I never miss an opportunity to boast about Tucker. Whether it is our highly talented staff or our caring community, our beautiful parks or all the new businesses finding a home here, it all comes together to make a great place to Live, Work, Play and Pray. And this space is one that I greatly treasure as each month I get to share progress toward our goals and highlight our achievements.
The most recent initiative that has had an immediate and positive impact on the city we call home has been the addition of the Public Works Department. After years of planning, educating and gaining the consensus of our residents, we launched the department on July 1. The first two priorities were 1) to assess in detail the condition of our entire system, and 2) to immediately begin addressing the 679 known deficiencies we inherited from DeKalb County. In our first three months of service, we have completed 301 orders and you the public have added 724 more! These numbers are the perfect illustration of the needs that weren’t getting met, AND that we are up for the job. I am proud of the work our staff and contractors are doing. As a city, we are responsive and getting the work done. As you can see, there’s a long way to go, but we have a plan and an approach that will get us there. Of course we are prioritizing the most severe issues, and the ones that affect the most people. As we get through those and pare the list down to something manageable, we’ll reach a point where we’re addressing new issues in real time, and ultimately, working ahead on preventive maintenance.
In addition to addressing these immediate needs, we are also increasing our level of service in Public Works. Among my favorites is a new street sweeping program. Curb bumping, where caked on vegetation and debris are removed, was completed in September to set the stage for ongoing street sweeping. The initial sweep is scheduled for this month with a follow up in December. Starting in 2024 the highlighted streets in the map above will be swept quarterly.
We have had to make hundreds of individual decisions since we proposed adding Public Works to our responsibilities. Chief among these is what level of service the community desires, and what we can provide for a rate property owners are willing to pay. This month, the Council and I will be publishing a document outlining the extent of service we will commit to providing for our community stormwater infrastructure. City staff has done extensive research and data mining, met and spoken with similar municipalities, and have presented their findings and recommendations to me and the Council in several briefings. When finished, this document will clearly outline which stormwater facilities are to be maintained by the city’s ratepayers, and which will be the responsibility of private property owners. It should clear up a lot of confusion, and serve all our citizens to know exactly what to expect for the fees they are paying.
As with all our service delivery initiatives, the goal is to create and nurture a safe, healthy and welcoming place for all of us. While stormwater management is no one’s first choice for casual conversation, it’s our first priority to get it right so we don’t have to spend any time talking about it!
