Almost a year after a judge declared it to be a public nuisance, the former Econo Lodge at 2007 Tampico Way in Dalton is slated for demolition.

DALTON, Ga. — The former Econo Lodge at 2007 Tampico Way could be torn down within weeks.

Dalton City Attorney Jim Bisson said Monday night the property’s owners have been given until Aug. 13 to tear the property down or the city will tear it down and place a lien on the property for the costs.

A judge ruled the site a public nuisance in 2017, but Bisson said there was difficulty in identifying the owners.

Court filings indicate the property is unsafe, has high weeds and is the site of criminal activity. Officials say the property was closed completely on Feb. 24, 2014.

Council members said they are glad the building will be coming down.

“We’ve been working on this a long time,” said council member Tyree Goodlett. “It’s an eyesore, and it’s the first thing people coming into the city there see.”

During their work session, Dalton Police Department Officer Chris Cochran briefed council members on the department’s building code enforcement efforts for the second quarter of 2018. Cochran said the department handled 144 cases, with 141 closed after the owner brought the property into compliance. The remaining owners could be cited and taken to city court if they do not address the issues.

In addition to responding to reports, the department spent a total of 45.5 hours on Operation Gateway, which targets the main roads entering the city: Glenwood Avenue, Hamilton Street, Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, Morris Street, Thornton Avenue and Walnut Avenue.

In the work session, council members also discussed criteria for speed cushions adopted by the Public Works Committee. Among other requirements, the criteria say such devices may be installed on pass-through, or connector, streets without sidewalks in residential neighborhoods if 75 percent of homeowners on the street sign off on the request.

Public Works Assistant Director Andrew Parker said speed cushions are similar to speed bumps but “less aggressive.” City officials have long resisted speed bumps because they slow down emergency vehicles and can damage vehicles that drive over them too fast. Parker said speed cushions don’t create those concerns.

“We tried this as a pilot project on Valley Drive,” he said. “The ones we put on Valley Drive are rated for 25 mph, so you would want to be traveling at or below 25 mph as you navigate over the speed cushion. We took traffic data before and after we installed the speed cushions, and it greatly reduced the average speed on Valley Drive.”

While drivers can pass over the cushions at 25 mph, the posted speed is 15 mph.

In their regular meeting, council members voted 4-0 to:

• Place a “Sunday brunch” referendum on the Nov. 6 ballot. Under a law approved by the Legislature in the past session, local governments that allow the sale of alcohol by the drink on Sundays can ask voters to move the starting time for such sales from 12:30 p.m. to 11 a.m.

• Approve an $80,300 agreement with CSX Transportation and a $155,000 agreement with Norfolk Southern for services during the planned renovation of the Gordon Street bridge. The railroads will provide flagging services and other protective services while workers are in the railroads’ rights of way. The CSX agreement calls for payment in advance, CSX will only bill for actual services, and if there is a surplus left at the end of the work it will be reimbursed to the city. Norfolk Southern is not seeking advance payment. It, too, will only bill for services performed. The amount in that agreement is basically an estimate.

The Gordon Street bridge opened in 1937 and is one of the oldest bridges in Whitfield County

The project, which will be funded from the 2015 Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST), calls for the deck joints and beam anchors to be repaired, the steel beams to be painted and the deck to be covered with polymer to lessen water penetration. The city is getting ready to bid out the work, which is expected to be completed in the spring of 2019. Parker said the work should extend the life of the bridge for another 30 years. He said the city has earmarked $1 million of SPLOST funds for the project.

“We hope it will cost less, but it’s hard to say since this is such specialized work and only a few companies do it,” he said.

• Approve a one-year lease with the Georgia Department of Economic Development, which will provide office space for one state employee in the old freight depot off Morris Street. The state will pay $1 a year for the office.

• Renew the city’s 5 percent franchise fee on cable and video companies operating in the city.