I went through the Decatur Lakefront site last week and couldn’t find the links to the drawings but they’re on their Facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/photos.php?id=385801071561
I still need to send in my thoughts. Last week was kind of hectic. Today I’m pooped. Tonight I’ll get on the laptop and send my suggestions. The Adventure concept is looking pretty good to me with some added in concepts from some of the other drawings.
2010 looks like it will be a year of decision making for Decatur. After several years of planning and talking about future needs, projects and goals for the city. 2010 is the year when many of those plans will be, if not put in motion, at least made more clear.
A final vote hasn’t been taken but it looks like the new police station will most likely be located in the Wabash Crossing area. In the past, many different locations and options have been discussed and promoted by different groups and individuals but Wabash Crossing seems to be the most logical and realistic spot. The next step is getting the project “shovel ready” for federal funds. The city will have to spend some money upfront to get a detailed plan developed but that in itself is a big step – considering past disagreements about where any facility should be located. A new police station is not going to be built in 2010 but the preliminary planning to get it built, will begin.
The school district will also be putting their recommendations for improving Decatur’s high schools before the voters this year. It hasn’t been settled what plans will actually be voted on yet. Either a brand new single high school campus located in a site yet undetermined, or at least undisclosed to the public as of yet, is one option; completely remodeling Eisenhower and MacArthur high schools is also an option; lastly converting Stephen Decatur Middle School back into a single campus high school may be on the ballot.
However, the Stephen Decatur option fails to mention where the middle school students would be displaced to. Would MacArthur be converted into a middle school and Eisenhower sold to St. Mary’s Hospital? That’s still up in the air but we’ll probably be voting on something in 2010. The problem of course, with any plan, is how do we pay for it and what are residents willing to pay? A county sales tax has been suggested but that seems even more unlikely to pass than asking Decatur’s residents for an increase in property taxes. Of course, doing nothing is an option if voters reject whatever plan is placed on the ballot.
The plans for the lakefront at Nelson Park will also be unveiled this year. This has been a hot topic in Decatur as many residents fear losing public access to the lake through one of Decatur’s oldest and most beloved park. The Nelson Park golf course was closed in 2009 and plans for that land are still up in the air. The city, park district and Chamber of Commerce have all contributed time and money towards the planning but now it’s the public’s turn to contribute both with ideas and possibly money.
So, it looks like 2010 will be a busy one for Decatur.
Last night the Decatur City Council again discussed Decatur’s water issues. The ongoing dredging progress which has been disappointingly drudging along for the past few years, with the use of a skeleton crew of city workers was under scrutiny. It was estimated, at the time the previous council voted to use city workers to do dredging work on Lake Decatur, that approximately 300 acre feet of silt would be removed per year, however the real number has fallen well below that at about 170 acre feet. About 110 acre feet of silt wash into the lake each year, so the crew is barely making much headway.
The city crew has been plagued by staffing issues, broken equipment, parts delays and other unforeseen difficulties. However, a representative of the workers spoke to the council and disputed some of the numbers and doubted whether a professional firm would be able to do much better. For instance, some basins of the lake have several tree stumps and other debris which makes it more difficult to dredge. It’s estimated that a professional dredging company could remove as much as 600 acre feet of silt per year. It may be hard to tell if we’re actually comparing apples to apples in the estimated progress a professional firm could do in comparison with an expanded city workforce. It would depend which basin of the lake we’re talking about. Basin 1 is fairly clear of stumps and debris and would be much easier to dredge; other basins may not go so smoothly. At any rate, the city council advised city staff to move ahead with option 4, which would hire an outside firm to more quickly do the work. The project is expected to take five years.
However, the question of selling city owned dredging equipment came up. Larry Foster very much supported the idea; Pat Laegeler showed a bit of reluctance. Laegeler was on the previous city council which approved the city taking over dredging operations because he believed that dredging would be a “forever project.” Personally, I think it would be wise for the city the keep its dredging equipment because it will forever be an ongoing maintenance issue, considering 110 acre feet of silt wash back into the lake each year.
It was also decided last night that the option of using the city’s lowest water intakes during a drought wouldn’t be cost effective. The water treatment facilities that the city currently operates would not be capable of filtering such murky, muddy water. The water would be unfit for drinking without a boil order. The council will now look at horizontal wells below the dam as its next option to increase Decatur’s water supply during a severe drought.
Within a few weeks an architectural firm will be selected to help create the master plan for Nelson Park. In talks that I’ve had with Bill Clevenger, executive director of the Decatur Park District, and Jack Kenny, a park board board commissioner, the public will have a chance to be part of the process. The time is now to get your ideas sent to Mr. Clevenger directly or at an upcoming town hall meeting. The meetings don’t have specific dates yet but I’ll post them here when I catch word of them.
More information can be found at: http://decatur-parks.org/main/parks_map.php
I also want to thank the park district for sending a representative to our neighborhood group meeting last month. She spoke about the proposed bike trail that will go near the Home Park and Ravina Park neighborhoods. Hopefully funding will come through for the project.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 8, 2009
City, Neighborhoods To Share Information
DECATUR – Local neighborhoods and the Decatur City Council will continue their push to work more closely together through a new initiative announced this week during this week’s Decatur City Council meeting.
City neighborhood organizations will make public presentations to the Decatur City Council during the second council meeting of each month, detailing ongoing programs and positives, needs and issues faced by each neighborhood. The presentations will be coordinated through the Coalition of Neighborhood Organizations, which works with the city’s 23 neighborhood groups and throughout the community to address neighborhood issues.
The City Council in the last two years has made improving and strengthening city neighborhoods one of its top three goals.
“The feeling of this council has been certainly (over) the last 2 or 3 years and certainly with this new group that the neighborhoods are the lifeblood of this community and I don’t think there’s any better way for the council to hear everything together as opposed to a comment here or a comment there,” said Mayor Mike McElroy. “You’ll hear something from a different neighborhood (during the second meeting of each month) – the good things that are happening and the bad things that are happening.
“We want to hear it all.”
For more information contact Mayor Mike McElroy at 424-2804 or Billy Tyus at 424-2753.
Sounds good to me but I had no idea there were 23 different neighborhood groups in Decatur – soon to be 24. So it will take at least two years for the council to hear from each group? Oh well, I guess it’s better than nothing.