City of Dunwoody calls special Capital Committee meeting for Friday morning to discuss possible bond items Nov 2022 referendum.

 

DUNWOODY CAPITAL COMMITTEE
SPECIAL CALLED MEETING

JULY 15, 2022 - 8:00 AM
DUNWOODY CITY HALL - CM CONFERENCE ROOM
4800 ASHFORD DUNWOODY ROAD
DUNWOODY, GEORGIA 30338

In person only - no video.  Come join us.

Agenda - City Site   Packet Items

Friday morning at 8 am, a special called meeting of the Dunwoody Capital Committee will meet to discuss if the City of Dunwoody is prepared to ask the citizens of Dunwoody to vote in favor of a tax increase to complete a specific list of projects.  We will be comparing the lists previously discussed in committee against lists and edits that were discussed in open Council session on July 11th.

The Committee members as named by the Mayor are myself, Catherine Lautenbacher and Joe Seconder and as we are just three of the seven members of Council, I see us as a working group for ideas as the decisions / ideas raised in that committee meeting are not binding and could be easily overturned by the full council.

Monday July 11th there was a detailed discussion as to where each member of Council outlined where they were on the idea of a proposed bond.  I missed that meeting as I was in Chicago caring for an ill parent and I was not allowed to video into the meeting as Georgia State Law allows Council a maximum of two allowances of remote attendance unless under a city wide declared emergency or a medical condition of the Council Member.  Councilman Joe Seconder also missed the meeting because of a death in the family.

If I was in attendance this last Monday I would have stated (what I said at the previous meeting) that I have concerns over us being ready to present a comprehensive, fully vetted, bond list to the community and that I believe we should start working towards that goal for a November 2023 decision by the citizens. 

Between now and then, Council should put forward a reimbursement resolution for infrastructure and parks planing, engineering, utility & sewer work on several of the projects so that the residents can see what they will be getting for the money and that way we will be shovel ready soon after the election / bond referendum.  This reimbursement resolution was mentioned on Monday and it would be the equivalent of us moving forward asap on all projects and the delay of the year wouldn't slow the development of the parks as that work should be done anyway and with this method the citizens would know what to expect at future parks and the costs between now and then could be rolled into the bond if successful.

Looking at the list that was raised by Asst City Manager Jay Vinicki at the July 11th meeting, was previously discussed by the Capital Planning Committee and a number of the projects were parred back by Council comments on the 11th.  I will list my concerns / thoughts on the original list of 17 items below.

1. Roberts Drive Park - Shows Girls Softball there and that was the last vetted plan, Changes? Nothing has been vetted recently, there has been no public meetings announcing possible changes?
2. Land Acquisition - nice to put in bond, not needing to use but what if we were offered needed green space or Post Office in Village?   It would be nice to have ability to get those funds but this is fully conceptual and Council could not know if really needed or not.  Big Trust by citizens to vote yes.
3. 4. 5. Trail development, especially 12 foot paths in front of single family residential are in question and will not be part of a 2022 bond if council moves forward.  Several Council members met with the PATH Foundation recently and are looking for ways to put more paths though our community and may be proposing other ideas soon.
6. Citywide Sidewalk completion on major thoroughfares is an idea that many residents could get behind, it would probably serve a wider segment of the community including those who do not live near the other parks that are listed for improvement.  There is a sidewalk map listing possible sidewalk ideas that may not be universally liked as it may include little known personal paths across private land or follows creeks (also on private land).  This map has ideas but not hard plans as far as I am concerned and would need further vetting.
7. Brook Run future development will be parred way back to include a few more restrooms, pavilions, sand volleyball area near treetop and additional handicap parking near the music bandshell.  There is also an ask to rebuild the maintenance facility near the back gate and based on what I know, I agree that it should be done, unfortunately staff has not vetted that need publicly, there are no plans, drawings or costs vetted either.  The Brook Run Master Plan should be amended, updated and the scope of the work on the maintenance facility should be engineered to be shovel ready in the future.
8. Vermack Park - not sure this park has been fully vetted nor shovel ready but guessing the planning is further along than Roberts.  Water features / splash pads are being removed from Brook Run Plans and there was talk of moving it to Vermack and/or adding several of them around the city including Windwood Hollow.
9. Peachtree Middle School turf - Dunwoody has a 20 lease on the football field at PCMS and the field is in really bad shape to where we can not maintain it to our standards, therefore since we have already invested in the lease, the lights, a storage facility that it would make financial sense to turf that field so that the usable playable hours greatly increases and the field could be used for Lacrosse and Football as those spaces are also in high demand.  This idea is not applicable for a bond because first an IGA modification would be needed with DeKalb Schools and there is an argument that we don't own the land therefore should not improve the land but putting a twenty year turf on a twenty year lease sounds acceptable to me as a win / win situation.  This project can be done with city funds outside a bond.
10. 285 right of way trail - waiting for more GDOT planning and the topography / elevation changes along the highway are huge therefore mainly because of timing, this can not be part of a bond.
11. Peeler Trail along Waterworks - cutting down trees to overlay a 12 ft path over the current 6 ft path makes no sense to me and it would remove the beauty and remove the functionality. Not going on a bond.
12. Dunwoody Art Center Spruill Expansion - Done.  City already allocated 1 million dollars for expansion. No Bond needed.   No Bond.
13. Dunwoody Nature Center Expansion - Done.  City already allocated 1 million dollars for expansion. No Bond needed.  No Bond.
14. Dunwoody Nature Center Board Walk Replacement - City was granted storm water funds from the Federal Government and this fund can cove this work.   No Bond.
15. Dunwoody Cultural Center (Library) parking lot redo / once expansion is complete (or when all the heavy trucks are done, this can be completed. (We may need to plant a few trees too.)  Based on the timing this should not be on a 2022 bond as it wouldn't happen until 2024?
16. Waterford still needs a playground (contractual agreement with the neighborhood for donation) and we can add that to bond if needed, the boardwalk over the marsh might be able to be completed with stormwater funds so maybe this doesn't need to be on a bond?
17. There are plans to rebuild / renovate the Brook Run Veterans Memorial but as this was built by DeKalb County as a County memorial - they may be paying a large portion. Talks are on-going - not on a bond.

The charts above and below have some costs of the projects and some estimated on going costs for maintenance but I'm not sure I can trust either?  There may be possible major changes to Roberts Park, those costs are up in the air.  Brook Run changes and a redo of the maintenance shed, costs up in the air.  Things need to be better planned before these small items be presented to citizens.

Another aspect of capital funding is not only reviewing what was presented but also what is missing.  Who is not being served by our proposals?  If we are going to raise everyone's taxes, shouldn't there be some equity of added amenities and benefit for all aspects of the community?  What are we doing for Seniors, babies, people with disabilities?  Are we serving those with the greatest need or are we serving those in parks where it is is easy to do so no matter if all the residents don't need or want the amenity?   Where are the gaps in service?  Is there something else that we should be funding?   

Maybe we as a city need to purchase four ambulances with city funds and find a way to have them supplement DeKalb County's EMS system without DeKalb completely abandoning their responsibility to provide service?    Maybe we need (or just want) to buy two leaf sucker trucks and provide the service the City of Chamblee provides?    The on going costs of running those ambulances / leaf sucker machines is where the problem really hits us long term, the bond can buy us stuff but everything after that is all on us.

The City of Dunwoody is now at our maximum operational millage with the tax increase ratified earlier this week, therefore operational costs for everything needs to be evaluated.

Having just raised the tax rate for all citizens, I am very reluctant to do it again for these back of the envelope ideas that have not been completely flushed out. 

Maybe next year as far as I am concerned, but I am only one vote.