The City of  

Macon

  The County of  

Bibb

Georgia

U.S.A.

From: Louis Ryan <lmryan2003@yahoo.com>

Subject: Re: Proposed land swap and incommplete prior land swap

To: "Erick Erickson" <erick@erickerickson.org>, "lauren benedict" <lauren.benedict@macon.ga.us>, "mike cranford" <mike.cranford@macon.ga.us>, "ed defore" <ed.defore@macon.ga.us>, "tom ellington" <tom.ellington@macon.ga.us>, "erick erickson" <erick.erickson@macon.ga.us>, "rick hutto" <rick.hutto@macon.ga.us>, "charles jones" <charles.jones@macon.ga.us>, "elaine lucas" <elaine.lucas@macon.ga.us>, "lonnie miley" <lonnie.miley@macon.ga.us>, "miriam paris" <miriam.paris@macon.ga.us>, "robert reichert" <r.reichert@macon.ga.us>, "alveno ross" <alveno.ross@macon.ga.us>, "larry schlesinger" <larry.schlesinger@macon.ga.us>, "james timley" <james.timley@macon.ga.us>, "virgil watkins" <virgil.watkins@macon.ga.us>, "nancy white" <nancy.white@macon.ga.us>

Cc: "matt barnwell" <m.barnwell@macon.com>, "christine helms" <christine.helms@macon.ga.us>, "pope langstaff" <pope.langstaff@macon.ga.us>, "scott page" <scott@interface-studio.com>, "bill underwood" <underwood_wd@mercer.edu>

Date: Tuesday, November 11, 2008, 11:24 AM

                                                   11/11/2008

 

Mr. Erickson, Macon City Council members and Mayor Reichert:

 

  As I stated at yesterday's Public Properties Committee meeting, the matter of a WRITTEN contract involving an as yet unfulfilled land conveyance - the 30 foot strip along the railroad right of way to be used for a pedestrian walkway - IS a matter that the city and your committee should deal with.  Without getting that property the city will have effectively given away public property  (that swap involved giving city owned rights of way on the university campus in exchange for land used for Penniman Blvd. right of way AND the 30 foot strip.) and that is a violation of Georgia law.  It is worth noting that in that earlier land swap, the city, according to its own appraisal of the values of the various parcels. gave up property worth $700,000 while theoretically receiving property worth $115,000 - and a significant portion of that 115,000 was never received.

   At yesterday's meeting I referred to Mr. Bill Causey, who originally told me that the city had not acquired the walkway-designated land.  In that conversation, which occurred during or after a MATS Technical Coordinating Committee meeting some years ago, Mr. Causey also stated that the City did not want the strip of land.  If that is so then there may have been a conscious effort to gratuitously deed away city property as opposed to the failure to deed being the result of faulty memory and/or changes of administration.

  The bottom line is that the city has given away public property and, further, by giving away College St, with the rationale that pedestrian safety on the campus would thereby be enhanced, but now refusing to acquire the land for and install the pedestrian-safety facility (the pedestrain walkway) the city is in the awkward position of having favored a predominately white neighborhood (the university campus) while shifting the environmental hazards of a heavily trafficed road onto a nearby and predominantly black neighborhood.  That would be in violation of both an Executive Order relating to environmental justice and of the Equal Protection guaranty in the U.S. Constitution.  Those concerns will surround any effort by the city to extend Penniman Blvd/build phase 2 of the South Downtown Connector. therefore City Council and the Mayor should openly, honestly and publicly deal with these concerns.

 

Sincerely,

Michael Ryan 

--- On Sun, 11/9/08, Erick Erickson <erick@erickerickson.org> wrote:

From: Erick Erickson <erick@erickerickson.org>

Subject: Re: Proposed land swap and incommplete prior land swap

To: lmryan2003@yahoo.com

Date: Sunday, November 9, 2008, 4:15 PM

Mr. Ryan, the matter can be appropriately raised in the other matters portion of tomorrow's meeting, though I do not believe there is enough support on Council to reconsider the matter and doing so would take a two-thirds vote of the Council.

Also, you should know that the property was adequately appraised pursuant to Georgia law.

We did also consider the tax issues involved.  As the property is not presently on the tax roll and funding was lost for the related development projects, we were glad to enter the transaction.  Lastly, despite prior agreements and statements made, it is a well settled principle of Georgia law that prior Councils cannot bind future Councils.  Therefore any prior agreement made could not bind the present Council to act in any manner other than the way we acted.

The issue was raised by some members of Council in two separate meetings, but a majority of us though the value of securing the Ft. Hawkins property was a worthy goal.

Thank you for your concerns,

Erick Erickson

On Nov 9, 2008, at 2:34 PM, Louis Ryan wrote:

Mr. Erickson

I will come to your committee meeting tomorrow and I request an opportunity to review the issues raised in my e mail to you, other Council members, Mayor Reichert and the City Attorney. 

AS the closing on the proposed land swap has not yet occurred I believe it would be in order to request a delay/postponement until the issues raised can be dealt with.  Based on sales of nearby properties -just down Penniman/Mercr U. Dr. toward I-75- which have been bought by the same entity that will get the Penniman @ Telfair site - it may well be that the city is letting the subject property go for far less than it is worth and so doing would violate the Ga.Code section (36-37-6(c)) which authorizes land swaps ("they must be for property that is of equal or greater value").  In that regard I have a letter exchanged between 2 city officials, dated 1991, that deals with the subject property and the aforementioned letter says that the property should be kept by the city and marketed when the South Downtown Connector, Phase II is implemented because its value will then greatly increase.  Please note that the Mayor and MATS will review the SDC Phase II in the next few weeks and a new proposal for the long stalled road project will be presented.   So it seems that there may well be an SDC PHase II/Penniman Extension and that will certainlly affect the value of the property about which I am contacting you.  Finally, once the subject property is conveyed to the intended party - Mercer - that parcel and any commercial development that occurrs on it (and it is ideally situated for such development) will NOT be on the tax digest therefore the city's tax base will further deteriorate/shrink.  For the above reasons plus those others outlined in my previous e mail, I request that your committee begin looking into this at tomorrow's meeting, perhaps under "Old Business". and that I be given an opportunity to address the committee regarding this issues.

 

Sincerely,  Louis Michael Ryan

--- On Thu, 11/6/08, Erick Erickson <erick@erickerickson.org> wrote:

From: Erick Erickson <erick@erickerickson.org>

Subject: Re: Proposed land swap and incommplete prior land swap

To: lmryan2003@yahoo.com

Date: Thursday, November 6, 2008, 4:10 PM

Thanks very much for the information.  The land swap did go through.  No one brought this information to the table.

Erick

On Nov 6, 2008, at 3:18 PM, Louis Ryan wrote:

--- On Thu, 11/6/08, Louis Ryan <lmryan2003@yahoo.com> wrote:

From: Louis Ryan <lmryan2003@yahoo.com>

Subject: Proposed land swap and incommplete prior land swap

To: "robert reichert" <r.reichert@macon.ga.us>

Cc: "lauren benedict" <lauren.benedict@macon.ga.us>, "mike cranford" <mike.cranford@macon.ga.us>, "ed defore" <ed.defore@macon.ga.us>, "tom ellington" <tom.ellington@macon.ga.us>, "erick erickson" <erick.erickson@macon.ga.us>, "christine helms" <christine.helms@macon.ga.us>, "rick hutto" <rick.hutto@macon.ga.us>, "charles jones" <charles.jones@macon.ga.us>, "pope langstaff" <pope.langstaff@macon.ga.us>, "alveno ross" <alveno.ross@macon.ga.us>

Date: Thursday, November 6, 2008, 2:30 PM

 

Dear Mayor, Members of City Council and City Attorneys:

This communication concerns the proposed land swap between the City, Mercer and a third party.  Land at the corner of Penniman Blvd. and Telfair is to be conveyed but I believe that property has been promised as a park with recreational facilities to the residents of Tindall Heights.  The promise was made in the late 1980s during the planning for the South Downtown Connector (SDC)/Penniman Blvd. and I believe the proposed land swap involves the very same parcel designated for use as a public recreational facility.  I have requested access to city records regarding that parcel but the city attorneys's office wants to charge me for seeing relevant maps and other records and I think this is contrary to principles of transparency in governmental actions.  However, Mr. Jim Thomas (with P&Z) has told me and the Citizens Advisory Committee of MATS that he actually worked on the planning/design of the proposed recreational facility so perhaps his records or memory can be checked in order to determine the accuracy of my contention. There are other issues surrounding the proposed land swap and I will briefly discuss them.

 

When the SDC was first proposed in the mid-80s it was as an alternate to College St which Mercer sought to have closed.  The rationale therefore was the promotion of pedestrian safety on the camupus.  In a written agreement between the city and Mercer the city agreed to close most streets on the campus and give the property to Mercer in exchange for property needed for the SDC right of way.  The city also stipulated in that contract that it would receive, "upon initiation of SDC construction" a 30 foot strip of land along the Central Ga. RR, between Ash St. and the to be constructed SDC/Penniman Blvd.  That strip was to be for a pedestrian walkway from the new SDC over to College St and Tatnall Sq. Park and as such it would greatly enhance pedestrian connectivity between Tindall Heights (a mostly black neighborhood) and the Tatnall Sq./College St area but the required conveyance NEVER TOOK PLACE!  The proposed walkway would have entered Penniman immediately adjacent to if not through the parcel now the subject of a proposed land swap.  Further, the property which the city gave away was valued on the city's books at about $700,000 while the property it was to receive was valued at a little more than $100,000 - and the city never received a part to that!  This looks very much like a gratuity/a gift of city property and certainly would violate the current OCGA section which authorizes municipal land swaps.  And, as an aside, that Code section has an annotation saying that allowed land swaps still must involve the public bidding process,which I do not think has been observed in this instance.  Thus, the city should not go forward with the proposed land swap until these issues involving prior land swaps and conveyances of city property have been resolved. 

 

For me this is a matter of conscience for I know that the people of Tindall Heights have been misled and the wrong continues.  If the city will close streets to protect Mercer pedestrians (and Mercer was and is still largely a white community/neighborhood) but will not live up to its commitments to promote pedestrian safety for residents of a nearby black neighborhood then equal access to public resources/equal protection of the laws is not being observed. 

 

The foregoing issues relate to other current or future plans and commitments of the City of Macon.  The city is involved with the College Hill Corridor Commission and that body seeks to promote pedestrian safety and connectivity between the Mercer campus area and downtown. The proposed but unrealized pedestrian walkway would tie right into that overall goal.  The long term goal is to promote/achieve revitalization in the old neighborhoods around the campus as that would greatly aid the effort to revitalilze downtown and allow it to once again be a viable center of economic activity.  Fulfilling the promise to build the pedestrian walkway and the recreational facililty would further that goal.  And certainly before there is any extension of Penniman/SDC the promises made in the past and relating the the SDC's first phase (ie Penniman) should be fulfilled.

 

Sincerely,   Louis Michael Ryan

 

Subject: Fw: RE: Proposed land swap and incommplete prior land swap
To: susan hanberry <susan.hanberry ...snip... jaime webb <jhw@mylink.net>

Jaime, Susan and Lindsay,
I am forwarding an e mail received a few days ago from City Council's Elaine Lucas.
Also, I am drafting and will then send to you a request for information from the City/P&Z regarding the proposed pedestrian walkway that we discussed at Wednesday's meeting.  Please read it over and if OK then perhaps Jaime can either forward it as an e mail or print it out and hand submit it to P&Z/City representatives at the upcoming TCC and Policy Committee meetings.  Since I am not on the CAC I hesitate to forward it directly to Reichert, Ryle, Tussing et al.   The e mail addresses for Tussing (or Tussig?) and the others should be: d.tussing@mbpz.org, v.ryle@mbpz.org, j.thomas@mbpz.org. r.reichert@macon.ga.us, mirian.paris@macon.ga.us.
The actual request follows in a seperate e mail.
Michael Ryan

--- On Wed, 11/12/08, Lucas, Elaine <Elaine.Lucas@macon.ga.us> wrote:

From: Lucas, Elaine <Elaine.Lucas@macon.ga.us>

Subject: RE: Proposed land swap and incommplete prior land swap

To: lmryan2003@yahoo.com

Date: Wednesday, November 12, 2008, 2:38 PM

Thank you for your interest in making sure that all city actions are done

Date: Fri, 14 Nov 2008 11:09:33 -0800 (PST)

From: Louis Ryan <lmryan2003@yahoo.com>

Reply-To: lmryan2003@yahoo.com

Subject: draft request for information on pedestrian walkway

To: susan hanberry <susan.hanberry@stratford.org>,

  lindsay holliday <teeth@mindspring.com>, jaime webb <jhw@mylink.net> 






To: Mayor Reichert, City of Macon, Miriam Paris, City Council President, Vernon Ryle, Executive Director of Planning & Zoning, Don Tussing of Planning & Zoning and Jim Thomas of Planning & Zoning

 

Re: Request for information referred to at CAC meeting on 11/12/2008

 

Dear Mayor Reichert, President Paris, Mr. Ryle, Mr. Thomas and Mr. Tussing:

 

At the recent (11/12/08) meeting of the MATS Citizen's Advisory Committee (CAC) a 21 page document entitled "South Downtown Connector" (SDC) was reviewed by Mr. Tussing of Macon-Bibb Planning & Zoning (MBPZ).  During that review Mr. Jim Thomas of MBPZ told those present that Mr. Bill Causey, with the City of Macon, had recently provided Mr. Thomas with information regarding a pedestrian walkway. proposed at the time the SDC, Phase I was being planned, ( it was to be a 30' strip along the railroad, from Ash St. to a remaining but abandoned and unused portion of Nussbaum Ave and would have turned from the railroad onto Nussbaum and followed it a few hundred feet to Penniman Blvd., also known as Phase I of the SDC).  According to Mr. Thomas, he was told by Causey that Article III (Pedestrian Walkway) of a written agreement, dated 12/4/1987, between the City and Mercer University, had been released, nullified or eliminated by former mayor, Jim Marshall.

 

As the CAC has great concern about whether area road projects satisfy the requirements of Environmental Justice, Equal Protection of the Laws and the State of Georgia's Gratuities Prohibitions and as the CAC desires to ascertain whether certain area road projects, promised auxillary facilities, (including those promised to the Tindall Heights neighborhood prior to construction of SDC Phase I) and the proposed SDC Phase II do, in fact satisfy the above mentioned legal/constitutional requirements WE HEREBY REQUEST copies of the aforementioned release/nullification of Art.III as well as associated or related public records, including but not limited to,correspondence, memoranda and engineer's reports.   WE FURTHER REQUEST all documents related to and including "the basic agreement between Mercer University and the community" referred to in the last line on p.1 and the first lines on p.2 of the aforementioned document, ("South Downtown Connector"), presented at the CAC's 11/12/2008 meeting.

 

Your assistance in providing the requested information will aid the CAC in fulfilling its oversight responsibilities to the residents of Macon and Bibb County.

 

Sincerely,

 

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Holliday Dental Associates

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