New buses part of Albany State University Transit plan

ALBANY — Tuesday night’s Albany City Commission meeting offered a mixed bag of city business: everything from the purchase of new buses to shuttle students to and from from Albany State University’s east and west campuses; approval of a zoning request that will allow a mysterious new chain restaurant to set up shop on Slappey Boulevard; the changing of city meeting dates, and one commissioner’s request for a citywide “root ball roundup.”

The $1.5 million approved by the commission for the purchase of three new Transit buses will, City Manager Sharon Subadan told the board, allow the department to add shuttle service between the two Albany State campuses to its schedule.

“We’re in the process of discussing with Albany State incorporating transit service between the two campuses and downtown,” the city manager said. “Two of the new buses would be used for that service, while the other would replace an aging bus in our fleet. And student fees (collected at ASU) would pay for the service on the campus.”

Subadan also pointed out that 80 percent of the funding for purchase of the buses will come from federal funds, 10 percent from the state and 10 percent local.

Despite direct questions from commissioners about the name of the planned new restaurant at 609 N. Slappey Blvd., the developer said he was bound by a “confidentiality agreement” not to disclose it. He did say, though, that it’s a “well-known chain” and that “there is not another one within 20 miles of Albany.” The rezoning, from C-1 to C-2, will allow for a drive-through at the restaurant.

The commission voted to amend its meeting schedule for the months of June, July and December. The planned June 27 meeting will be changed, after approval by the commission, to June 28, while only one meeting will be scheduled in July (25th) and December (17th).

The commission also approved a sewer easement at the Stonebridge Golf Course Villas, which will impact the 44 Phase V homes planned for that development.

Ward III Commissioner B.J. Fletcher, during discussion of new business, told Subadan she’d like the city to look into developing a plan by which the city can help remove root balls from trees that were toppled at city residences during January storms.

“I know we’re not supposed to go onto private property to remove these root balls, but I’d like to see us come up with a way we can help our citizens with what’s become a big problem,” Fletcher said. “There are, I’m hearing, more than 700 root balls on people’s property that they’re having a hard time removing. I’d like to see us look in-house to see if we can come up with a way to have a ‘root ball roundup.’”

Ward I Commissioner Jon Howard, noting information provided by Fletcher that showed the city had outsourced more than a million dollars in legal fees since 2013, asked City Attorney Nathan Davis if he had particular needs in his office.

“You’re talking about a period after we went from three attorneys to one,” Davis said. “I’m not trying to be flip, but you can’t litigate some of the major cases that the city is involved in with one attorney. Unless we add at least one more attorney in that office, we’ll have to continue to outsource a lot of the legal work.”

Also at Tuesday’s meeting, Albany Police Department Chief Michael Persley and Mayor Dorothy Hubbard handed out several APD awards. Cpl. Nicovian Price was named the department’s Officer of the Year, while Sgt. Nazaret Sanchez received the Commander in Chief award.

Citizen of the Year awards were handed out to representatives of Lamar Reese Elementary School, Albany Middle School and Dougherty High School, while the Civilian of the Year award went to Perseley’s in-office support staff.

Contracts were also awarded at the meeting to Vision of El Sugundo, Calif. ($55,180 for web design services) and Alarms Etc. of Albany ($75,277.13 for alarm installation at the city’s facilities at 401 Pine Ave.