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March 24 - 30, 2016 » Page 5A
SHELTER
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ventilated, and a place
“that will welcome the
community in, instead of
being a place people want
to avoid. It was a death
chamber before.
“I think the biggest
thing that’s happened...is
there has been a dramatic
change in philosophy
associated with animal
welfare in DeKalb County,”
Neugent said. “We’ve
gone, in my view, from
last to just about first. And
that’s not just first in the
state. It’s bordering on first
in the nation in terms of
the philosophical change
from using euthanasia
as the principal method
of population control of
homeless and unwanted
animals.”
Commissioner Kathie
Gannon said, “This has
been a long time coming.
We’re very, very excited.”
Speaking to animal
advocates, Commissioner
Jeff Rader said, “You are
the ones that were able
to show us that truly the
measure of a community
is its ability to care for the
people and the creatures
who cannot defend
themselves.”
“This truly is a facility
that we all will run around
and brag about,” added
Chamblee Mayor Eric
Clarkson.
Construction is
expected to be completed
by March 2017.
The new animal shelter will be located off Chamblee Dunwoody Road near DeKalb Peachtree Airport.
IMA Continued From Page 1A
paving and other capital projects
such as police precincts and fire
stations.
The SPLOST “will allow us to
address that entire backlog,” May
said. “I really believe that it’s going to
help us build a strong foundation.”
In fact the SPLOST is so
important, May said, it would be a
major focus of the remainder of his
term in office.
“We’ve really come to the point
now that if we don’t address our
infrastructure needs now, we’re
going to have a crumbling DeKalb
County,” May said. “We’ve got to
deal with it now. We’ve got to take
care of home first.”
If approved, county officials
project that SPLOST, along with an
equalized homestead option sales
tax, would generate approximately
$551.8 million for capital projects in
its first five years. Of that amount,
DeKalb’s cities would share $173.6
million, while approximately $376.7
million would go to unincorporated
areas of the county.
The county’s anticipated
SPLOST is more than $300 million
short of the county’s “unrestrained
project list,” or wish list, compiled by
the county’s department heads who
have $683.5 million on their various
lists.
The DeKalb SPLOST Citizen
Advisory Committee, with members
appointed by commissioners and the
interim county CEO, has been tasked
to narrow that list to “projects that we
all endorse,” said Zach Williams, the
county’s chief operating officer.
Robert Miller, a member of the
DeKalb SPLOST Citizen Advisory
Committee, recently pointed out that
there will not be enough funding for
roads, much less other projects.
“We’re working off of the premise
that we’re going to have money
to actually do projects,” Miller said
during a March 16 committee
meeting. “From what I can tell, the
practical reality is that we have
none.”
“After Tucker is incorporated the
county is going to have about 1,800
miles of streets,” Miller said. “The
streets have an average life of about
15-18 years, which means we need
to be milling and repaving about 100
to 120 miles a year. Currently we’re
about 400 miles behind and that’s
because it hasn’t been done.”
Miller quoted a $440,000 a mile
cost to repave roads.
“That means we need to be
budgeting $44 million to $52 million
a year just in roads just to keep the
roads up,” he said, adding that there
is a $175 million backlog of roads.
“The trouble that I’m having
with this whole process is that all
the department heads can come up
and throw out fun dream projects
but we’re not even doing the basics
of the requirements of the county
government,” Miller said. “To me the
roads would be a fundamental job of
the county government.”
SPLOST Citizen Advisory
Committee member Alice Bussey
had another complaint about the
process of choosing projects.
“We seem to be focused on
upgrading [and] fixing up facilities
that have been there 25 or more
years without consideration of
the underserved areas that have
nothing,” Bussey said. “There
is a need because areas have
been neglected. They haven’t had
anything for 25 years.”
The next meeting of the
SPLOST Citizen Advisory
Committee is March 30, from 6 to
8 p.m., at 1300 Commerce Drive,
Decatur.
The recommended project list
is scheduled to be presented to the
Board of Commissioners on May 17.
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