As expected, Athens-Clarke County's manager and director of Leisure Services are recommending that the Mayor and Commission give us a green light to move forward with the project.
Specifically, staff is officially requesting that the Mayor and Commission:
1. Designate the largest of the three parcels that comprise the Boulevard Woods site for use as a "passive park area. (According to the staff review, ACC's final ownership of the other two parcels hasn't been officially established yet but that if and when they are, they could be included again in the Boulevard Woods site.)
2. Approve our neighborhood-developed concept plan for Boulevard Woods (minus the two smaller parcels)
3. Give staff the authority to develop a Memorandum of Understanding between ACC and Boulevard Neighborhood Association to build and provide on-going maintenance for Boulevard Woods.
4. Give the Mayor and staff the power to implement the MOU once approved by the county's manager and attorney.
The staff request for Boulevard Woods is very close to the proposal we made. If approved, we'll finally be able to start fund-raising with confidence that Boulevard Woods will be built--if we raise the needed money (and material and labor donations).
Here's what happens next: On Thursday, June 21, at its agenda-setting meeting, the Mayor and Commission will be voting on whether to include the Boulevard Woods proposal on the agenda for the July regular session vote. If they vote to include it, the vote to approve Boulevard Woods will happen at M & C's regular session on July 3.
The fact that staff is recommending approval is a big step forward, but we definitely need to keep showing strong support from the neighborhoods for this.
Please stay tuned for action alerts this week.
After that, we'll work with staff to develop the Memorandum of Understanding and launch a fundraising campaign.
If you're interested in reading the official agenda item report on Boulevard Woods, you can find it here: http://www.athensclarkecounty.com/DocumentCenter/Home/View/10029
Great news!
Posted by: Jerry Daniel | June 18, 2012 at 03:41 PM