Tuesday, September 11th
Dunwoody City Hall
4800 Ashford Dunwoody Rd
Dunwoody City Hall
4800 Ashford Dunwoody Rd
Dunwoody, GA 30338
AgendaProclamation - "Outstanding Georgia Citizen Dick Williams" (State Representative Tom Taylor)
Proclamation - "Constitution Week" - Daughters of the American Revolution, Roswell King Chapter - Kathy Marsh
Presentation of Oath of Office to Officer Frank Sommo
CVBD 2nd Quarter Financial Report (Katie Williams)
Program Manager Update - Brook Run Park and North Shallowford Annex (Eric Johnson)
2019 Meeting Schedules City Council, Planning Commission, and Board of Zoning Appeals
Approval of Amendment of City Position Allocation and Compensation Chart (Nicole Stojka)
SECOND READ: Ordinance to Amend the Purchasing Policy
Funding Approval for Stormwater Repairs at 1266 Redfield Ridge & 1811 Vermack Court
Amendment to BM&K Contract for North Shallowford Annex
Presentation and Adoption of PIB Small Area/Market Study (Richard McLeod).
Usage Agreement With Dunwoody Senior Baseball to over schedule excluding local usage?
The City of Dunwoody spent $7 million dollars purchasing land and improving facilities so that local area boys could continue the sport of baseball once they age out of Murphey Candler Little League continuing on through high school. This is city property and it should be able to be used by a wider range of Dunwoody residents not just rented out to area baseball programs and weekend tournaments to the highest bidder in order to maximize revenue to the Dunwoody Senior Baseball Program.
Tuesday night City staff is presenting the city council with a use agreement whereby there may be no time available to schedule organized girls softball, recreational softball leagues, soccer, lacrosse, rugby or just open play. These are city fields and I want the core function of Dunwoody Senior Baseball allowing teenage boys a place to play to flourish but this should be done in conjunction of a many other uses too. These are not "Dunwoody Senior Baseball's Fields" they are the "Ballfields at Brook Run Park" therefore I have concerns on the proposal being presented.
New ball fields draw crowds, but can locals play? - Reporter Newspapers
The new baseball fields, located between Peachtree Charter Middle School and Brook Run Park, cost the city about $7 million to build and include artificial turf. The two fields are busy with league and tournament play, but some City Council members are questioning their openness to general public use.
The ball fields, owned by the city and managed by DSB, opened earlier this year. DSB President Jerry Weiner gave the mayor and City Council an update on the new fields at the Aug. 27 council meeting, saying the fields have attracted national attention from leagues throughout the Southeast.
For example, Perfect Game USA, an amateur baseball league based in Iowa that boasts on its website it is “the world’s largest baseball scouting service” for colleges and Major League Baseball, held tournaments at the fields from June through August, Weiner said. Teams from across the eastern U.S. came to Dunwoody to play with about 300 people per day at the park.
Another baseball league, Triple Crown Sports based in Georgia, brought in 500 people over a weekend in June and will bring in more players and fans in September through November, he said.
“And they used our hotels and restaurants,” Weiner said. “The fields are attracting a lot of attention.”
But Councilmember John Heneghan said it may be time to put a public calendar in place through the Parks and Recreation Department to allow local residents time to use the fields for recreational soccer, softball or kickball leagues.
“We want your program to thrive, but we also want the fields for community uses,” he said. “I see this wonderful play area as a community area, not just for baseball players from all over the Southeast.”
2 comments:
I think having a publicly available calendar showing the field usage (and it should also allow reservation of the grass field inside the track) would be good. But I kind of agree with Weiner: having leagues rent the facilities should help recoup costs moreso than random people doing other activities.
I just saw a group doing kickball in the little-used eastern grass field at Pernoshal, as well as volleyball and soccer on the bigger grass field at Pernoshal. So I do think there are places that other groups can play if they look around a bit.
I have kids and haven't felt a big need to use the new ballfields, but I do like having open access to the new parking lot near the track, and to the track and grass field.
Another thing I noticed: the N. Shallowford Annex has a really nice patch of woods behind it. I'm not sure if the park funding is drying up or not, but it would be great to have a 1/4 mile trail back there (similar to what jcc has--just a simple trail going through the woods). This would be a nice jogging alternative to the paved trails (which are nice--but harder on the feet and knees). I've read that Peachford is going to extend through there? Haven't heard any more about that plan.
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