Politics & Government

Meeting Notes: Talk of Movie Locations, Hotels, Amphitheater

The city councils of Stone Mountain and Lithonia, respectively, had their work sessions on Monday.

Both Stone Mountain City and Lithonia City hold their council work sessions on the third Monday of each month.

Here are a few of the issues discussed at last night's (Dec. 17) meetings:

  • The bagpiper that's been playing at sundown in Stone Mountain Village ends this month. Main Street Stone Mountain is looking for funds to keep it going.
  • There's an effort to court the hotel industry to the city. One of the advantages of having an establishment like that inside the city limits would be the hotel/motel tax, which can be used to promote the city. "It's a win-win for the people coming to the area, it's a win-win for the city and it would be a win-win for th developer," Ryles told Patch.
  • The Rock Gym in the city was mentioned at the meeting a possible future movie location. When Patch later asked the director of the Georgia Film Commission, Lee Thomas, about it, she said she took photos of the Rock Gym to be considered as a location for a film project. She said it's too early to name the project.
  • The 2,000 participants in the Susan G. Komen 3-Day Walk for the Cure gave a boost to the city's visitor numbers in October, said Kim Cumbie of the the Visitor Center. In October, visitors also came from27 states and 7 countries. In November, there were 249 visitors from 26 states and 9 countries.
  • Chief Chancey Troutman said there were a total of 191 calls; 36 arrests and 129 citations in November.
  • The city council of Lithonia introduced and welcomed its new police chief, Eddie Moody at its work session.
  • The city's future website was also on the agenda, with one sample mock-up reviewed.
  • Things got a little heated during discussion of the amphitheater in the city. Concert promoter Jason Lary, sitting in the audience, addressed the question whether of the amphitheater made money (he said it did), continuing to make his points after Major Deborah Jackson hit the gavel on the table and told him he was out of order. He addressed council again before it broke for executive session, saying there was a "fundamentak difference of opinion on what it [the amphitheater] should be."
  • In a 3-2 vote, the council approved the creation of a commission for the amphitheater. Said council member Shameka Reynolds: "I just need to know what's going on. I'm not investigating it, I want to be helping out with this more than this. So that's the reason for me being on this commission. Say what you might, but it has nothing to do with Jason, it has nothing to do with nobody. I get people coming to me constantly about this and I don't have an answer. So this is why I'm on it."
  • Lithonia city council also talked about the possibility of continuing the police department's trial use of license plate readers from different companies.

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