Eastsiders often lament that they’re the red-haired stepchildren of Athens who don’t get the attention—or the amenities—that other neighborhoods get. But with Athens-Clarke County trying to find a site for a new Eastside fire station, they have a message for commissioners: Not in our backyard.
The current fire station on Whit Davis Road is 50 years old and in need of replacement. According to fire officials, moving it further out will improve coverage because the current location overlaps with two other stations, but trucks can’t quickly reach the outskirts of the county. A site selection committee has narrowed the search down to three properties, all located near the intersection of Morton and Old Lexington roads.
About a dozen nearby residents, mostly from the Shoals Creek Farms neighborhood, showed up at the commission’s Oct. 17 agenda-setting meeting to speak in opposition to the fire station, citing concerns about traffic and noise from sirens interrupting the semi-rural area’s peace and quiet. “We love having services, but we moved away from the city center on purpose,” said one resident, April Rains.
“Almost everything they said really resonated with me,” Commissioner Allison Wright said. Commissioners were also concerned that none of the three landowners would be willing to sell ACC land for the fire station.
In other business, the commission also discussed:
• a rezoning to build 212 houses off Vincent Drive, across the street from Holland Park. The request has been sent back to the drawing board twice due to concerns about its cookie-cutter design, lack of walkability and need for a sewer pump station. But a majority of planning commissioners felt those concerns were outweighed by the need for more housing and recommended approval. The area’s representative, Ovita Thornton, said she is 90% in favor.
• a rezoning for 66 one-bedroom apartments on Barnett Shoals Road near Research Drive, intended for UGA graduate students and veterinary school students.
• awarding a $531,000 contract to Historic Athens for weatherization and repairs for low-income historic homeowners. Funding will come from $1.25 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act funds that the commission set aside for affordable housing as part of the Justice and Memory Project commemorating the Linnentown neighborhood, which was destroyed during urban renewal in the 1960s.
• plans for a shared-use path along Timothy and Mitchell Bridge roads. The Timothy portion will cost an estimated $4.3 million, leaving just $100,000 to design the Mitchell Bridge segment and no funding for construction. However, commissioners said they would like to find supplemental funding to build both segments. The project is funded by TSPOST, a 1% sales tax for transportation voters approved last year.
• pond dredging and revamped parking at Memorial Park.
• $189,000 to hire a paint crew made up of participants in the county’s diversion program, or halfway house.
• the purchase of several electric vehicles for various departments.
• a resolution urging the state legislature to continue improving mental health care, an effort that flagged after its champion, House Speaker David Ralston, died last year.
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