Council Continues School Street Project

Another portion of Bell Street is being closed and abandoned, a result of a decision made by the at their Thursday night meeting.

“Right now, you can only get one car down it,” City Manager Brian Bulthuis said. “It's basically an alley.”

The now-abandoned portion of Bell Street will be converted to use for pedestrians, with a 5-foot-wide sidewalk going down the center of the former road. For residents of houses along Bell Street who will be losing their access to the street grid, the city has deeded them the appropriate abandoned portions of Bell Street so they will still have driveways.

This change, which is part of the larger School Street project, was one of many items of business handled by the board when it unanimously passed the consent agenda. Other agenda and meeting items included:

• Approval for the appointments of Mary Harris and Jade Mauldin to serve on the Acworth Downtown Development Authority. Harris will fill Position 9; her term runs until Jan. 31, 2015. Mauldin will fill Position 2, with a term ending Jan. 31, 2012. Alderman Gene Pugliese recognized the efforts of these women, saying he appreciates their volunteering their time for the good of the city.

• Wine shops in Acworth will now be able to serve as well as sell wine.

• The 2011 Taste of Acworth has been designated a community festival.

• Parcel number 20003202530 will be condemned so that the city can obtain the parcel's right of way and easements. This parcel is to be used in the School Street project.

• The city is requesting a $200,000 purchase to buy various electrical apparatuses from multiple vendors. The city is looking to buy transformers, lighting fixtures, terminator boxes and other equipment from Stuart C. Irby, Georgia Underground, Gresco, HD Supply, Power Supply, Tri-State and Wesco.

• An officer from the will be assigned to a Drug Enforcement Administration task force in Atlanta for a two-year term.

• City tax bills will be sent next week, Bulthuis said.

• Mayor Tommy Allegood asked citizens to read up on the regional TSPLOST bill so that they may be better informed on how the potential tax would affect their city and the communities around them.

The entire agenda can be found here.

Allegood and the Board of Aldermen also took some time to recognize people who have done the city proud.

They issued a proclamation in recognition of Rick McKee, music teacher, who was .

“I'm proud to be the Teacher of the Year in the All-America City,” McKee said.

Allegood called McKee, who plays multiple instruments and is on a record label, “the closest thing to the Music Man.”

Additionally, the board recognized the Orange Acworth Warrior All-Star 8-and-under baseball team. The Warriors won the District 3 Dizzy Dean Championship, going 5-0. They went on to win the state A championship, winning eight games in a row after losing their first game of the tournament.

At the World Series in Southaven, MS, the Warriors went 6-2, finishing seventh.

Overall, the Warriors' record was 45-6-1. They had a run differential of plus-373 and placed first or second in seven of the nine tournaments they entered this year.

“Baseball is a great game,” assistant coach Greg Sanders said. “It teaches young men discipline on and off the field.”