Chillicothe — The city finally got a bid on the Belleview Avenue construction, filled three firefighter positions, and now has an app to help the public to report repairs.
Chillicothe Mayor Luke Feeney gave his regular update as the chief executive of the city and guest of council Monday evening. He gave me a thorough 12-minute interview which you can watch below, but here’s an oveview:
The city is starting its annual budget cycle…already. The department heads give reports in the first month, moving from capital expenses to personnel.
Feeney admits he actually enjoyed being the city auditor and managing money for three years before he ran as mayor.
In its second try, the city got a bid on the complicated rebuilding of part of Belleview Avenue near Grand Avenue. Feeney said they had probably under-budgeted it the first bidding round in the face of inflation. But, the same contractor who will repave all the rest of the street / road will also rebuild the failing drainage on the eastern slope…sometime before late fall.
Council’s microphones have been sounding gravelly, so Feeney put in a trouble ticket to get them looked at, and there is consideration for new podcast cameras. The city also has a new system that allows the public to report repairs, “Chillicothe Fix It!” – learn about that in a side story.
The city filled three empty firefighter positions recently, and Feeney said he was happy to swear them in. This is not an expansion of the force, but all three had previous experience as first responders.
He also mentioned that the city is actively hiring police, and that Chillicothe offers some of the best police pay in Southern Ohio.
And, the mayor also congratulated the local sports team, the Chillicothe Paints, on their second baseball league championship in a row.
Chillicothe Council passed all but one of their items on first reading, leaving item one for third reading and passage next session. They also spent thirty minutes in executive session on two topics: contract negotiations and legal advice.
