Fresh Loaf

Ryan Gravel

The Beltline Partnership, the fundraising and public awareness arm of the $2.8 billion project that imagines Atlanta circled by parks, trails and transit, has new board directors.

Most prominent among those, especially for people who keep their eyes on smart growth and transit projects in the city, is Ryan Gravel. An urban designer who envisioned the Beltline as a graduate student at Georgia Tech, Gravel now works at local architecture firm Perkins + Will. He’s become more engaged with the Beltline since the Georgia Department of Transportation and Amtrak unexpectedly announced they want to use tracks near Piedmont Park for a commuter-rail project, putting the project in jeopardy.

Ray Weeks, the partnership’s founding chairman, is stepping down now that his term on the board has ended. He will continue to serve as one of the organization’s chief fundraisers. Weeks is succeeded by AGL Resources CEO John Somerhalder.

The partnership’s roster includes some of the city’s biggest business names. Since its founding, the organization has been vital in securing private funds to help pay for some of the public-works project’s costs.

Full release, with details of who’s joined the board, after the jump.

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Consider, for instance, recent negotiations to purchase the northeast quadrant of the Beltline, a 22-mile loop of transit and trails that will one day circle the city.

That deal — and the history of the controversial plot of land — has resulted in the city parting ways with two developers and paying millions of dollars that critics say was squandered.

Mike Dobbins, a Georgia Tech professor and Atlanta’s former planning commissioner, says the city rushed to pay Gwinnett County developer Wayne Mason and his son Keith $65 million for land that could have been had for much, much less.

“Buying out Mason was a flawed proposition,” Dobbins says. “I mean, name me anyone who wouldn’t love to make a 300 percent profit in three years on a $25 million investment. It’s crazy.”

Says Keith Mason: “I’m pleased with the outcome.”

Read the rest of this story.

(Photo by Jim Stawniak)

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Effective Monday, January 5, City of Atlanta residents’ trash, recycling and leaf-and-limb pick ups will change.

Here are the details from Mayor Shirley Franklin’s office:

• Weekly garbage collection will continue, but on a four (4) day schedule

• Recycling and Yard Waste collection will change from weekly to every other week, on the customer’s scheduled collection day, per the attached calendar.

• Friday pickups are being absorbed within the four (4) day schedule. There are approximately 20,000 customers who currently receive Friday pick up service. A separate notice will be delivered to these customers indicating their new pick up day.

• There are approximately 5,000 customers who receive back yard pick up service. Their pick up service may or may not change depending upon their address. These customers will receive a separate notice if there are any changes to their scheduled pick up service.

For more information, contact the Public Works Customer Service Call Center at (404) 330-6333. It’s open Monday-Thursday, 8:15 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. You can also reach them via email.

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Beltline bonds scheduled to be priced this week have been delayed until mid-October, a spokesperson for the 22-mile loop of parks, trails and transit says. Project leaders say the bonds — estimated to be worth $117 million — are now scheduled to be issued the week of Oct. 20.

Timing is of the essence, however, as that issuance cuts close to an Oct. 31 deadline to settle outstanding debt on a vital piece of property in northeast Atlanta near Piedmont Park. The property includes transit right-of-way and was purchased late last year from Gwinnett County developer Wayne Mason and his son, Keith. The decision to allocate the majority of Beltline bond proceeds to the Masons was opposed by community groups, but ultimately determined necessary to ensure the future of the project.

Should Beltline leaders not settle the Mason debt by the deadline, the property could risk foreclosure, placing valuable intown property on the real-estate market and in turn, making it harder to secure.

The national market for municipal bonds — for years the go-to financing mechanism that’s kept cities apace — has been essentially closed since the fallout on Wall Street, leaving many projects as grand as the Beltline and as everyday as highway repairs in a lurch. Athens-Clarke County recently put three long-planned sewer treatment plants, to be paid for with bonds, on the backburner until the market improves.

Atlanta is currently sitting on four upcoming bond issuances: The Beltline and Perry Bolton TAD bonds, the General Obligation refinancing bonds, and the Downtown Redevelopment bonds. Dana Boone, the city’s debt and investment chief, says most buyers in the market are hesitant to make purchases until Congress acts on the controversial bailout package. (The U.S. Senate approved the $850-billion, 450-page package last night.)

“The belief is that there are not a lot of issuances going out to market and postponing deals because there aren’t a lot of buyers in the market,” Boone says. “The costs would be too high. The issuers that are pursuing bond issuances are those with high needs.”

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SHOVELS AND SMILES: Do these look like the faces of people who just lost $860 million?

It’s a cold Saturday morning in Southwest Atlanta, and more than 100 people gather to witness the ceremonial beginning of the Beltline. It’s here in West End at Rose Circle Park where the first two miles of the project — a bike trail built in cooperation with PATH — will hug White Street and run north. Crews removed a lane of the road to build the trail.

As civic and business leaders, cyclists and neighborhood residents looked on, Beltline advocates, including Mayor Shirley Franklin, City Councilmembers Cleta Winslow and Caesar Mitchell, project visionary Ryan Gravel and others grabbed shovels and pierced the ground to mark the first phase of the public works project.

“This is exciting,” Franklin said after the ceremony. “The Beltline’s been a long time coming. And it starts with a little trail in West End. It’s a lot of hard work based on the vision of a young person. I mean, look at this crowd.” She gestures toward the mix of faces in attendance and the children playing basketball on the courts adjacent to the site. “This is what makes cities great. People from all backgrounds, coming together.”

But with all the excitement, one couldn’t help but to feel a little chagrined. It’s a really big project starting small. And it’s just two weeks after the state Supreme Court ruled that a hefty chunk of change would be off-limits to Beltline advocates. Planners and proponents of the massive endeavor have said they will push forward, with or without the school tax funds from the tax allocation district.

(Photo by Thomas Wheatley)

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Critics of the Beltline have argued that it is a nice idea, but would in the end serve no job centers and ultimately little purpose — it’d be a costly tourist loop and an amenity for residents who were fortunate enough to live close to the project. Civil leaders, academics and the visionary behind the concept will gather Saturday, Jan. 19, 12:30-2 p.m. at the King Center on Auburn Avenue to discuss one of the less tangible aspects of what the Beltline may bring Atlanta: a sense of connection in what is a now a city of urbanized villages. They’ll also look into the flip side of that vision — mainly, in the project’s slow realization, will many residents who hoped to share in that future be shuffled out because of it?

From the release:

Equitable Development – The BeltLine: Can it connect Atlanta’s people, places and opportunities?

The BeltLine has the potential to connect the people of Atlanta to one another and to the places they go. Envisioned by some as an opportunity to knit together the social fabric of diverse communities into one, the BeltLine has raised concern that the rail system could further separate the City along racial and socio-economic lines. A panel of experts will examine the BeltLine in light of the need for access to good jobs, quality education, affordable housing, a clean environment and a healthy quality of life. This workshop is presented in partnership with the BeltLine Network, Sierra Club, Georgia Stand-Up, Georgia Conservancy, BeltLine Partnership, Park Pride, Citizens for Progressive Transit, and Emory’s Office of University-Community Partnerships.

Full info from the release about speakers and the discussion panelists after the jump…

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