Monday, May 23, 2022

Community Bingo returns to Dunwoody on Thursday May 26th at All Saints Catholic Church Hall

BINGO at ALL SAINTS CHURCH
MAY 26, 2022


All Saints Social Hall
2443 Mt. Vernon Rd. Dunwoody, 30338

Start Tine: 7:30 pm Doors open at 6:30 pm

“Authentic” Delicious Homemade Italian Food Available at a Reasonable Cost
May Food Selection: Sausage, Peppers, and onions (A limited meatless selection will also be available)
Beer & Wine $4.00 each Soft Drinks $2.00

Over $1000 BINGO cash prizes with payout increases with higher attendance numbers
A 50/50 split the cash drawing between our last two games of the evening
FREE gift card raffles at every BINGO

This May gift card raffles:
Massage Heights, in Brookhaven………. A one-hour session Valued @ $70
Fogo de Chao, Brazilian Steakhouse, Dunwoody Valued @ $25

$18 admissions included for all 10 games
Fun For All Ages
All Proceeds go to the Knights of Columbus, Charities
Limited to the first 175 guests

Sunday, May 22, 2022

Dunwoody City Council to discuss City Millage Tax Increase for 2023 to cover operating expense increases and a possible Parks / Transportation Bond to fund Projects.

The agenda Monday night is huge but the most important issue for me is towards the end of the night as it is a two part discussion on City Finances.  

The first topic is a possible city tax rate increase that would fund inflationary pressures for operational expenses, and if I had my way we would include a mid-year pay raise for our police department.  Our City millage (Tax) rate has not changed in 13 years and we are currently burning reserves as we have done in other lean years but now the financial experts are estimating we can't do that very much longer and with higher operational costs facing the city, I believe it would be prudent to think about such a raise in 2023.

As I discussed last Tuesday on my blog, our home values are locked for City Tax rates (the Schools are not) therefore with no raise of the actual millage (tax) rate, my city taxes have been the same since 2009.  My total DeKalb County Tax bill is $4,715 and of that I only pay $218 for general City Operations.  Dunwoody has the lowest tax rate in the County because we have so many businesses that pay a large share of our taxes, we are able to keep residential taxes low.   My bill is similar to the home with the $400,000 value listed below therefore if we decided to raise the tax rate from 2.74 mills to the 3.04 mill cap, my expected tax rate might go up $45 in 2023 for City Operational Services.

This possible raising of the millage tax rate would bring in about One Million Dollars and I believe that would be allocated very quickly for Public Safety and other operational needs.  Public Safety is Council's highest responsibility and this possible tax increase would go a long way to funding these increases.

Last year, we raised police pay and restructured the entire pay chart as requested by DPD Management but yet the cities all around us doubled our proposed salary increases therefore we actually lost ground on the salary comparisons between cities but we provide an excellent compensation package over all.  I recently saw Chief Billy Grogan on TV talking about officer pay and the many reasons that officers leave law enforcement. In discussions with Mayor Deutsch, I am looking forward to moving forward with additional funding for our officers.

The second topic of City Finances steps away form the day to day operational responsibilities to Council's wish to fund projects and priorities important to the community.  Last Tuesday, prior to a the first discussion on a possible bond referendum, I posted my preliminary thoughts on what might happen at the meeting and the way a bond referendum might go if Council decides to move forward after talking folks and having public informational sessions.  If you haven't read it, please do, here is the link.

Based on list of almost shovel ready projects that was whittled down to what could be completed short term, Council is exploring a possible $40 million bond referendum that would be paid back over 20 years to possibly fund projects like those on the list.  If the city moved forward putting that medium bond request to a ballot and the citizens approved, my tax bill would go up approximately $116 dollars for the bond.

Council has been working diligently on a parks and paths plan that we would like to move forward with unfortunately there are a number of moving parts and though we published perspective plans for parks (and then pulled them back) we are still working through a number of issues to make sure we are serving the greatest good before finalizing plans for re-vetting with citizens and then approval.  These moving pieces make determining cost and timing impossible therefore as nothing is final there is no way to place a specific project list to a possible bond referendum.  Here is a likely list being floated but it is not a specific list, if you read the declaimer it is just a possible list.  If a bond moves forward it would state that it is for Parks and Transportation but no specific projects listed.

I believe we have been good stewards of your money, have done wonderful things in our parks and if the moving parts align, the recreational space needs of the community will be much closer to being met.  Unfortunately it takes trust on the part of the citizens that the Councils plans and priorities match the citizens desires, so I do understand the reluctance.  If the $40 million were passed by the community it would facilitate construction starting sooner rather than later as our children are not getting any younger.

The table below shows what the financial impacts would be with a tax increase to 3.04 and a $40 million dollar bond.  In my case the general tax bill in my situation would go up by $161 dollars ($45 for operations and $116 for projects.)

If the community doesn't trust Council to make wise decisions on parks development and wants hard plans for all open spaces in the community, we can't give you that today but we could a year from now.  One scenario that may work best for all involved, is to have Council move forward for the operational millage raise but also have the City Staff finalize park plans so that a year from now a detailed project list can be specificity tied to the bond referendum.  This time would allow us to update the MOU with DeKalb County so we could put artificial turf on the Peachtree Field where we have already installed lights in order to maximize our use on the 25 year lease we obtained to use the fields after school hours

This delay scenario also moves us closer to the removal of the last DeKalb Counties Parks Bond and removal from our tax bill.  In my case I paid $71 dollars for that bond and if removed it would come much closer to washing out any increase that Dunwoody is contemplating.

I can tell you that Council has not made any decisions on these matters, we are weighing the financial numbers that keep coming in and comparing them to tangible benefits and human costs as described by the citizens that will be impacted both pro and con.

I am looking forward to the discussion on Monday night and please do feel free to give feedback to the entire City Council in any medium you feel comfortable.  

council.members@dunwoodyga.gov is an email address that will get your messages to all of us at once.

Thanks,

John

Huge Agenda for Dunwoody City Council on Monday May 23rd (Tree Preservation, Outdoor Lighting, Stormwater Repairs, Behavioral Specialist for Police, License Plate Readers, Taxes & Bonds)

 DUNWOODY CITY COUNCIL MEETING
May 23, 2022    6:00 PM
4800 ASHFORD DUNWOODY ROAD
DUNWOODY, GA 30338

Agenda - City Site Agenda

City Council meetings are live-streamed on the City of Dunwoody’s Facebook page.

They are also available for viewing (no two way communication) on Zoom,
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81704747722  or  1-470-381-2552, 81704747722#

You can access the video after the meeting on the City of Dunwoody’s YouTube page.

Invocation  

Public comments - in person 3 min each / 30 min max with additional at end of meeting if needed.

FIRST READ & HEARING: Consideration of a Street Name Change, Goldkist Road to Campus Way

FIRST READ & HEARING: Review and Consideration of a Text Amendment to the Perimeter Center Overlay Regulations

FIRST READ & HEARING: Review and Consideration of a Text Amendment to the Tree Preservation Regulations

FIRST READ & HEARING: Review and Consideration of a Text Amendment to Outdoor Lighting Regulations

Resolution Appointing City Representative to Serve on the Perimeter Community Improvement Districts Board of Directors - Phil Mays

Funding Authorization for 5364 Redfield Road & 4734 Layfield Dr Storm Repairs


FIRST READ: Review and Consideration of a Text Amendment to the Definition of Entertainment Districts

ACTION ITEM: Contracted Positions to City Position and Pay Chart

FIRST READ: Amendment to the Public Art Ordinance

ACTION ITEM: Approval of Contract with View Point Health to Provide a Licensed Behavioral Health Clinician for the Dunwoody Police Department (Chief Grogan)

Approval of Increase in Insurance Liability Coverage Through Georgia Interlocal Risk Management Agency 

Georgetown Gateway Project Enhancements and Construction Updates 

Contract to Upgrade Stormwater Pipe Crossing near 3900 Spalding Drive

Request for Approval of Standby Stormwater Repair Unit Price Contract

Discussion of Flock Group, Inc.to Lease Additional License Plate Reader Cameras.

Amendment to American Rescue Plan (ARP) Budget

Spruill Arts Center and Dunwoody Nature Center Match Funding

City of Dunwoody Millage and Bond Rate Discussion and comparable rates in DeKalb the possible list of projects  -  Bond FAQ  -  Steps to Bond Referendum

Tuesday, May 17, 2022

City of Dunwoody hosts town hall at Kingsley Racquet & Swim Club, Tuesday evening to discuss funding of capital projects with possible bond referendum.

Tuesday evening at 6 p.m. the City of Dunwoody will host a town hall meeting at the Kingsley Racquet & Swim Club to discuss funding capital projects desired by various aspects of the community and the funding options for doing so. With escalating costs and a semi-fixed revenue stream of property tax revenue, the Dunwoody City Council is weighing the option of placing a general obligation bond referendum in front of the voters for decision come November 2022. This meeting (and several more following next week) will give the community a scope of the ask in both a sense of the projects that could be funded, a price for construction as well as the ongoing operational costs of the projects. The list that will be provided at the Tuesday meeting is only for discussion as to what could be possible in a specific time frame if funds were available. Other ideas and suggestions from the community are welcome and the list is in no way a guarantee of the items on Tuesday's list being completed.

There will be a brief presentation by the financial advisor of the bond process, (the link is from a previous presentation and may be different from what is provided Tuesday) and its potential financial impact on typical households in the City of Dunwoody. At the City Retreat, Council and staff started out with a list of 95 possible capital projects and with the Council along with staff determining what was reasonably feasible to construct, whittled that possible list down to a much smaller number that is either Parks or Transportation related.

I believe there will also be a presentation by staff on the ongoing operational costs of running a city and the level of service residents that desire. This presentation may or may not outline the issue of fixed home valuations when a homestead exemption is in place and the fact that our current millage rate of 2.74 has a maximum set by our Charter to 3.04. These issues along with an additional 1 mil homestead tax exemption reverts the typical homeowner city millage tax rate to 1.74 and the City of Dunwoody has successfully maintained that same tax rate for 13 years since the date of incorporation.

After City presentations, there will then be public comment for input from the citizens to members of the City Council about capital project priorities and citizens may even express their preferences on how to fund them. The plan is to let each individual speak for three minutes with answers provided to citizen's questions where possible.

I am guessing there will be opinions both pro and con on this bond idea and I can tell you that even members of City Council may have mixed feelings therefore this is your opportunity to weigh in.  The role of the City Council on Tuesday is to explain the referendum, explain the types of projects that might be completed with the funds and if the referendum is ever approved by Council, explain why they approved the calling of the election.  If this idea moves forward, all Dunwoody citizens registered to vote will have the ability to weigh in as to the future funding of capital projects.

As I have had the pleasure of serving on the City Council for the last 13 years, I can tell you that until this time we have saved our collective revenue and completed projects as the funding would allow and we have been very good stewards of your tax dollars.  Now with interest rates still being very low but construction prices rising, it may be a good time to switch our funding philosophy over to a bond as there may be long term cost benefit savings vs paying for future amenities over many years with rising prices.   With a close eye on appropriate spending, this too could also prove to show us as good stewards of your tax dollars.

The other benefit of issuing the bond is that money is collected, a park or amenity is installed and the residents paying off those bonds actually get to enjoy or use that amenity while they are paying for it.  In saving for the amenity instead of bonding, the residents are paying into a project fund (let's say an intersection improvement) for 10 years, dealing with the problem and the traffic and when finally installed many residents would have been paying into that capital project fund for years without ever seeing the benefit.  The example of parks might be even more striking as many residents want a vibrant active community and we on Council want the same, but if we are forced to save for some of these parks projects, our children may be grown and gone.

I am truly excited for the Future of the City of Dunwoody, new residents are moving in every day, our home prices are soaring to new highs, businesses are successful, restaurants are filling up, and residents are now comparing us to our neighbors where they have expanded amenities therefore they want the same expanded level of service.  The Dunwoody City Council is working to provide funding options for those desired amenities therefore if this idea does make it on to the ballot, no matter the final decision of the electorate, I will strive to continue making Dunwoody the best place to live.   Thanks,

John

PS: next week's meetings are listed below and will be held from 6 – 8 p.m.

Tuesday, May 24
Dunwoody City Hall
4800 Ashford Dunwoody Road

Wednesday, May 25
N. Shallowford Annex
4470 N. Shallowford Road

Friday, May 13, 2022

PDK Airshow this Saturday 12 to 5 pm in Chamblee - Free Admission but parking is $15 per car. Do you know how to report PDK Noise Complaints?


DeKalb-Peachtree Airport is happy to announce that the Good Neighbor Day Air Show and Open House is returning Saturday May 14, 2022Planes, food, classic cars, kids zone and lots of entertainment will be back at PDK for this years air show. Come all, old and young for some fun in the sun at PDK.


As with any airport, aircraft noise is generated from its operations. However, the degree to which noise affects an individual is subjective to flight operations, geography & weather. Below are some resources to help you learn more about PDK and the effects of its operations on noise: Have a complaint?

*If you wish to file an aircraft noise complaint, you have options of a web form, a dedicated app, a phone call to (770) 936-5442 or an email to the Complaint Hotline.

Please contact Environmental and Noise Analyst, Korey Barnes for any questions  kbarnes@dekalbcountyga.gov or 770-936-5420

There is a PDK Advisory Board appointed by DeKalb Commissioners to assist the DeKalb BOC & Commissioner Robert Patrick with oversight and these meetings are held monthly, open to the public and all minutes and videos of the meetings are available here

There is also a new PDK Master Plan in the works as required for Federal Funding and there are people and organizations with concerns of excessive growth but from what I read the growth will be more hangers and no new runway expansions.

  • Common Aircraft Flight Tracks - Interested in learning about the typical aircraft flight tracks over a potential house or neighborhood? Do you have general questions about how PDK operates? Contact PDK's Noise Information office by email, or call (770) 936-5440 and ask to speak with the Airport Noise & Environmental Analyst to set up a consultation.

Typical PDK Flight Tracks (24 hour period)
Arrivals in Red & Departures in Blue

Typical North Flow Typical South Flow 20180524.png Typical Crosswind and North Flow 20180419.png
North Flow Flight Tracks South Flow Flight Tracks Crosswind/North Flow Flight Tracks
  • Aircraft Noise Contour Map (modeled on 2016 aircraft operations data) - This data shows the various noise contour lines based on the DNL (Day-Night Average Sound Level) for the area. This is the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA's) metric for measuring the impact of aircraft noise on a community. To be impacted by aircraft noise (according to the FAA), one must live within the 65 DNL noise contour).
     
  • PDK Noise Sensitive Areas Map
     
  • Aircraft Noise Program
     
  • Pilot Information
     
  • Aircraft Noise Complaint Hotline - Call the noise hotline at (770) 936-5442 or Visit the Noise Information Page to see how to file a Noise Complaint. Please be sure to include a description of the event (e.g., loud jet, prop, or helicopter aircraft), your address, and the time of day. Please indicate if you would like to receive a call back.
     
  • Airport Monthly and Annual Noise Reports

 

Saturday, May 7, 2022

Dunwoody City Council Agenda for Monday May 9, 2022 (City Manager Report, Restroom at Waterford Park, Summer School Program)

DUNWOODY CITY COUNCIL MEETING
May 9, 2022    6:00 PM
4800 ASHFORD DUNWOODY ROAD
DUNWOODY, GA 30338

Agenda - City Site Agenda

City Council meetings are live-streamed on the City of Dunwoody’s Facebook page.

They are also available for viewing (no two way communication) on Zoom,
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87587289373 or 1-470-381-2552, 87587289373#

You can access the video after the meeting on the City of Dunwoody’s YouTube page.

Invocation  

Public comments - in person 3 min each / 30 min max with additional at end of meeting if needed.

City Manager's Report (Eric Linton)

Contract Approval for the Installation of a Restroom Facility at Waterford Park

American Rescue Plan – Grant for After School Programs – Summer 2022

Amendment to the Public Art Ordinance

  •  In other news - Happy Mother's Day! 

Take Mom to the Dunwoody Art Festival on Dunwoody Village Parkway from 10 am to 5 pm on Sunday!


 

Thursday, May 5, 2022

City of Dunwoody Capital Committee Meeting, Friday 8:30 a.m.

Agenda & Documents

At our last City Council meeting, Mayor Deutsch created a short term committee to review a list of unfunded capital improvements to the City of Dunwoody as a starting point for our citizens to discuss & provide feedback (add/delete items); as well as comment on the feasibility of a bond referendum to fund those desired projects.  Several informational sessions will be held around the city in the coming month to discuss these items with the citizens in order to obtain feedback.  Mayor Lynn assigned myself, Catherine Lautenbacher and Joe Seconder to the Capital Prioritization Committee to revisit a list scored by council previously and she assigned Stacey Harris, Tom Lambert and Rob Price to review Federal Covid Grants (American Rescue Plan) of which a small amount may be used to fund other city infrastructure projects that are not appropriate for a bond.

Those capital lists currently have both parks projects and transportation projects that will need to be discussed and importance weighted.  If after public feedback the will of the citizens is to move forward for a bond on both topics, the bond questions on parks and transportation will need to be separated as I am told the law requires separate ballot questions.

Our Capital Committee Meeting is scheduled for tomorrow morning at 8:30 a.m. at City Hall in the City Manager Conference Room where we will be reviewing the original list with Council scoring (white & yellow) against the staff list (white & grey) that provides feedback as to the feasibility and appropriateness of the projects.  In reviewing these lists we will need to think about shovel ready projects on land that we currently own or could own in short order, long term / short term funding feasibility for each project, attempting to fund amenities to serve all aspects of the community including geographic spread, serving citizen groups that are currently under-served and over all attempting to put forward a draft project list that the community can discuss at future meetings.

Friday's meeting is a preliminary starting point for discussions that will be had by the community and ultimately it will be the citizens of Dunwoody making the final decisions as to funding what projects they so desire.

Wednesday, May 4, 2022

Dunwoody Food Truck Thursday kicks off at Brook Run Park at 6 pm with Departure - The Journey Tribute Band

Don't miss the start of Dunwoody Food Truck Thursdays!

Kicking off the 2022 season with some great music from DEPARTURE: The Journey Tribute Band, playing on a stage on the front field near the playground, starting at 6 p.m. Dunwoody Homeowners Association   City of Dunwoody Parks & Recreation

 

Sunday, May 1, 2022

DeKalb County School Board Member Anna Hill will present at tonight's Dunwoody Homeowners Association Meeting at 7:30 pm


The monthly DHA Board meeting is held on the first Sunday of the month, much of it is open to the public and it is sometimes live streamed here.  The agenda for tonight's meeting looks interesting as they are discussing three topics that have all crossed my desk with resident questions / concerns in the last week.

 The first is a discussion on a Multi-Use Trail and with at least eight path projects either under construction or under consideration within the city limits, I am not sure of the discussion topic but will list some documents or links below.  The Winters Chapel path is the one under current construction and guessing this discussion will be about that specific topic and resident impacts.

https://www.dunwoodyga.gov/government/projects/public-works/winters-chapel-corridor-mutiuse-trail

https://www.dunwoodyga.gov/government/projects/public-works/ashford-dumwoody-commuter-trail

https://www.dunwoodyga.gov/government/projects/public-works/dunwoody-high-school-path

https://www.dunwoodyga.gov/government/projects/public-works/peeler-road-shared-use-path

https://www.dunwoodyga.gov/government/projects/public-works/mount-vernon-road-corridor-improvements

https://www.dunwoodyga.gov/government/projects/public-works/old-spring-house-lane-shared-use-path

https://www.dunwoodyga.gov/government/projects/public-works/tilly-mill-road-shared-use-path-from-womack-rd-to-mt-vernon-rd

https://www.dunwoodyga.gov/government/projects/public-works/till-mill-sidewalk-from-n-peachtree-to-lost-mine-trail

The second topic is a discussion on an update to the PDK Master Plan and residents are concerned of greater aircraft noise.  Documents are below and I offered to request that the PDK Staff & related County Officials like DeKalb Commissioner Robert Patrick, give a presentation on the proposed master plan update and how it would effect Dunwoody long term.  Maybe that conversation is happening at the DHA Meeting?  If not, City Council is happy to raise too.

https://www.pdkmasterplan.com/

https://www.pdkwatch.org/

http://www.pdkwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/PDK-Expansion-Concerns-in-Master-Plan-NBCA-Newsletter-2020.pdf

http://www.pdkwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Citizens-Advisory-Committee-Concerns-on-PDK-Master-Plan-2020.pdf

The final topic of discussion is an update from our DeKalb County School Board Member, Ms. Anna Hill whom I am guessing is on the agenda to explain the DeKalb Board of Education’s recent decision to remove Superintendent Watson-Harris.  A few links below but I couldn't find any public comments from Ms. Hill to share.

https://www.cbs46.com/2022/04/27/gov-kemp-leaders-respond-shake-up-dekalb-county-school-district/

https://www.facebook.com/CityofDunwoody/posts/362023412625726

https://decaturish.com/2022/04/state-superintendent-refers-dekalb-schools-complaint-to-ag-again-threatens-to-cut-off-state-building-funds/

https://www.facebook.com/AnnaHillForDeKalbCountySchools/

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PS: have you paid your DHA dues for 2022 as they do so much for our community (independent representation, 4th of July parade, Food Truck Thursday's, Light up Dunwoody, Farmers Market, election forums, etc...)