Missionary Drive, Winnona Park Decatur, GA (pic courtesy of John)

You may recall this sign from five months ago!

A few weeks back, I was sent a back-and-forth on the Oakhurst Message Board voicing concerns about non-Public Works employees taking garbage and recycling from curbside and wondering about Decatur’s laws on such things.

I actually did follow up with Keith Lee at Decatur PD about it and he said that he wasn’t aware of any law, but that I should follow up with the city’s Public Works Department.  But I never did.

However, it sounds like our friends over in the Parkwood area of Decatur/Druid Hills have been dealing with a similar issue regarding recycling.  A post on the Parkwood Garden Club blog details of folks taking aluminum from DeKalb recycling bags and with the explanation that they were hoping to make a few dollars selling it.  It’s become such a pervasive issue recently that they followed up with the City of Decatur about its “scavenging policy” and here’s what transpired…

I called up the City of Decatur’s Public Works Department right then and there. I was directed to Felix Floyd, the Facilities Maintenance Superintendent of City of Decatur Public Works. Mr. Floyd had a name for this behavior: scavenging. Mr. Floyd intuitively empathized with the concerns I voiced on behalf of our neighbors and volunteered to me that recyclables scavenging is something City of Decatur doesn’t want people to do, but there is currently no “scavenger ordinance” in place yet making this activity illegal. He went on to explain that Decatur recycling issues are under the purview of the City’s Environmental Sustainability Board, whose members have indicated that within the next several months, they may consider drawing up an ordinance that would ban aluminum scavenging from residential curbsides.

The Sustainability Board has purview over garbage scavenging?  Interesting.

Oh, and what about all the furniture that people leave at the curb, in seeming anticipation that someone in a pickup will drive by and take it off their hands?  Would Decatur specify that scavenging old rocking chairs is OK, but tuna fish cans are not?  Again, interesting.

According to Thomas Wheatley, Atlanta is planning on purchasing Siemans S70s to run downtown streetcar route, instead of the used vehicles that were first proposed.  Why?

Wheatley explains that unlike the original option the new cars will also be able to run along the Beltline (if connected) and has lower floor doors that makes them more accessible to the handicapped and senior citizens.  These changes have actually convinced a city council-member to switch to supporting the streetcar, after opposing it last year.

Photo of Siemans S70 in Houston

Some good news for all water-based lifeforms in the Atlanta area (that’s you!)…

A panel of judges on Wednesday appeared poised to hand Georgia a victory in the tri-state water case by sending back a ruling that could have catastrophic consequences for the metro region.

Such a victory would include vacating a looming July 2012 deadline that says metro Atlanta would get only a fraction of the water it is now getting from Lake Lanier if Georgia, Alabama and Florida cannot negotiate a water-sharing agreement by then.

During oral arguments, three judges for the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals appeared inclined to settle the issue by sending the case back to the Army Corps of Engineers, which operates Buford Dam. It would then be up to the corps to figure out how much water from the man-made reservoir can be used to meet metro Atlanta’s needs.

The Village Vets newsletter announces…

Located at 3404 Northside Pkwy (across from the popular OK Cafe), The Village Vets – Buckhead opens its doors April 2, 2011. We are proud to be able to serve more communities in northwest Atlanta – continuing to provide honest, excellent veterinary medicine and customer service. This will also give us an opportunity to provide support to more rescue groups/pets, as we have done at our other two practices in the Decatur and Lilburn/Stone Mountain areas.

More info on the move HERE.