Stone Mountain, GA — The Stone Mountain City Council met on Sept. 19 and announced a city-wide LED lighting installation. 

This project will be done with Georgia Power, who was initially contacted to perform a lighting study for the city. Through negotiations with Councilmember Clint Monroe and city staff, Georgia Power agreed to provide the study, the LED lights themselves, and installation at no cost to the city. 

Georgia Power also agreed to, post-installation, freeze the city’s monthly power bill for these lights, locking the rate in at $6,728.29 per month.

City Manager Darnetta Tyus told the council that Georgia Power was beginning week two of a four-week process of sourcing the lightbulbs and said she would update the council and the public about the progress of the project

Councilmember Monroe said the lights will be brighter (in terms of more lumens provided by the new bulbs), greener and estimated it would save the city $300,000 dollars over the life of the program. 

In other news:

— The city council approved $17,000 in SPLOST I funds to be allocated to the filling in of a specific “dangerous groove” that runs along the whole of Sexton Drive. This $17,000 outlay will be followed by an additional $162,000 in SPLOST I to repave the entire street. 

Sexton Drive was one of the streets identified as a top priority by the first round of SPLOST funding, and according to City Manager Tyus was one of the projects her administration has been working on after inheriting it from the previous administration. 

— CPL, an architecture and planning firm, presented the results of a traffic-calming analysis for a section of James B. Rivers Memorial Drive, Ridge Avenue, and 4th Street. The analysis showed that all three were a “Serious Problem” and recommended the installation of speed cushions, a type of traffic-calming device notable for its width which requires passenger vehicles to slow down, while larger emergency vehicles can drive the same routes unimpeded.

— The city also denied a special use permit that would have allowed an existing window tinting business at 810 Main Street to sell used cars out of their parking lot. This aligned with city staff’s recommendation that the SUP would violate the city’s comprehensive plan for the area. 

— Following an executive session, the city voted to approve the agreement to purchase 857 Main Street and 902 Second Street for $400,000 from Hilda Wells Gallups and approved the hiring of a temporary city clerk at the cost of $9,000 through December. 

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