BOND REFERENDUM

Spanish Bullfight

Public meetings continue ahead of infrastructure bond referendum

By Collin Kelley INtown Editor

Atlanta voters will head to the polls on Tuesday, March 17, for a special election to vote on a $252 million infrastructure bond referendum. In the meantime, another series of community meetings are being held around the city to garner public opinion on the project list.

City Councilmember Alex Wan said the project list for the referendum is still under consideration, and encouraged residents to attend the meetings. Wan and his fellow Atlanta City Council members voted on Jan. 5 to call for the referendum and fast-tracked the legislation to Mayor Kasim Reed for his signature.

The city faces an infrastructure backlog of more than $900 million to repair or improve roads, bridges, sidewalks and upgrade critical public buildings and facilities.

Voters will see separate items on the ballot, one calling for $187,945,000 in bonds for construction, reconstruction, renovation and repairs, and the other calling for $64,055,000 to upgrade facilities to meet the Americans With Disabilities Act.

The city council also voted to create a public infrastructure maintenance and improvement account to help with the backlog with appropriating 3.5 percent of the city’s general fund budget at the beginning of each fiscal year.

Here’s the calendar for the public meetings, which will run from 6 to 8 p.m.

• Feb. 3: Atlanta Speech School, 3160 Northside Parkway, NW

• Feb. 5: Georgia Hill Facility, 250 Georgia Avenue, SE

• Feb. 12: Ben Hill Recreation Center, 2405 Fairburn Road, SW

• Feb. 17: Piedmont Hospital

- Shepherd Center Callaway Auditorium, 7th Floor, 2020 Piedmont Road, NW

• Feb. 19: Drew Charter School, 301 East Lake Boulevard, SE

• Feb. 24: John C. Birdine Recreation Center, 215 Lakewood Way, SW

• Feb. 26: Atlanta City Hall, 55 Trinity Ave., SW

For a complete list of meetings and more information on the infrastructure bond, visit atlantaga.gov. You can also see a map of proposed projects and their locations at infrastructuremap.org.