Decatur, GA — The Decatur City Commission will meet on Tuesday, Feb. 21, regular meeting at 7:30 p.m. The regular meeting will be held in person at Decatur City Hall, 509 N. McDonough Street, and virtually via Zoom.

During the meeting, the city commission will consider approving an agreement with Breedlove Land Planning to design the track and field at Legacy Park. The contract amount is $285,000, and the project budget is $340,000.

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/99504263419. 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 Tuesday, February 21st.

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 city, the Decatur School Board and the Decatur Public Facilities Authority have entered into an intergovernmental agreement to develop the project.

According to the Legacy Park Master Plan, a competition level track and field was one of the most requested facilities during the master planning process. The concept in the master plan has the track and field located to the east of the historic core and near the next to the conservation easement of the park.

The city will commit up to $3 million in American Rescue Plan Act funding, and the school board will contribute up to $3 million in ESPLOST funds.

“In addition to project planning and design, the work includes a significant community participation effort,” Capital Projects Manager Hugh Saxon wrote in a memo. “The planned improvements include selective demolition, new competition track and field facility, synthetic turf athletic field, lighting, field house or comparable improvements to the existing gym, and storm water management.”

In other business, the city commission will consider a change order for the renovations to the McKoy skate park. The change order, if approved, would increase the contract amount with American Ramp Company to $365,000 to install more durable concrete skate park equipment.

“The proposed concrete equipment will be used instead of prefabricated equipment and is at the request of skaters in the Decatur community,” Active Living Director Greg White wrote in a memo. “Skaters voiced the importance of concrete structures rather than prefabricated/metal materials. Decatur Skate Club and parents discussed options for raising additional funding from grants, developing marketing materials and researching what other communities have done to raise funds.”

In August 2022, the city commission approved a project budget of $200,000 for renovations to the skate park. The skate park was built in December 2003 with Woodward equipment. Woodward has gone out of business and replacement parts and equipment are not available.

“…This is a widely known and highly used skate park by our community members, so our budget should allow for the replacement of all 13 equipment pieces in the park,” Active Living Assistant Director Sara Holmes previously said.

Another item on the agenda: the city commission will consider change orders for maintenance of the Ebster stormwater vault and for geotechnical services for the New Street extension.

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