Decatur City Commission girds for summer
Coming off a week where most of the city was frozen or cloistered indoors, the Decatur City Commission had outdoor swimming on its mind during Tuesday night’s meeting.
The commission approved a proposal to keep two of the city’s three public pools open for more days this summer, at the cost of an additional $18,375. Historically, the city’s eliminated all weekday swimming once school begins in August.
But with Decatur schools re-opening on August 2 this year and with both Glenlake and McKoy pools attracting record numbers last summer, the city will keep weekday hours for both through Labor Day. McKoy will offer morning hours, with Glenlake providing evening swimming.
The city’s third public pool, Ebster, will close on July 31, at the end of the regular pool season.
Both Glenlake and McKoy pools were extensively renovated several years ago, which paid off in 2010. Glenlake had a record attendance of 20,317 swimmers, earning $30,696, while McKoy drew 21,480 for $30,252.
“There was a time, not too long ago,” City Manager Peggy Merriss said, “where we considered pools to be black holes. We felt like we were lucky if we me made 30 percent of our operating cost. But last year we made 70 percent and it looks like that will only go up.”
In a related move, the city approved an agreement with DeKalb County where the county provides $40,000 towards a walking/running trail around the perimeter of the McKoy Park baseball field. The trail will be made of asphalt and construction will begin later this year.
Meantime Mickey Wade, a representative of AGL (Atlanta Gas Light) Resources, reported that in 2011 the company will continue replacing the city’s old bare steel and cast iron pipes with coated steel and plastic pipes.
In many cases, new pipes will run from the main artery to a homeowner’s meter, which may require digging in individual yards. If any work is planned on private property, Wade said, the homeowner will receive a one-month and then a two-week notice.
Assistant City Manager David Junger said that most of this year’s pipe replacement will be along “Sycamore Street and its various side streets, and eventually they’ll work their way down toward Columbia [Drive] and into Winnona Park [neighborhood].”
Finally, the city received a "clean” rating in its audit for fiscal year 2009-10. Merriss said the city’s primary expenditures come out of the Operating Fund, covering, among other things, electric and water bills, city salaries and benefits and office equipment. The fund spends “about $17 to 18 million [annually],” she said. An additional $10 to $12 million is spent on capital improvements for building and purchasing of equipment and about $1.5 million is spent on debt service.
