It sounds like the City of Decatur and Medlock Park have finally had an official meeting to discuss annexation.

Reporting out of a meeting between MANA board members and Decatur City Manager Peggy Merriss, Mayor Baskett and Commissioner Boykin, MANA acting President Lynn Ganim stated in a recent post on the Medlock Area Neighborhood Association website…

The gist of Decatur’s response is that they are not interested in annexing the Medlock neighborhood or any other significant residential area because of the effect on the Decatur schools. There were no qualifications in their response. That door (or should we say “gateway”) is not open to us.

So what are Medlock’s options at this point?  According to Ganim…

It appears that at this point our choices include being annexed into Atlanta (assuming Clairmont Heights and Druid Hills also decide on the same course of action), being included in a new city (whatever compromise Lakeside and Briarcliff or the legislature determines,) or remaining in a possibly dramatically smaller unincorporated DeKalb County.

Yea! returns for a second year!  From the Decatur Arts Alliance’s Angie Macon…

The Decatur Arts Alliance (DAA) announces the return of YEA!, a popular new event designed to celebrate the talents of young artists and musicians in Decatur. On Saturday, Sept. 27th more than 60 young Decatur artists (grades K-12) set up an artists market on the square in downtown Decatur offering their creative works for sale, and musicians will perform. The festival hours are noon-4 pm. The event is free and open to the public.

Here is the musical line up:

12:00 p.m. Waldorf Chamber Orchestra

12:20 p.m. Nelson Jones and Max Moore

12:45 p.m.  Kinder Fűnf

1:15 p.m.  Rings of Saturn

1:45 p.m.  The Stray Kittens

2:15 p.m.  Robin Tucker

2:45 p.m.  Emerson Barrett

3:20 p.m.  Scene of the Crime

3:45 p.m.  No Komment

Decaturish had an interesting annexation-related report late yesterday that Robert Blazer spoke for an hour before the Avondale Estates Men’s Club and expressed his opinion that he didn’t want to become part of Avondale or Decatur.  He’d rather stay part of unincorporated DeKalb, and if that’s not possible, join the largest city possible.  In this case that would be Briarcliff.

Good quote from Decaturish…

“Look I’m a county guy,” Blazer said. “I came from representing DeKalb County, so it’s hard for me to get this whole idea of everybody splitting up from DeKalb County, not just here but everywhere. It’s been hard for me to see that. To me, the county was the county. So it’s hard for me to even think about, really. I don’t like to think about it. It really lets me know that we’ve failed as a county to provide the services we need to provide in an honest open way.”

Blazer spoke to reporters after the meeting. He said he has been approached by officials in Avondale Estates, Decatur and parties looking to form a new north DeKalb city, previously known as Briarcliff.  Briarcliff is supposed to be working with Lakeside on a collaborative proposal to create one large city. Blazer said the idea of joining a larger community appeals to him.

“I’d like to be part of the biggest one I could be a part of,” Blazer said. “”Because I’d like the market’s revenue go the biggest area.”

If you haven’t read it yet, there’s lots of interesting info in the post relating to Decatur, Avondale and annexation, including word that Rio Circle business owners on signing a petition to be included in Decatur’s annexation plan, even though they aren’t currently.

Decaturish followed up this morning with a second report based on Blazer’s talk, detailing his comments on the DeKalb Farmer’s Market expansion.