City of Athens, Ohio Mayor's Press Conference 2023, 25 Jan 2023

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From YouTube: Mayor's Press Conference - January 25, 2023

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Mayor's Press Conference - January 25, 2023

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Thank you good afternoon and welcome to the weekly update with Kyle Johansen and the mayor um before we jump into the weather. I want to talk about weather. You know, I I, don't know about you Kyle, but I was all ready and prepared for there to even be a dusting.

B

If there were to be one this morning because we kept hearing, you know- maybe maybe an inch of snow but uh I think everything shifted to the north and we just got a little bit of kind of sleety stuff that came down and and rain and now I don't know what the temperature is outside, but man it's, it's, certainly not cold out there, but that's going to change. Isn't it it's going to change all right. Talk us through the.

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Next, seven days Kyle, so today we got Cloudy Skies with periods of rain. This afternoon, high of 51 chance of rain 90 percent. Tonight we got quite a bit of snow showers, developing after midnight low for a three chances of snow 40 percent.

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Tomorrow we got snow showers, High 37, low 26, chance of snow 44 percent Friday. We got morning clouds. All by afternoon, sun high of 38 12 34. Saturday. We got quiet, Skies, High, 47, low 35., San, Diego showers, High 45 above 34..

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Next Monday we got quality, Skies, High, 45, low 28..

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Next Tuesday we got afternoon rain, snow showers, High 41, low 33 and next Wednesday, which is February 1st Ray and snow mix. I have 38 12, 19, Transportation, rotations, 70 percent and covid.

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The good news is, we have not seen our winter search as we have in the last two years, but we are still monitoring a new Omicron sub variant. That's actually vaccines to work against it and flu cases. We have picked the flu. Usually, we usually pick the flu around in January early February, but we peaked it earlier than usual because it started earlier than usual, which is good because we're heading the airway too.

C

In sports we got so. The men's team won last night against Western Michigan 88 to 68, and then we got women's basketball back home Saturday at one wrestling Sunday at one and then next weekend, it's sips week and also bow the bricks for men's basketball. Next Saturday at 1pm, no take that back. It's at two o'clock, P.M next Saturday and wrestling wraps up at home next Friday at 7 pm and wrestling. You do not need tickets for those, because it's always free no parking. Well, there's no pay parking, there's no tickets period.

C

It's always free free admission to all and baseball starts in about home in about less than two months away, and then shortly after that, we got copperheads and in fact all you fall stuff again. You.

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Ain't copperheads I'm, looking forward to the.

C

Copperheads me too and baseball: oh, you have baseball and softball.

B

Yeah yeah yeah yeah I'm not jumping too far ahead and uh hopefully I'm not, but no I I agree with you yeah and you know it's this and you would know. Is this one of our warmest winters.

C

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Least, to this point in time: yes,.

C

Because we've been in a strong poor, poor Vortex phase, which means it's poor Vortex, has been far north than usual.

B

Yeah yeah, it's just it's it's just weird, you know. Could it be global warming? You know um anyway. Thank you. Kyle and I also want to add to your stuff about covid. You know I've talked about this before, but we still continue to do the sampling within our wastewater treatment system. We have four sites one's at the community or the communities are not there. One is that uh they'll always watch.

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The wastewater treatment plant Richmond Avenue.

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Depot Street lift station and West State and and uh yeah on West State, and then we have the other one, that is by the library, and then the university has their five sample sites and just to be real about all this that you know those those viral load numbers do continue to Bobble up and down um the most recent sampling results.

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That I saw showed that there is again an increase, but you know unless I see you know Trends to where we keep seeing tenfold increases in different sites, and we have not seen that um you know, then that's when there's a level of alarm but again I guess. The other point being is that people need to still get boxed. You know and get boosted, and you know pretty much everybody's eligible to.

C

Get yeah, except for the last final Group, which should come out soon, yeah.

B

Yeah so Kyle. Thank you um a couple other things to share. We don't have a whole lot today. We do have a number of job listings that I want to make sure I mention, uh but to begin with, I had a really great interview if you will, um on a podcast, that's put together by the former city council member and mayor of Clarksburg West Virginia, who, once upon a time, was also the president of the National League of cities.

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He puts on this really cool podcast called amazing cities, he's the author of the book, amazing cities and towns, um and so Scott and Ryan have graciously put that up and pushed it out on the city's website, as well as on our social media platforms. So it's a really interesting candid conversation that I had with with Jim, because he was really interested in the town gown that we are and how things are going. So it's out there I've also pushed it out on my personal Facebook account.

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So uh if you're interested in wanting to listen, I believe it's approximately a 40-minute conversation between the two of us about what makes Athens Athens and we are a wonderful great City in my opinion, so check that out Christmas tree pickup. It will continue through the end of this month. So again, if you are really hanging onto that tree, but you know that the needles are starting to drop um and likely they started dropping before Christmas and the holiday season.

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But if you're looking to get rid of it, you can call engineering and public works and schedule an appointment for them to come and pick it up. You can call them at 592-3343.

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um The only thing is we request that you make sure it doesn't have ornaments on it. Certainly no lights on it and remove the tinsel. If you use tinsel Scott or Kyle is tinsel still a thing that people I haven't seen it in a long time either. But I don't know, maybe it exists out there. But again, this is a free service, so take advantage of having the your your tree picked up and hauled away: um Athens Poet, Laureate poet, poetry party, at Arts West.

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This is going to be January, Friday, January 27th um celebration, a celebration of thanks for the 2020 2022 Poet Laureate Wendy McVicker, and meet the new poet laureate for the city.

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This is uh Steph, Kendrick stuff came before city council and took the helm as our fourth Poet Laureate for the city. So come down and check it out. It is 5 30 to 7 p.m. At Arts, West again on the 27th of January. They invite you to this thing. There will be open mic and refreshments. So if you yourself are a poet, you can probably wrap off a poem or two. But again this is a big. Thank you to Wendy McVicker and all that she was able to accomplish.

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As our third poet laureate the Washington Street sidewalk project, still chugging on it'll be taking that that process will go through spring.

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This is between North Shafer and South Lancaster street, so just FYI that that project continues- and um this is really in alignment with the report that came out at City Council on Monday evening from the ad hoc, accessible sidewalk committee, that put a lot of work into putting together a very detailed and lengthy report that Council has been digesting and figuring out. What our next steps are many recommendations within that report, but anyway here's another example of some of the work that the city is putting into creating safer pedestrian passageways.

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So keep that in mind. I mentioned jobs, oh before I go to jobs. I was just kind of perusing through the a news, and there was a an announcement in here and I.

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Don't know if Scott, if we've talked about this before at all or not, but the County dog license deadline for your canine friend is January 31st, so I know we just renewed our dog license not too long ago for our beloved um Aussie doodle Tito is his name, but you need to make sure your dogs are licensed here in the city of Athens, so you've got until the 31st of January to do that. Jobs, jobs, jobs, jobs, the if you go to.

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Www.Ci.Athens.Oh.Us slash jobs just put in jobs uh looking for summer jobs, we've got plenty of them. We have uh you'll, see a posting for lifeguard to where there is also training that the city is doing at the pool to train lifeguards or training, that's being done at some tank of water um uh for lifeguard, Red, Cross, lifeguard training, so there's lifeguards and those positions start at twelve dollars an hour.

B

I I believe that that might actually be thirteen dollars an hour Scott. Let's do some fact checking to see because I know that that head lifeguard all right. Thank you.

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um Looking for a headlife guard as well, and that starts at 13 an hour I'm not going to read the job descriptions, you can go online and read them for yourself, cool cashiers.

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That is another posting that is a 12 an hour job and they're. Also looking at program coordinators Recreation, this would be um Recreation program coordinator will assist the program specialist and assistant director with the development planning, implementation of programs and events, while monitoring facilities, use and services provided so and there's more in here.

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But uh if you're interested in being a Arts, Parks and Recreation program coordinator, you can check that out that starting pay is twelve dollars an hour and then finally, we have before and after school Child Care instructors that are being sought um at least opens vacancies.

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uh Those that position unto itself I'm not seeing on here what the this is eleven dollars an hour. Thank you uh eleven dollars an hour. This is working with our before and after school programs that we have at the community center.

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um So if that's something that is of interest to you, I think we should really kind of get that out to the Patton College of Education that has all of the early childhood instructional programming at Ohio University. But but now you know for anyone who's watching today um remind us what's the next game and when, when might be the next Rufus sighting here in the city of Athens, when it comes to Saturday and Sunday Saturday and Sunday, and this is going to be for almost.

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Basketball and wrestling.

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Basketball and wrestling and I guarantee Kyle Johansen is going to be there. I will I know you're going to be there all right thanks for joining Kyle and I, and please join us again next week for the next weekly update with.