Local & State Headlines

ATI under increasing pressure

• Albany Tomorrow Inc. labors are under growing scrutiny from local government officials.

Carlton Fletcher

ALBANY — Given recent calls by some Albany City Commissioners to sever financial ties with the private development organization, Albany Tomorrow Inc. Director C.W. Grant’s call to order at ATI’s board of director’s meeting Wednesday had something of an ironic twist.

Noting that some board members had elected to sit at chairs away from the table at one of the RiverFront Resource Center’s conference rooms, Grant quipped, “Everyone can move up to the table ... this is not the Last Supper.”

The board did not discuss the growing rumbling among commission members to end the city’s $150,000-a-year contribution to ATI during open session, but Grant addressed the issue after an executive session that followed the meeting.

“Quite honestly, I do not have a problem with the city asking for a performance evaluation,” Grant said. “The way I view it, ATI is just like any other city employee. We were given performance goals to achieve, and the city, as our employer, has the right to evaluate our performance to see if we’ve met those goals.

“In fairness, I think the process should be used in a manner that could show us how we can improve, not as a condition for continued funding. But I have been seeing to the day-to-day operations of ATI, and I have absolutely no problem with a performance evaluation.”

During the late morning meeting, Project Manager Ken Cribb updated board members on the progress of Special-Purpose Local-Option Sales Tax V projects currently under ATI management. During that discussion, the topic of allowing golf carts on the recently completed North Trail river walk was broached.

“We have no control over that,” Grant said. “We simply managed that project, but the trail belongs to the city. It is my understanding that the city has an ordinance that would keep motorized vehicles off the trail, but that is the city’s call.”

Assistant City Manager James Taylor said that while the city’s ordinance covers usage of motorized vehicles on city-maintained thoroughfares only, and thus would not include the pedestrian trail, he said late Wednesday that city leaders did not envision golf carts on the trail.

“Golf carts, according to our city ordinances, are allowed only at narrowly defined places,” Taylor said. “The concept behind the trail was to make it as pedestrian-friendly as possible. There are too many issues with motorized vehicles like golf carts.”

Another concern discussed by the board was the completion of the Ray Charles Plaza.

“From my meetings with city leaders, there is no question that the plaza has been constructed per specifications,” Grant said. “What we’re discussing now is a change order.”

Cribb said that change order involves drainage at the lower level of the plaza.

“We have a design that has been approved by the city engineer, and now we’re working with a contractor on the time factor,” Cribb said.

Grant told the board the city is prepared to take on any expense beyond the original contract as it pertains to the change order.

Asked after the meeting if ATI has made any advancement in finding a president/CEO to replace Kenneth Weaver, who left the organization in late January, Grant said he had no progress to report.

“I don’t want to sound cynical,” he said, “but I am currently overseeing the day-to-day operations of ATI. It’s certainly not like a ship without a rudder. I’m taking care of things, and they’re getting quite a bargain because I’m doing it for free.”

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