Why is an outside electrician doing the electrical work on the City owned house next to the Civic Center when the City has a licensed electrician in their employ? And was this electrical work put out for bid or just given to the electrician doing the work? People seem to think and complain about some work not going out for bid but think it is okay in other cases not to put the job(s) out for bid.
It is my understanding, and I could be wrong, that this building, rather than house a small restaurant type business which would be good for the City due to its proximity, is being prepared for private offices for one or more City employees. According to some who have seen the inside, the inside of the building has been drastically changed, and not for the good.
I know the city has sunk quite a bit of money into its Park Ave buildings and the Library is located on Park Ave as well, but most people agree the area bounded by New Peachtree, Stewart Rd, Buford Hwy and the Park Ave including the property on the south side of Park Ave is not being put to its highest and best use. Best use in my opinion would be much higher density transit friendly low or mid rise (depending on the definition of low or mid rise) development.
That said, the Buford Hwy UAW Hall site appears ripe for gov’t acquisition with the idea that city government and library would eventually relocate there, allowing the aforementioned section to be redeveloped.
The new city government/library location would be as centrally located, but much more convenient and walkable for Northwoods quadrant residents that represent a substantial if not a very slim majority of the population. The site is no less convenient to Oakcliff residents, and very little less convenient to Tilly Mill area residents. The site’s development plan should include realigning Chestnut Drive to meet Park Ave at Buford Hwy as was mentioned in an prior thread.
There’s merit in the GM site redevelopment plan and redevelopment bridging the MARTA line to include redevelopment of the area between New Peachtree and Buford Hwy between Stewart Rd and south of Park Ave.
While walking through my neighborhood a couple of weeks ago, I noticed that all of the storm drains I passed had a new, colorful “No Dumping” symbol affixed to them. I thought it looked great (a picture is to the left) and figured the city or county had done it.
This assumption was incorrect, however. According to an e-mail from former councilman, Tom Hart, the new labels are the work of Justin Camp–a young man working on his Eagle Scout badge. According to Mr. Hart, the updates for our storm drains are only a small part of the project that Justin, his family and his troop are working on.
I think this project is great, and salute Justin and the other scouts who have been working on this with him. Civic-minded volunteerism is a fantastic thing, and I’m glad to see young people getting started on it so early in life.