Mayor Kasim Reed’s veto of ordinance15-O-1490 went unchallenged at today’s full city council meeting. The ordinance, approved by the Atlanta City Council on November 2, 2015, appropriated $800,000 in transportation development impact fees to partially fund the Moore’s Mill Road extension project. Mayor Reed vetoed the legislation on November 10, 2015, citing $2 million in federal funds had been authorized by the Federal Highway Administration for the completion of the project. He also noted that the funds had been transitioned from FHWA funds into Federal Transit Agency funds, as requested by the Department of Public Works.

“Today’s vote is an important step forward in the redevelopment of the Moore’s Mill Village,” said Mayor Reed. “After decades of neglect, northwest Atlanta communities can now look forward to the completion of a project that will spur economic development, generate jobs, and attract additional robust investment in our city.”

Both the FHWA release of funds and the FTA’s approval of the City’s request to transition the funds to FTA dollars have several positive implications for this project and the City of Atlanta including:

1.    The Moore’s Mill Extension and the Adams Drive Re-alignment projects, at a cost of $2.2 million for both projects, are now both fully funded through the $2 million in federal funds and $500,000 in public funds from Invest Atlanta.
2.    Use of federal funds allows the City to save local taxpayer dollars and local impact fees for use on projects that do not qualify for federal funds.
3.    The City can access the federal dollars as early as January 2016 which has no negative impact on the current construction schedule provided by Eden’s, the developer of the mixed-use development.  

Since 2010, the Reed Administration has leveraged approximately $157 million in federal dollars to support the City of Atlanta.