City Town Hall Meeting

Published April 18th, 2007

Last night the City of Douglasville held a public town hall meeting at the First Baptist Church of Douglasville adjacent to West Central Technical College . Upon arrival handwritten signs could found at the road entrances to the church. Once inside the sanctuary there were over fifty residents in attendance with more than half of the residents being elderly.

Promptly at 7:30 p.m. Mayor Mickey Thompson addressed the residents by introducing City Council members and local law enforcement. The Mayor also mentioned that the town hall meeting was being recorded for the City’s new cable channel that will premiere in the summer – channel 25.

After the introduction the meeting began with an overview of various public works projects, the prospect of a 2007 SPLOST, impact fees, a residential Q&A and finally a presentation by the Douglasville Police Department about gang activity.

Proposed Timber Ridge Realignment

Proposed Bright Star Connector

The first subject to be presented was an overview of transportation projects within the city. Widening of Hospital Drive is scheduled to be completed by July 2007, although current progress may result in an earlier date. Various intersections along Chapel Hill Road and Presetley Mill Road are subject to have improvements, with some of the funds being reliant on the passage of the 2007 SPLOST referendum and impact fees.

Timber Ridge Drive is expected to be realigned at the intersection of Presetley Mill Road. Plans not featured at the town hall meeting display Timber Road shifting south onto property owned by the First Baptist Church of Douglasville. The Highway 92 Relocation Project has been given the go ahead and will start with the underpass at Highway 78.

The Bright Star Road Connector is becoming closer to a reality with the City currently having a contract with a property owner with a tract that is over 100 acres. The connector would create easier access between Bright Star Road and Highway 5 with funding being provided by an approved 2007 SPLOST. Also traffic congestion on Highway 5 at Interstate 20 and the Wal-Mart entrance is to be improved.

Focus then shifted to Parks and Recreation with the announcement that $613,000 from the 2002 SPLOST has been spent on improvements for Hunter Park. During the Q&A section a resident questioned what improvements were made at the park considering that few improvements can be seen visually. City Manager Bill Osborne explained that some funds were spent on refurbishing the swimming pool and ball fields while other funds were consumed by planning to reconfigure Hunter Park.

Much discussion throughout the meeting was on the prospect of a future YMCA center at Hunter Park. Funding is to be provided by a 2007 SPLOST, it would likely be a joint project with the City and County, and once the center is constructed the YMCA takes over with full management without any expenses to the City. Council members repeatedly iterated that the City Council visited Canton to view a YMCA center and the positive impact it has on a community.

Another 2007 SPLOST project would include a new park south of Interstate 20. No details concerning the location or the layout of the new park were disclosed. However a month ago Losing Georgia had previewed a preliminary plan by the City for a new park with four ball fields and a football/soccer field in the vicinity of Bright Star Road. Whether the new park is the same as the preliminary plan is unknown.

Currently the layout of Hunter Park can not support a YMCA center according to Parks and Recreations Director Ivey. Discussion about the new park at the town hall also hinted that its development may result in ball fields being removed from Hunter Park in order to build the YMCA center. The City has developed a new master plan for Hunter Park that displays a newly relocated community center, but not a YMCA center.

The topic was then shifted to public safety. The City wants to consolidate the 5 locations that make up the offices of the Douglasville Police and municipal courts into one facility. A new digital communications system for the police is also being attached to the 2007 SPLOST referendum. The total cost of the system is estimated to be $8 million with a new tower to cost $2.5 million.

Need for the communications system was based on covering the New Manchester community effectively and being able to communicate with officers past the Chattahoochee River during pursuits into Atlanta. The City of Douglasville annexed New Manchester around 1997/1998. This brings up the question why the city has not instituted upgraded communications in the New Manchester in the past ten years prior to new residents moving into the area.

Disclosed during the Q&A was that $3.9 million from the 2002 SPLOST is still available to be used for Hunter Park, atop that with $1.4 million in interest creating a total of $5.3 million which could be used to reconfigure the park. Of the $5.3 million none will be used in the refurbishing process of the Veterans Memorial, however the City Council recently passed a capital amendment budget of $50,000 and hired a contractor in order to start the refurbish project.

One resident expressed his concern about the YMCA center being located in New Manchester originally and why the City Council chose to move the location. The official response was on the basis that the center be located closer to Douglasville and not create another “Boundary Waters” that is not isolated from most residents.

Another resident questioned whether or not the City was going to provide answers to question on the City’s website regarding impact fees from the previous public hearing that was held in February. No direct answer was given, instead an explanation as to how and when a second meeting would be made was given. Losing Georgia reported earlier about the online Q&A feature and the City not responding to e-mails regarding the availability of the Q&A.

The town hall meeting was then concluded by a presentation from the Douglasville Police Department regarding the Georgia Street Gang Terrorism and Prevention Act. A handout was provided to those residents who were in attendance. This was the only handout made available and is downloadable below.

Downloads

Comments are closed.