The Dunwoody City Council went forward with a lease on a temporary "City Hall", directly across the hall from Boyken International. The lease is actually a sub-let of Class A Space at about $7 a square foot expiring on May 31, 2009. 400 Northridge Road, Atlanta, GA 30350
The City also authorized the purchase of liability insurance and decided to allow the City Manager to authorize contracts and purchases up to $50,000.
Audio of the meeting can be found here.
9 comments:
Does it bother you that the location you choose for a temporary city hall is not in the city of Dunwoody? You are kidding us right?
I agree with themommy. This has to be wrong!! The City Hall, temporary or not, should be within the city limits of Dunwoody. I believe this complex is in Sandy Springs? What the heck is going on here?
I agree that at first glance this is odd. However, let's not be so quick to judge and scrutinize every action. We are in tight times, and I doubt seriously you could find a place for less than $7/at--a steal. Plus it is conveniently located across from the entity playing a crucial role in the formation of our new city. Let's balance scrutiny with trust, and look for ways to affirm rather than tear down. This will be a distant memory next summer most likely as we move to another location. I am impressed with the efficiency and actions of the council to this point and am excited to be witnessing these historic events.
Sorry, Gil, but citizens have the right and obligation to "scrutize" our government and its decisions. Was there any office space in Dunwoody (and there is a lot of empty space that I have seen) that was considered?
IMO, there are several questionable decisions already being made by our leaders, which does not look good starting out - and I voted for cityhood.
Sure scrutiny is our right. I still say that we should give our elected leaders a chance to get their feet on the ground. Our attitude of scrutiny can be one that assumes they are making decisions that are worthy of some degree of trust. These are intelligent people who will all be up for reelection quite soon. We know much more about our government now (the wicked witch is dead! OK not really, but it's great to have deleted the CEO from some parts of our lives), and we have to balance our right to scrutiny with grace and affirmation. We're talking about our neighbors (isn't that awesome?) literally, not someone who we don't even know.
City leaders, I'm confident that you have good reasons and solid analyses behind your actions to locate City Hall temporarily where you did. Please share that information with us given this decision is not the one we expected.
I agree that on the surface having the Temporary City Hall being located outside of the City Limits of Dunwoody does not make sense but let’s look at the circumstances.
This is a short term solution until a permanent space is found and then built out to fit our needs. The City Manager is currently reviewing commercial real estate agent proposals and will then be reviewing our options for a future City Hall, Court Room / City Council Chambers and a Police Station. Numerous moves cost money and there is no reason to rush these important decisions.
The price for the space decided on by the City Council is incredibly low and the unit comes fully furnished for no extra charge; economically this offer made the most fiscal sense and was the deciding factor. The first lease payment is also due at the end of January which is important since the City hasn’t collected a dime of revenue yet.
The space is across the hall from our contracted consultant, Boyken International and will facilitate the business of the city. The location is just one mile outside the city limits, located easily off 400 with ample parking and will therefore also facilitate the needs of the citizens.
All City Council meetings, public meetings and court proceedings (if needed) will be held within the City Limits as we have done to date.
As far as scrutinizing the actions of the City Council, I and the other members would expect nothing less; in fact it is the public comment periods of the City Council meeting that I personally enjoy the best. At the beginning of every meeting there is a 30 min time slot allocated for 10 speakers, therefore if you have concerns over the decisions being made they can be conveniently voiced most Monday nights at 7:05 p.m.
If I can ever clarify what is happening with the City, please drop me a quick note and I’ll call you back to discuss what I know. Thanks.
Every day I pass by the empty office spaces that formerly housed Dunwoody Medical Center and its facilities. Since those facilities have been empty for almost a year, was there thought given to contacting HCA to ascertain what kind of "deal" they could give Dunwoody? Would HCA have preferred some money to no money coming in from those buildings?
Fran Millar has made it clear that proponents had an extra year. If we're getting surprised now, if we are now somehow unprepared, and if we are forced into inconvenient choices due to operational necessity, perhaps somebody wasn't forthright then. But then again, there wasn't a 'Transition Task Force' to handle startup issues like this, now was there?
I was happy to see that the Dunwoody Chamber of Commerce was able to procure office space within the city of limits of Dunwoody.
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