PATH: connecting Medlock and Leafmore neighborhoods

Image from PATH website.

PATH's recent press release notes that the South Peachtree Creek Trail is being extended across North Druid Hills Rd. This new construction is marked as "A" in the map to the left. Additional details about the South Peachtree Creek PATH extension are available here.

When complete, this "extension will connect with the South Peachtree Creek Trail at the Mason Mill Tennis Center parking lot thereby providing seamless walks and rides between Leafmore and Medlock Park."

Tree planting at Clyde Shepherd Nature Preserve [Dec 10]

from the Clyde Shepherd Nature Preserve

This Saturday, we will partner with Trees Atlanta to plant 100 trees at the Preserve. We would welcome additional volunteers. They will start with a demonstration at 9am, so ask volunteers to be there at 8:45am to sign in. See below for more details.

Please share the below info and this video, “How to Plant a Tree” (http://treesatlanta.org/resources/how-to-plant-your-tree/)  with your group and ask them to watch it before they arrive at the project. It will help them understand the work they will be doing and prepare them to plant the trees correctly.

• We will be planting trees from 9 am to 12 pm. Please arrive at 8:45 to get signed in so that we can begin promptly at 9 am. It is important to arrive on time as we only provide one demonstration (it takes 20 minutes) and every volunteer needs to see it. We also want all volunteers to stay for the entire project, and not leave before we finish.
• All ages are welcome, but volunteers under the age of 16 must be accompanied by a parent/guardian, and all volunteers between the ages of 16 and 17 who are not accompanied by a parent/guardian must have a parent/guardian sign a waiver for them (found here: https://treesatlanta.org/…/Sign-In-and-Signature-for-Releas…).
• Please ask your volunteers to wear closed-toed shoes or boots, clothes that can get dirty, sunscreen and bug spray as needed.
• I recommend that volunteers bring drinking water in a reusable container. No one-time-use plastic bottles, please.
• Tree planting is hard work, so make sure to tell everyone to eat a good breakfast and come prepared to work hard. A snack might be a good thing for those who tend to lose steam.
• Projects happen rain or shine, so please check the weather beforehand and come prepared.
• Trees Atlanta will provide all necessary tools and instruction, though volunteers may prefer to bring their own work gloves.

From: information@cshepherdpreserve.org 
Clyde Shepherd Nature Preserve
2580 Pine Bluff Drive
Decatur, GA 30033

Two water-related announcements

via Commissioner Rader...

State of Georgia Announces Level 2 Drought Restrictions
DeKalb County residents move to odd/even schedule

The Georgia Environmental Protection Division has announced a Level 2 drought response in 52 counties including DeKalb.

For more information, click here.

DeKalb County Adds Water Bill Dispute Locations
DeKalb County residents wishing to dispute their water bills now have additional times and locations throughout the county to begin the dispute process.

In September, DeKalb Interim CEO Lee May issued a moratorium through the end of 2016 on the disconnection of residential water accounts that have been contested through the Utility Customer Operations Center’s Customer Assurance Team.  

For more information, click here. 

___

Note: one of the Bill Dispute locations is at North DeKalb Mall

Happy Halloween!

A bit thank you to all the MANA and Clyde Shepherd Nature Preserve volunteers who made this first joint Halloween/Fall Harvest festival such a success.

Great turn-out!

Mooned!

Dance, puppets, dance!

We always knew these woods were magical...  

Creepy.

Creepier!

Haunted trail... heading to the scary part.

Happy Halloween, y'all!

DeKalb County launches ethics website

h/t AJC...

"The DeKalb Ethics Board was established in its current form in 2016 when a referendum vote overwhelmingly approved of the restructuring of the Board and the addition of a full time Ethics Officer. By law, the Ethics Board is completely independent of the DeKalb CEO, Commissioners and any officers or employees of DeKalb County government. 

The Board consists of 7 volunteer members who are appointed by independent organizations: the DeKalb Bar Association, the DeKalb Legislative Delegation, the DeKalb Chamber of Commerce, DeKalb Universities, Leadership DeKalb, the DeKalb Superior Court Chief Judge, the DeKalb Probate Judge. The appointment of board members by independent organizations ensures that the Board is not established with an inherent conflict of interest – appointment of Board member by the same officials whom they also regulate. The Board Members serve staggering terms of three years."

The website, dekalbcountyethics.org, lists the Board's members, meeting schedule and minutes from past meetings, and links to the County's Code of Ethics (2015). Additionally, under "Advice" there are a series of case studies (organized by code or subject). Other links offer educational resources (definitions and examples pertaining to ethics) and recent filings.

Haunted Trail and Harvest Festival [Oct 29]

Hope all of our neighbors can join us Saturday, October 29th from 5:30-8PM for a
Haunted Trail and Harvest Festival at the Clyde Shepherd Nature Preserve!

What: Haunted Trail and Harvest Festival 
Who: Hosted by MANA and the Clyde Shepherd Nature Preserve 
Where: Clyde Shepherd Nature Preserve (of course!) 
When: Saturday, October 29th, 5:30-8:00PM 

The haunted trail will feature spooks for all ages - the further you go, the spookier it gets!

Food will be available for sale from our local Girl Scouts, and there will be games and crafts as well.

We encourage you to come out and celebrate Halloween with your neighbors. Come in costume if you like, and bring a flashlight!

We are looking for additional volunteers to help with the event. If interested, please email Adrianne Leonard at ackerns@gmail.com Thanks!

NOTE: Parking is available at the school - please take advantage of that rather than parking on Pine Bluff or Harrington. It is about a half mile from the trail.

Water Billing Issue Resolution (from DeKalb Co. CEO)

UPDATE: DeKalb Disconnection Moratorium and Billing Dispute FAQ http://www.dekalbcountyga.gov/images/waterFAQ.pdf


via Commissioner Rader:

DeKalb Interim CEO, Commissioners Address Water Billing Issues
with New Resolution

New water meter installation halted

DECATUR, Ga. – The DeKalb County Board of Commissioners approved a resolution introduced by DeKalb Interim CEO Lee May which empowers the chief financial officer (CFO) with discretion to address unusually high water bills due to billing or meter errors.

The legislation clarifies code sections 25-106(f) to specify that the CFO has the authority to make adjustments to a customer’s account for billing errors, as long as the dispute was recorded within two years of the billing error itself.

The resolution also stops the installation of the new iPerl water meters and calls for the establishment of convenient bill resolution sites around the county during the moratorium.

Another proactive step addresses excessively high bills. In these cases, Chief Operating Officer Zach Williams has directed the Utility Customer Operations Center to send out estimated bills with messaging that indicates that the county is investigating the cause of the variance. Once a high variance is detected, a work order for a water meter inspection will automatically be generated.

“Sending out estimated bills will let our customers know what is going on with their accounts in a timely manner, as well as provide a mechanism for them to pay their average amount due while we get to the root of the problem,” COO Williams said.  

On Sept. 20, Interim CEO May issued a moratorium through the end of 2016 on the disconnection of residential water accounts that have been contested through the Utility Customer Operations Center.  

Water customers who believe their bill is in error should notify the Utility Customer Operations Center at 774 Jordan Lane in Decatur, or call (404) 371-3000to speak with a customer service representative. Account holders with disputed balances are required to pay their average amount due until the case is resolved, with the balance, if any, due at the time the investigation is complete.  

Further, a third-party dispute process is being developed to provide customers an additional avenue to resolve their disputes. This process will be implemented during the moratorium.

There will be no water service disconnections for customers with account balances in dispute who have paid their average bill through the end of 2016.  

Jeff Rader