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Pedestrian Fatalities Highlight
the Lag in Sidewalk Building
Commish Preserves History
but Opens the Water Tap
Three nighttime hit-and-run fatalities
killed a pedestrian and a 12-year-old bicyclist
in ACC last month, while a third pedestrian
was injured walking along a street. In many
areas, sidewalks don't even exist. The pub
lic's requests for new sidewalks has greatly
exceeded the money available to build them,
funded solely by local sales and property
taxes. Sidewalks remain the poor stepchild
of road-building projects preferred by GDOT
(especially those that connect Athens to
Oconee county). Construction of the $35 mil
lion Jennings Mill Parkway—which will paral
lel Atlanta Highway before swinging out to
the Oconee County Lowe's store—was recently
fast-tracked by GDOT and will add a new exit
along Loop 10, as will projects planned for
Epps Bridge Road and Olympic Drive.
Such overpasses cost tens of millions of
dollars apiece, enough for decades of sidewalk
Interest in the Clarke County Board of
Education races seems to have kicked up
after Superintendent James Simms accused
the board of "continuous meddling" in hir
ing decisions and threatened to resign. But
Simms and the board have since moved toward
reconciliation. Last week the board accepted
for public comment Simm's revised policy sug
gestions, which give him sole authority to
write job descriptions and would bar board
members from participating in employment
decisions about members of their own fam
ily. Board members would also be barred from
discussing job assignments with school-system
employees, referring them to the superinten
dent instead. Those changes will be voted on
in August.
"I feel like the board is being cut off
from discussing school business," said board
member Sidney Anne
Waters, who has two
family members in
school system jobs.
She voted against the
recommendations, saying the superintendent
shouldn't be deciding what the board's ethics
are.
Existing policy—decided "after long,
long, long debate" a decade ago, said board
attorney Terrell Benton—encourages board
members to seek "systematic communication"
with school employees and "all elements of
the community," but to recognize that "the
superintendent, not the board of education,
is responsible for the day-to-day administra
tion of the schools." (That policy would not
change.)
The flap has generated unusual interest
in the school board. Superintendent Simms'
resignation threat was perhaps well-timed to
precede qualifying week for board candidates,
and three of the four seats up for a vote in
building at the county's present rate of under
two miles a year. ACC commissioners just
approved sidewalks for parts of Cedar Shoals
Drive, Oglethorpe Avenue and Timothy Road.
Those were picked from a long list ranked by
a formula that includes how busy the road is,
"evidence of pedestrian usage" like paths in
the dirt, and nearby bus stops or commercial
areas. Average cost for a new sidewalk: S52
per running foot.
A half-block section of rubber sidewalk—
a pinkish material manufactured from old
tires—has been installed along Oglethorpe
Avenue near Bishop park. The material is man
ufactured as separate tiles, county engineer
Jason Peek told Flagpole, and can be installed
over tree roots. Separate tiles can be replaced
if needed, he said.
November will offer a choice of candidates.
The Athens Banner-Herald involved its attorney
(unsuccessfully) in trying to open a board
meeting that board president Charles Worthy
held behind closed doors. (Worthy closed
the meeting on the grounds that the board-
superintendent conflict was a "personnel mat
ter.") And an open records request by Flagpole
was denied because, the board's attorney said,
legal advice on the responsibilities of the
board vs. the superintendent is protected as
attorney-client privilege.
But public input on any subject is always
allowed at the board of education's second-
Thursday meetings, district spokesman Mike
Wooten told Flagpole, provided that citizens
notify the superintendent's office earlier that
day. And beginning in August, school board
meetings will again be broadcast (whether live
or recorded hasn't
been decided) on the
school district's cable
channel 16, using
new remote-con
trolled cameras in the board's meeting room.
Meanwhile, high gasoline costs for buses
are hitting the district hard. "It does drain
resources," Wooten said. Attendance zones
surrounding schools will be expanded by fall of
2009, so that all students will be assigned to
a specific nearby school. At present, parents
can choose one of several different schools—
but that means as many as five buses picking
up children in a given neighborhood, and
transporting them to five different schools,
according to Superintendent Simms. "We will
be able to reduce the number of buses on the
road and reduce the number of drivers," he
told the school board. "That's just the way
we've got to do it."
John Huie jphuie@alhens.net
A new Reese street historic district, enthu
siastically approved by ACC commissioners last
week, is "rich in African-American history,"
said Commissioner George Maxwell, who once
attended Reese Street School. "These build
ings are still in my heart, and in my mind...
There were doctors, lawyers, ministers of
distinction that lived in this community,"
Maxwell said, although he added that fewer
homes in the district are now owner-occupied.
No one spoke against the new district at
last week's commission meeting, although
Milton Leathers told commissioners he is
"not unaware of problems" with the historic
requirements—"especially with new construc
tion in the neighborhood, which perhaps the
original ordinance didn't address fully... It is
time for some tuning," Leathers said.
The new district includes homes along two
blocks of Reese St. and Hancock Avenue (just
west of Finley St.); and like the city's nine
other protected districts, building owners now
need permission to make significant exterior
change' to the buildings, or for demolitions
(which are strongly discouraged). The sur
prise move by UGA's Kappa Alpha fraternity to
build its new house in the area—and then to
demolish two older homes that it purchased—
soured some residents.
RELAX, IT'S ONLY WATER
And on a tie vote broken by Mayor Heidi
Davison, ACC commissioners agreed to
slightly relax watering restrictions, since rains
have refilled the Bear Creek reservoir. Still,
there's an "extreme likelihood" of tighten
ing restrictions again later, County Manager
Alan Reddish said, and several commission
ers feared that changing the rules too much
would confuse the public. "It seems to me
that what this is mostly going to do is to
allow people to water their lawns, which—
given that we are still in a drought—I have
some serious issues with," Commissioner
Andy Herod said. Residents may now water
with sprinklers one morning per week, as well
as hand-watering three mornings per week,
using a hose with an automatic cutoff sprayer.
(Allowed days depend on street addresses,
spelled out at www.athensclarkecounty.com.)
Permits are required to fill pools, and for pres
sure washing, new landscape installations and
significant construction uses of water.
"I don't think any of us are suggesting
that the drought is over," Assistant County
Manager Bob Snipes told commissioners. "Our
consumption [of water] is significantly down,"
with Athens using 22 percent less water in
June than a year earlier, he added. The relaxed
watering rules are based on calculations
that—given the same stream-flow conditions
that existed last year—Bear Creek reservoir
will be able to provide water at least thru
December, Snipes said. "We don't have any
crystal ball" to predict that stream flows won't
decline from last year, he added. And indeed,
local rivers are barely above record low flows
and have set new record lows for some dates
this summer, according to US Geological
Survey data.
But if the county doesn't loosen water
restrictions when water is available—as, for
the moment, it is—"we lose a little credibil
ity" with the public, Manager Alan Reddish
warned. Last year, he said, "...we said to the
community, 'this is a serious issue, and for it
to be successful, you have got to be a player.'"
The public responded, Reddish said. "Long
term, we've got to have our customers and our
users on board with us."
Some commissioners didn't think allow
ing a night of sprinkler use was the best way
to loosen the restrictions. But Mayor Heidi
Davison, pointing out that sprinkler use is the
only option the state has approved, said, "Our -
hands are tied."
ACC has often been ahead of Georgia's
EPD in passing water rules, but the state's
rules take precedence. "They're about to
take away all the flexibility that we have
in the community to do what we want to
do to meet our own needs," Davison said.
"Part of the pressure has come from the
green industry (nurserymen and landscapers)
going to the governor" to ask for loosened
rules, Commissioner Harry Sims said. And
Commissioner Carl Jordan accused the county
of wanting "to get people in the habit of
conserving water, but we don't want to go
too far, because it does have an enormous
financial impact on revenue when people buy
less water." Jordan argued instead for a pric
ing system that charges more when water
is scarce. "I think there's a general concern
with the health of the river, given record low
flows," said commissioner Alice Kinman, who
also opposed the change. "No one's called
me and said, 'I need to be able to water my
lawn.'"
John Huie jphuie@athens net
The Board of Education
Stumbles Toward Elections
The flap has generated unusual
interest in the school board.
NEWS & FEATURES I CALENDAR I MOVIES I A&E I MUSIC I COMICS & ADVICE I CLASSIFIEDS
John Huie jphuie@athens.net
JULY 9, 2008 ■ FLAGPOLE.COM 5