The Athens City Council narrowly approved a proposal to commit city funds toward the renovation of an Athens State University building this week, voting 3-2 in favor of annual payments totaling $3.89 million over 10 years to support the capital improvement project.

Council members Wayne Harper and James Lucas cast the two opposing votes as the measure passed, with Harper citing the city’s upcoming financial obligations involving its own municipal projects as the reason for his “no” vote.

“I think this is a good project,” said Harper of the university’s plan to renovate its aging Carter Hall facility. “But right now … we’ve got too many big money projects facing us in the near future, so I vote ‘no.’” Lucas offered no remarks in casting his opposing vote.

The approved resolution will commit $389,560 in city funds annually toward the Carter Hall renovation, to be used by Athens State to defray its debt service for the project’s cost. The city’s first payment over the course of the agreement’s ten-year period will be made during the current fiscal year; the final one during the 2034 fiscal year, totaling $3,895,600 overall.

In other business at its regular meeting, the council:

— Approved the annual budget for the city’s Electric Department, which operates on a fiscal year calendar that begins July 1.

— Adopted a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Limestone County Commission to facilitate the holding of the upcoming Aug. 26 municipal election in the City of Athens. The county commission also approved its own MOU for the same purpose at its most recent meeting.

— Awarded a $283,963 bid for city infrastructure work along U.S. Highway 72 to the Rogers Group, with the funds to be drawn from the city’s 2024 bond issue for infrastructure improvements. Mayor Ronnie Marks noted that the awarded bid, which will fund work done near the site of a new Texas Roadhouse restaurant on Highway 72, will cost the city approximately $100,000 less than its engineers had anticipated.

— Approved an equipment purchase for the Gas Department in an amount not to exceed $22,000.

— Approved an equipment for the Fire Department in an amount not to exceed $4,000.

— Held a public hearing to solicit comment on zoning approval for the sale of alcohol by N Vir Athens, Inc., doing business as Ankr Food Mart (located at 1517 North Jefferson Street in Athens), to accommodate a change in the establishment’s ownership. No one spoke for or against the measure during the hearing.

— Approved the minutes of the council’s June 16 regular meeting.