About Flagpole. (Athens, Ga.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (June 15, 2011)
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; A ROv|UD TOu>iU ATH6/J3 HA* A FEAc<-Y 6xot/aj£ LOCAL »PW5K e*Jg 8v/T I OotJT UtJOLu Hotu TO pLAH' itHJD OP vAusrC b** r> Av/1 o rviAcu: 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 ST A (LT A BA U D EvJERY T/ see A SW0u> IT t*IE mAMf T*> ST4RTA 3A wo so i HAve a CoLcecno/jor tdjy IVSTROH&JTS t PMT V/6RY POOflt-Y wUuJUJ • f r ZA-'€».f=»ZS. /vJ €-T 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 Jhietidbest Boa myWtensL rtoMrer mt SINGING V; PI Dot? 111 INI) DP AH DARI8 POOI TOURNAMENT 8I»‘I wmmmtis ■> mmjm HAPAOHI HIM NIGHT MOP ISOPBPN Mil I 11> I IK.11 III I CANS 12 DOMI NI It HI C M IN PAPH NIC.I11’ DANCY IO 80s *, 90s Ml M< BUPNPICIAIN 706 549 1010 • 50 GAINrS SCMOOI rACrBOOM.COM/AHBI BAP POAD FLFIO POLE oar COM JUNE 15,2011 FLAGPOLE.COM 5
