Council to vote on company for study

By KENNETH LOWE - H&R Staff Writer

DECATUR - The city council will be bringing up some issues at their meeting Monday that continue to remain in the spotlight through much discussion.

Among the topics on repeat is a discussion of accommodating the growing space needs of the Decatur Police Department, through renovation or new construction.

The council plans to vote on retaining the company PSA Dewberry to conduct a study on the space needs of the police department.

The study, which the city will commission for $40,000, also will include planning for renovation of the existing Law Enforcement Center and new construction next to that facility, according to an internal city memo.

The study is scheduled to take seven weeks.

Other scheduled business will center on demolishing four properties that have been abandoned, a time consuming problem that residential groups have complained about for some time.

John T. Robinson, assistant corporation counsel, represents the city in demolition court.

Robinson said getting the property slated for demolition is only the first step, and must come after all reasonable efforts to fix up the property have fallen through.

"It does take some time for it to happen," Robinson said. "It's only when those efforts fail that they write the property up for demolition."

Between tracking down the property's owners, mortgaging banks and any lien holders or other people invested in the property, notifying all interested parties takes time.

"These are all the people I am legally obligated to notify and say, 'I am taking your collateral. I'm going to demolish it, to destroy it,' " Robinson said.

The council also is scheduled to discuss the marketing of an empty retail lot at Mound Center, which currently features Target as its anchor store. A marketing group has been soliciting retail and restaurant chains to take up the lot.

Businesses that have shown interest in purchasing the lot include Ethan Allen, Michaels, Burlington Coat Factory, Chili's, TGI Friday's and others, according to a city council memo.

Kenneth Lowe can be reached at klowe@herald-review.com or 421-7985.