Free-For-All Friday 10/10/14
Decatur Metro | October 10, 2014 | 7:17 amFeel free to use this post to make comments and ask questions about local topics not discussed here over the past week.
Comments close on Monday.
Feel free to use this post to make comments and ask questions about local topics not discussed here over the past week.
Comments close on Monday.
School’s out November 4 (Teacher Workday) – send your K-5 kiddos to Science of Fun STEM Camp and save your vacation leave and sanity. http://www.scienceoffun.com
Also check out our awesome Tuesday/Thursday Afterschool STEM Enrichment program and holiday camps.
Happy weekend, all!
Looks like the property surrounding the Houston House has been landscaped for beer garden-like use and there’s no realty sign. Anyone know what’s up? 246 spillover location?
Dunno. How about the former Buick/GMC dealership on L’ville Hwy? They moved the Area 51 bus and have 3 dumpsters.
No one freak out, but I heard the Buick dealership was poised to become a Costco. Anyone know if there’s truth to that rumor?
Costco? Can’t see how that property would be big enough for a Trader Joe’s, much less a Costco.
There was talkYEARS ago of putting a Costco near N. Dekalb Mall, maybe where those community gardens are, but that fell through.
I love Costco, but they are just not an ITP kind of corporation.
They found a home in Brookhaven.
If Decatur boasted Waffle House AND Costco, I might have to move back.
They’re not an ITP corporation?? Like Sam’s Club, Wal*Mart, Target, Kroger, Publix, etc?
Not sure I follow thge strined logic there, but Costco is a great store and it would be nice to have one close by — you know, so I don’t have to drive so far burning all those nasty fossil fuels and heating the earth.
Is that the potential future Tesla retailer? Or is that a different empty car lot?
Also, what is the deal with the Area 51 bus? What the heck was it FOR?
No, Tesla is going in on Church next to the BMW dealership. It’s under renovation now.
Okay, great.
Now explain the Area 51 Bus. Was it a Fur Bus-type thing? Is it even operational?
I believe the bus is associated with (owed by?) a local party/events promoter (Area 51 Presents). Some of their events utilize a similar looking alien motif. No, I’m not hip, I just bike through the cool-kid parts of town on my way to work.
Quick Google search pulled this up, for example:
https://www.facebook.com/events/379911672054422/
The police had Second Avenue near Flat Shoals blocked off for several hours last night around 8:00. Does anybody know what was going on?
That would have been Atlanta. You’ll have to ask APD.
No, it’s DeKalb, not APD. Lots of City of Decatur people pass through on their way to or from I-20. Thought somebody might know something.
But when they pass through, they look straight ahead and ask no questions, muttering to themselves “This is NOT DECATUR!”
I throw rocks.
I saw something on the AJC about DeKalb police shooting a carjacking suspect on Rainbow Way; maybe this was related.
I doubt it. That whole thing went down in the parking lot at Candler and Rainbow. There was no chase or anything like that.
DHS HOMECOMING TONIGHT! Watch out for traffic from the parade. Starts 5:30 at the stadium, goes down Commerce to Ponce to Church to Trinity to McDonough. Walk down and watch the band and the floats go by. A real slice of Americana in our little town!
Traffic alerts #2 and #3
– There is a 5-K tomorrow morning that kicks off the Oakhurst Arts Festival. It starts at 9:00 in Harmony Park, and ends around there too.
– The Cancer 2-day walk is coming through Oakhurst, then downtown Decatur and Clairmont around 9:30-11:00.
It would’ve been nice of the 2-day walk people to put flyers in our mailboxes, oh well….
It’d also be nice for all our inconvenienced neighbors to just let it go.
Big shout out for Maple Walnut ice cream flavor at Butter and Cream. You can taste the REAL maple syrup–it’s not maple extract or flavoring or Aunt Jemima faux maple.
+1. It is pure deliciousness
Not Dec specific, but are there any hardcore energy conservationists reading today? I recently visited a friend, and when we left the house, she turned off a power strip for the tv, cable box, and wifi box, which I hadn’t seen anyone ever do before. I’m always interested in saving a little dough here or there but i don’t know/believe if something like this actually saves $. Obviously good insulation saves money but does anyone have any not the norm $ saving tricks?
Any piece of electronics that instantly turns on with the remote is never fully turned off without cutting the AC to it. Set top boxes are large scale energy users even while “off.” If you touch the box you can feel the wasted electricity as heat. Pulling the plug(or switching off the power strip) will cost you time when you turn it back on.
“If all set-top boxes in the U.S. met ENERGY STAR requirements, consumer energy cost savings would grow to about $3 billion each year, reducing greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to those from about 3 million cars.” http://www.energystar.gov/products/certified-products/detail/set-top-boxes-cable-boxes
Appliances (TVs etc) are a lot better than they used to be and most of them use negligible energy when turned off.
You can measure the usage with a device like the “Kill A Watt” but there is a low-tech trick – touch it with your bare hand. As a general rule, if it’s not warm it’s not worth worrying about.
I think I remember reading that DeKalb Library would check them out, so you may look there to avoid paying the twenty bucks elsewhere. The Kill A Watt would really be the only way to know exactly what you’d be saving, but keep in mind that things like DVRs that draw a lot of energy when “off” won’t function without the juice.
I seem to recall reading recently that a DVR-based cable box consumes electricity on par with the average refrigerator. Even if that’s some click-baity exaggeration, I’ve heard multiple times that they’re big time energy hogs.
I have a friend who dropped her electric bill from $80 to $45-50 by fully unplugging all electronics not in use.
I wish I was that disciplined
It seems like all that plugging/unplugging would increase risk of electrocution.
That is a lot of money when put in the context of a year. I may have to try and start implementing some changes, especially with the DVR. Using as much electricity as the fridge is pretty startling.
This is why the cable companies should have the “recording” done in the cloud, so it can happen when the box is unplugged. I don’t think it will be too long before we get there.
Before the Supreme Court adjudicated them out of existence, that’s what Aereo was doing with it’s “DVR”. But in my brief experience with it, the quality was less-than-satisfactory.
Glad to know cutting out cable reduced two of my bills at once.
The current version of the ordinance maintains most of the existing stormwater code, which means, among other things, a requirement for on-site storm water management (no sharing with neighbors) and a rigid definition of “perviousness” (a material either is, or it isn’t, with the latter category including things like gravel which obviously does let some water through). There are new provisions for “green infrastructure” per the State’s Coastal Supplement to the Stormwater Manual, and consideration for trees as stormwater infrastructure.
My question: does anyone care that the City isn’t looking into more flexibility with the code? We could do things like permitting regional detention & using something called “C-factor” to calculate perviousness. Thoughts?
re the new provisions for green infrastructure and tree canopy preservation benefit (see Section 9.3.5(A), (G) and (H) for those that want to look at the UDO draft)– do you know if those help modify the definition of perviousness, or at least the impact of the current calculation of perviousness? What flexibility benefits are we gaining with the addition of those sections? I also hope that our re-write will help easlily incorporate bang for buck of using better for the environment materials when building, which may encourage more homeowners to make the investment.
These don’t apply to the definition of impervious areas. What these do is lessen the requirements for stormwater management (think volumes of water) once you have already exceeded the 10-yr 0.55 cfs increase, which is approximately comparable to 4,058 sf in impervious surface, as noted in the UDO. Green infrastructure applies mostly to larger developments, not single-family residences, and is not meant to include high efficiency appliances and deconstructable home building materials, etc.
Most of our stormwater in Decatur runs to streams relatively quickly. Meaning, in order to provide regional stormwater management, streams would need to be impounded. This is not typically allowed for perennial streams, per current Army Corps regulations. Also, the type of stormwater management provided along Sugar Creek does almost nothing to improve water quality since it’s only active during extreme events.
School fundraising question- my out-of-state nephew’s school is selling fresh local veggies and local products as their fundraiser this year, in place of magazines, wrapping paper, candy bars, etc. They are also offering a button to just donate cash. I think the locally grown, healthy product sale is brilliant – is any school around here doing the same?
Sometimes I’ve seen DHS or RMS groups–band? clubs?–sell fruit. It’s not local though. I sure would prefer local products over frozen cookie dough. If I ever defrosted my basement freezer, I think I’d find gallons of it embedded in the historical frost.
The DHS marching band and chorus are in the middle of taking orders for citrus fruit now until the 17th. The fruit is brought in directly from a Florida farm (can’t recall the name at the moment), and will be delivered before Thanksgiving. My son is one of them, call me if you’d like to find out more/place an order 678–357..0661.
unfortunately, it’s not locally-sourced citrus — but Florida Indian River Groves’ citrus is pretty dang tasty
Anybody using Comcast for home security? Please provide feedback. Thanks.
or Alarm Monitoring Service of ATL?
We have used Alarm Monitoring Services since 2005 and highly recommend their service.
Any recommendations on pumpkin patches close by?
our tried & true place to go is southern belle farm…beautiful and really fun and a ton of stuff to do
Tree Ordinance Hindsight – as I begin to collect leaves from my lawn, my thoughts turn to my hometown (PA) where you simply dumped your leaves on the road in front of your house, and the city/county came by with a giant vacuum machine and sucked them up weekly during the fall. No need for lawn bags, etc. With a town as small as ours, why can’t this service be provided? If I had been smart, I would have recommended this service as part of the tree ordinance. ergo, I’ll plant trees per your ordinance, buy you will pick up the leaves!
I’m for this. Not only would it help the yard care impaired but it might also help with storm drain clogging, e.g. what happened on Coventry last year (if it had only happened during the icy weather, we could have had community ice skating). Although I can see that this method of leaf removal might not work well in windy weather.
They do that with the leaves where my parents live in Tennessee, but it’s a major mess since they only pick up every 2 weeks. The leaves blow everywhere and the street usually gets covered and becomes dangerously slick if it rains. Our bags are a pain, but worth it in the long run. Bigger bag options maybe?
Avondale Estates has the leaf vacuum service provided by their city.
Why not just leave all those nutrients on the lawn?
At least it sounds like you’re raking. I much prefer that to the folks, including most landscaping services, who just blow all their leaves and yard trash into the street. They must either think magic fairies come by and clean that up or not care, as long as their property looks OK.
That’s what I grew up with too. I’d think it’s both more environmentally correct than using thousands of manufactured bags per year, and certainly its infinitely less tedious than cramming leaves into those damn things. I wonder how much we all pay for those bags in leaf season, plus in labor costs for those who pay others to stuff them, and how far all that money that would go to financing the vacuum truck.
Rakes? Vacuums? Are you serious? Take the bag off your mower and mulch them up! Less work for you and your lawn will thank you too!
http://www.organicgardening.com/learn-and-grow/leave-leaves-alone
Burn your leaves! it’s good for the environment, super safe and fun for all ages. (That’s how I grew up, anyway.)
Anniversary around the corner and I think I want to get the wife a massage/spa gift certificate. Does anyone have recommendations for a local option?
My wife loves Natural Body on E. Ponce.
+1. It’s where I send my wife when she gets crabby. Seems to do the trick.
Thanks! Just bought an E-gift card. Could not have been any easier
I always ask my husband for a coupon for a 70 minute facial from April at Fabu Face Spa.
Sokssage & Bodywork located within Gibson Chiropractic Clinic in Downtown Decatur is great.
To hear my wife tell it, a full day at Jeju Korean Sauna is pure bliss.
Is that the place where they walk around naked? Saw a segment about a local Korean spa (I think it’s close to Wild Bill’s in Duluth) on one of the travel or food channels while I was visiting my cable-connected mother-in-law. She wanted to go the next time she visited us until we read online that a lot of the people walk around naked.
Where can you get some good gallons of Apple Cider nearby without having to drive up north to Ellijay?
I saw Mercier Orchards apple cider at the DeKalb Farmer’s Marketing on Monday. Not gallons, but had 1/2 gallon containers.
Your DeKalb Farmer’s Market also has Mercier Farms Cider and they carry the gallon size
Oh great. Now everyone knows my secret apple cider buying place. YDFM spies, I know you’re reading this so please stock up! Mercier farms is good stuff.
I thought everyone on here was anti-YDFM due to the “mop bucket smell” and their no-returns policy and their horrifying expansion. Is this no longer the case?
It was never the case. Are you confusing this with some other discussion board? There is no issue, topic, event or universal law about which “everyone on here” is in agreement. (Where would be the fun in that?)
I never agree with ANYONE here.
That’s great!
+1. I use that for a lot of things (like Congress).
That’s not true.
I am very anti-YDFM due to the senselessly large expansion project, (the sight of those treeless hills take my breath away every time I pass by), but they are much harder to quit Walmart, which I boycotted years ago.
Don’t forget treating customers who bring their own canvas bags as if they are potential criminals.
On Wednesday afternoons and Saturday mornings, you can get fresh, local cider at the outdoor Decatur Farmer’s Market.
And Mercier’s stuff (including cider?) can be found at weekly farmer’s markets pretty much all over Atlanta. I asked the Mercier guy at Georgia Tech farmer’s market (every Thursday at lunch), and he said they have an Atlanta distribution center and employees who “make the circuit.”
Where’s the best place to go for coffee in/around Decatur on a weekday morning that won’t be too crowded for 3 ppl to sit and talk? I’m not a coffee drinker, and I know Dancing Goats can be a zoo, but I don’t know what else is out there. Thanks!
Cakes and Ale Café–but it is going to morph into something else in the future.
On the Oakhurst side Kavarna is really nice. Has limited outdoor seating, but plenty indoors.
+1 for Kavarna.
Kavarna is anything but nice, and the ambiance can best be described as dungeon-like. But the coffee and food are both good, and the staff is friendly.
Kavarna isn’t nice? It definitely isn’t fancy but it’s got that grungy, homey coffeehouse feel. It’s actually better than Dancing Goats or Java Monkey in terms of having seating for 3 because it has plenty of tables.
I guess you’ve been in some nice dungeons. Sheez. To each his own, but this is a weird comment for sure.
Chocolatte, across from the Publix at Emory Commons has sufficient parking and usually has room to gather inside. They also have a meeting room you can sign up for – first come, first served.
If it’s nice weather, outside on the porch at Java Monkey.
Step a little outside the Decatur box and try Taproom on Hosea Williams BLVD in Kirkwood.
Definitely Not Dancing Goats. I don’t go there anymore — too hard to find a seat, among other things.
If I have a morning to work local and go to a coffee shop, I have been going more and more to Java Monkey. It is a very different place in the morning – quiet, relaxed, and lots of places to sit and talk/work. Most of the AM customers seem to run in-and-out for their to-go coffee.
Another place I like outside Decatur is Urban Grounds in Avondale. Especially their coffee (they sell Intelligentsia). Prior to moving to Decatur 3 years ago, that was my go-to coffee shop several times per week in the AM.
+1 for Urban Grounds
“It [Java Monkey] is a very different place in the morning – quiet, relaxed, and lots of places to sit and talk/work.”
Agreed. Much different than after school and evenings. About one morning a week, usually between 8 and 9, I sit at the bar and work while having coffee and a breakfast sandwich. It’s usually very quiet there.
The real problems with the storm water ordinance is the ratio that they calculate much of the basin and volumes on. In the City of Decatur a typical lot is around 50 x 150 or 7,500 square feet. (also please note that all of my numbers are rounded or close but may not be exactly what the code states) You are allowed to disturb under 5,000 square feet and it triggers the requirements for detention or structures. So on a 7,500 sq.ft. lot that is a large portion of your land. Remember that this is disturbed not heated or enclosed space but classified as impervious. (so over 60% of your land can be imperious) now take a large lot say 85 x 300 or 24,000 sq. ft. you can still only disturb under 5,000 sq.ft. with the same requirements for detention. So your impervious ratio is about 20%. They then make you put some crazy detention pond in or some structure. They also make your basin larger and your pond would be larger. This is totally backwards thinking. They need to modify the triggers for detention to review the ratio of land area to impervious coverage and make it an even playing field. My lot is even larger than referenced in my example above and they had us construct some crazy system that we now have to maintain and deal with. Why do they just not impose a fund or fee and improve the streams and catch-basin’s. Their whole system of residential detention is flawed. The other major issue is the interpretation of the rules. I have seen so many inconstant decisions or requirements it would make your head spin. Two new houses sitting side by side, built and permitted by different people have totally different systems. One has gutters tied in, the other not. One has a pond, the other has underground.
I agree with the concept in general but their execution of it as well as their basic common sense is a mess.
New Farmer’s Market: There’s a new small local farmer’s market at the Lutheran Church at the corner of Erie and Clairemont on Fridays, 2-6 PM. Two college students/farmers interested in environmental studies run it. They started last week and will continue until the harvest runs out. Today they had pumpkins, gourds, acorn, butternut, and other squashes, tomatoes, apples, jams, meats, candles, and probably other stuff that I can’t remember.
I’m sure there was a lot of cuteness around town today, but the epicenter had to be the gym full of under-5 soccer players at the East Lake Y. Didn’t feel like working out but went anyway and then saw that on the way out. You never know where your payoff’s gonna come from.
The toaster oven at Casa Bad Example has met with its planned obsolescence. Is there a better way to dispose of it than leaving it on the curb?
You are in luck. Tomorrow is Electronics Day, right? Would toasters count? If they have digital settings?
Whoops–my mistake. I see that toasters are not on the list of recyclable electronics and “household appliances” are on the excluded list. They probably don’t want all those breadcrumbs. Maybe the Maker folks can use stuff like this? Can they make dead appliances useful again?
Saw 2 ladies walking last night in the square wearing tshirts that something to the effect of Decatur’s dead never sleep, or rest, something like that and they were in what appeared to be the attire of ghost hunters (based on what I have seen on tv.)
Is that a for real business or just Halloween type costumes. If there is a ghost/zombie problem, I’d like to know sooner rather than later.
I saw a car last week on Ponce in downtown Decatur with an interesting, large decal on the side of it. It referred to the owners as being UFO investigators. I wonder if these 2 sightings are related. It wasn’t Area 51 folks.
Might’ve been the Decatur Ghost Tour with Boo Newell–it really is fun if you’ve never done it, and Boo (her given name, apparently) is a trip….
http://www.decaturghosttour.com
+1
A few weeks ago, I went with friends to East Atlanta to a bar. We took a taxi from Rupert (near Decatur…plz continue reading):). We left 7-ish and returned 11-ish. The service we used for the early ride told us they didn’t pick up after 10 in EA. The service we called from the bar told us they didn’t like to pick up in EA to Decatur fares. Does anyone have a reliable taxi service they use in our immediate area?
Uber. Use it all the time. North Decatur to EAV is about $10 for up to 4 people with UberX. Door-to-door service for less than the price of Marta.
and THAT is why I pretty much only user Uber. You know when they are coming (track on phone), they always come, and they don’t refuse a fare because of your destination. I’ve had downtown cabs refuse to take me to Decatur for the same reason.
Yep. It’s pretty obvious why the taxi industry is trying to lobby governments against Uber rather than trying to compete with them. And the assertion that taxi drivers are somehow “safer” than Uber drivers is laughable to anyone who’s had experience with both.
That said, I do have some concerns about insurance and would like to see Uber insure all of its drivers at all times they are engaged by Uber (I think they’d be smart to be proactive here and do so to an extent that exceeds the taxi industry), so there is no question who is responsible if something goes wrong.
Dear (unnamed) Decatur bakery, $3 for a burnt croissant. Really? Really? Good luck with that business plan.
To the parents of the little girl (10 years old?) that dashed directly in front of my car as I was driving (creeping) down Mead Rd. this afternoon: I wish I knew who you are, so I could let you know how lucky you all are. Also, so that you could enjoy a case of the shakes over it, like I did. Granted, all vehicles including mine were driving very slowly due to the congestion BUT my car was in forward motion and she came out of nowhere directly in front of me. Fortunately, the younger children in her wake didn’t follow her, even after they saw me stop.