Avondale Estates City Commission to discuss eminent domain, public works program
Avondale Estates City Hall. Photo by Dean Hesse.
Avondale Estates, GA — The Avondale Estates City Commission will meet on Wednesday, Feb. 8, at 6:01 p.m. for a regular meeting, followed by a work session. The city commission meeting will be held at Avondale Estates City Hall, 21 N. Avondale Plaza, and via Zoom.
During the regular meeting, the city commission will consider a resolution declaring the city’s intent to use eminent domain to acquire a portion of the Banjo Coffee property at 38 N. Avondale Road for public transportation purposes related to the U.S. 278 complete streets project.
To join the meeting via Zoom, click here. To call in, dial +1-305-224-1968. The webinar ID is 899 7772 2764
To view the meeting agenda, click here.
Public comments can be made either by attending the meeting in-person or through Zoom.
“For more specificity with regard to this parcel, the proposed taking would eliminate…the westernmost ingress, egress point on [U.S] 278, so that the new ingress, egress points for this property would be the easternmost [U.S.] 278 point and an exit out onto Locust Street,” City Manager Patrick Bryant said at the Jan. 25 work session.
The property has been valued at $127,405. The city has tried to negotiate a regular transaction with the property owner.
“However, we proposed a final deadline to do so before recommending to you guys that we move forward with eminent domain of [Tuesday], and this property owner was non-responsive,” Bryant said. “Like we have in the past, I recommend moving forward with the eminent domain procedure, but allowing the property owner to negotiate a regular transaction during the period before an eminent domain claim can be filed with the court.”
The complete streets project is a road diet of U.S. 278 that will reduce the street from five lanes to three lanes between Sam’s Crossing and Ashton Place.
During the work session, the city commission will discuss renewing a contract with Latham Sanitation for recycling services, a contract of curb and sidewalk repairs, and a resolution for Avondale Estates to become an Atlanta Regional Commission Green City.
Also on the agenda, the city will continue discussing the public works program. The city commission has been considering eliminating the department’s back door garbage pickup service and moving to curbside pickup.
Public works employees asked the city commission to consider the switch during a work session in September 2022. They also shared their stories of working for the city and their encounters with residents and dogs while on the job.
In September, Public Works Director Marcel Jackson said the back door garbage collection is one of the biggest challenges the department has faced.
“I want to be a part of this change in Avondale,” Jackson previously said.
Some of the benefits of shifting to curbside pickup would be the department would be more modernized and more efficient, and the city will be more competitive in recruiting new staff, Jackson said.
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