Stone Mountain, GA — The city of Stone Mountain is laying the groundwork to bring back the popular Color Vibe 5K chalk race and fundraiser.

Last year’s event was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

City officials are in talks with Color Vibe about potentially hosting the race on June 12, according to Visitor’s Center manager Kim Cumbie.

“Everything is very tentative, but we did want to try to get something in play in the event that we can have the Color Vibe again this year,” she said during a Stone Mountain City Council work session on Tuesday, Feb. 16. “We wanted to be prepared for it.”

Color Vibe events in the past have taken place at VFW Park on Gordon Street with a portion of proceeds going to the Visitor’s Center.

Council members raised concerns about the ability to make the race socially-distanced. One option is splitting the participants into two time slots to cut down on crowds, according to City Manager ChaQuias Thornton. But everything depends on the status of the pandemic.

“That’s part of the language that will go into the contract that, given the pandemic and the way that it is in our community, being that our community is a particular hotspot for DeKalb County, we would have the ability to cancel and they also would have the ability to cancel the event if things are not going well, and they can’t travel to the event,” Cumbie said.

She said Color Vibe has not hosted an in-person race anywhere in the U.S. since the pandemic began.

In other news from Tuesday’s council work session:

– The city is in the very early stages of putting together its 2021 Comprehensive Plan. The Georgia Department of Community Affairs requires cities to complete such plans every five years. The city hired the Atlanta Regional Commission to help it update its 2016 plan, according to the ARC’s Andrew Smith. The first public engagement opportunity will take place in March, followed by two steering committee meetings and one more public engagement opportunity before the Oct. 31 deadline to adopt the plan.

– All $150,000 in funding for the city’s residential relief program for those affected by the pandemic have been exhausted as of Feb. 4, according to Thornton. “People are very appreciative of the assistance,” she said. The non-profit St. Vincent de Paul Georgia is preparing a program report with details on the vendors that were paid with program funds.

– The city entered into a lease purchase agreement for two 2021 Dodge Charger police vehicles plus equipment in the amount of $89,000, according to Thornton. The city took delivery of the vehicles on Feb. 5.

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