At tonight’s commission meeting, Deputy City Manager Hugh Saxon will ask the Decatur City Commission to approve a $1.9 million grant application to the Atlanta Regional Commission’s Livable Center Initiative to fund improvements to “Clairemont-Commerce-Church Pedestrian Safety and Bicycle Trial Improvements.”

As Mr. Saxon lays out in his letter to the City Manager (page 14 of the meeting materials) the projected total cost of the project is $3.5 mil, of which $1.125 mil is covered by a Federal Transportation Enhancement Grant (which I don’t recall hearing about previously).

That leaves a cool $2.375 mil left to be paid for.  Currently, Decatur still has $5 million tagged in Atlanta’s transportation sales tax project list for funding this project, but if that falls through, this LCI grant is the backup plan.  Decatur would need to put up a 20% match ($475,000) to get the grant, which Mr. Saxon says will be available in the capital improvement fund balance in two years, when this project can be expected to begin.

This “ask” (as the cool kids say) comes just days before a public meeting regarding these ped/bike improvements at City Hall next Monday.

The city’s influential Transportation Plan calls for wider sidewalks and crosswalks, countdown signals for pedestrians, changes to the signal timing and traffic lanes at these intersections (Commerce @ Clairemont can be seen above).  The plan recommends the Church Street/Commece intersection be narrowed from 60 to 45 feet.  Lots more in this PDF.

As predicted, Decatur Best Fest tickets sold out in a little more than an hour today. Though the DBF tweeted the sellout around 1:30p, Todd reported that tix were gone by 1:18pm.

Last year’s 7 hour sell-out caught many by surprise, so it’s NO surprise this year that they went much faster.

Yes, all those hours spent reading my inane commentary has finally paid off!

Tickets to the Decatur Beer Festival on Saturday, October 15th go on sale at noon today and promise to sell-out in a matter of hours, if not minutes.  HERE’S a direct link to purchase the $40 a piece tickets, which will go live in under two hours.

Good luck.

• Avondale Antiques Closes After 50+ Years [David Milliron]
• 1983 Map Showing Proposed Expansion of Stone Mtn Freeway Thru Medlock Park [Facebook]
• DeKalb Offering Hazardous Waste Recycling Oct 1st [AJC]
• Check a Box: Tell the Atlanta Regional Commission which Transportation Projects You Support! [ARC]
• Grant Applications From Decatur BBQ Fest Now Online [Oakhurst Message Board]
• Rain in the coming week’s forecast! [Accuweather]

Over on Fresh Loaf, Thomas Wheatley notes that Pin Ups (aka: “the strip club on the way to the DeKalb Farmer’s Market”) will make arguments today before the Georgia Supreme Court to remain open until 7am, in order to offer a “breakfast bar” to patrons.  Here are the facts of the case from the Court’s docket, as cut-and-pasted by Wheatley.

FACTS: At issue in this case is a judge’s refusal to grant a temporary injunction banning the enforcement of the amendments until the case is resolved in court. Pin Ups is a club in Decatur that offers nude dancing and drinking. In June 2010, the County amended the Alcohol Code requiring all licensed establishments that sell alcoholic beverages for on-premises consumption to clear out patrons and close by 4:55 a.m. Thursday through Saturday, and by 3:55 a.m. Sunday and Monday. The stated purpose was “to improve the quality of life in all of its communities” by minimizing the “deleterious conduct associated with” alcohol. Pin Ups offers a “breakfast bar” to its patrons, serving food until 7:00 a.m. It closes at that time, then reopens at 9:00 a.m. Monday through Saturday and 12:30 p.m. on Sunday. Pin Ups sued the County, seeking a preliminary injunction until the case was resolved. It argued the amendments forced it to close down for hours a day; impeded its breakfast business; and violated its constitutional rights to due process and First Amendment protections. The trial court denied the request for a temporary injunction, and Pin Ups now appeals to the state Supreme Court.

If you’d like to read a synopsis of arguments for and against Pin Ups’ breakfast, jump over to Fresh Loaf and give Old Man Wheatley a click-thru!