supply and focus on the most hazardous areas.

“With what we have until we do get our shipment of salt in, our plan is to hit the steep streets and to make sure that intersections are being effectively salted moving forward in time,” he said.

The city will continue plowing snow where necessary, but salt use will be limited.

“We will continue to plow where plowing needs to take place as if snow accumulation is present on the ground,” Patterson said. “But with that plowing, typically, they are spreading salt as well.”

Because of the shortage, he said drivers should be especially alert.

“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, please be extremely careful as you’re driving,” Patterson said.

He described the shortage as part of a larger problem affecting communities across Ohio.

“This is basically a statewide issue,” Patterson said. “I’m not gonna call it a crisis yet, but a statewide issue.”

Patterson said he wanted council members and residents watching the meeting to understand both the salt shortage and the strain on city workers.

“I just do want to get that out about our salt so that council is aware and that the viewing population is aware,” he said.

With supplies limited, Patterson said the city will continue monitoring conditions and making safety a priority until additional salt arrives. He encouraged residents to slow down, remain alert, and be patient as crews manage winter conditions with reduced resources.

Patterson also addressed recent infrastructure challenges worsened by cold weather, including numerous waterline breaks throughout the city.

“Over the course of the past week, we’ve had over ten waterline breaks in the city of Athens, and one of them was significant,” he said.

He said one major break occurred on Columbus Road near North Lancaster Street.

“It’s on Columbus Road,” Patterson said. “For us to really get in and assess the full extent of what needs to take place, we will likely have to divert some traffic on Columbus Road because it’s a difficult space.”

He described the area as being near the former State Highway Patrol barracks, the Ohio Valley Museum of Discovery, and the old fire station headquarters.

“We’re talking at the intersection of Columbus Road and North Lancaster,” he said.

Patterson praised city crews for continuing to work in difficult conditions to repair water and sewer lines.

“Our water crews, when there’s a waterline break, and this holds true on the sewer side, too, they don’t leave until that is fixed,” he said.

He said workers have been digging and repairing lines in extreme cold.

“They’re in the ground in these really incredibly difficult, challenging weather conditions that they are experiencing and getting the job done so that everyone can get the water that they need,” Patterson said.