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Will Bus Tickets Go Up?
Commish Wary of Increase
local bus ndentap bee* nsaxg —and
•t shot up wMe jrtfrt were at the*
c«ti bee* *e tort.
Athens D*ractor lute* McOuMV Irt
pose* 'irvng tart tarns *0*0 $t « to $1$A
land charging |5 cent* tar whuH M
now free) *1 ta^t fMe making racommenda-
rio»* l»ke t*n any *o*e than you guys **»
He**«g ttart.* he taW (oMomoMm a* the*
M«r to work mvo* but "people who ng*
the tan should bo MS** to MV about a third y
rtiMt q costs to m* the tart. * he »Mrt
f **rt "ot {WK about fl prttMt of CMti
**d * taderal contribution covered 15 pomeiM
Lest yrtM The ra*t comet
from the county s gene**
fund taw if any trans*
VtW pay tar them-
lehra* entirely though
tan but i T005 tfrtl fwfyntftf tta Adorn
system should try to cover arteut 15 percent a#
ti c«h that ««y UGA tKM faculty ita
riit oty buses tar *** (UGA ra»mbwr*e%
t*o county SMO per trip). and ««» o about
*5 percent 0# *0 passenger*. Mostly ?*oy
r*t> the >tMin that n*n through campus. The
b>verbend route ‘nMftofiy pay* tar *n*if
and then some.' McDuffie Vtad.
McDuffie suggested charging tar cM4nm
too; at pmHt. they ride free taw people
hex* been "ding the buses— "about • percent
o# the population o# Athens tan the tart
every day.* AclMta vita-tat mvw has
expanded. too. with added iwght and overflew
bum "Everything's 9000 up.* including fuel.
*0 uta And the now nxjttimodol tart station
H expensive to staff and heat *AD the hearing
stays up m the top a# the buriding' tie va*d
tart tomratmonon appear hetftant to
i s# Am. "5*on people am opt fe**g to so
able to ooy that/ saad (moo taof
Mrawert -A tot 0# aur tam am tatat «*o wv
frvtag on t*o rtowf n v * ta«d tmmwfcw
*ot!y &Mtj
McDuffie suggested m annual raview to
tarn at around 15 powt 0# coots, tait
"you* not 100**5ownimum naft 90 opomy
yoar/ &wti sata Carpaantsonon nay *****
t*o rttaio «i» taay >tao*oiM*. ’wor* tartas'
»r auMw i ■ hm. Qfc.f.... 1. |Qm TO
WO PSPm IP
at t*o ACC Ifrory on tartn Vtart (at ) pm
and A p ro.)
ut Ml ytlif ^ '•“■"O '•«*
y*V rtn." I^s m*\ • NM-yMr
^ n_ -a - -*
taXffta told cooMHruxonon. «*« >*dwwd
artout t. And Ho rupyitad cutttny out anp
90 the county s two *UnA* vom. nrtic* attar
on dunowd «w» to anm off ■oyuiar routrs
It coots the county ouor UO a trip and Y*
just a smad Handtal 0# poop** t*at rido <t #
Ho sata
tart otuom in t*o antort Ston»*ony
m^rtortiood *oady do •ata* tinA sonnet
Comointionor f d Kortunon countamd. t*o
>ma «s part 0# t Ho ta^acy of mHm *1 AcHom.
Ho addod In tHo Iftah and 70s, '•« tad *>
to son* «l our African-Aropncjn conuounifios
and taskity stoat t*o*r paoporty tar taw. and
toar if domm * lo6*#n«n sand, tar proyocts Itat
IA«A doraiK ‘and t*on otaatt them out to
the county tmt.*
ionn Hotf dfuirtOdrom tat
' ’ (aim *
aoior pn-ojpif
to k tlk to
$8 Million for Streetscapes;
Planning Dept. Also Busy
Over M mitiion is avaitartte tar lotai
street scape, sidewalk and mfrastructure
upgrades in commerciat areas yet to be
cHosen. That's one of the last of the sates
ta* projects approved by voters m ?005.
Commissioner David Lynn suggested hotding
a pubiK "bramstorming session* once those
areas have been picked —asking citutns tar
Mleas mstead 00 just pre
senting ideas to them
Commissioners also
heard at last week's
work session a pro
posed schedule tar the
Planning Department
to tackle various projects that commission
ers have assigned to it. First the county's
outdoor lighting ordinance will be revised,
and a proposal tar historic designation of
Mi Hedge Avenue will be fleshed out (with
public meetings to be held in October). The
county's Neighborhood Notification Initiative
could be expanded—perhaps into a 'neighbor
hood planning unit* program that would give
neighborhoods more say in future develop
ment. There will also be 'corridor* planning
studies of Prince Avenue and Oak/ Oconee
Street, and local buffer regulations will be
widened to protect lakes and wetlands.
Next year. Planning will work on 'shared
parking* standards to facilitate the use of
pavement surfaces that allow natural absorp
tion of rainwater, and on
of the mass grading
ordinance will be evaluated. Standards will be
considered tar 'accessory dwelling units* in
single-family zones; incentives win be con
sidered to protect farmland, perhaps through
zoning, easements, tax policies and promoting
small-scale agriculture; and details will be
developed on transferable development rights.
•
jonfl mi hi jjjnuif^aiDens nef
Commissioner Dayid Lynn
suggested holding a public
“brainstorming session.”
'voluntary tree-manage
ment plans’ and design
standards that would
apply to infill construc
tion. The effectiveness
Humane Society Hoping
to Qnit Handling Feral Cats
A propose! by the Athens Are* Moment
Srtdrtty ;AAM5) would wvtae the agency t
wtatiowsfrta with Athens Geri* County Ammat
Central and gat the ***** Society out of the
tan***** of dotting w*tH tare! cats, tad pw
itnted t» the ACC Meyer and Coramratran at
a iudgrt work setsien tart ft. the proposer t
change* would tthety taio aftact now then a
year hem now if tallowed The tart 1% **
sion was one of several budget work msom
tar pnrsentattan* independent agencies
M k , r H, miv w...<w a w afY tawi —a - ■ rt.- . .a:
*w%m\rWWnnj IdWipH wdCrrtWo*dF%
hom the ACC government tar the services they
pertano AAH5 n asking tar a county subsidy
tar Fiscal taar to 10 (IY10). as * has tar many
years, but t hopes ta be free of corndf hand
ing by FVU.
In doing to, AAKS piam to mtmgeish its
contracted **po«n*biiity ta perform animd-
contral functions- mainly, taking in and firth
antimg the aggiessive and urnodetraed taral
CJtS Which a* brought
is already at or near
that point: it says it has only euthjmzed one
'healthy, adaptable' cet in the past two years.
That hasn't always been the case, though,
and it's been mainly through a concerted
effort over the lest few years that the agency
has drastically reduced its euthenasie rates
tar healthy adoptables. AAMS hired its current
director. Crystal Schultz, two and a half years
ago; in the year prior to her arrival it eutha
nized 70 healthy adopt able cats, she says. Two
changes were crucial to that improve****,
or* was the opening of an adoption center
at tat Supplies Plus. The other was a decision
to reduce the length of the "hold period* tar
which a feral cat is kept at the shelter prior
to being euthanized—an inevitable step tar
almost every feral cat According to Schultz.
Athens-CUrke's five-day hold period policy
means that ferals with no chance at adop
tion take up space and resources that can go
towards saving and adopting out healthy cats.
"We're trying to lower the cage space (ferals)
take up... so that we caw extend the hold
period for healthy adoptables and improve the
chances that they can make it out of the shel
ter alive,* she says.
"We want to focus our resources on the
animals that we can treat and save,* Schultz
say*. She says that AAffST 1 mt two ACC bud
9* praposafai saw ***** the ******* of
"mowing awoy* hem Os raughty TV year old
county contract and that the organ***** s
board and staff haw* in the past year d*
tw*»*d becoming an adoption guarantee tarit-
dp "lb basic ally had ta fac’d*. Do we want
ta csntMw* to b* "the pound" tar cat* or do
•* want ta be a Humane society’'"'
It* a type of ran* Itat* boon Happening
in other common****, too, Schultz says, whom
hi^iv*av .i-i ■ & etmf , .r *** v * &.
with mwnirfpet contracts and eventually taund
the need ta move awey hem those contract*
In the words of ACC Contra! Services Director
Ownd fleck, whose department include*
Animal Control. *7hera it a tittle bit of a con
flict between the* stnMe* and our mmion. ’
Fkuck also doesn't deny that tb AA MS pro
posal presents *a challenge tar vs' Me says
the contour* of a new arrangement h****!
been explored yet
and probably wont be
examined m detail unW
after the FVlO budget
development cycle
ends later this spring
(xpanding ACC Ammal
Control staff and facilities—or contracting out
feral cat management—would probably cost
the government more than it ha* been giving
annually to AAMS (1*4 000 m FVO*. $54,000
m FYOP and possibly HOT.000 m upcoming
FV10). Local taral cat policy *m the held*-
much discussed lately as proponents of the
Trap Neuter ftetease strategy have become
more active—would not change without
changes to county ordinances, but Ammal
Control would be responsible for taking mi.
holding and euthani/tng feral cats—as well
as ranting out traps to citizens wtsmng to rid
their property of ferals—rather than AAMS.
Mayor Heidi Davison says ACC
Commissioners' initial response to the pro
posal was *1 mixed bag,* and says that she
stiU seeks to understand the proposal bet
ter. If AAMS chooses to relinquish its county
funding, though, it will likely relinquish its
contractual obligations, too. Schultz says her
organization is committed to helping the ACC
government manage a smooth transition over
the next year. AAMS intends to relocate its
headquarters to its present spay/neuter clinic
on Mars Mill Road in Oconee County.
Ben Emanuel ben©fiagpole com
to -t~o*4oo W* want 10 focus our
-*4oftw<
facd»ty whera every mowcti on the animAll
domestic animal brought
in finds a home AAMS tlut Wf CAB treat And SAT* ”
6 FLAGPOLE.COM • MARCH 18,2009