November NewsLetter
Jared Bailey
District 5 Newsletter
NOVEMBER 2012
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Statesman Quote: “What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others.” -Pericles |
This newsletter is intended to keep the residents of District 5 informed about community matters. If you are not receiving this newsletter by email and wish to do so, please send an email to me at Jared....@athensclarkecounty.com and I will add your address to the list. If you have any questions or concerns about community issues please contact me by email or at 706-338-9019.
Dear District 5 Residents-
Here is another installment of news that affects the best district in Athens:
IMPORTANT NEWS
BOARDS, AUTHORITIES, AND COMMISSIONS (BACs)
Unified Government of Athens-Clarke County seeks citizen volunteers: there are a number of Boards and Authorities of the ACC Government upon which citizens who are interested in helping their community can serve. Currently ACC is seeking qualified applicants for appointment to the Board of Elections, Board of Tax Assessors, Hearings Board, Industrial Development Authority, Library Board, Planning Commission, Mental Health Board, and the Vision Committee.
All of these positions are important, but perhaps the most significant way a citizen can have a MAJOR IMPACT on the future of our community is by being a member of the PLANNING COMMISSION. I urge those of you in District 5 with a desire to shape our county in the best possible way to apply for this position.
Applicants must be Athens-Clarke County residents and registered to vote in ACC. Applications can be obtained online at www.athensclarkecounty.com/clerkofcommission or from the Clerk of Commission’s office in Room 204 of City Hall, 301 College Avenue. For more information, please call Jean Spratlin, Clerk of Commission, at 706-613-3031. The deadline for receiving applications is Friday, November 9, 2012. Qualified candidates will then be interviewed by members of the Mayor and Commission (M&C).
ELECTIONS
Tuesday November 6 is Election Day. For information on the ballot please visit the Secretary of State’s website at https://mvp.sos.state.ga.us/Login.aspx and enter your name, county of residence and DOB and it will bring up the specific ballot you will see on election day. There are no contested local seats but, in the Georgia House of Representatives race affecting District 5 the candidates are Spencer Frye (D) and Carter Kessler (R), who both reside in District 5. Please remember that voting is not only a right, it is a responsibility as well.
UPCOMING VOTES ON NOVEMBER 7th
The regular M&C meeting scheduled for Tuesday the 6th was moved to Wednesday the 7th because of Election Day.
BUENA VISTA NEIGHBORHOOD
The request for a Historic Neighborhood designation by the Buena Vista Heights Neighborhood has been taken off of the agenda for November 7th meeting. There is a lot of support in the neighborhood for this designation but there were also a large number of people who showed up at the last M&C Agenda Setting Meeting to oppose it. The Commission has requested that the Planning Department make a presentation to them on November 17th at 5:30 during our regularly scheduled work session so we can find out more about this designation process and discuss our options.
COMMERCIAL RECYCLING POLICY
In order to reach Athens-Clarke County’s stated goal that 40% of all solid waste in the County should be diverted from the landfill through recycling and reuse by the year 2015 the Commission plans to implement a mandatory recycling program for all commercial customers located in the County. The term “commercial customers” includes all businesses and multifamily housing. At the August Commission meeting we requested a 60 day hold of the Commercial Recycling Ordinance while some minor details were reworked. The revised policy comes back to us on the 7th and will be put to a vote. Better late than never.
HILL STREET PARKING RESTRICTIONS
These parking restrictions are for a stretch of Hill Street between The Plaza and North Billups Street. They are intended to calm traffic on this dangerous stretch of road by painting curbs yellow and prohibiting parking on the street. This item is on the Consent Agenda and will likely pass with little discussion amongst the Commissioners. This parking plan is the result of several neighbors in that area meeting and sharing ideas with Steve Decker from the ACC Traffic Engineering Department.
SOLID WASTE HAULERS CAP
In 2009 then Mayor Davison appointed a 17 person Solid Waste Task Force to work with ACC staff and come up with some solid waste reduction strategies. The M&C passed a moratorium on the number of haulers on November 3rd, 2010 and extended that moratorium on November 2nd 2011. ACC Staff met with the existing waste haulers in June of 2012 and they supported the idea of a cap on the number of haulers. This cap is expected to reduce the overall number of haulers over time through attrition and help make the existing haulers more efficient.
COMMUNITY NOTES
DOWNTOWN MASTER PLAN
A Downtown Master Plan is being prepared to help us guide development in the downtown for several decades to come. The team conducting the Plan is being led by Dr. Jack Crowley, UGA Professor and former Dean of the College of Environment and Design, and is in the data-gathering phase. They are encouraging local residents to complete a survey which they will use to help them craft the final plan that they will present to the M&C.
If you wish to express an opinion on how you would like downtown to develop over the coming years, please visit http://survey.pso.uga.edu/surveys/AthMaster/Master.asp?P1=cn2t-kcx3-dyr to complete the survey. You can learn more about the Downtown Master Plan by visiting their website at http://downtownathensmasterplan.wordpress.com/ or by reading about the project at http://athens.patch.com/articles/downtown-master-plan-progressing-in-athens-ga. The ACC Federation of Neighborhoods will also be holding a meeting with Dr. Crowley and his team on November 5, 2012 at 7:30 pm at 489 Prince Ave (the old Fire Hall).
HPC MEETING RESCHEDULED
Due to Thanksgiving holiday schedules the November Historic Preservation Commission hearing has been rescheduled for Wednesday, November 28th. The hearing will begin at 5:30 p.m. in the Planning Department Auditorium at 120 W. Dougherty Street.
OPPORTUNITY ZONES
According to Mike Beatty, the Commissioner of the Georgia Department of Community Affairs seven Opportunity Zones (OZ) were recently approved for ACC. These “blighted areas” (this is the official term used in the state enabling legislation) are part of a state job tax credit program intended to provide incentives for redevelopment of declining commercial corridors.
To qualify for designation an area must meet a number of criteria: the area must be within or adjacent to one or more contiguous census block groups with a 15% or greater poverty rate; it must be part of an Urban Redevelopment Area; and it must display pervasive poverty, underdevelopment, general distress and blight, as measured through things like unemployment rates, vacancy rate estimates, code enforcement actions, crime rate information, and the number of abandoned, obsolete, deteriorated or dilapidated structures.
Two of the areas just designated lie in District 5, the Hawthorne Avenue Corridor and the Chase Street Industrial Area. Being designated an OZ allows businesses (including retail) within the Opportunity Zone area to qualify for tax credits of up to $3,500 for every job they create in the OZ above two.
NEWTON BRIDGE ROAD STORMWATER PROJECT
Work performed the week of 10/22/12: The Contractor
installed storm drain structures and curb and gutter at the intersection of
Newton Bridge Road and Paradise Boulevard. They also completed installing the
concrete headwall and began grading for the drainage channel located next to
A-CC Fleet Management facility. Work
planned for the week of 10/29/12: The Contractor plans to complete grading of
drainage channel as well as finish grading and grassing of the complete
project. For more info on this project, please contact Lamar Brown
at 706-613-3457
ext 238.
Your Commissioner,
Jared Bailey
District 5 Commissioner, Athens-Clarke County Unified Government
Post Office Box 327, Athens, GA 30603
706-338-9019, Jared....@athensclarkecounty.com