On September 7th, the Council for Quality Growth hosted DeKalb Commissioner Nancy Jester at the Dekalb Advisory meeting. Commissioner Jester shared updates on DeKalb’s water billing and sewers, blight, infrastructure, and these areas’ impacts on development.
Jester discussed DeKalb County’s plans to update the sewer system and some of the challenges that the Commissioner has identified during this process. One of the primary challenges that Jester noted was unnecessary delays in implementing sewer system updates after they have been approved. Streamlining the implementation process will help prevent against a sewer moratorium and make the necessary improvements to the sewer system. In addition, the DeKalb water billing system will soon be undergoing an update that will improve efficiency.
Initiatives centered around blight clean up, and a hotel/motel ordinance aim to improve the aesthetic quality and safety in DeKalb while also encouraging development throughout the County. Jester noted several currently blighted key sites that, if developed, could be transformative for the County.
Infrastructure, particularly the SPLOST, was the final topic of discussion for Commissioner Jester. She shared details about her recent visit to Washington D.C. in which she served on a small group of local elected officials with the Trump Administration and Vice President discussing infrastructure issues and collaborative opportunities between the local and national governments. The infrastructure work groups identified opportunities to maximize the impact of federal funding by matching funds with local or private funds. DeKalb’s SPLOST effort will be an important program to leverage federal dollars and exemplify DeKalb’s commitment to transportation and infrastructure improvements.
The Council would like to thank Commissioner Nancy Jester for her advocacy and commitment to economic development and for sharing her experience with the advisory group. The Council would also like to thank our sponsor, AT&T for their support.