Rodney sends in this pic of the line for free Jeni’s Ice Cream line this evening.

The new ice cream shop is giving out free scoops between 7-10p this evening.   You still have time!

A presentation given by the Sizemore Group at a School Board work session last night projects that Decatur’s student enrollment will rise to almost 7,400 without annexation by 2020.

And while many here have worried that annexation could overwhelm the school system with students, the analysis presented to the School Board showed that a large majority of the growth in the next 5 years will come from inside the current city limits, even if student population in the annex areas nearly doubles in the next 5 years.

As such, without annexation the report anticipates CSD having to raise the millage rate a full point to 21.5 mills, and even that wouldn’t cover expenses in the aggressive enrollment projection scenario.  By annexing the areas in the City of Decatur’s Master Plan, the school system would anticipate more than 4 million dollars a year for the school system, which would keep it in the black thru 2020. (see slide 18).

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After a year-long process, the City of Decatur has released the final draft of its Unified Development Ordinance (it’s 412 pages!) and scheduled a work session and public meeting for the next City Commission meeting date – Monday, November 17th.  It will be presented for adoption at the regular CIty Commission meeting that same day, which begins at 7:30p.

Here are the remaining steps in the process, courtesy of Decatur Next…

• Wednesday, November 5 Final draft of the UDO (v4.0), together with all supplementary standards, released.

• Tuesday, November 11 | 7pmThe Planning Commission reviews completed articles in their monthly public hearing and provides recommendation. Community comment welcome.

• Monday, November 17 | Work Session: 6:30pm | Public Hearing: 7:30pmComprehensive UDO, comprising all applicable comments and considerations, presented to City Commission for consideration of adoption. Community comment welcome.

From this month’s Decatur Focus…

We are considering alternatives to the pedestrian and cycling detours in place because of the closing of E. Howard Avenue between Church Street and the former Dairy Queen. First, let’s put the rumors to rest about why the street was closed.  The was done to provide a staging area for the Trinity Triangle development to limit the conflicts between construction activity and traffic on Trinity.  When construction is finished, the street will be reopened.

We originally planned to run the construction fence along the edge of the PATH trail along this block of E. Howard in order to keep it open.  However, that plan would have included a crosswalk right at the railroad tracks for pedestrians and bicyclists, creating a very unsafe situation.  Cars traveling north across the tracks have a limited view of cyclists and pedestrians as they come over the crest of the railroad crossing.  Because a portion of the sidewalk around the former Diary Queen is still intact, there is a possibility of moving the crossing slightly away from the tracks and reopening the PATH trail for a few more months.

However, with the construction of Phase V of the downtown streetscape improvements starting in early 2015 and the ongoing construction of the Trinity Triangle, this area will continue to be less safe for pedestrians and bicyclists and detours will still be needed to provide safer options.  We are looking at creative solutions to address the problem by we are going to need your patience and flexibility for the next year or so as detours and crossing locations change.

Anyone want to offer any creative solutions?  Here’s a map of the area if you need it!

Tickets for this year’s Decatur Wine Festival are still available on TicketAlternative for $40 a pop.

This year’s fest features nearly 500 wines to taste over 5 hours from 12:30 – 4:30p this Saturday, November 8th.  You can peruse the wine list over on the their website and they’ve included asterisks next to the ‘must try’ wines.

The purveyors of free food this year is particularly interesting with offerings from the following:

• Dos Madres Cantina
• Costco
• The Bishop
• Harbor House Bar
• Siam Thai
• Parker’s
• Sobban
• Souper Jenny
• Makan
• Jeni’s Ice Cream
• Iberian Pig
• Duck’s
• Marlay House
• Leon’s Full Service
• Splash of Olive
• Raging Burrito

Proceeds from the event benefit the Decatur Arts Alliance.

Decatur Arts Alliance is a DM sponsor