Saturday, May 18, 2013
The city staff will present the 2013-14 budget to the Decatur City Commission on Monday. After that, several public hearings will be held.
The City of Decatur is entering budget season. That means a series of legally mandated public meetings will be held. Here's the schedule recently sent out by the city. All the meetings will be in city hall. Beginning Wednesday, copies of the proposed budget and the revised 2012-13 budget will be available at Decatur City Hall and at the Decatur Library. After Wednesday, the budget will be available on the city’s website. For more information, contact Meredith Roark, budget manager, at (404) 370-4102 or meredith.roark@decaturga.com.
Monday, May 13, 2013
At 7:30 p.m. Monday, the Decatur Zoning Board of Appeals will hear complaints about how the city handled the 315 West Ponce mixed-use project.
(Editor's note: Ralph Ellis is a resident of the 335 West Ponce condo building.) The Decatur Zoning Board of Appeals meets at 7:30 p.m. Monday night to hear resident complaints about the massive 315 West Ponce project. The city Downtown Development Authority approved the project last month, but people living in the neighborhoods around the proposed project filed an appeal. They say the city didn't follow proper procedures in processing the application. Many of the complaints question decisions by city Planner Amanda Thompson. City Manager Peggy Merriss said in an email that one of the city attorneys, Bryan Downs, will represent Thompson at the hearing. Kathie Gannon, a DeKalb County commissioner and a resident of the 335 West Ponce condo …
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
Members of the Decatur City Commission, School Board, Police Department and other wings of city government gathered Tuesday morning for the ceremonial groundbreaking of the Beacon Municipal Building.
Members of the Decatur City Commission, School Board, Police Department and other wings of city government gathered Tuesday morning for the ceremonial groundbreaking of the Beacon Municipal Building. The center will house the schools administrative offices, a new police department and municipal court, and a new Ebster Recreation center with a new gym. The project is expected to cost about $38 million with completion projected for spring 2014. Other stories on this subject.
Monday, May 6, 2013
The Decatur City Commission meets at 7:30 p.m. Monday and will also decide whether to extend the city manager's contract.
Decatur may make two changes in the tree ordinance that would affect home construction. The Decatur City Commission will consider amending the ordinance during a 7:30 p.m. meeting in city hall. In a memo, City Planner Amanda Thompson and arborist Ed Macie say some owners of single-family homes are circumventing the ordinance by taking down healthy trees before the property is sold. That allows them to avoid the requirements that come into play once a demolition permit is issued. The suggested change would apply the ordinance to single-family home yards in the R60 and R85 zones that are "pending real estate sale or title transfer or have been sold or title transferred in the past 18 months." The second recommended change would require all …
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
The Decatur City Commission heard about the police department's efforts to stop the recent armed robberies.
Decatur Assistant City Manager David Junger on Monday night told the city commission about the police department's efforts to stop the recent spike in street crime, including seven robberies. Junger said police think the first two robberies, on Feb. 7 and 26, may have been committed by the same people, but otherwise haven't found a strong link to the other robberies. The April 1 robbery at Wahoo! Grill on East College Avenue appears to have no connection to other incidents, he said. Junger said police are doing everything possible to stop the robberies. "Right now this is our number one priority," he said. The discussion took about half an hour and occurred near the end of the meeting. Though crime was the topic, no police officers …
Monday, April 15, 2013
The Decatur City Commission is expected to hear a report on the police department's response to the recent string of crimes.
The Decatur City Commission meets Monday night and is expected to talk about a recent increase in street crime. The meeting starts at 7:30 p.m. in city hall. Since Feb. 7, police have reported seven robberies in the city. Six were armed robberies. To see a full agenda for the meeting, go to the city webpage.
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
George Carley, the retired chief justice of the Georgia Supreme Court, administered the oath of office to Scott Drake.
Decatur has five city commissioners again. On Monday night, Scott Drake was sworn in as the commissioner for District 1, Post B. George H. Carley, the retired chief justice of the Georgia Supreme Court, administered the oath of office at the city commission meeting. Carley, a Decatur resident, noted that he'd known Drake since he was a boy. Drake takes the seat that Bill Floyd held for more than 20 years. Floyd resigned Jan. 7 to take a consulting job, leaving the board of commissioners with only four members until Monday night. Drake defeated Greg Coleson March 19 in a special election.
Monday, April 1, 2013
Scott Drake will officially take the Decatur City Commission seat that Bill Floyd held for more than 20 years.
Scott Drake will be sworn in Monday night as the Decatur City Commissioner for District 1, Post B. He'll take the oath at the 7:30 p.m. city commission meeting in city hall and then take his seat at the table with the four other commissioners. Bill Floyd held the post for more than two decades. Floyd, who also served as the commission-elected mayor, resigned Jan. 7 to take a consulting job. Drake won a close March 19 election over Greg Coleson. Drake will be the junior member on a board that doesn't see much turnover. The city webpage says Patti Garrett was first elected in November 2009, Fred Boykin in November 2001, Kecia Cunningham in November 1999 and Jim Baskett in November 1995 Drake, 37, grew up in Decatur and has served as the …
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Scott Drake topped Greg Coleson in a two-man special election for the District 1 seat that Bill Floyd held for two decades.
Scott Drake, an interactive marketing agency employee, was narrowly elected Tuesday night to the Decatur city commission for District 1, Post B. He defeated Greg Coleson, a software consultant and founder of the Decatur Farmers Market, by only 14 votes. The final tally was 539-525 (50.61 percent to 49.30 percent). Mary Frances Weeks, DeKalb County elections manager, said only two provisional votes are yet to be considered, and that's not enough to change the outcome. "This is it," she said Tuesday night. Drake will take the seat held more than 20 years by Bill Floyd, who resigned Jan. 7 to take a consulting job. When reached by phone at his election party at Mac McGee's, Drake said he couldn't pinpoint a reason for his victory. "I don't …
Greg Coleson and Scott Drake are running for the District 1, Post B previously held by Bill Floyd.
On Tuesday, voters will pick Greg Coleson and Scott Drake to serve as the new Decatur City Commissioner. They're running in a special election for District 1, Post B seat formerly held by Bill Floyd, who stepped down after holding the post more than two decades. Polls will be open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and only registered voters in the district (which is mostly north of College Avenue) can vote. These are the polling places that will be open: Floyd was the the commission-elected mayor more than a decade, a time when Decatur came into its own as a dining and shopping destination with a reputation for smart growth. Coleson is a software consultant and founder, with his wife, of the Decatur Farmers Market. Drake is the director of client services …
Stephen Decatur
7:14 am on Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Except that, since 2000, the city has added roughly 900 residences to downtown and traffic counts have remained basically unchanged. That's because mixed use, walkable, transit-served places offer more than one way to get around. If congestion gets too heavy, some percentage of people can make other choices and traffic stays in balance. more ›