Projects

West State Street Park Improvement Project

The West State Street Park Improvement Project includes expanding the parking lot, adding a new restroom facility, renovating the existing restroom, and adding new shade structures on the dugouts at Fields 1 & 2. Expected completion is Spring of 2022 

East Side Solar Project

The City of Athens began developing a project scope at the end of 2019 to create a large scale solar project that could offset power consumption at City-owned assets on the Eastside. These facilities include; the Athens Community Center, Athens City Pool, Wastewater Treatment Plant, and Athens City Lab. These facilities constitute some of the highest power consumption and electrical costs to the City. 

Since these assets are located so close to one another it made sense to explore ways to significantly reduce power consumption and electrical costs. The average cost for electric at the Wastewater Treatment Plant is over $30,000 per month. Likewise, the average cost at the Athens Community Center is over $4,000 per month and the Pool is over $1,500 per month respectively. While the community center and pool do not draw nearly as much as the plant, it does constitute a large portion of their budgets.  

After looking at several models to reduce power consumption and make it cost effective for the City, it was determined that the best route would be to conduct a competitive Design-Build Power Purchase Agreement process.

Hocking River Riparian Area Project 

The Hocking River Riparian Area Project is located along the river directly behind the Athens Community Center.

This area along the Hocking River is a riparian/floodplain corridor which means, it may flood during large rain events. As a riparian, the growth of plants and trees slow the movement of storm water to the river. This gives the storm water a chance to permeate the soil which assists in maintaining a cleaner river. 

Invasive Plants - This area has a history of agriculture and commercial use which enabled the area to become dominated with invasive plants that are not native to an Ohio landscape. Non-native plants create an undesirable habitat for pollinators and other wildlife.

The Restoration of Native and Natural Landscape Project - The City of Athens, will be removing these invasive species over the next year. Please excuse the debris while we strive to make this area a better environment for storm water management, pollinators, wildlife, and the people of Athens.