Committee forwards $3 million downtown wayfinding agreement with ADID, asks parties to meet before full council

Councilmember Dozier pulled Resolution 25‑R‑3449 during the Transportation Committee and asked the committee to move forward a project‑management agreement with the Atlanta Downtown Improvement District (ADID) for downtown pedestrian wayfinding so the item could appear on Monday's full‑council agenda.

The resolution authorizes the mayor's designee, on behalf of the Atlanta Department of Transportation, to execute a project‑management agreement with ADID in an amount not to exceed $3,000,000. "There are still some additional conversations that need to be that happened between ADID and the department, and I'm very sensitive to that," Councilmember Dozier said, asking that the department, the executive office and ADID meet before next Monday's council meeting while still advancing the item out of committee.

Theo Case, deputy chief of staff, told the committee he had spoken with Ms. Ball of Central Atlanta Progress and that administration preferred one more committee cycle to resolve issues including the proposed number of signs and the contract cost per sign. "We would like a one more cycle to work through some of the issues that we have regarding this project," Case said. He told the committee ADID was proposing about 15 to 20 signs and that dividing the total contract cost by that number yields "about a hundred and $50,000 per sign," a figure the department had concerns about.

Dozier said she wanted the item to move forward rather than remain held in committee because of time sensitivity for implementation. After further discussion about whether the parties could meet before Monday and whether a substitute resolution could be prepared if needed, the committee voted to forward the resolution to the full council with no recommendation on the condition that the department, the executive office and ADID meet and that any necessary substitute be prepared in time. The recorded committee vote was 4 yeas, 0 nays, 1 abstention.

Committee members and administration did not adopt a formal amendment in committee; the forward action explicitly allowed for a substitute to be prepared if the parties agree that changes are needed. The committee record notes that Central Atlanta Progress staff said they were open to holding the item one additional cycle if necessary, and that administration had asked to work through outstanding cost and sign‑count questions with ADID.