Sorry for the delay! Site is being temperamental this morning.
Feel free to use this post to make comments and ask questions about local topics not yet discussed over the past week.
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Chris Billingsley
Robert Butera
GreenTea
Decatur Metro
Walker1
GreenTea
Walker1
Walker1
Toml
Steve
Smith
Tickets on sale for the 16th annual Decatur BBQ Blues & Bluegrass Festival – Saturday, August 13th
https://www.freshtix.com/events/decatur-bbq-blues–bluegrass-festival-
No water on Oakview. Anyone else?
This should go over well in light of the massive property tax increases we’ve seen over the last two years.
http://www.decaturish.com/2016/06/city-schools-of-decatur-is-holding-hearing-on-property-tax-increase/
Same thing happened last year. Even if the school/city reduces millage rates, if it does not offset the increased value of the total digest . . . they are required by law to hold public hearings and advertise the “tax increase”.
That makes sense. I just know that when I got our recent tax appraisal letter, and looking around at lots of these new houses, there are families paying upwards of 15-$19k a year in property taxes now. That’s crazy. I know much of that has to do with the rise in home values and the county catching up with appraisals, but I have to think the tax digest the city has now is significantly larger than even 2 or 3 years ago. Not to mention all the new development coming on board. I have think they’ll eventually lower the millage rates because people are paying 2-3 times what they used to be paying.
$15K to 19K? Wow, and I thought what we were paying was a lot. The monthly tax bill alone is almost like a rent/mortgage payment (outside Decatur, of course).
Yep. Take a look at the county tax assessors website. Pretty much anything that sold in the last year above $700k, which are a lot of houses, are going to be paying around 12-14k or more. The ones up in the 800’s and 900’s are paying on the higher end.
Pleae give us a specific example so we can look it up also.
The big house on the corner of pinetree across from the post office was appraised at $1.4M and is looking at a $22k bill for 2016.
That’s consistent with what I would expect.
Anyone heard an update on the Oak Brewpub going into the old Mulligan’s space?
Decaturish from the 20th; http://www.decaturish.com/2016/06/construction-of-oakhurst-brewpub-starts-within-a-month/
Thanks for the link. I knew they had said they were aiming to open early summer and that plans included a rooftop deck. However, I haven’t seen any signs of activity in that space. Good to know they are still moving forward.
I have an old king sized memory foam mattress that I’m looking to get rid of. It’s so heavy I can barely lift a corner to get a top sheet on. Changing the sheets is a workout. I’m talking heavy.
It’s on the second floor and there’s no way my spouse and I could move it. I know many mattress companies haul away the old one when you buy new. But we’re moving so we’re not replacing until we settle into the new place.
Does anyone have experience with any of the Atlanta area mattress recyclers? Junk removers? I’m seriously considering taking my camping knife or serrated bread knife and slicing into the foam, breaking it down to manageable pieces, and hauling to the dump.
What would y’all do?
If the mattress is in good condition, the Salvation Army might be able to pick it up from you. Goodwill doesn’t accept mattresses. Alternatively, 1-800-GOT-JUNK takes mattresses (for a fee of course) and donates or recycles them whenever possible. Good luck with your move!
Butter B,
How soon do you need to get rid of it? Is it memory foam on the top with the rest like a traditional mattress? I need two twin size pieces of memory foam for the jump scene in the opera Tosca which will be presented in September. Do you think I could cut it into two different pieces to fit my purposes? Let me know what you think.
If you haven’t jumped onto memory foam before I suggest you try it before using it as a crash pad. Some time ago after a long day I dove onto a hotel bed with a memory foam mattress – the fact that I then slowly sank into the bed didn’t make up for the very hard landing.
Thanks for your input about your experience with a memory foam landing. Maybe, I should try for an innerspring twin set with a traditional mattress and box springs which I have in my guest room.
Is it memory foam on the top with a traditional mattress type on the bottom? I need two twin memory foam mattresses for the jump scene in the opera Tosca which will be presented in September. If your king memory foam mattress is just memory foam, perhaps I could get an electric carving knife and cut the memory foam into two pieces. What do you think? I would have to arrange for someone to help me get it.
First Brexit. Now glassxit. What’s next?
The much talked about, much anticipated, many times delayed Decatur moat.
So…
Longtime Oakhurst resident, with 4 recycling bins (2 green, 2 old red’ glass’ bins) that we fill up most weeks and put out on Friday mornings. Today, our two green bins went missing after our recycling got picked up. My guess is that it was people deciding they needed a bin or two with the new “separate your glass” regulation.
Thanks, jerkfaces.
This week I watched one of the recycling crew put our green bin in the truck with its contents. When he didn’t pull it out, I went over and asked him for it. He said it was “busted” and we wouldn’t be able to use it anymore anyway, since we had to supply a new big rolling bin by July 1. He said we would get a “memo” to that effect. I was pretty sure that wasn’t true. He also demonstrated how the rolling bins could be lifted automatically on the truck. He didn’t try to keep my red bin.
My take – they are “collecting” the green bins in a passive attempt to move us toward the rolling bins, although the city isn’t requiring it. It’s easier for them. I got my green bin back. Yes, it has a crack in it, and it will be just fine with a little duct tape. They do toss them around a lot.
Ah, maybe that’s what happened. One of my two green bins was pretty busted up, but it still held stuff inside it, so who cares?
We’re also long term COD residents. Still have our red bin. Our original green bin was in bad shape. We called the Dec Public Works. The replacement bin is free; wheeled one cost $. Infact, the recycling guys left us two new green bins.
“To request a bin call Decatur Public Works at 404-377-5571. Hours of operation are 8 am to 4 pm Monday through Friday. “
Thanks for the and saving me some time.
How much does the rolling recycling bin cost?
Does anyone have a desire for a Decatur online forum/board — for when it is not free-for-all Friday?
At least for me, NextDoor doesn’t cut it (arbitrary neighborhood boundaries, too much noise, weird combination of hyper-local and so-far-away-I-don’t-care news).
I love reddit, and there is a decaturga subreddit, but few seem to use it.
https://www.reddit.com/r/DecaturGA/
Thoughts? Comments?
You can control which categories and what neighborhoods that you see postings from with NextDoor rather than let it default.
Ive set my categories as local as possible, but they seem to have targeted posts, or people can broaden posts, that still let crap seep in. And the whole interface is clunky.
Like Robert, I’ve set my notifications as narrowly as possible, and still get tons of dreck daily. I finally turned off Nextdoor emails entirely. I don’t need to know about every yard sale and lost cat between here and Tucker (and I *love* yard sales and kitties). So I would welcome an accurate, informative Decatur subreddit.
Though I agree Nextdoor can be annoying, it does capture a lot of eyeballs so is useful for promoting local events that might get little notice otherwise. Believe it or not, there are people who like it because there isn’t much news and politics.
I would like to see more life brought to r/decaturga. The Atlanta subreddit is very lively and always entertaining.
The Atlanta subreddit is possibly the most useful news source I know of for what is going on in Atlanta, both news wise and culturally. And very little noise.
Please explain Reddit and subreddit.
Reddit (reddit.com) is a somewhat modern twist on old-school discussion boards. It has a bit culture to it.
A subreddit is a group around a theme. Within that subreddit, people post a URL or text (think of that as the discussion topic), and others comment on it.
Topics can be upvoted or downvoted (purists will tell you this is NOT the same as like or dislike) to raise their visibility in the list of posts. This also creates a bit of self regulation within a group to kill spam or disruptive posters. Just like DM, each subreddit becomes a local community with its own culture and active members. For example, the Atlanta subreddit has a “weekly events thread” where people can publicize events.
There are some norms and culture associated with reddit (like not “outing” the true identity of a poster), but they can be picked up quickly.
Take a look at the Atlanta subreddit — it is quite active.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Atlanta
A couple of free tips for all you regulars to help stay cool this weekend…
1. You can get 2 free King of Pops this weekend if you show a Delta Skymiles AMEX at any of the KOP popsicle stands around Atlanta (including Decatur!) Here’s a link: https://www.deltaamexperks.com/pops
2. Sherlock’s has Tropicalia in-stock as of early Saturday afternoon. Ask at the counter.
Happy blazing hot weekend all!
“AMA Adopts Community Guidance to Reduce the Harmful Human and Environmental Effects of High Intensity Street Lighting”
Anyone know if City of Decatur upgrade is to the bright ones or to the cooler ones recommended?
http://www.cnn.com/2016/06/21/health/led-streetlights-ama/?iid=ob_homepage_deskrecommended_pool
I am looking for a place to work out at in the mornings. I can go to old fourth ward park straight after work but it is just too hot at the moment and a little farther than I want to drive at 6am. Anyone have any ideas for a 6am work out spot that is not a gym, in Decatur? Something with stairs and boxes to jump on. Anyone???
What is going on with the Dekalb County June water bills? We did not get one this month. Last month we paid around the 15th, but this month we have still not received a bill. I called and they said the meter was read on June 8, but the bill was never released by the system. I heard some neighbors went online, but no June bill is listed. Others who called got bills for $0.00 for June. There must be a story here somewhere.
Maybe this is like the car tag problem we had last fall when the billing company went bankrupt and no renewal notices were sent out? Does anybody know?
And with the car tag problem, the money was still owed and late fees applied, even though notices weren’t sent out, right?
Me also. They said the meter was read on 61/3 and the very helpful polite customer service woman I talked to after a less than 5 minute hold said she would send a note to the billing people, which she did while I was talking to her. No explanation or a “you too” response.