City Council recognizes police officer of the year, provides update on pool

Athens City Council recognized Destry Flick as Athens’ officer of the year, gave an update on the community pool and addressed several ordinances Monday night.Flick is a member of Athens' mounted police unit and a recipient of multiple awards during his time as an Athens officer, including two life-saving awards in 2014 and 2015.Athens Police Chief Tom Pyle said Flick is “the embodiment of all that is good in our profession.”“It’s a team effort in our department, I’m just a little spoke in that wheel,” Flick said. “Others were nominated, they deserve it just as much as I do.”Flick expressed his gratitude for the opportunity to work in Athens as a part of the unit and acknowledged its significance in representing the Athens Police Department.“I look forward to many more years of service in the city of Athens,” Flick said.Mayor Steve Patterson also provided council with the update on Athens’ municipal pool. The large pool was recently patched with floor liner and will soon be tested with chlorinated water to make sure that the lining holds. The baby pool’s lining was said to be so thin that patching was inefficient; however, tests will be conducted to see if its leaking is significant.The plan is to build a new municipal pool for the summer of 2017 and use the current pool for one more summer.“I’m hopeful,” Patterson said about the plan. “It looks like this patch is holding, but as you know we still have 40-year-old pipes running the pool. But it looks like the liner is going to work, and that’s huge.”Council member Michelle Papai, D-3rd Ward, also mentioned her opinion on the success of the International Street Fair.“The move up the street seemed to be welcomed and people enjoyed where the stage was set up,” she said.Additionally, council approved a number of ordinances, including the purchase of a salt truck with a snow plow, two sewer trucks and an accessible-chair lift in the Athens City Building.Other ordinances reviewed were the approval for Mayor Patterson to apply for HAPCAP’s CHIP program, street closures for the Ohio Brew Week and King Midget High Street Challenge and an adoption of 64-gallon recycling carts.