Politic-ATL: City Council pushes Beltline rail revival
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Illustration: Maura Losch/Axios
A resolution calling for city and MARTA officials to come up with a construction plan for light-rail transit along the Atlanta Beltline was approved Monday by the City Council.
Why it matters: Introduced by council member Kelsea Bond, the resolution asks Mayor Andre Dickens, Beltline leaders and MARTA to map out how they plan to revive the stalled $3.5 billion vision of rail around the 22-mile loop.
- The resolution affirms council's support for light rail and requests that the officials give the Transportation Committee an update on funding and implementing rail by Jan. 26, 2027.
Changes to ALPR standards introduced
Also introduced Monday was Dickens' legislation that would implement citywide standards for automated license plate readers and other surveillance technology.
- It calls for establishing a panel that would review "higher risk technologies" and recommend any possible limitations, requirements for usage reporting, or guardrails to be put in place.
- Additionally, the legislation would ban vendors from licensing or selling any city surveillance data and require technology with automated tools to flag unusual activity for review.
- Dickens' administration wants the council to hold a work session and public hearing within the next 60 days as it gathers feedback on how the legislation could be tweaked or refined.
Work session to discuss city jail sale
The council's Public Safety and Legal Administration will hold a work session Wednesday to discuss the pending sale of the Atlanta City Detention Center to Fulton County.
- The work session starts at 1pm at City Hall, and county and administration representatives and others are expected to attend.
- The committee earlier this month held legislation that would have authorized the sale of the facility to Fulton County for $68 million.
- A livestream of the work session can be viewed on YouTube.
Employee paid leave updated
City of Atlanta employees will now have more time off work to care for a new child.
- Employees now get 12 weeks of paid leave for the birth or adoption of a child, as well as to prepare to become a foster parent to a child, according to legislation approved by the council. The previous amount of allotted time was six weeks.
- The ordinance stems from a study that recommended the city expand its policy and give employees more flexibility as to when they take their leave during a 12-month period.
The fine print: A resolution to purchase 29 new plane trains for $71.3 million for Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and a resolution providing an additional $239 million for the airport's Concourse D expansion project were also approved.