FROM Carl R. Nichols, Chairperson Program and Facilities Committee
Athens Regional Medical Center (ARMC) / Athens Regional Health Services (ARHS)

DATE: May 13, 1999

For the past eighteen ( 18) months, the Programs and Facilities Committee of ARMC and ARHS has been engaged in a process of developing a long range campus plan. The purpose of the plan is to assist in providing for growth options to accommodate the current and anticipated need for service to patients (both inpatients end outpatients) in the Athens area end Northeast Georgia community over the next five (5), ten (10), and twenty (20) year time frames.

Predicting future growth in the long term has been a challenging task and is based on the best information available. The process was guided by a number of principles, one of which is that infrastructure issues must be addressed in a partnership with local government.

The boundaries and scope of any medical center architectural plan (land use or traditional building plan) are determined by the functions to be accomplished and the scope of services to be provided. We believe the scope of services taken into account in our planning process reflects accurately current and future identified needs for the population we serve.

The planning process so far has been to develop a "draft" campus land use plan with the assistance of professional architects, engineers, and other technical disciplines to provide us with a technical model to use as a starting point. For the past several weeks we have been in the process of gathering public and neighborhood input and are considering alternatives that are compatible with our community requests. After careful evaluation of input from the three (3) initial neighborhood meetings the Programs and Facilities Committee has agreed on the following actions:

Five (5) Year Plan

Our first priority is to only move forward with the five (5) year plan which incorporates a new medical services building and cancer care center totally within our current boundaries and requires no additional land purchase.

Storm Water Retention

As much as we understand the storm water problems that exist in the water basin beginning near our location in Normaltown and extending south to the Baxter Street area, and even given our initial willingness expressed as far back as 1997 to consider helping with a decentralized regional retention facility, we are, based on input from our neighborhoods, withdrawing support for the concept of a regional facility in the proposed location. We want to maintain a harmonious relationship with our neighbors on King Avenue and Talmadge Drive and support the priority of maintaining the homes in the proposed "regional" retention pond area. Addressing water management on a regional basis is important and we will try as best we can to make provisions and engineer to our best efforts for storm water management on our own campus in future redevelopment and projects so as not to exacerbate the area problem.

King Avenue

With respect to the east side of King Avenue, we recognize from the traffic study prepared at the request of ACC in November 1997, the future congestion potential at intersections on King and the need to accommodate left hand turning going north. Traffic on King will be a challenge that ACC government will have to deal with as it materializes in the future and we will cooperate in achieving workable solutions. For the present, however, again based on neighborhood input we are withdrawing from the draft plan the concept of widening King Avenue with an associated green space buffer. The idea put forward in discussions with ACC of a green space buffer on King Avenue, held by a land trust to stop future zoning battles has merit, but has not gained any degree of public support.

In order to continue our dialog with our neighborhoods to arrive at a viable long range campus plan, beyond five (5) years, I am asking our committee to endorse a campus planning advisory process involving our local neighborhoods over the next several months to assist us in addressing other issues. I would like to request that ACC government appoint a representative or two to assist us in this important step of our planning process. It would be welcome by all. Please let me know what your desires are in this regard.