Decatur To Vote on Courthouse Lawn Repairs

All those festivals on the Decatur Court Square have taken a toll.

The lawn near has become so worn down over the years that the City of Decatur wants to budget $275,000 to renovate the area. The city commission will vote Monday night on the project.

Work would start just after July 4 and take about two months, said a memo from Deputy City Manager Hugh Saxon.

Saxon said the work would include "removal of compacted soil around the bandstand, installation of a waterproof liner, drainage system, structural soil mix, irrigation system and laying a new Bermuda turf lawn. Several declining trees will be removed and replaced with trees, shrubs and other landscape improvements."

If the commission approves, a $224,000 contract will go to Ed Castro Landscaping Inc. of Roswell. That company was the low bidder.

Funding comes from a Decatur Beer Festival grant, the Downtown Development Authority and the Conference Center Fund Balance.

In other business, the city commission will vote on whether to adopt the Environmental Sustainability Plan.

The city environmental sustainability committee has worked for months on the plan and held several public meetings. The theme of the plan is "Decatur Grows Greener."

The latest version of the plan can be found on the city website.

An agenda for tonight's meeting, along with supporting documents, is posted on the city website.

The commission will hold a work session at 4:30 p.m. on the city budget. A dinner session for commission and staff will be held at 6:30 p.m. and the regular meeting starts at 7:30 p.m.

All meetings will be held in city hall and are open to the public.

City commission meetings (but not work sessions) are broadcast live on Comcast channel 25. They are rebroadcast at 2 p.m. the Saturday after the meeting.