Remember that thoroughly confusing bond project post from a couple months back?

The one where the City Manager suggested that the city commission transfer the remaining bond fund money earmarked to build a new Public Works building and shift it over to the Recreation Center renovation?

Well, two items on tonight’s Decatur City Commission agenda indicate movement on this front.

The first is that the commission will vote on whether to table the decision to re-purpose the General Obligation Bond Funds until the September 7th commission meeting, so that the city can hold a public information session on the bond fund transfer proposal on September 2nd.

Additionally, the city is ready to purchase a lot adjacent to the public works facility for $450,000, which it had previously only rented.  As you may recall, one of the issues that initiated this bond fund swap was that the city couldn’t find a proper, affordable site for a new public works facility and thus stated that it’s best option was to rebuild on its current site.  To do this, the city manager originally stated that the city would have to acquire two adjacent parcels to the current site to make this happen.

However, her note to the commissioners includes this caveat “We use the property for storage of vehicles, materials and supplies and anticipate needing the property regardless of the availability of additional funding for improving and expanding the public works facility.

Hey, look who’s the first writer in a decade to make the cover of Time Magazine!

Click here to view the list of area bookstores where can pick up your 2 free tickets to Franzen’s keynote address at this year’s Decatur Book Festival.

From a transportation perspective at least.

Heat map courtesy of the groovy Center for Neighborhood Technology’s Abogo website.  Take it for a spin and let us know what you discover.  It’s pretty detailed, giving heat map goodness all the way down to the neighborhood level.

For an example of this, see the screenshot close up of Decatur after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »