The Decatur Minute

This is a weekly blog post that lists all of the events and sales going on around town. It will be updated daily. If you would like to add an event, email renae.madison@decaturga.com.

Sunday, Oct. 23

• Downtown Decatur Food Tour, 11- 2 p.m.
• Woodlands Garden Plant Sale, 1- 4 p.m.

Wednesday, Oct. 26

• Decatur Farmers Market, 4-7 p.m.

Saturday, Oct. 29

• Decatur Farmers Market, 9 a.m.-1 p.m.
• Decatur Fire/Rescue and American Red Cross Smoke Alarm Blitz, 9 a.m. -1 p.m.
• Fall Framing Event at Trinity Mercantile & Design, 11 a.m.- 4 p.m.
• Splash of Olive Oil Sampling, noon- 5 p.m.

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The Decatur Police Department will be participating in the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day this Saturday, October 22, 2016 from 10am-2pm.  Officers will be in front of the police department on West Trinity Place so you can easily drive up and drop off.

Drug Take-Back programs give community members the opportunity to rid their homes of potentially dangerous expired, unused and unwanted prescription drugs. The service is free and anonymous, no questions asked. (The DEA cannot accept liquids, needles or sharps, only pills or patches.)

This initiative addresses a vital public safety and public health issue.  Medicines that languish in home cabinets are highly susceptible to theft, diversion, misuse, and abuse. Rates of prescription drug abuse in the U.S. are alarmingly high, as are the number of accidental poisonings and overdoses due to these drugs.  Studies show that a majority of abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, including from the home medicine cabinet. In addition, Americans are now advised that their usual methods for disposing of unused medicines, flushing them down the toilet or throwing them in the trash, both pose potential safety and health hazards.

This past April, Americans turned in 447 tons (over 893,000 pounds) of prescription drugs at almost 5,400 sites operated by the DEA and more than 4,200 of its state and local law enforcement partners.  Overall, in its 11 previous Take Back events, DEA and its partners have taken in over 6.4 million pounds—about 3,200 tons—of pills.

For more information about the disposal of prescription drugs or about the October 22nd Take-Back Day event, go to the DEA Diversion website.

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The details

Astra Grading and Pipe will repave East Trinity Place in front of Fire Station No. 1 on Wednesday, October 19. The work will take one day.

How to manage

Expect traffic delays during the work. Once East Trinity is repaved, it will be re-opened with three lanes of traffic.

Additional details can be found here.

Got questions? Direct them here.

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The Decatur Police Department and Decatur Farmers Market will be hosting a bicycle registration this Wednesday, October 19, 2016 from 4pm-7pm at First Baptist Church Decatur (308 Clairemont Avenue).

Bicycles are a commonly stolen item and are not registered like vehicles. Bicycle registration includes bringing your bicycle, providing owner contact information, having the manufacturer and serial number documented and having a numbered decal applied to and a photo taken of your bicycle.  The process takes just a few minutes.  Registering your bicycle allows officers to look up recovered bicycles and contact the owner and allows for us to quickly look up the needed information about your bicycle if it were to be stolen.  The information is kept in a secured database only accessible by police department staff.

We will also register scooters that do not meet the size requirements for state tag registration. *There is NO CHARGE to register your bicycle or scooter.

For additional information, please contact Lt. Jennifer Ross.

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This is a weekly blog post that lists all of the events and sales going on around town. It will be updated daily. If you would like to add an event, email renae.madison@decaturga.com.

Sunday, Oct. 16

• Downtown Decatur Food Tour, 11- 2 p.m.
• Woodlands Garden Plant Sale, 1- 4 p.m.
• The Art of Being LC Documentary, 5- 7 p.m.

Tuesday, Oct. 18

• Restaurants for Repairs,
• Fall Soups and Salads Cooking Class at Souper Jenny, 7 p.m.

 Wednesday, Oct. 19

• Decatur Farmers Market, 4-7 p.m.
• Wahoo! Grill Dine Out for Animals, 5-10 p.m.

Thursday, Oct. 20

• Wahoo! Wine & Provisions Fall Wine Tasting, 6:30-8:30 p.m.

Friday, Oct. 21

• Breast Cancer Fundraiser, 7:30 -10 p.m.

 Saturday, Oct. 22

• Decatur Farmers Market, 9 a.m.-1 p.m.
• Downtown Decatur Food Tour, 11- 2 p.m.
• Warriors of the Concrete Free Entertainment Basketball Game for Breast Cancer Awareness, 11:30 a.m.

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Update: Gas leak has been repaired.

Traffic near the 200 block of East Trinity is being diverted due to a gas leak.   Please utilize alternative routes to avoid this area.

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A number of residents have commented about the removal of the magnolia in the traffic island at North Candler Street and East Trinity Place. This is part of the overall plan for improving the Candler railroad crossing to make it accessible and safe for pedestrians, bicyclists, and the disabled; encourage persons who live in Winnona Park, the McDonough-Adams-Kings Highway community, and other neighborhoods south of the CSX rail corridor to walk and bike into downtown Decatur; and improve the “Safe Route to School” for students and parents who travel to the Fourth/Fifth Academy, Renfroe Middle School, and Decatur High School.

Removal of the magnolia is a consequence of raising the grade of the street roughly three feet on the north side of the crossing, tapering gradually as it approaches Fire Station Number 1. You can visualize this by looking at the ARLO planters (pictured above) at the corner of East Trinity and East Howard. The top of the planters will be at street level when the work is completed.

Presently, pedestrians and bicyclists have to share the roadway at the crossing with vehicles. The planned improvements will provide a gentler slope on the north side of the crossing for construction of an accessible path for persons in wheelchairs, strollers, etc., that replaces the existing old wooden steps. There will also be a much safer route located outside the railroad crossing gates for pedestrians and bicyclists, as well as a protected crosswalk from the PATH trail to the old Depot.

During the design phase of the project, multiple schemes for rebuilding the intersection were considered but it was not possible to achieve a safe, buildable alternative that retained the magnolia. There will be a significant amount of fill in this area making it unfeasible for this particular tree. New trees will be planted in the project area to mitigate the loss of the magnolia.

To view the engineering schematic that illustrates the new crossing, visit decaturmakeover.com.

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The City of Decatur 2010 Strategic Plan calls for the City to be good stewards of environmental resources and one of the tasks in the plan is expanding the use of more sustainable lighting options on streets and within city parks and public areas.  In addition, the City of Decatur Police Department has received community feedback requesting better and brighter lighting to increase safety and deter criminal behavior in our neighborhoods and business districts.

To achieve those objectives, the City of Decatur LED lighting project is designed to provide quality lighting for city roadways and sidewalks and reduce electricity consumption. We have contracted with Georgia Power to upgrade approximately 1380 streetlights from high pressure sodium light fixtures to LED fixtures.

The benefits of the LED lights include:

• Smart LED streetlights enable Georgia Power and the city to monitor the system for non-functioning streetlights to improve system operation.
• Reducing street light energy consumption by 40% to 60%.
• Improving lighting quality and visibility to enhance street safety.
• Real-time communicating of non-operating streetlights for improved response.
• Eliminating the use of hazardous materials contained in sodium vapor lamps.
• Preserving the night sky.

Georgia Power has started replacing fixtures in the Winnona Park, College Heights, Lenox Place and Great Lakes neighborhoods.  We anticipate that it will take approximately one month to complete installation city-wide. The new LED lights are brighter than sodium vapor lights and emit a much clearer light. It will be different and they change the lighting along the street. Once city-wide installation is complete, we will be working with Georgia Power to make adjustments and add light shields, so please bear with us as the new lights are installed.

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