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M&C, EDF Cautious in
Blue Heron Funding
Intrigued but wary, Athens-Clarke County
commissioners discussed the "Blue Heron"
development proposal for two hours last
week—and the next day, board members of
the Athens Economic Development Foundation
agreed to fund the next moves to explore
such a river district. A public-private partner
ship to develop unused land between down
town and the river is "a wonderful concept,"
Commissioner Kathy Hoard told consultant
Ken Bleakley at last week's work session, but
she and other commissioners had questions—
especially about paying for the project, which
would require the county to borrow $25
million.
If the project is successful, much of that
money would be repaid with increased tax
revenues from the project itself, which would
include "research park" offices, retail spaces,
"live/work" residences and a hotel. But if it
should fail, county taxpayers would still have
to pay off the loan. "This has a lot of 'ifs' in
it," Commissioner Harry Sims pointed out. In
a year when the county has eliminated some
jobs to save money, "this is not the time for
us to be trying to find $100,000," he said.
Site investigations (for example to determine
if underground rock exists on the site, and to
investigate cleanup costs of an old city dump
and a coal gasification plant) would cost
about that much before a decision can even
be reached on issuing bonds to finance the
project.
Other commissioners were more enthusias
tic: "I'm willing to take some risk, but I have
to be cautious in that risk," said Kelly Girtz.
Mike Hamby asked whether a private developer
was prepared to step forward.
That's the plan, consultant Ken Bleakly told
Flagpole—but these days, developers want
to be "spoon-fed" sites that are ready to go.
"I think you're missing some things that are
going elsewhere, because you don't have the
existing inventory in place." If the county
buys the land and installs infrastructure—then
resells parcels to developers at a lower, subsi
dized price—the developers can be expected
to invest perhaps five times as much as the
county in new buildings, creating hundreds of
jobs and more tax revenue, Bleakley said.
"It's a great piece of property," he said, "a
great opportunity." But it will take time—a
decade or more—to fully develop the kind
of "knowledge-based" businesses that are
already locating near Georgia Tech. "This will
be a complex and long-term undertaking,"
he said, but the river district's location next
to both UGA and downtown would draw such
employers. "Many [UGA students] would love
to stay and live in Athens, but can't find the
opportunities."
And few properties offer the proximity to
both a vibrant downtown and a university.
"We don't usually find both building blocks in
place," Bleakly said. The site's steep topogra
phy is a drawback, he admitted, but "we think
people will go in there and figure out a way
to do it."
County Manager Alan Reddish called the
consultant's report "pretty sound planning,"
but warned commissioners that a $25 million
bond debt would amount to a half-mill tax
increase if other financing methods fail.
The Economic Development Foundation
will hire a manager to do "a lot of office work
and... get things moving in the right direc
tion," EDF Director Matt Forshee told Flagpole,
but it has alloted no funds to investigate
underground rock or hazardous-waste cleanup
costs. The foundation will also hire UGA's
Carl Vinson Institute of Government to take
a second look at the Bleakly report's revenue
projections.
But making only "a cursory review" of the
report's numbers, Reddish warned commission
ers, "is going to put you right back where you
are." He urged them to "do this thing right, or
not at all," and spend $100,000 to investigate
the site. Mayor Nancy Denson asked commis
sioners to consider the proposal and get back
to her within a few days.
The EDF will hire a temporary staffer to
manage the project before the end of this
week.
John Huie
Safe Routes to School
Picking Up Momentum
Most school children prefer to walk or bike
to school, but their parents fear for their
safety. "Safe Routes to Schools"—a program
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begun in Denmark and now reaching critical
mass in Georgia (after being delayed by the
state transportation department's reluctance
to participate) provides sidewalks and safe
street crossings between neighborhoods and
schools.
Several years ago, parents and the local
transportation nonprofit BikeAthens initiated
local "safe routes" programs at Barrow and
Chase Street elementary schools; now, $1 mil
lion in state funding has been promised to
local schools. That money will buy upgraded
signals, "brick-look" crosswalks and permanent
radar speed signs in areas around Barrow,
Chase, Gaines School Elementary and Hilsman
Middle schools. Other schools are also eligible
for funding, pending planning initiatives by
schools or parents.
Additional money for new sidewalks and
signals will be provided by local sales tax
money: already, sidewalks are planned or
underway along parts of Barnett Shoals Road,
Whit Davis Road, Oglethorpe Avenue and Old -
Epps Bridge Road. Students are encouraged
to walk if they live within a mile of school,
and school programs to encourage walking are
required for the state grants.
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ACC commissioners can build sidewalks
wherever they choose with local money, but
they usually defer to a points system to pick
projects from a long list of sidewalk sugges
tions made by citizens and county staffers.
Locations get points for being near bus stops,
schools or other destinations; "evidence of
pedestrian traffic" like dirt paths; fast traffic;
pedestrian signals and connectivity with other
sidewalks, among others.'
But several of the criteria used favor
"major arterial" streets, ACC Transportation
Director David Clark told commissioners last
week, and to counter that "bias," he sug
gested putting 30 percent of sidewalk money
toward sidewalks in residential areas. With
SPL0ST 2Q11, sidewalks are far better funded
than in the past—side Iks and school signal
improvements will average over $500,000 a
year through Fiscal Year 2020—but not all
residents want sidewalks near their homes (or
don't want to lose part of their front yards),
and commissioners have rarely been willing to
force owners to sell their property to accom
modate public facilities like sidewalks.
John Huie
Republic
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• AUGUST17.2011-FLAGPOLE.COM 5
