Ordinances / Resolutions of Note
- Fund Cedar Creek Solar Array
- Move Work Sessions to City Hall and Changes to Public Comments
- Redesign Chase Street Corridor
- Update County Anti-Discrimination Policy
- Reject Concept Maps for Athens in Motion
- Adopt the Athens in Motion Plan
- Protected Bike Lanes for Barnett Shoals
- Delay the Designation of SPLOST Projects
Fund Cedar Creek Solar Array
This investment in solar energy will help power the Water Reclamation Facility at Cedar Creek and is hopefully just one step on the road towards 100% renewable energy for all government facilities.
Voting yes to fund solar array: Dickerson, Link, Wright, Bailey, NeSmith, Bell, Girtz, Hamby
Voting no: none
Absent: Herod
Proposal made by: Wright
Passed on March 6, 2018
Move Work Sessions to City Hall and Changes to Public Comments
With this vote, spearheaded by Commissioner Parker, the commission moved work sessions to City Hall to improve transparency. In their previous location, there was no recording equipment and our local government was unwilling to go to the extra expense, making it necessary to move the meetings for them to be recorded. Work sessions are important meetings which, due to their length, are difficult for the public to attend.
Voting yes on increasing transparency: Dickerson, Parker, Link, Wright, Bailey, NeSmith, Bell, Herod, Girtz, Hamby
Voting no: none
Absent: none
Proposal made by: Parker
Passed on August 7, 2018
Redesign Chase Street Corridor
This plan includes lane narrowing and roundabouts to slow traffic on Chase Street near the loop, as well as multi-use paths along Barber and Oneta streets. It comes after years of surprisingly contentious back-and-forth among commissioners and the public. Commissioner Link suggested an alternate plan for further study, but that proposal did not find support and the original vote passed.
Voting yes on the redesign: Dickerson, Wright, Bailey, Bell, Girtz, Hamby, Herod
Voting no: NeSmith, Link, Parker
Absent: none
Proposal made by: Girtz
Passed on September 4, 2018
Update County Anti-Discrimination Policy
In a sweeping anti-discrimination and anti-harassment policy update, the Commission improved protections for county employees. This policy includes race, gender, gender identity and a number of other categories.
Voting yes on the update: Dickerson, Wright, Bailey, Bell, Girtz, Hamby, Herod, NeSmith, Link, Parker
Voting no: none
Absent: none
Proposal made by: NeSmith
Passed on September 4, 2018
Reject Concept Maps for Athens in Motion
During the conversation on the plan before the next vote on this page, there was an attempt to vote down the creation of concept maps (which were recommended as part of the plan) for certain complete streets projects. This motion failed.
Voting yes on rejecting concept maps: Dickerson, Bell, Hamby, Herod
Voting no: Link, Parker, Wright, Bailey, Girtz
Absent: NeSmith
Proposal made by: Dickerson
Voted on October 2, 2018
Adopt the Athens in Motion Plan
The Athens in Motion plan (formerly known as the Bike & Pedestrian Master Plan) was approved with this vote. According to our friends at Bike Athens, the plan “will introduce a host of improvements: a clearer philosophical approach; best-practice designs; low-cost solutions; and perhaps most importantly, an updated list of community-approved priorities.”
Voting yes on Athens in Motion: Dickerson, Wright, Bailey, Bell, Girtz, Hamby, Herod, Link, Parker
Voting no: none
Absent: NeSmith
Proposal made by: Wright
Passed on October 2, 2018
Protected Bike Lanes for Barnett Shoals
The protected bike lane trial along Barnett Shoals did not seem to work according to a survey done by the county. Another option would be traditional bike lanes on both sides of the street with a three-lane road configuration. This vote to keep the protected bike lines failed.
Voting yes on bike lanes: Wright, Parker, Link, Girtz
Voting no: Dickerson, NeSmith, Bell, Hamby, Herod
Absent: Bailey
Proposal made by: Wright
Voted on November 6, 2018
Delay the Designation of SPLOST Projects
The commission designated one-half of the money for the 2020 SPLOST before the citizen’s committee met to discuss the proposals and before a new commission took their seats. You can read more about this vote here. This vote passed, but was overturned by the new commission just a month later.
Voting yes on delaying the decision: Parker, Link
Voting no: Dickerson, Wright, Bailey, NeSmith, Bell, Herod, Girtz, Hamby
Proposal made by: Link
Proposal to designate SPLOST projects (which passed) was made by: Girtz, NeSmith, Herod, Hamby
Voted on December 4, 2018