Give Your Arts & Rail Input!
November 10, 2009 | 3:56 pmAnd we’re not talking about anonymous blog input either.
Patti Garrett reminds us of two upcoming Imput Sessions at City Hall in the next 8 days…
Railroad Crossing Improvements at Candler and McDonough Streets – Thursday November 12
A community workshop to discuss the railroad crossing improvements will be held on Thursday, November 12, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the City Commission meeting room of Decatur City Hall, 509 North McDonough Street, in downtown Decatur. We hope you will be able to join us to learn more about this project.
As part of its capital improvements program, the City of Decatur is considering options for improvements to the railroad crossings at Candler and McDonough Streets in downtown Decatur. The purpose of the work is to improve safety and accessibility for pedestrians, bicyclists and others using these facilities. Measures required to implement a quiet zone in the railroad corridor will also be considered.
The project is based on Decatur’s 2008 Community Transportation Plan. A major goal of the Community Transportation Plan is to encourage healthy lifestyles and active living in Decatur.
The City has retained URS Corporation of Atlanta, a planning and engineering design firm, to help plan the project. The project will be partially funded through a grant from the Georgia Department of Transportation.
Cultural Arts Master Plan Public Input Meeting – Wednesday November 18
The community is invited to a public input meeting for the Cultural Arts Master Plan on Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2009 from 7 – 8:30 p.m. in the City Commission Room, Decatur City Hall, 509 N. McDonough Street, Decatur, GA 30030.
This is the first public meeting to introduce the Cultural Arts Master Plan process and begin to get public input regarding the arts in our community. The Master Plan also includes an inventory of existing cultural arts facilities, programs and public art located throughout the city, identification of program and facility needs and recommendations for partnerships to meet these needs.
Please plan to join in the conversation! For more information email Linda Harris or call 404-371-8386.
Cultural master plan is sorely needed. Most larger communities within the greater Atlanta area have a Performinc Arts Center of some sort, and that in turn breeds theatrer groups, dance groups, etc. Heck, even CARROLLTON has one downtown!
Tear down the Callaway Building monstrosity, put in a Performing Arts Center, and tie it to the high school. We have many talented children in Decatur who don’t have a platform to grow their talent.
I don’t disagree with tearing down the Calloway Building, but what about the lovely DHS auditorium that was just completed? Can’t that serve as a platform to grow potential talent?
Heck yeah. For anyone who hasn’t toured the new DHS performing arts theater and gym, check it out. We made a big investment in lasting infrastructure. We should milk it at every possible opportunity.
DM, think this ties back to the position CSD is hiring for — the Scheduling Manager or whatever it was called?
I’m not sure, but it’s certainly possible. Where did we discuss that position previously?
Possibly. But relying on a school auditorium( I haven’t seen it…fair disclosure) to meet the staging needs of traveling performers, dance troupes etc. along with schedule conflicts with school activities doesn’t make for a very vibrant arts hub, as it were. Decatur and Dekalb County need a strong arts center and convention space (if possible), and placing that need onto the high school center may make us look a little..er..rural. Just an opinion, of course.
You may recall that the late, great, Vernon Jones proposed a DeKalb performing center, but got shot down.
I think there is a plan to redevelop the Callaway Building site. I once had an architect tell me that there is nothing in that building that meets Code – it’s essentially a parking deck that was enclosed, although it was built as an office building from the start.
In related trivia, who knows the original purpose of the short stone stairs that lead off the sidewalk to nothing near the corner of Trinity and McDonough?
My gut says jail.
Bingo !
…or was it more like a dungeon….
I have a pic of the previous building on this site, which I’ve been meaning to post for months. But I can’t for the life of me remember what its function was. Pretty sure it served some government function…
If you want to have some fun use the swipe tool on this site to compare the area (and Decatur in general) to what was there in 1955 and other years…not sure I catch where the jail is though…
http://www.historicaerials.com
Everyone needs to check out this very cool site. I just looked at my neighborhood in 1955. The add-ons to the houses hadn’t yet started and the trees were a LOT smaller.
Thanks for turning me on to this, Land. Can’t wait to check out other places I’ve lived.
My employer just lost 30 minutes of productivity because of that site. That swipe feature is really, really cool. Thanks Land!
Is anyone using the small theatre space that used to be Neighborhood Playhouse?
Don’t think so, but it wasn’t really adequate for even that use.
Vernon Jones not only talked about building a performing arts center, he actually built it! DeKalb now has the Porter Sanford II Performing Arts Center on the old Mathis Dairy property – next to Wonderland Gardens – that opened a few months ago. They didn’t pursue the convention center because of the high cost. They spent $17.5 million on it with bond funds. It is 30,000 square feet facility and holds 500 seats. And yes that scheduling manager that CSD is hiring is for the exact purpose of working with the community to schedule and book the gym and auditorium (I was there when they discussed it at a board meeting).
Decatur needs to do a better job of working with the county in terms of sharing resources such as this. Sometimes we get so insular we forget we’re actually a part of DeKalb County.
Maybe when the County ponies up the SPLOST money that belongs to us, we’ll feel closer to them.
AMEN on the SPLOST post. DM, can we get any update on where that stands (or standstill, as the case may be)?
Sadly, the lovely to look at Sanford Center it is not exactly in a great location for walking/driving/safety/public transportation, etc., not to mention little access to restaurants, etc.
Decatur has ALL of that and more.
Last I heard the cities won the Supreme Court ruling and it got sent back to the trial courts. I can check with the city, but they’re usually sort of quiet on litigation-related stuff.
However, in that same thread, Roy Barnes just took the County’s case against Sonny (aka the State) regarding HOST before the GA Supreme Court on November 9th.
Here’s the summary (forwarded to me by Mr. Wheatley)
DEKALB COUNTY V. PERDUE ET AL. (S09A2016)
This appeal stems from a lawsuit by DeKalb County against Gov. Sonny Perdue and the state Revenue Commissioner, challenging as unconstitutional the 2007 amendment to the Homestead Option and Sales Use Tax Act (HOST). The suit was sparked by the incorporation of the City of Dunwoody.
FACTS: Under Official Code of Georgia § 48-8-10, the state legislature established the 1 percent HOST and created 159 special tax districts whose boundaries are the same as Georgia’s 159 counties. Under the law, the tax could not be levied without a local referendum. DeKalb voters approved the 1 percent tax in 1997, with the revenues to go toward “funding capital outlay projects and…replac[ing] revenue lost to an additional homestead exemption of up to 100 percent.” Voters also approved legislation providing for the additional HOST-funded homestead exemption. In response to opposition by DeKalb’s cities, the County entered into a 49-year agreement to make annual disbursements to the cities from the HOST revenues, although a dispute later arose over how those payments were calculated, resulting in ongoing litigation. In 2007, the legislature amended the HOST Act, providing that the state Revenue Commissioner would distribute HOST proceeds both to the county and to any “qualified municipality,” which the statute defines as “a municipality created on or after January 1, 2007…” At the time, only DeKalb and Rockdale counties levied a HOST, and neither contained a “qualified municipality.” The two are still the only counties with a HOST. In 2008, the legislature approved the incorporation of the City of Dunwoody which fit the definition of a “qualified municipality” and is due shortly to begin receiving HOST money that would otherwise go to the County. In 2008, the County sued the State, Gov. Sonny Perdue and the Revenue Commissioner in Fulton County, claiming the amended Act was unconstitutional and could not take effect in DeKalb without a voter referendum. The trial court ruled against the County and it now appeals.
ARGUMENTS: The County’s attorneys argue the trial court made at least six errors, including findings it based on testimony by DeKalb’s Director of Finance. The court determined the amended law would not result in any revenue loss to the County, other than what it would have to pay Dunwoody and the other cities. The court also found there would be no increase in the ad valorem tax millage rate the County levies in unincorporated DeKalb. But those findings are wrong, the attorneys contend. Under the amended statute, the County would have to pay Dunwoody $2.9 million in 2009, and if the agreements with the other cities are invalidated as they are requesting, the County could pay as much as $5.3 million. Taxes in unincorporated DeKalb would be raised by $500,000, violating the state constitution’s requirement that “all taxation shall be uniform.” The trial court also erred by ruling that a change to the HOST distributions could be done without a voters’ referendum. Voters must approve any changes to the HOST statute, just as they had to approve the statute itself.
Lawyers for the governor and revenue commissioner argue that the trial court’s findings were not erroneous and besides, the County has abandoned these arguments on appeal. There is nothing in state law or the constitution that requires a referendum before the legislature can make changes to the HOST Act. The HOST is a special district tax, not a county tax. Like the County, the City of Dunwoody will act as an agent for the special tax district in expending a portion of the revenues for capital outlay projects that benefit the special tax district. The amended Act does not create non-uniform tax classifications, the attorneys contend.
I frequently see tourists in downtown Decatur. I am guessing they got here via MARTA from conventions in downtown ATL. Perhaps if we had a facility like an arts center we would see more.
BINGO!