Decatur’s Planned Projects Over the Next 12 Months
Decatur Metro | June 19, 2012Decatur’s just-approved budget includes a popular “narrative” section (PDF) which details new “projects, programs and policies” that the city plans to tackle over the next 12 months. Each set of projects is divided up by their respective Strategic Plan goal. Here they are, so you have an overview of the concrete steps the city is looking to take in the coming fiscal year.
Principle A: Manage Growth While Retaining Character
- Working with local food truck owners to ensure proper permitting and inspections (Task 2D)
- Go Local Campaign with Decatur restaurant and shop owners (Task 2B)
- Continuing to build upon Decatur’s unique identity by enlivening public spaces with approved busking/street performers (Task 2B)
- Adopt recommendations of the Zoning Ordinance Update Task Force (Goal 1,3,4, 14, & 15)
- Submit one National Register nomination and update Historic Preservation Ordinance (Task 4D)
Principle B: Encourage a Diverse and Engaged Community
- Hire part-time assistance to coordinate special event volunteers to allow the Volunteer! Decatur Coordinator to focus her attention on Lifelong Community programming and community development programs like the MLK Service Project and Season of Giving program (Task 5A, Task 5E, Task 6B, Task 7A)
- Coordinate the first annual “Community Connection” event (Task 5A,6B, 5E, 7B)
- Development and production of several small videos and a shortened “welcome to Decatur” brochure for new residents that covers some of the more interesting details learned in Decatur 101 (Task 6A,6C)
- Hire part-time staff in Active Living to coordinate activities for the active adult population and work with the aging in place development (Task 5A)
- Collaborate with the Decatur Tourism Bureau to market programs to residents and non-residents (Task 5C)
- Actively recruit new members to serve on the Decatur Active Living Board and encourage diversity among the board (Task 5D)
- Development of the Identity Fraud Training by the Police Department to be taught in the community and at assisted living facilities in Decatur (Goal 7)
Principle C: Serve as Good Stewards of the Environment and Community Resources
- Public Works Facility Construction (Task 11B, 12D)
- Beacon Hill Complex renovation design including storm sewer improvements (Task 11B, 12D, 13B)
- Hazardous Materials and Pharmaceuticals Disposal Days (Task 12J)
- Begin reporting sustainability performance to the public on an annual basis (Goal 13)
- Improve tracking and reporting of energy use in city owned facilities (Goal 12)
- Run the Kilowatt Crackdown for a second time (Task 13C)
- Launch a Green Restaurant certification program (Task 13C)
- Begin work on the Unified Land Development Ordinance (Task 12B)
- Complete an inventory of all community gardens in the city (Task 12C)
Principle D: Support a Safe, Healthy, Lifelong Community
- Expand SRTS program to Decatur High School (Task 14B)
- Submit Bicycle Friendly Communities Application (Task 14C)
- Implement Smart 911 and promote participation in the program (Goal 16)
- Expand Fire CAPS Program (Goal 16)
- Contract with Medical Director to Assist with Basic Life Support Status (Goal 16)
- Phase 1 upgrade of parking meters (Task 14I)
- Adoption of zoning ordinance updates for accessory dwellings (Task 15B)
Principle E: Provide the Necessary Support within City Government to Achieve the Vision and Goals of the Community
- Develop an expanded orientation program for new employees that incorporates the Decatur 101 curriculum (Goal I)
- Expand internal staff development and training opportunities that utilize the skills and training of employees as trainers. This work will be accomplished through the work of the interdepartmental Training Committee (Goal II)
- Support funding for staff members to attend appropriate professional conferences, workshops and seminars to develop training and expertise in their field and encourage them to participate as presenters to share the Decatur story (Goal II)
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Street performers? Don’t we have enough of those now? Let’s not turn this into the magic kingdom for christ’s sake.
We need danger- sword swallowers and acrobts. Certainly we don’t need those silver painted people. I have always suspected the little old couple on the square are actually living statues. She whispered an obscenity to me once.
“I have always suspected the little old couple on the square are actually living statues. She whispered an obscenity to me once.”
I wouldn’t take her up on it. Her man would be a hard act to follow.
I’d really like to see what the ROI is for many of these activities.
I’m having trouble understanding how the community benefits from things like the inventory of the community gardens. What does a Bicycle Friendly Communities Application do for us? I’m not saying these things aren’t nice to have, but are they solid uses of our resources?
There are certain, what I’d consider “core” activities, that I believe that the city could do better that would benefit the community in both the short and long term. Things like code enforcement, maintenance of public spaces & enforcement of the panhandling ordinance aren’t easy and cost money. But they are the kinds of things that have a real impact on the citizens and also influence the impression of visitors and potential businesses– much more so IMHO than a video or welcome brochure.
It’s fair to ask those questions. However, I also think it’s important, since we spent a lot of time and money on a good strategic plan, to actually implement that plan. Usually those documents end up on a shelf and nothing really comes of them. I like that there’s a list of specific projects, most of which don’t look very expensive to execute and utilize existing staff. I don’t believe any of this is meant to be at the exclusion of core city services.
What Bo said.
+1
I’d also add that I personally would prefer the city take an inventory of community gardens over enforcement of a panhandling ordinance any day of the week. Guess it’s disagreements like that which make the strategic plan all the more valuable for city staff and elected officials
+1
Runswithdogs – that’s the thing about the “public goods” that governments provide, there may not be an ROI. If there was an ROI, in financial terms, then the private sector would provide the goods and not the government. Think about street lamps . . . you can’t run a financial analysis that says they pay for themselves, at least not in a typical sense. This strategic plan is the manifestation of the community’s stated wants. Our city hall bureaucrats and elected officials did not dream this stuff up – we did. So I’m happy to see them moving forward with our dreams in a timely manner.
Actually, you can run a financial analysis on street lamps, and just about anything else the government provides. If there were no street lamps, how much would crime increase and how much would that cost? If there were no street lamps, how much would local businesses suffer b/c people prefer well lit places? How much would that affect tax revenue? How much would the property values decline? How would that affect tax revenue? How much revenue is the community missing out on b/c businesses choose not to locate there in the first place? I would bet that street lamps come pretty close to paying for themselves.
But, there are undoubtedly some intangible benefits which are difficult to measure or quantify. Using your street lamps example, the (false) sense of security the lights provide comes to mind. Perhaps, aesthetics too.
The ROI of every single nickle the govt spends needs to be determined even if some of the returns aren’t monetary. What benefit do we receive from taking an inventory of community gardens (which are maintained and run by volunteers)? That is certainly a fair question and it is reasonable to suggest that our resources could be better allocated. If the city has excess capacity, it needs to make reductions and pass those savings to the taxpayers.
Studies show that community gardens tend to raise property values for homeowners in their vicinity. If I have a community garden in my neighborhood, I want everyone to know about it so that I can feel the positive economic impact. Thus, compiling a list of the sites, and distributing it to real estate agents and the like, seems that it could pass your ROI muster.
I never said it wasn’t worthwhile. I was defending the question being asked by runswithdogs, and his request for a justification of the expenditure. Also, I was refuting your assertion that an ROI analysis is impossible/impractical with government spending.
But, regarding community gardens, this can and should be handled by the private sector, and probably already is. If community gardens raise property values, real estate agents and sellers will point them out to prospective purchasers as both have an interest in getting the highest possible sales price. Why pay someone to perform a (non-essential) task that is already being performed?
Let me add this. I bet the posters on DM could compile a complete list of all community gardens in Decatur within a day, all at no expense to taxpayers. Perhaps we should perform this community service in FFAF and then provide the list to the city.
+1. Even though I’m not a great believer in privatization over government services–I’ve seen both malfunction stupendously–I AM a great believer in volunteerism and community service. So I’m all for FFAF group efforts to assist the City. If nothing else, it would be an excellent start for the City. I doubt that all the City plans to do is enumerate the properties but I cannot imagine that they wouldn’t find public feedback helpful.
Actually it is almost impossible to develop the data sets that would be required for this kind of analysis of governmental policy. I was enthusiastic about doing this type of work while getting my MS in Public Administration.That was 35 years ago. It is not so easy.
In running decision analyses, it’s often helpful to have common units for comparison. So costs are often compared, using the dollar or some other monetary measure as the units. Cost units are discrete, well understood, easy to manipulate mathematically, and are consistent with the units used for things like taxes, salaries, purchases, fines, etc. But cost may be an artificial, albeit useful, construct for some decisions. A value can be assigned to pleasure, comfort, moral outcomes, connectivity, quality of environment, educational performance, whatever but it’s important to remember that cost is a proxy, not the actual benefit. I would caution that “return on investment” is only one way to look at community decisions, especially if the dollar is the only unit of analysis. I have no expertise on how one factors in constructs like beauty, pleasure, comfort, community cohesiveness, fairness ethics, civic pride, etc. into ROI analyses but I know that net dollars saved or spent is only one of the many measures of success of a community.
I am wondering if street performers and busking(ers) (??) really need to be or should be approved. Approved by whom? That question is like the question sometimes posed here: “Is it art?”
It seems that taking an inventory of our community gardens could be done by a few volunteers from the community. Would it really be necessary to put more than one staff person to oversee it for more than a single day?
I think the panhandlers should do it.
But on a volunteer basis, right??
Decatur’s strategic planning process has been both impressive and exciting from a community involvement point of view. I can’t wait to hear more about the Community Connection event and some of the lifelong community initiatives.
Not a very cynical comment! (Or is the Cyn for Cyndy and not cynic?) I agree. My favorite project is “work with the aging in place developement” so I can stay in Decatur forever. I’d like to know more about that.
The blog said I just posted this, but it didn’t show up, so excuse the duplication, if any. Look here: http://www.ageinplace.org
I’m sure that ARC will help Decatur to adapt and use its Lifelong Communities framework. ARC’s aging division is nationally recognized for this very comprehensive approach to aging in place. Here’s the link to more info: http://www.atlantaregional.com/aging-resources/lifelong-communities-llc.
“DecaturCynic”? Never thought of that. The dull (and true) answer is that Cyn stands for Cynthia.
Principle A: Manage Growth While Retaining Character
Continuing to build upon Decatur’s unique identity by enlivening public spaces with approved busking/street performers (Task 2B)
This is an area Decatur could explode it’s attractiveness. Why not close Ponce every Fri and Sat from Leons to court house? Make the area more walk able? Perhaps a food truck or two only on these days? Decatur NEEDS an open container law that lets businesses sell you a beer in a plastic cup that you can carry out, ala New Orleans, Savannah, etc. Another major improvement would be to close the mini parking lot at the Brickstore. Grass it, or use pavers, and expand the outdoor eating capabilities of the restaurants there. That parking lot is pretty much useless, except for supply deliveries , which could still happen if pavers were used.
Development and production of several small videos and a shortened “welcome to Decatur” brochure for new residents that covers some of the more interesting details learned in Decatur 101 (Task 6A,6C) Need a kiosk or two around the square with a map to show locations of businesses.
“Need a kiosk or two around the square with a map to show locations of businesses”
The Tourism Bureau is exploring ways to do this. Staffing is an issue. The Atlanta Ambassador program is a partial model for something like this.
There are currently four kiosks around the square – one in front of the Old Courthouse, one behind the Community Bandstand and one at each entrance to the MARTA station. We put a large map showing the location of all the shops & restaurants and change it out every time we update the Shopping, Dining and Services Guide. Three of the kiosks have a space on the other side to put posters and information about upcoming events. The Tourism Bureau has a tent out on the square every Saturday to answer questions and give out information about the city. We have had an equal number of residents and visitors come to the tent to get information. We will be opening a Visitors Center that will have a variety of information available for residents and visitors. We are always looking for volunteers to help out so let us know if you are interested.
“Why not close Ponce every Fri and Sat from Leons to court house?”
You know, I could really see something like this working and being lots of fun. Maybe local artists and other venders, the trucks wouldn’t hurt restaurants because they are usually packed these nights. Maybe the last Fri and Sat evening of the month, Summer through Fall, so it doesn’t require the commitment from the city every weekend. This is a 5 star idea!
And get the Atlanta Jugglers there.
http://www.atlantajugglers.org/
I love it!