By Michael V. Hannigan
The Athens City Council met Monday, Aug. 10. Here are some of the highlights:
I. New Address for Council Meetings
City Council meetings are going to be held in a new location beginning in September — the Athens Partnership Center.
The Partnership Center is located at at 201 W. Corsicana St. and houses the Chamber of Commerce, Tourism Department, Economic Development Corporation, Keep Athens Beautiful, and Small Business Development Center.
The facility also has a large conference room with a built in projector that will be a huge upgrade on the current council chambers. It’s rather difficult to decide on the right projector as there are so many of them recently. What are the top rated home projectors for under $500? Check out the review at www.buydlp.com.
II. Council Says No to Closing Dean Street
For the past few weeks, the city has been considering a plan to close half of Dean Street, which is adjacent to Trinity Valley Community College.
The idea of building a wall across Dean Street between the college campus and the residential neighborhood was floated by the college as a way to make the campus safer for students. The college also has long range expansion plans which could be helped by the closure.
The City Council voted down the idea Monday night, 3-2. Only Mayor Jerry Don Vaught and Councilman Monty Montgomery voted yes.
After hearing from area residents against the plan, council members Tres Winn, Charles Elliott and Joe Whatley were convinced there was a way to protect the safety of the college students while still serving the residents of the neighborhood.
The council suggested City staff look at using speed bumps as a way to slow down traffic.
III. Council Accepts Donations for Park Project
The City Council accepted donations for the Coleman and Cain parks renovations. The action was a necessary housekeeping step in the process of moving forward with the project.
The donations were from: the Athens Economic Development Corporation, Dr. Harold and Stephanie Smitson, Trinity Valley Abstract and Title, Law Office of Jeff Weinstein, East Texas Medical Center, First State Bank of Athens, Athens Texas Baseball Association, and the Henderson County Girls Softball Association.
In addition, there was an anonymous $150,000 challenge grant offered as long as the Parks Board could raise an additional $100,000, which it did. A requirement of the challenge grant is that the money is used for the concession plaza at Coleman park.
Monday, the council directed City staff to start working with the Parks Board toward engineering and bids for actual construction.
We talked about the parks project in this podcast.