I Make the Newspaper

Construction the talk of Collier Hills Civic Association meeting

by Tiffany Turner
The Story, v. IV, n. 21
Thurs, Aug. 25, 2005

At the annual meeting of the Collier Hills Civic Association, members received numerous updates on developments and projects in their area. Representatives from Piedmont Hospital were on hand to discuss construction of a new building on the campus. In addition, S[hokai], a member of the board, gave a presentation on the Belt Line and the effects it would have on the neighborhood. . .

S[hokai] discussed the Belt Line and its implications for Collier Hills. He said, “Collier Hills is going to be one of the most impacted neighborhoods along the Belt Line.” The transit, park and trail loop would make use of existing railroad tracks for transportation. Collier Hills is one neighborhood in which railroad tracks are currently in use by CSX. Neighbors were concerned about the narrow topography of their area and the possibility that new transit pathways would need to be constructed near local parks and waterways.

Moreover, the subject of a Tax Allocation District was broached. The TAD proposed by Mayor Shirley Franklin would freeze taxes along the Belt Line for 25 years, so that money could be funneled to pay infrastructure costs of the project.

[Shokai] voiced his belief that the city should explore multiple options for financing the Belt Line. He questioned, “What about the city using municipal bonds for the Belt Line?” [Shokai] urged the neighborhood to get involved in the planning process for the Belt Line and proposed that Collier Hills align itself with the BeltLine Neighbors Coalition to protect its interests.

The Story is a local newspaper that does a very good job covering local issues - it has much more editorial and news content than most other free newspapers, which are usually just forums for advertising. When I got home from Mobile, I found my usual Thursday copy on my driveway (it's distributed free in the neighborhood), and with the edited story above included. For some reason, though, they kept using this other name in place of "Shokai."

Anyway, the story edited above covered last Sunday's community civic association meeting. I got involved with the civic association shortly after moving in here, and just recently joined the Board as the Minister of Environmental and BeltLine. Since I make my living by environmental consulting, I thought that this would be a good way to contribute to the neighborhood and give back some of the rewards consulting has brought to me.

So it was in this light that I found myself downtown this morning for a three-hour course at City Hall called "An Introduction to Georgia's Tax Allocation District Law." Parts of it were a little hard to stay alert through, but I did get a better understanding of the issue to better represent the neighborhood in this matter.