Decatur, GA — The Decatur City Commission will meet on Monday, July 18, at 6:30 p.m. for a work session, followed by the regular meeting at 7:30 p.m. The meetings will be held in person at Decatur City Hall, 509 N. McDonough Street, as well as Zoom.

The city commission will meet with the Chattahoochee Riverkeeper during the work session. The board will hold three public hearings regarding property violations on East Pharr Road and Glendale Avenue during the regular meeting.

To access the meeting, follow these instructions:

To view the agenda, click here.

This meeting will be held in-person. Members of the public wishing to participate during either the “Public Comment” or “Requests and Petitions” portions of the meeting may attend the meeting in one of two ways:

1. Attend in-person by coming to Decatur City Hall, 509 N. McDonough St.

2. Register in advance at https://zoom.us/j/94334587165. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. You may also participate by phone by calling (929) 205-6099 and entering the meeting ID (The 11-digit number shown in the Zoom registration link.)

NOTE – This meeting will utilize virtual meeting technology. We cannot guarantee it will operate as planned. If your participation must be a matter of public record, attend the meeting in person or email your comments to City Manager Andrea Arnold at [email protected] by 5:00 p.m. on Monday, July 18th.

Members of the public may also view the live broadcast of the Decatur City Commission meeting at https://www.decaturga.com/citycommission/page/streaming-video

The three properties scheduled for a public hearing are 339 Glendale Avenue, 317 Glendale Avenue and 312 E. Pharr Road.

The city has been monitoring the condition of 339 Glendale Avenue as it was being maintained with tall weeds and grass, and tall hedge overgrowth. The city commission had previously considered authorizing the cutting of tall weeds, grass, and hedge overgrowth, and the removal of fallen tree limbs and trash from the property.

The property owner is deceased. Since June, work has been “satisfactorily completed” to bring the property into compliance with the city’s health and sanitation ordinance, Code Enforcement Officer Cynthia Hardnett wrote in a memo.

“The City will continue to monitor the condition of the property to make sure it remains compliant with the Health and Sanitation section of City Code,” Hardnett said.

The property at 317 Glendale Avenue is being maintained with overgrown tall weeds and grass, fallen tree limbs and debris. The property is not being maintained and is in a dangerous and unsanitary condition, Hardnett said in a memo.

The property owner is deceased. Since June, some cleanup has occurred to the front of the property, but the rear of the property has not been addressed. The city commission will consider authorizing work to have the property cleaned, brought into compliance with the city’s health and sanitation ordinance and have the cost of that work assessed.

At 312 E. Pharr Road, the property is also being maintained with tall weeds and grass, and tall hedge overgrowth. The city notified DRYS, LLC, the property owner, of the condition. Since June, corrective measures have been taken.

Additionally, the city commission will consider approving an alcoholic beverage license to La Chiquiada, a new restaurant opening in the AMLI Decatur mixed-use development. It will be located in a space facing the interior courtyard, which is accessible to the public.

La Chiquiada is seeking an alcoholic beverage license for beer, wine and spirituous liquor beverages for consumption on premises.

Also on the agenda, the board will consider approving a vacation leave buy-back program to help city departments and divisions address challenges with retaining full-time employees with one or more years of service.

“The City of Decatur has experienced a shortage in staffing due to the increasingly competitive job market,” City Clerk Meredith Roark wrote in a memo. “The creation of a vacation leave buy-back program is a cost-effective way to incentivize staff to remain employed by the City of Decatur.”

The city commission approved a one-time payout of unused vacation leave over the annual allowed accrual in December 2021. The proposal of the buy-back program aims to make the payout process permanent.