At the second-to-last meeting of the Community Stakeholder Advisory Committee (CASC) for the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center on Wednesday night, members discussed security recommendations for public access to the green space adjacent to the site and the facility’s amenities intended for some community use. Alan Williams, the Atlanta Police Foundation’s (APF) project manager for […]
Category: Grace Donnelly
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Atlanta Beltline shares update on transit study
Atlanta Beltline shared updates about potential routes and stops for Beltline transit during a community engagement meeting on Sept. 26. The organization has been studying potential alignments for light rail on the Beltline, focused on the southeast, southwest and northwest segments of the 22-mile corridor since MARTA used resources conducting a feasibility study of the […]
Posted inColumns, Grace Donnelly, Latest News
Auditors of More MARTA program outlined inconsistencies and recommendations for City Council members, MARTA leadership skipped the meeting
City Council members received a briefing from accountants at Mauldin & Jenkins about the audit of the More MARTA program at the Finance Executive Committee meeting on Wednesday. Leaders from MARTA did not attend, despite telling Council their detailed disagreements with the audit findings would be ready to discuss at the Sept. 25 meeting. David […]
Posted inGrace Donnelly
Atlanta’s democracy disconnect
One year after organizers delivered 116,000 signatures to city hall in an effort to get the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center, widely known as “Cop City,” onto a ballot referendum for voters to make their voices heard, the community dissent over the project took center stage at a city council meeting on Monday. “Stop Cop […]
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Veranda at Assembly celebrates grand opening, provides senior housing in Doraville
The grand opening of the Assembly project, now called Veranda at Assembly, in Doraville on Thursday was a celebration of public-private partnership and collaboration between city, county, state, and federal leadership. The event marked the completion of an apartment complex with 100 residential units, designed for seniors in Doraville, with 80 percent designated as affordable […]
Posted inGrace Donnelly
MARTA board votes to review of city’s audit and authorize property acquisitions for planned DeKalb transit centers at September meeting
The MARTA board of directors approved a review of the city’s audit and authorized property acquisition for the planned transit centers in South DeKalb and Stonecrest at the monthly work session and meeting on Thursday. The board voted to have accounting firm KPMG take a second look at the audit of More MARTA conducted by […]
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Exclusive: Beltline Rail Now calls for MARTA to seek maximum federal funding to deliver More MARTA projects
Beltline Rail Now (BRN), an organization that advocates for expanded transit and specifically light rail on the Beltline, is calling for MARTA to seek maximum federal funding for More MARTA projects that hang in the balance. “No project in More MARTA should be advanced without a minimum of 40 percent asked as the federal match, […]
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Buckhead CID lands $10 million federal grant for ‘Safe Streets’ project on Lenox Road
The Buckhead Community Improvement District (BCID) received a $10 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation through the Safe Streets for All program to help complete a $40 million project to make Lenox Road from the Lenox MARTA station to Piedmont Road more friendly to pedestrians. The Lenox Road Complete Safe Street Section III […]
Posted inColumns, Grace Donnelly, Latest News
Tensions flare between MARTA and City Council members at transportation committee meeting
MARTA CEO Collie Greenwood aimed to present a picture of forward momentum for Atlanta’s transit agency at a meeting of the City Council’s transportation committee on Wednesday, but elected officials had a lot of questions following the More MARTA audit released last week. After addressing the transit agency’s issues with the audit methodology during MARTA’s […]
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More MARTA audit raises more questions, tension over accounting practices
An independent audit of the More MARTA program released on Monday found that the transit agency could owe nearly $70 million to taxpayers. The audit did not indicate any instance of malfeasance or illegal use of funds, but it did find that tens of millions of dollars intended for transit expansion projects through More MARTA […]
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MARTA owes about $70 million to Atlanta transit projects funded by taxpayers, independent audit finds
The City of Atlanta has completed its audit of the More MARTA Atlanta program and found that MARTA owes about $70 million to these transportation projects. The financial review of More MARTA, the 40-year plan for transit expansion funded by a half-penny sales tax voters approved back in 2016, also revealed that spending on the […]
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ATL board approves next steps for reduction of Xpress bus service
The Atlanta-Region Transit Link Authority (ATL) board gave the green light for the Xpress commuter bus service to further refine a plan to cut stops, change routes, and reduce the number of park-and-ride lots at its August board meeting on Thursday. Proposed changes presented to the board this week by ATL Deputy Executive Director Cain […]
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‘Cop City’ construction on track for December completion, Atlanta Police Foundation tells community advisory committee
Members of the Community Stakeholder Advisory Committee (CSAC) for the Atlanta Police Safety Training Center (APSTC), widely known as “Cop City,” gathered on Zoom for their second quarter meeting on July 30. Construction is still on track for “substantial completion of most components of the site” by December, Alan Williams, Atlanta Police Foundation’s project manager […]
