DECATUR — The Decatur City Council had a full agenda for its Feb. 8 regular meeting in the conference room at Decatur City Hall. Topping the agenda was the approval of a new commissioner for the Decatur Housing Authority.
During the housing authority's Jan. 28 meeting, Chairman Stacy Brooks introduced commissioner candidate Nick Wear, who will replace Carl Florer (term expired Dec. 31, 2015). After Brooks presented a brief history of the authority and the duties of the commissioner to Wear, the housing authority board voted to send Wear's candidacy to the Decatur City Council for final approval. Charles Linam presented the recommendation to the council, which then voted to approve Wear as the newest commissioner on the Decatur Housing Authority board.
In other business, the council discussed the recent departure of the Walmart Neighborhood Market Express Jan. 29. Several Decatur residents have approached Decatur Mayor Bob Tharp and other council members expressing their concerns about finding a suitable replacement.
Tharp began researching possible replacement shortly after the store closed. He has contacted several suitable store chains in order to spark an interest in coming to Decatur. A few of his contacts included Harps, Kroger and Dollar General Express (a store concept similar to the Neighborhood Market).
On a recent trip to Georgia, Tharp visited a Dollar General Express to research the feasibility of having this store come to Decatur. Upon his return, he contacted the company.
The Dollar General Express is a separate store concept from that of the regular Dollar General that currently operates in the Decatur. Tharp believes that, should the Dollar General Express decide to take over the vacant Walmart store, that both Dollar General and the express stores could better serve the needs of the Decatur residents.
During the discussion, Tharp expressed his gratitude to all the local business leaders who stepped up and made arrangements to carry additional products to aid Decatur residents with items they would otherwise have to drive 20 miles to obtain.
At present, Tharp has yet to hear from any of his contact, but he urges council members to research other options and report back to the council in coming meetings.
The Decatur City Council meets at 6 p.m. on every second Monday of each month. Decatur residents are urges to attend these meetings. Thirty minutes of the meeting is set aside for citizens comments. Any resident wishing to bring concerns before the council should contact the city clerk at 752-3912.
General News on 02/17/2016