Dunwoody City Council agenda for Monday March 25, 2024 (4.25% raise, IT position conversion, Park Signs, New Crosswalks, LPR's in PCID)

Agenda 6 pm  - 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://dunwoodyga-gov.zoom.us/j/86390235645 or  phone +14703812552,,86390235645#

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

Invocation and Pledge of Allegiance 

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

Dunwoody High School Youth City Council (Michael Berry)

Retreat Recap

SECOND READ: MMSP 24-01: Review and Consideration of a Major Master Sign Plan for 4896 N Peachtree Road (Kingswood Church)

SECOND READ: MMSP 24-02: Review and Consideration of a Major Master Sign Plan for 4553 N Shallowford Road - Emory Healthcare  (Wall Sign - lights out 10:30 to 5:30)

Approval to Apply Additional Local Maintenance and Improvement Grant Funds to the 2024 Paving Contract

Approval of Flock Safety Two Year Contract for LPRs, Surveillance Cameras, and Gunshot Detection in the PCID Area

Approval of a Contract with Sunbelt to Install Pedestrian Hybrid Beacons on Perimeter Center West and North Peachtree Road

• ITB_Document_Crosswalk_North_Peachtree_Road_Chesnut
• Construction Plans for Chesnut Crossing

Discussion of Conversion of Contracted Positions and Creation of New City Position for the Technology Department

Discussion of Amendment of Position Allocation and Compensation Chart and Market Adjustment for City Employees  - 4.25% Raise

Contract Award for Parks and Recreation Sign Package

Contract Award for North Shallowford Annex Maintenance Repairs

Discussion on Approval of Agreement for Managed Networking Service Provider

2024 City of Dunwoody Retreat Recap from Councilman John Heneghan (Park Plans, Financial Future, Police Priorities and maybe a few paths too)

The City of Dunwoody hosted a "Retreat" for Council & Staff to sit in a room for two days to discuss our past, present & future. Financial realities were brought forward that we have a large capital reserve, but operating expenses are slowly outpacing revenue, commercial property is strong, hotels are thriving, and apartments are full with high rents; on the downside, office vacancies are currently at 25%, with most of that in several large complexes and residential taxes are locked, frozen and low. We are presently funding police expansion and ambulance service with Federal funds; we are still looking at compensation raises by year's end, and in 2026, we will be renegotiating city contracts for services that will rise in price because in 2021, we received low bids because of COVID.

Parks discussions were had regarding build-out plans for Wildcat (on Roberts) and Homecoming (on Vermack), with some council members wanting to put a bond on the November ballot. However, it was decided to maintain these parks as open fields just as they are and to install portable restrooms (better than porta potties) at each park. It was also decided that there will be no parks bond in 2024.

Everyone on Council (including me) agrees with building the trails in the Perimeter Center Business District as the PCID is matching funds and other monies are coming from our hotels. There is still disagreement on the construction of 10 to 12-foot wide paths in front of single-family homes, but the current Council (excluding me) has the will and votes to move forward on Winters Chapel and Mount Vernon.

In other park news, when the slides for park priorities failed to mention the turfing of the PCMS field with the track, I asked for an update. I was told DeKalb County School System didn't see it as a priority and was worried about equity to other schools in the district who don't have turf. As a reminder, the DCSS was bound to rebuild Austin Elementary School on its original site when the City proposed a a win / win solution to the County so that our families and children wouldn't be inconvenienced. In October 2016, we proposed a land swap for the Dunwoody Senior Baseball Fields; in order to make that happen, the City purchased the land where the ball fields sit from DCSS and executed a 25-year lease for nighttime use of the football field. The City later installed lights for night time use on the field, installed a facility storage building and would now like to turf that field in order to maximize usage. Without that turfing of the field, it is overused and almost unplayable without adequate care. The City of Dunwoody set aside 1 Million dollars in our 2024 budget with the hopes to pay for the turf installation but the required construction approval from DCSS has not been received. Unsure of all logistics, but maybe there will be some movement soon?

I have been very open regarding my concerns about the long term stability of City Finances and they will be a huge topic of conversation in the coming months because we are currently at our maximum millage rate and based on everything I am hearing, in 2026 our operating revenue will not be keeping up operating expenses. This is a separate conversation from dedicated Capital funds for stuff like parks and paving as we can not use those funds for operating costs.

Based on the intention of the city founders and charter, if taxes were to be increased over our current maximum millage limit, a referendum would be needed to remove the cap. We have operated under those constraints for the last 15 years, but financial pressures are building. We know there is possibly a technical workaround by placing the entire City into a special tax district for safety (Police, Ambulance, and maybe a supplemental charge to 911 costs over current phone taxes) to raise taxes for those services, but doing so without a resident vote is contrary to the founding plans of the City. If a referendum were to be held to raise operating funds and it were to fail, would we want to cut police services that are needed based on the growth and crime stats?

Right now, I anticipate a slowdown of some capital projects (Parks and Paths) in order to preserve high fund balances in the coming year so that we can attempt to get a good handle on finances from the spending side. These fund balances include both Capital and some Operational that we are saving for a rainy day or a golden opportunity should one arise. That being said, there are some capital projects and improvements to the police department going forward (again with one-time federal funds) because the safety our community is the primary goal of government. 

Below are the documents from the retreat provided to council for discussion.

https://www.jkheneghan.com/city/meetings/2024/03/Retreat/06%20Dunwoody%202035.pptx

https://www.jkheneghan.com/city/meetings/2024/03/Retreat/03%20Budgets%20Finances%20Millages%20Trends.pptx

 https://www.jkheneghan.com/city/meetings/2024/03/Retreat/02%20Parks.pptx

https://www.jkheneghan.com/city/meetings/2024/03/Retreat/01a%20Commercial%20Real%20Estate.pptx

https://www.jkheneghan.com/city/meetings/2024/03/Retreat/05%20Police.pptx

 https://www.jkheneghan.com/city/meetings/2024/03/Retreat/01b%20Sangster.pptx

DeKalb / Dunwoody area Elections for 2024 - New DeKalb School Board Member & CEO with other interesting races to follow.

Link to photo above - here

 https://mvp.sos.ga.gov/s/qualifying-candidate-information

Apologies if I missed anyone in a local contested race (as the website is not the easiest to navigate) and congratulations to those serving our community who are running unopposed (not listed). 

Thank you to those who have served and decided not to run for re-election; we appreciate your service.
Special thanks to Anna Hill & Michael Thurmond.

Dunwoody City Council Agenda for Monday March 11th and notice of Dunwoody Retreat on Tuesday & Wednesday in Clarksville, GA

DUNWOODY CITY COUNCIL MEETING
Monday March 11, 2024 - 6:00 PM
DUNWOODY CITY HALL - DUNWOODY HALL
4800 ASHFORD DUNWOODY ROAD
DUNWOODY, GA 30338

Agenda 6 pm - 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://dunwoodyga-gov.zoom.us/j/84919972403 or  phone +14702509358,,84919972403#

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

Invocation and Pledge of Allegiance

City Manager's Monthly Report (Eric Linton)

Perimeter Brand Strategy (Ann Hanlon)

FIRST READ: MMSP 24-01: Review and Consideration of a Major Master Sign Plan for 4896 N Peachtree Road (Kingswood Church)

FIRST READ: MMSP 24-02: Review and Consideration of a Major Master Sign Plan for 4553 N Shallowford Road (Emory Healthcare)

SECOND READ: Text Amendment to Chapter 2, Sec. 2-253 re: Board of Ethics

SECOND READ: Text Amendment to Chapter 4, Sec. 4-70 re: Alcohol License Review Board

Funding Authorization for 1302 Center Drive Emergency Storm Repairs

Funding Authorization for 2707 Wood Hollow Drive Storm Repairs

Resolution for Budget Amendment for Fiscal Year 2023

Approval to Purchase Signal Poles for Pedestrian Hybrid Beacon Installations on Perimeter Center West and North Peachtree Road (Chesnut Elementary)

• ITB_Document_Crosswalk_North_Peachtree_Road_Chesnut
• Construction Plans for Chesnut Crossing

Retreat Notice - Open to the Public & Live Streamed

DUNWOODY CITY COUNCIL

SPECIAL CALLED MEETING

2024 STRATEGIC PLANNING RETREAT

MARCH 12 & 13, 2024 - 9:30 AM/ 9:00 AM

GLEN-ELLA SPRINGS INN (CONFERENCE ROOM)

1789 BEAR GAP ROAD

CLARKSVILLE, GA 30523

 

Join from a PC, Mac, iPad, iPhone or Android device:

    Please click this URL to join. https://dunwoodyga-gov.zoom.us/j/84283419077

 

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    +14703812552,,84283419077# US (Atlanta)

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Or join by phone:

    Dial(for higher quality, dial a number based on your current location):

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    Webinar ID: 842 8341 9077

2024 Strategic Planning Session over two days.
(Sorry no read ahead documents available to Council or Public)

March 12th Agenda - City Site
March 13th Agenda - City Site

Dunwoody Commercial Real Estate Review
Parks
Budgets, Revenues, Expenditures, Millages and Trends
Council Meetings
Public Safety
Dunwoody 2035