Chillicothe — In a regular council session that was moved up a week because of Memorial Day, the mayor touched on traffic issues – especially with this weekend’s festival in the park – as well as Wear-Ever pollution, tree planting, and the pool opening.
Mayor Luke Feeney gave his regular briefing to Chillicothe City Council on Monday, May 18th, 2026. (Hear him in his own words below.)
The Chillicothe Ross Chamber of Commerce had introduced their effort to address the serious impact of traffic hassles on local businesses in last week’s council session. In this session, Feeney said the city is making traffic counts to find out where backups are and where traffic is “migrating,” and he is communicating with the chamber to help get information out and help inform businesses.
Feeney pointed out that the Feast of the Flowering Moon festival is in Yoctangee Park this Memorial Day weekend…which is greatly complicated by park reconstruction.
He said Water Street will be closed between Walnut and Mulberry streets from Thursday afternoon through Sunday, so if you turn off High Street to Water, it won’t help you.
Feeney said the city has considered no left turn from southbound High to Water to help traffic flow, especially since the official ODOT detour is to Main Street – but he said they haven’t done that yet because the city wanted to see how the reopening of Mulberry and Riverside streets helps.
He also pointed out that Paint Street will be closed from Water to Second streets for the festival. Learn more on the festival on their website and Facebook page.
Feeney said the city is also thinking ahead for the July 4th traffic. In addition to the usual heavy traffic for viewing the park pyrotechnics, Independence day will have a bigger display since it is the 250th anniversary of the nation.
He said the traditional city pool opening on Memorial Day is being delayed to the following Wednesday since the midway for the Feast of the Flowering Moon is in the pool parking lot because of construction. The pool’s opening day will be noon to 6pm.
Feeney said that after concerns were raised about a plume of groundwater pollution from the abandoned Wear-Ever / Howmet factory on Eastern Avenue last year, the city has received a grant to pay for the first phase of testing of neighboring Mary Lou Patton Park.
The main concern that brought up the issue was that high-capacity wells nearby for the paper mill have been deflecting the plume from spreading further, and that the closure of Pixelle threatened to end that safeguard.
Feeney said the EPA has assured that the well will continue, but he said the city wanted to reassure residents that the park is safe. He said his administration has been working on this for the past six months and keeping lines of communication open.
He said the testing will determine if more testing is needed.
The mayor also praised the Chillicothe Tree Commission. He said a $300K grant from ODNR got 160 trees planted along streets and 20 in parks.
That has paused for summer wildlife with about half of what was ordered planted, but the city arborist funded by the same grant continues to work.
Learn about some of the commission’s work: “Tree Commission Keeps Chillicothe Green…and Many Other Colors.”
The entire council session is viewable in council’s video on YouTube or Facebook.
