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GRTA considers options to keep its bus fleet safe, reliable, tidy

by David Pendered

Repair or replace? That’s the question facing GRTA as it considers its fleet of aging buses. The answer isn’t obvious.

Repair is cheaper for the next six years. But after that, replacement is the less expensive option, according to a consultant’s report presented Wednesday to GRTA’s board.

GRTA officials have presented the figures to Gov. Nathan Deal’s staff, and to the governor’s budget writing agency, the Office of Planning and Budget. The timing suggests GRTA may seek some level of funding in the state’s upcoming FY 2016 budget, which the next governor will present to the Legislature in January.

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Memorial Drive planners face mash-up of serene homes, scenes compared to ‘Ukrainian civil war’

by David Pendered

Memorial Drive was buzzing a decade ago as homebuyers picked up units located close to Downtown Atlanta and Midtown, but at prices that reflected the street’s gritty urban texture.

These days, humming may be a better word to describe the pace of development. Another difference? Now there’s a bona fide effort to plan for the future of the corridor along a 5.5-mile stretch from I-75/85 to Candler Road.

A group of Georgia Tech graduate students, working under the guidance of Mike Dobbins, a Tech professor of practice, are devising a framework plan for the Memorial Drive corridor. Consider just this one fact the students already have unearthed:

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Bio-pharm research company expands plasma facility in Norcross, bolsters Innovation Crescent

by David Pendered

A New Jersey-based company involved in the high stakes world of biopharmaceutical research has just expanded an important subsidiary in Norcross – a blood plasma collection center.

The parent company conducts research with plasma. If the research is successful, the resulting product could help countless suffers of chronic diseases and provide enormous revenues to ADMA Biologics, Inc.

The expansion of ADMA BioCenters, in Norcross, represents another step in the growth of metro Atlanta’s bioscience industry. The region’s economic developers are focused on bringing bioscience and health IT businesses to the corridor that connects Atlanta’s airport and Athens.

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New report on education funding provides context for claims by Deal, Carter in campaign for governor

by David Pendered

A new report on Georgia’s education funding, from an Atlanta think tank, offers more fodder for the gubernatorial battle between Gov. Nathan Deal and challenger Sen. Jason Carter.

The report by the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute finds little improvement since GBPI’s similar report last year – which determined that cutbacks in funding for K-12 education were causing local districts to trim days from the school year and assign more students to each teacher.

The GBPI report, “The Schoolhouse Squeeze 2014,” provides context for Carter’s claims that Deal has, “slashed billions of dollars from public education,” and for Deal’s claims that he has “prioritized education and child safety funding as state revenues rebound from the Great Recession.”

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Mottled ducks in Georgia to be tracked with futuristic technology that’s now commonplace

by David Pendered

Tremendous scientific advances in the tracking of birds are now so commonplace that they were barely mentioned in a recent release from the state Department of Natural Resources about a new tracking program.

It was just in 1984 that a bald eagle in the U.S. became the first bird to be outfitted with a satellite tracking device. That was a huge advance from the piece of string that James Audubon tied a string on the leg of a bird in 1803 to see if it would return after the autumn migration. (It did.)

These days, satellite telemetry is so common that mottled ducks along Georgia’s coast are being outfitted this fall with transmitters. The solar-power devices will gather GPS location information from Air Force satellites and transmit it back to researchers.

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MARTA’s proposed Brookhaven Station development offers challenges, report says

by David Pendered

MARTA wants to engage a developer to build a live-work-play community in the 2-year-old city of Brookhaven, where a proposed 30-year plan appears to embrace dense urban development.

MARTA is seeking developers for its Brookhaven Station. MARTA intends to develop homes, offices and shops on almost half the station’s sparsely used lot, and replace those parking spaces in structured parking.

The project may not be easy, according to a MARTA report that states: “The positive involvement of [Brookhaven and DeKalb County] could be a challenge to bring about. It will take careful negotiation and cooperation, of which ARC [Atlanta Regional Commission] could help facilitate. The largest hurdle, however, could be the participation of private money lenders.”

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Tyler Perry’s studio plans must connect with federal requirements to serve, house homeless

by David Pendered

Tyler Perry’s plans to build film studios at Fort McPherson must coexist with plans to help the homeless that were submitted to the federal government before the great recession and approved in 2011.

The post-recession economy has created challenges to comply with the original homeless plan. Business models that were to pay for the housing may no longer exist. Some service providers and regulatory agencies may have changed their focus.

Consequently, the plan will be implemented in ways that are yet to be determined, according to members of the state authority overseeing the fort’s conversion to civilian use – including the sale of 325 acres to the filmmaker for $30 million.

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As feds probe workforce program, for alleged fraud by vendors, Mayor Reed reappoints majority of its board

by David Pendered

Federal authorities are conducting a criminal investigation into Atlanta’s workforce training program, city records show.

The U.S. Department of Labor is investigating allegations of fraud, by at least 57 vendors, which were unearthed in an audit released in February 2013 by Atlanta City Auditor Leslie Ward, records show.

Although an outside consultant hired by Invest Atlanta recommended July 31 that Atlanta reorganize the board that oversees the training program, Mayor Kasim Reed has recommended that 12 of 21 board members be reappointed.

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Bats, snakes at growing risk of disease; public invited to join in annual ‘bat blitz’ in Rabun County

by David Pendered

A mysterious and deadly disease is appearing in Georgia’s bats, and a similar illness was diagnosed in July in a snake, according to state wildlife officials.

Bats are dying from the white-nose disease, which has killed an estimated 5.7 million bats and driven one species found in Georgia to the brink of extinction. Researchers plan to count the bat population in Rabun County next week as part of the effort to monitor the disease. Experienced volunteers are welcome to participate.

Now snakes are a concern. The first wild snake in Georgia to be diagnosed with snake fungal disease was found on the edge of a blackwater swamp near Statesboro, and the implication is the disease could be spreading.

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Should ARC ban developers from its board? Tax groups press the question

by David Pendered

The simmering battle over the structure of regional governance got hot at Wednesday’s meeting of the board of the Atlanta Regional Commission.

At least nine organizations sent representatives to voice opposition to proposed revisions to the ARC’s bylaws. They want the bylaws to prohibit the ARC from seating on its board developers and others who have an interest in development. The proposal does not do that.

“I have a problem with a person or employer who could benefit” from actions taken by the ARC board serving on the ARC board, said Fayette County Commission Chairman Steve Brown.

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Board outlines Fort McPherson deal; munitions remediation to affect $10 million of Tyler Perry’s payments

by David Pendered

The board overseeing the redevelopment of Fort McPherson offered an olive branch to the residents of the adjacent community Monday. The reception was chilly, at best.

“What is being done really doesn’t pass the smell test,” said West End resident Kay Wallace. “Come on, guys. We deserve better and you’ve got to give us better.”

One issue that was barely mentioned in a long-awaited presentation on the pending deal to sell most of the fort to filmmaker Tyler Perry is the status of fort’s environmental clean-up. A portion of Perry’s payments will be collected based on when the Army remediates the property and turns it over for civilian use, according to a lawyer for the board.

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Atlanta seeks to rebuild troubled workforce training program

by David Pendered

After more than two years of review, Atlanta is taking steps to rebuild its troubled workforce development strategy.

A year-long analysis of the Atlanta Workforce Development Agency released by Mayor Kasim Reed seeks to address problems in an agency so troubled that a city audit suggested Atlanta should consider disbanding the agency.

A key finding of the review stated: “Today, Atlanta’s Workforce Investment Board and the AWDA operate in ways which are in direct contrast with the emerging best practices, and should be addressed as the AWDA plans for the future.”

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Clayton County’s vote on MARTA comes as county’s growth rate slows

by David Pendered

As Clayton County prepares to vote this autumn on joining MARTA, a recent report from the Atlanta Regional Commission shines new light on the number of potential riders who reside in Clayton County.

The ARC’s unofficial population estimates show the county added 1,000 residents from 2013 to 2014. That was the smallest increase among the 10 counties tracked by the ARC report.

Clayton’s population shifts will be among the factoids that will bear watching as the campaign for the 1 percent sales tax gears up after Labor Day. Clayton voters rejected a proposed regional 1 percent transportation sales tax that was on the ballot in July 2012.

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ARC: Atlanta gains more residents in year than decade; no housing news

by David Pendered

The city of Atlanta added more residents in the past year than it did during the entire first decade of the 2000s, according to an unofficial report from the Atlanta Regional Commission.

Atlanta’s gain of 4,100 residents was part of a 10-county population increase of 52,700, calculated from 2013 to 2014. ARC planners said in a statement the increase is a, “sure sign that the economic recovery is continuing.”

ARC’s latest report does not examine the housing supply or construction industry. The city of Atlanta had a glut of housing after the last decade, with more than 37,000 units added to serve a city population that rose by 3,500 residents, according to an ARC report from April 2011.

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Races for governor, Senate could affect Tyler Perry’s purchase plans

by David Pendered

The implications on the races for Georgia’s governor and U.S. senator of the Tyler Perry proposal to buy most of Fort McPherson may be starting to take shape.

The election is less than three weeks after Perry’s tentatively scheduled closing, on Oct. 15, for 330 acres of the fort. If Gov. Nathan Deal loses to Sen. Jason Carter, or if Michelle Nunn wins a Senate seat, there’s a chance that either victor may intervene to slow Perry’s deal.

At least, that’s the thought among some involved with the growing community protest that’s taking shape with an eye to slowing Perry’s project. And that’s why the size of the crowd that attended a forum last week is relevant.

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Atlanta’s water rates to be stable through 2016, Moody’s predicts

by David Pendered

The year 2016 may prove to be a critical year for customers of Atlanta’s water system.

That’s the year Atlanta may ask voters to extend a 1 percent sales tax to help pay for upgrades to the sewer and storm drain system. Atlanta voters instituted this sales tax in 2004, and extended it in 2008 and 2012.

The year 2016 also the furthest year that a New York credit rating agency predicted that Atlanta’s water rates are likely to remain stable.

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Fulton County tax case moves to Cobb County, along with potential statewide impact on local taxation

by David Pendered

A Cobb County senior judge is slated to make at least the initial ruling in two lawsuits regarding the authority of Fulton County’s Board of Commissioners to set the tax rate higher than set by a state law enacted in 2013.

In an order signed Wednesday, Cobb County Senior Superior Court Judge Grant Brantley was assigned to hear the two related cases. The issues at stake speak to the authority of the state to set a cap on the tax rate that Fulton commissioners can set to fund county services.

Fulton County Chairman John Eaves describes the case as precedent setting. He says the taxing authority of all of Georgia’s 159 counties, and more than 500 municipalities, could eventually be subjected to the outcome of Fulton County’s cases.

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Midtown DRC approves two projects along West Peachtree Street

by David Pendered

Two mixed-use residential developments in Midtown are moving forward following their approval Tuesday by the Midtown Development Review Committee.

Both projects are on West Peachtree Street and within a few blocks of each other. Both continue an uptick in construction this year that Midtown Alliance has highlighted.

Urban Realty Partners won approval from the DRC to convert the old John Hancock Life Insurance office building at 1330 West Peachtree, which the Arthritis Foundation bought and renovated, into homes, shops and restaurants. The Hanover Co. also won approval for a six-story mixed-use project at 1010 West Peachtree.

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Tyler Perry dubbed “Coltrane” in sensitive talks that highlight discrepancies in Fort McPherson deal

by David Pendered

Tyler Perry’s proposal to buy most of Fort McPherson went by the code name “Coltrane” for at least a month before a tentative deal was announced last week.

“Coltrane” has clear expectations for the former base – including that “the wall” not be torn down, despite persistent requests from residents that the security wall be removed, according to minutes of meetings with the fort’s concerned neighbors.

There’s a discrepancy over the amount of land to be included in the deal. Either 449 acres is involved in the tentative deal, or 474 acres are involved. Both amounts have been cited in public.

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Ft. McPherson authority hires veteran dealmaker for Tyler Perry project

by David Pendered

The plan to sell most of Fort McPherson to filmmaker Tyler Perry has a long way to go, much of it behind closed doors, before the deal can close.

“We have a lot of details to get this to home base,” said Felker Ward, who chairs the state authority handling the deal.

The state authority has voted against a motion to update its plans for the fort’s civilian use and to keep the public involved in the process. Ward said these matters already are the authority’s job and the plan updates will be handled by Rick Padgett, who is a seasoned development consultant the authority hired Aug. 7 to help close the deal with the Army by Oct. 15.

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