Got ours in yesterday’s mail along with our 2010 Census.  Who else out there has been tapped?

How would you evaluate Decatur’s overall performance and amenities today vs. two years ago?

I’ve been thinking that my “Decatur Tips & Links” page needs a revamp.

But instead of just links to the city’s recycling page, I was hoping to create a comprehensive list of all the “inside scoops” about Decatur.  So, in addition to “Park in the Courthouse Deck after 6p!”, what other tips would/do you give to visitors (or new residents) about our fair city?

After we’re finished here, I’ll compile them all on a new and improved page!

UPDATE: City Manager Peggy Merriss confirms in a comment that the city is looking into the application.

“City staff downloaded the application yesterday (Wednesday) and will be evaluating it to determine whether to apply. The deadline is March 26, 2010.”

Andrew and Kristian wrote in this morning and pointed out that Google has put out an request-for-information (RFI) to local communities across the country who are interested in participating in the Google Fiber experiment.

What’s it all about?

Cities looking to fill out an RFI and residents looking to nominate their community and should CLICK HERE.

Revenue & Technology Manager for the City of Decatur, Russ Madison, reports on the Decatur Tax Blog he’s finally gained some traction in getting Bank of America to resolve this “lost escrow check” issue…

After several phone calls between my office and Bank of America yesterday and today, I was able to open a formal “research request” with Bank of America’s tax department this morning.

One of their tax specialists informed me that he was submitting the request to higher levels within his department to research and reissue payment for the affected customers, with an estimated completion date of February 3. Bank of America should pay the penalties and interest, and the late payment would not affect their customers’ escrow accounts.

Linda Harris tells DM that normal Friday trash pick up in the City of Decatur will instead be performed Monday.

They will pick it up on Monday. They will also collect the regular Monday route on Monday.

If the open-ended questions on Open City Hall aren’t your thing, the city has just posted a mostly multiple-choice survey on the Cultural Arts Master Plan.

Click here to give your input!

I’m still on record that I love this idea, right?

The Decatur Minute has a great sketch of what the city-sponsored “Oakhurst Farm” or “Oakhurst Urban Garden” between 2nd and 3rd Avenue in Oakhurst could look like.

With the help of resident and landscape designer Lindsey Mann, the idea for the farm has been floating around city hall for a few years, but it now finally has the funding it needs to move forward.  According to the Minute, the first planning meeting for the farm will take place next Wednesday at 7p at the Solarium.

Click the sketch to the right to view a larger version over on The Decatur Minute.

A new story in the Georgia Municipal Authority’s questionably titled “Breaking News” section details Decatur’s new “narrative” approach to the city budget. [h/t: InDecatur]

This year, instead of just dumping a bunch of numbers on a couple reams of paper, Decatur’s many departments went to the effort of creating a “narrative” version of the budget, which not only makes for easier reading but also helps give all those line items a bit more context.

Yet, even after creating this more reader-friendly budget, there were still reports of very low resident turnout at the June budget meetings.  And that can only mean one of two things.  One. Everyone is completely satisfied with and clear about the city’s 09-10 budget and goals.  Or Two. That even after this extra effort was taken, virtually no one (myself included) read the full document and then followed up at the meeting.

I’m going to assume the latter and take some emergency, redemptive steps to remedy this potential lapse in citizen responsibility.  Starting tomorrow, DM will feature daily posts that highlight one city department’s budget priorities for the upcoming year.

Sound boring?  Actually, it’s pretty interesting, if, like me,  you’re interested in the projects the city will spend money on in this coming fiscal year.  So stay tuned.

Decatur Metro: Having fun with the city budget since 2009.

A post over at The Decatur Minute reporting on the retiring of two COD firefighters who have been with the city for 21 and 36 years, respectively, reminded me of another way that we can measure Decatur’s success: employee tenure.

If you’ve participated in Decatur 101 or just like to hang around city hall on weekdays for the “free A/C”, you don’t need me to tell you that there is a seemingly endless line of people working for the city that have been around 10+ years, many up and beyond the 30 year mark.

Many residents know the most public Decatur “lifers”, like Peggy Merriss, Lyn Menne, Linda Harris, Hugh Saxon, Cheryl Burnette, and David Junger, but I swear to you that they are just the tip of the iceberg!  There are hundreds, maybe even thousands of city employees, from police to fire to public works to city staff, who came to work for the city and never left.

Assuming that Peggy isn’t making everyone sign some kind of secret, unbreakable blood-pact, this is a truly extraordinary symptom of a well-functioning city government. So cheers to retiring firefighters Roosevelt Strong and Larry Pettit, and all of our other city employees old and new.  We truly appreciate all your hard work and dedication to our fair city!

The Proposed Downtown District

Among the items on next Monday’s City Commission agenda is a request to authorize the City Manager to enter into a contract with the State Preservation Office to prepare a National Register nomination for a section of downtown.

According to a letter among the materials for the meeting, Planning Director Amanda Thompson states that property owners in the proposed district were notified of the potential nomination last month and that additional mailings and meetings would be held to keep residents updated and familar with the process.

As Thompson states in her letter to the Commission (page 21), a National Register District is designed to “provide recognition for historic resources and tax incentives for renovation projects.”  (In fact, Sonny just increased the state incentives last year – 20% of qualified work , up to $100,000 for residential and $300,000 for commercial)

And unlike local historic districts, National Register Districts do not place any restrictions or design review on property owners…unless you’re the Fed.  Then you gotta go talk to Ken Salazar first.

Glad to hear this is moving forward!  Its a great idea that will benefit downtown property owners and get more of the city’s history down on paper (which is a couple steps above the old slash and burn policies of 40 years ago.)