Brookhaven City Council has voted to redirect $400,000 from the new city hall’s art budget to pay for the construction and design of sidewalks.
Brookhaven Arts Commission members on Feb. 15 were told by Community Development Director Linda Abaray that the city hall arts budget was being reduced.
“Let me break the bad news to the ones who don’t know it. The budget for art at city hall has been cut from $450,000 to $50,000. That was a decision made by the council,” Abaray said, although the council didn’t vote on the change until March 12.
“My understanding is still that the Arts Commission will make recommendations for the artwork for the city council to decide on,” Abaray said.
The commission has a 2024 budget of approximately $150,000. Chair Kimberly Landers did not respond for comment.
Abaray said there may be other sources of money for art at city hall, which is under construction adjacent to the Brookhaven/Oglethorpe MARTA station.
Deputy City Manager Steve Chapman proposed an ordinance at the March 12 meeting to amend the Urban Redevelopment Agency budget to add a sidewalk at Chantilly Road, and to conduct an engineering study for a sidewalk at Osborne Road in Lynwood.
The Chantilly Road sidewalk was included in the Community Investment Agreement (CIA) with Emory University as part of the Executive Park rezoning effort. Emory had already agreed to pay $50,000 toward the completion of the sidewalk.
According to a city memo, additional funding was added to the Chantilly Road sidewalk project for right of way acquisition, which is currently underway.
“With this project nearing the construction phase, the council has expressed a desire to provide funding for the project to keep the project moving,” the memo states.
The memo states that a sidewalk on Osborne Road north of Windsor Parkway has been a community priority.
“The new district representative [Michael Diaz] has…
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