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Commission Wants
Results from Economic
Development Group
Frustrations with the progress of economic
development efforts—which are supposed to
bring new business and jobs to Athens—last
week led ACC commissioners to threaten
funding for ACC's Economic Development
Foundation. It was an unusual move, appar
ently intended to influence the EDF board to
add a couple of commissioners to its number.
Despite the need to address its high poverty
rate, ACC's economic development efforts have
been criticized as puny; in recent years, most
job growth has been in lower-paying retail
jobs. The EDPs longtime director resigned
under pressure last year and was replaced by
Matt Forshee, a former planning and economic
development director for Oconee County.
A 2008 task force study by local indus
trialists concluded the Athens region "is
missing out on hundreds if not thousands of
private-sector jobs per year" because other
places (including Gainesville) are "much more
proactive" in courting new business and
industry. That study recommended a coordi
nated regional approach with a single "go-to"
agency to market all counties in the region;
others (like UGA's Fanning Institute and the
OneAthens antipoverty group) have made
similar recommendations. In response, ACC
commissioners agreed to combine business
recruitment efforts with Oconee County-
only—but that county's commissioners have
declined to join such a combined effort,
fearing the new jobs would end up outside
of Oconee. "As of right now, that proposal
essentially is DOA," Forshee told Flagpole in
February. The EDF is not charged with such a
regional effort, but only with "selling" Athens-
Clarke County.
Commissioner Kelly Girtz introduced the
motion to withhold "for later discussion" all
but the first month of next year's funding from
the EDF; it passed 7-1. Girtz offered no spe
cific criticism of the agency, telling Flagpole
only that he wants to see "a more coordinated
approach" with the county's Human and
Economic Development department (which
provides business-development loans) and the
Chamber of Commerce.
But at a meeting last month, Commissioner
Kathy Hoard said EDF leaders "need to inform
us what is going on" to justify its $150,000
in annual funding. Commissioner Mike Hamby
added, "We want to be patient, but we've got
to start seeing some results."
The budget the commission passed last
week is the tightest in years, the EDFs fund
ing aside. Cutting a competitive gymnastics
team from the budget brought objections from
parents, but County Manager Alan Reddish
said that program costs the county $540 per
participant to provide. Night bus service will
be retained (at least for the coming year)
through 9:45 p.m.
A compromise on parking rates will hold
downtown meter rates to 75 cents per hour
(free after 10 p.m.) with the usual two-hour
limit not in effect after 6 p.m. The new rates
plan is the result of "a long discussion," said
Hamby; if you can't feed the meter, he advised
downtown patrons, then "use the deck." Deck
rates remain $1.50 an hour. And because
architects hadn't finished a detailed design
for the Classic Center expansion, a vote was
delayed until July; the completed plans will be
shown at a public meeting June 28.
John Huie
Commissioners Chat
with Citizens at
Neighborhood Forum
At a Federation of Neighborhoods forum
last week, commissioners Alice Kinman, Kelly
Girtz, Mike Hamby and Andy Herod responded
to audience questions on a variety of top
ics. Should ACC's Leisure Services department
be divided (perhaps into recreation, cultural
affairs, and natural resources departments)?
"That's a big department," Hamby noted. And
trimming $1.5 million from ACC's budget this
year was "very difficult," Andy Herod said,
adding that "we have had very little help from
the state. They are happy to mandate us to
do certain things," but not to pay for them.
"We'll be chopping some more things out of
the budget next year," he promised. "There is
no fat."
"Economic development is a huge topic
on everyone's mind right now," said Kinman;
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various loans and tax credits might help ACC
grow new businesses, said Hamby and Herod.
"We're at a point now where there's just
an awful lot of conversation about down
town, said Hamby, who serves on the Athens
Downtown Development Authority, "and that's
a good thing." Herod allowed that, while "not
a decision to make lightly," turning College
Square into "a piazza-type plaza... might be a
way to encourage people to come downtown
and spend money." And eliminating one-way
streets could make storefronts more visible to
drivers, he said.
Limiting the number of bars downtown
could help make downtown rents more afford
able to retailers, Girtz said: "Lots of towns
have done that," including Madison, WI and
Seattle. "I can imagine that discussion mov
ing slowly," he added. And UGA's new medical
school could bring "big bucks" in new grants
for UGA, Herod said. "Whether we like it or
not, this is a one-company town."
The 2012 referendum on T-SPLOST, an
additional one-cent sales tax for transporta
tion, will be "a very important vote," Kinman
said. "There are many things we can't afford
if we are just trying to pay for transportation
through the gas tax." Those include bike and
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pedestrian improvements like "Safe Routes
to School" initiatives, which encourage kids
to walk or bike to school—perhaps on off
road paths, Kinman suggested—and could be
funded to the tune of $5 million if T-SPLOST
passes.
Specific projects for the regional T-SPLOST
will be chosen in August; some local propos
als have already been eliminated by the state
department of transportation's veto power,
including a proposal to widen Hawthorne
Avenue. Bike lanes for Milledge were also
vetoed, perhaps because of the difficulty of
acquiring a wide enough right-of-way. The
remaining list must be whittled down further
to fit the budget, but bike lanes are still pro
posed for the full length of Prince Avenue,
as well as for North Avenue and Lexington
Road. Other projects still in play include
road-widenings proposed for Tallassee Road,
Lexington Road, Mitchell Bridge Road and
Macon Highway; a new Loop 10 interchange
that would connect to Atlanta Highway;
numerous airport improvements; construction
of the new Jennings Mill Parkway; and more
money for buses.
John Huie
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JUNE 15,2011 FLAGPOLE.COM 5
