About Flagpole. (Athens, Ga.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (June 14, 2000)
CITY PA GES NEW SIDEWALKS MAY GET GREASED Ef all goes as planned, SPLOST-funded improvements on East Broad Street will be completed by August, but some local offi cials are worried that it won’t take long for the new to wear off. Athens-CIarke County, in conjunction with private contractors, has begun the second phase of repairing and replacing infrastructure along East Broad from College Avenue to Thomas Street. The initial phase was finished last summer, when crews installed new water and gas mains. Once the rest of the underground work is completed, a substantial portion of the new sidewalks will consist of brick pavers. Armando Sanchez-Aballi, coordinator of the Hospitality Resource Panel, an offshoot of the Athens Downtown Development Authority (ADDA), says he and others are concerned that the leaky garbage bags from Broad Street restaurants will quickly stain the new sidewalks and could create an odor problem like the one now plaguing East Clayton Street, *Tve spoken with [SPLOST project man ager] Kevin Hamby," says Sanchez-Aballi, "and he was describing to me the configura tion of the new sidewalks: a layer of brick and a layer of sand underneath, and how the liquid waste that seeps out of the bags and makes its way down to the sand—it’s going to be very difficult to manage that odor once it’s leaked into the sand base." Hamby could not be reached for comment. Sanchez-Aballi says the ADDA is facili tating meetings for Broad Street business owners in an effort to reach a solution. ACC Solid Waste Director Jim Corley is partici pating as welt. He would like restaurants to return to using plastic trash cans ("roll carts") provided by the city. "The problem is that they’d leave the roll carts out on the street all the time," Corley says. "So I guess U comes down to an Issue [of] do you have 30 or 40 trash cans on every block downtown, sitting out 24 hours a day, seven days a week, because they wouldn’t pull them back inside." Corley says the carts have been made available to anyone who wants them, “with the understanding that they have to be off the street. A lot of the ones that have access to alleys use them, because they can put them in the alley and leave them there." Lack of alleys has long been cited as a major problem downtown and is one of the main reasons garbage is left on the side walks for pickup. David Carter, owner of Gyro Wrap on East Broad Street, says the city doesn’t always encourage alley use. “We have access to an alley, but we were having some problems with people not storing their trash properly, so the city said [it wasn’t] going to pick the trash up in the alley anymore," Carter says. "It’s more trouble than before,.. but I understand where the city is coming from as far as the problems that they’re having getting the trash out of there." Carter points out that some restaurants do not have room to keep the city’s large plastic trash bins inside and, without an alley, would have little choice but to leave them out front. “I feel like a lot needs to be done in order to cure some of the problems,” Carter says. "I think one of the major things that the County Commissioners can do is to increase the money allocation for trash pickup down town." According to Jim Corley, while the volume of trash downtown has increased exponentially over the last six years, the solid waste department has not received additional funds to augment its staff. Last October, an ad-hoc committee made up of downtown merchants and solid waste personnel presented six waste disposal rec ommendations to, among others, Mayor Doc EJdridge and ACC Manager Al Crace. Some of the committee's suggestions have been carried out, such as the purchase of a new curb and gutter Rush truck, a dual compartment truck to haul waste and recy- clables and regular pressure washing of side walks. Other suggestions, like providing businesses with grease containers and rein- stituting a lunchtime waste pickup, have not been addressed. "If all of those recommendations would be implemented, I think it would alleviate some of the problems," says Sanchez-Aballi, who cautions against placing blame solely on businesses. “They're doing what they’re told to do," he says. "I would like to see tailored solu tions to meet the needs of establishments that produce the most waste—and they shouldn't be penalized for producing the most waste. That's just the business of a restaurant. They're feeding a lot of people, and they’re bringing a lot of people down town.” (Brad Aaron) RIVER RENDEZVOUS RELEASES RESULTS The Upper Oconee Watershed Network (UOWN) has compiled the results from the third annual River Rendezvous. On April 22, over 100 volunteers collected water samples from streams and rivers in Clarke, Oconee, Barrow and Jackson counties, making this year's Rendezvous the first to monitor water from both the Middle and North Oconee watersheds. Samples were tested for fecal coliforrn (animal waste and/or other pathogens), tur bidity (floating sediment), and specific con ductivity (dissolved salts from chemicals and/or trash). High readings in any of those categories could indicate excessive erosion or pollution. Rendezvous volunteers also looked for macroinvertebrates (crustaceans and aquatic insects). Some of these animals lay eggs underwater, and the amount of larvae is an indicator of water quality. Overall, says UOWN’s Beth Fraser, the numbers were "ail right." Fecal coliform levels were generally average to low, as were turbidity and specific conductivity. Of the 10 sites checked for macroinvertebrates, five were considered to have “good" or “excel lent" levels, and five had “fair" or “poor" results. At one location, to Fraser’s surprise, volunteers could find no aquatic animals at all. That site—a tributary to the North Oconee located near the Intersection of Lexington and Winterviile roads-ns one of 10 that UOWN plans to monitor regularly. Their first follow-up is scheduled for July 8. Most of the other trouble spots were also In highly developed areas. Due to high spe- gswetu We carry great men’s clothing too! .321 Baxter Street • Next to Domino s • 208-9760 From: ‘ ^4thensiQQ/\ Center 243 W. Oojtt* St. 544-4im Basse Beginner Class Starting Dates MON., June 26 7:00 pm TUES., June 27 10:30 am WED,, June 28 7:00 pm THU., June 29 1 :00-2:G0pm $60 for Six Weeks Please Pre-Register 546-4200 Cktfovtf [.ml i «mf /MrratdiSr, 0****s afc# A*niati>U. ATHENS or OtOftOtA ATHENS: Super fdedo. Lob Compadres-1380 Prince Ave, 706*543,6777 Restaurant La Bomba- 151 E Broad Street 706.543*0023 B JUNE 14, 2000
