This story has been updated.

Decatur, GA — The Decatur City Commission meets on Monday night at 6 for a work session and at 7:30 p.m. for the regular meeting. Both meetings will be held at City Hall, 509 N. McDonough Street. The meetings tonight will be the first in-person meetings held this year.

The meeting will also be held via Zoom for those wishing to participate virtually. The meeting will be livestreamed on the city’s website as well.

The agenda can be found here.

During the work session, the City Commission will discuss funding from the American Rescue Plan. During the regular meeting, the City Commission will consider updating the city’s non-discrimination ordinance and updating the city’s financial policies to require vendors who do business with Decatur have a non-discrimination policy.

The city’s non-discrimination ordinance was adopted in 2019 and prohibits “all forms of discrimination, including discrimination based on actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, disability, marital status, familial status, or veteran/military status of all persons who live in, work in or visit the City of Decatur,” according to the agenda packet.

The city has non-discrimination statements in many policies but the statements need to be updated to reflect the language in the current ordinance and to ensure consistency across all current and future policies and reinforce the city’s commitment to equity, inclusion and diversity, the agenda packet states.

The City Commission will also hold a public hearing and vote on the capital improvements element of the development impact fee study to be submitted to the Atlanta Regional Commission for review by the ARC and the Georgia Department of Community Affairs. The purpose of the review is to make sure the city is in compliance with the Georgia Development Impact Fee Act.

Ross+associates is leading the impact fee study, which consists of developing a capital improvements element, impact fee ordinance and fee schedule. The capital improvements element contains forecasts on population, housing and employment, a section for adjustments and credits, and public facility service area information, levels of service, and project cost estimates, according to the agenda packet.

The city has been considering the use of impact fees for the past several years and formed an advisory committee in October 2019 to explore how they might be applied to Decatur.

Impact fees are used to offset the increased cost to a city or county for providing additional infrastructure and services to new residents or businesses, Decaturish previously reported.

Decatur is considering using impact fees in two main areas — public safety and parks, recreation and open space. Georgia law strictly regulates which cities can implement impact fees, how high the fees can be and what they can be implemented for, John Maximuk, director of design, environment and construction for the city of Decatur, previously said.

Also, on the regular meeting agenda is adopting City Schools of Decatur’s millage rate and amending toe city’s personnel policies to add Juneteenth as a holiday.

If you appreciate our work, please become a paying supporter. For as little as $3 a month, you can help us keep you in the loop about your community. To become a supporter, click here. 

Want Decaturish delivered to your inbox every day? Sign up for our free newsletter by clicking here.