Beltline spending plans advance to city council
July 31, 2008 at 3:52 pm by Thomas Wheatley in NewsTerri Montague looked disappointed.
The CEO of Atlanta Beltline Inc., the nonprofit agency tasked with planning and building the 22-mile project, stood before the Atlanta City Council’s finance committee on Wednesday to present how the group planned to spend an estimated $117 million that was to be generated from the first round of TAD bonds. Councilmember Felicia Moore asked Montague what was the rush — council was about to go on recess and the Beltline has until Oct. 31 to settle an outstanding debt for a key piece of property near Piedmont Park. Moore was planning on tabling the item, she said.
What’s the rush? Well, to put it simply, Beltline leaders are against the slow-moving bureaucracy that is modern-day government. Council returns from its summer sojourn in mid-August and the Beltline has investors coming to scope out the project the following week. Montague said the investors need to have a sense that the city is truly committed to the project. It needs the money.
And yesterday the Beltline got one step closer to its goal. After an hour of debate and public comment ranging from groups such as the Georgia Conservancy — it supports the controversial acquisition of the Wayne Mason property — to the advisory committee charged with overseeing how public dollars are spent on the project — it opposes Beltline leaders buying property that would come with the needed rail right of way near Piedmont Park — the finance committee moved to approve the plan and send it to full council after the break.
Another step closer for the long-awaited TAD funds being delivered. But with every new development of the Beltline, one of the largest and most anticipated greenspace programs in the country, new questions arise.
In regards to the controversy surrounding how TAD funds will be distributed, Councilmember Jim Maddox suggested language be inserted into the legislation that will appear before council that aims to ensure future funds are delivered in an “equitable” manner. But just what that word means, no one has any real clue.
That’s a topic we’ll be exploring on here as the issue continues to unfold.
And so in short: The planned allocations for the first round of TAD funding for the Beltline passed the first hurdle in becoming actual cash project planners can spend. Look for more on this in the coming weeks.
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