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ATHENS NEWS AND VIEWS
WHAT’S UP IN NEW DEVELOPMENT
The Lowry Situation: Rumors flew over the
weekend that ACC Commissioner Doug Lowry
would not be moving to Calgary as planned,
and what's more, would be running for re-
election to his District 1 seat. But pending
the final outcome of contract renegotiations
between Lowry's fiancee, Karen Liljebjelke, and
the University of Calgary, where she accepted
a job at the beginning of the year, it appears
she will stay there and Lowry will go. Lowry
is ambivalent: "I wish I could run again," he
says, but his top priority hasn't changed. That
is to be with his future wife.
View to the Spill, Pt. 2: The Northeast Georgia
Children's Environmental Health Coalition
hosted a public conference call with Louisiana
environmental health advocate Wilma
Subra at its June 1 meeting at Athens Ben
Epps Airport, and those in attendance were
given a very different account of the federal
government and BP'S joint response to the
Deepwater Horizon disaster than has gener
ally been reported. In addition to a detailed
chronicling of various public health hazards
resulting from the spill (and from the chemical
dispersants being used to control it), Subra
offered disturbing testimony on inadequate
safeguards being employed in the cleanup and
the government's compliance with BP'S efforts
to keep the ugly reality of the spill from the
prying eyes of the media.
The U. S. Coast Guard, according to Subra
(as well as some other Gulf Coast observers)
is keeping "off-limits"—not just on land and
sea, but to aircraft, as well—areas where BP
says it's conducting dangerous cleanup opera
tions. But residents and reporters who have
ventured into the cordoned areas have seen
no hazardous work being done—only graphic
evidence of the spilled oil's penetration of
coastal wetlands.
Thanks to the coalition for facilitating this
informative discussion; we'll try to keep read
ers posted on similar events in the future.
Off and Running: After a very, shall we say,
deliberate entry into the Athens mayoral
race, Spencer Frye has charged ahead of his
fellow candidates—at least in terms of his
active engagement with the local media and,
hence, with Athens voters. Frye issued two
press releases during Flagpole?s last publica
tion cycle, both of which were covered in the
local online and print media. The releases
announced two policy positions, both good
ideas likely to resonate with Athens' progres
sive voters: Frye's proposal for the creation
of a county cultural affairs office to "assist
with promoting and growing [Athens'] arts
industries" as an economic development tool,
and his endorsement of PACE bonds, which
allow property owners to finance "green"
energy upgrades like solar panels and building
insulation with increased property tax assess
ments, as a means of cost-effective improve
ment to community energy efficiency.
On a related note, the blog Georgia Liberal
announced last week that Gwen O'Looney had
launched her campaign website, gwen2010.
com—as the last candidate to declare for the
race, she's also the last to roll out a site—but
as of this writing it still wasn't live. Hopefully
it will be up by the time this hits the streets.
Methodists in Action:
When the North Georgia
Conference of the
United Methodist
Church hits town June
16, the Classic Center—
and the Classic City
itself—will be bursting
with visitors for three
days. Thursday, June 17,
members of the Athens
community, regardless
of religious affiliation or
lack thereof, are invited
to wade into the thick
of it for a couple of
hours to participate in
the conference's Stop
Hunger Now initiative.
Volunteers will spend the
day packing up 200,000
meals, each meant to
feed a family of four, to
be distributed internationally. You can sign up
for two-hour packing sessions beginning at
noon or 2:30 p.m. (it appears the 9:30 a.m.
session is full); go to the conference website
(ngumc.org) or HandsOn Northeast Georgia's
site (volunteer.united-e-way.org/hng/volun-
teer/) to register.
New Blood: It was announced last week
that Lara Mathes has been named ACC
Environmental Coordinator (she's actu
ally been transitioning between her former
Planning Department post and her new one,
but should be full-time by this week). Mathes
succeeds Dick Field, who recently retired after
occupying the position for the first six years
of its existence. As a neighborhood plan
ner, she was responsible for implementing
the Neighborhood Notification Initiative,
among other accomplishments, and she serves
as Vice President on the board of the Athens
Land Trust. She's e sharp, dedicated lady, and
an excellent choice for the job.
Also finalized last week were Mayor
Heidi Davison's appointments for various
county boards, authorities and commis
sions, including the Downtown Development
Authority, the Historic Preservation
Commission, the Planning Commission and the
Classic Center Authority. There are too many
names to list here, but if you're interested
you can watch the mayor read them on the
archived video of the June 2 M&C regular ses
sion at the ACC website.
Dm Marr newsOftagpote.com
Weird Stuff: Maybe it's that summer heat
that's been getting to people, or perhaps the
sheer insanity of random streets being ripped
up every single summer, but lately there have
been local built works and planning conversa
tions that have left me scratching my head a
little bit.
Sewer Disservice: First off, there's the frenzy
that some folks have whipped themselves into
about the removal of a Sandy Creek sewer
line from the county's Service Delivery Plan.
It's been a little rainy lately, and so perhaps
people may have forgotten that catastrophic
drought we had awhile back. You know, the
one where we were a month or two out from
literally running out of drinking water for the
county? And maybe people are a little forget
ful about just how bad the economy has been
lately, now that things are starting to perk up
economically. Maybe this has them in a gung-
ho mood to throw up a few student apartment
complexes, you know, for old time's sake.
Unfortunately, those two problems haven't
gone anywhere. Athens is still overbuilt and
under-hydrated, and advocating for a by-right
build-out of the entire county, especially our
drinking water supply zone, is a little off.
Dubious "Improvements": Intown, the Holiday
Inn on Broad Street is getting some aes
thetic upgrades, single-handedly stimulating
our economy by keeping the local shutter
dealerships and architectural comice fac
tories in business. I don't quite know where
they're going with this facelift, but I can't
help but wonder if it might have been bet
ter to let those old Modernist buildings just
stay Modem, rather than trying to give them
that Classic City w look. I was fairly partial to
those EPCOT-style spaceship windows that are
getting covered over. Would that money have
been better spent by putting in street-level
retail space where parking currently occupies
the first floor? Such a move might do infi
nitely more to enliven Broad Street and make
the building more of a landmark. Suppose the
hotel's restaurant was right out front; wouldn't
that make for a bit more of a destination?
Sour Notes: Further down the road, another
Art Bus Shelter went in near the old West
Broad Elementary; this one represents our
unique rock music history with the musical
symbols of classical composers. Not to be a
negative Nancy, but I don't know if local rock-
and-rollers are necessarily burning through
reams of sheet music as they write their
original jams. Maybe the next few shelters to
go in will be a little more representative of
Athens. Check out athensarts.org/you-me-and-
the-bus.php to see images of the other win
ning proposals. The best is yet to come, and I
can't wait to see the other seven built.
Emerging Neighborhood Commerce: Going
back east on Broad, the transformation of
the former Nuwabian temple into some
handsome-looking retail spaces is nearly wrap
ping up. Additionally, local vintage store Ohh
Boy! has moved in across the street. Along
with Ben's Bikes, Vision Video and other busi
nesses, the corridor might actually be reaching
a critical mass to achieve its own identity
as a neighborhood commercial district. What
would really be great, though, is a traffic light
or stop sign somewhere along the stretch, to
slow down the wave of speeding traffic along
that route.
Tennis and Farmers: HI avoid rehashing the
SPLOST tennis center, although I am amused
by the idea that an existing venture that liter
ally exchanges money for goods and services
will be shoved out for one with a more nebu
lous and indirect "economic impact" What
is exciting to see is the new Tuesday Farmers
Market in the Little Kings courtyard down
town. Combined with Athens Locally Grown
and the Saturday market, we're really getting a
whole system of local food in Athens.
As Jthe Farmers Market continues to grow,
I wonder about its ability to expand into
other emerging areas around town. What
about Monday markets on the Eastside and
Wednesdays on North Avenue? Each satel
lite market could be a weekly exercise in
neighborhood commence and alternative
transportation for a cluster of neighborhoods
around town. Further, what are the possibili
ties for the big Saturday Farmers Market to
activate a not-so-successfol intown park or
vacant lot? Normaltown is doing pretty well
right now; rather than asking what the tennis
center will do to the market at Bishop Park,
should we instead be asking what the market
could do for its future new home?
Kent) Williams athen$fi$ing@nagpo?e.conn
JUNE 9.2010 • FLAGPOLE.COM 5
District 2 Commissioner Harry Sims has asked county staff to reconsider its
assessment of the traffic signal at the intersection of East Broad, First Street
and MLK as “unwarranted," and not to consider it for removal. The Dope is no
traffic engineer, but considering that this intersection serves as the main gate
way from downtown to still-growing East Athens neighborhoods, he’s with Sims.
The shutters they’ve just put up at ye olde downtown Holiday Inn offset the otherwise Modem stricture with an
“old-timey” touch.
KEVAN WILLIAMS