Dunwoody City Council Agenda for Monday October 10, 2022 (Budget, Roberts & Vermack Park Plans, City Mgr Report,American Rescue Plan assistance to non-profits, Womack Wall Art, Mission & Vision)

DUNWOODY CITY COUNCIL MEETING
October 10, 2022 - 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://us02web.zoom.us/j/84033391097  or  phone 14702509358,,84033391097#

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 (Very Informational)

Public Hearing - First Read of the proposed 2023 City of Dunwoody Budget

• Fiscal Year 2023 Budget Presentation
• Budget Committee Minutes of September 8th
• City Budget Memo after Budget Committee proposed changes
• Budget Overview and General Fund numbers
• Budget other funds and long term Capital Funding
  

Dunwoody MARTA Station Mural (Michael Starling)

Resolution to Declare Obsolete Equipment in the IT Department as Surplus

Resolution Appointing Members to Serve on the Planning Commission Scott Brown

Approval of 2023 City Council, Planning Commission, and Zoning Board of Appeals Meeting Schedules 

Approval of Update to City of Dunwoody Mission and Vision Statements

To Authorize Contracts with Not for Profit Agencies Regarding Direct Assistance Funding with the American Rescue Plan 2

Park Master Plans for 5435 Roberts Dr. and 4809/4819 Vermack Rd

Discussion - Winters Chapel Path Phase 1 Streetlight Agreement with Georgia Power

Discussion - Public Art Project - Womack Road Retaining Wall

Discussion - Amendment to the American Rescue Plan (ARP) Budget

• As an added fyi, if you check the city agenda website there is a special executive session at 5 pm just for personnel matters and though I can not tell you what is scheduled for this meeting; I can tell you that for the last 13 years that this is the time for the year for performance appraisal conversations for the direct reports to the city council.
  

Dunwoody City Council to have work session on Dunwoody Village Rezoning & Comprehensive Land Use Plan - Wednesday Oct 7th at 6 pm

DUNWOODY CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL CALLED MEETING
OCTOBER 07, 2020 - 6:00 PM 

DUNWOODY CITY HALL
4800 ASHFORD DUNWOODY ROAD
DUNWOODY, GA 30338

Zoom - https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84278401268

Or join by phone:  312 626 6799 or +1 929 205 6099 or +1 301 715 8592 or +1 346 248 7799 or +1 669 900 6833 or +1 253 215 8782     Webinar ID: 842 7840 1268

Agenda - City Site Agenda

PUBLIC COMMENT
To take part in public comment, please send an email to publiccomment@dunwoodyga.gov. Include your name, your email address, and phone number. You will be placed on a first-come, first-served list for public comment. The first public comment section has a 30-minute time limit. Each speaker is allowed up to three minutes. If time runs out, pre-registered speakers will be called on during the second public comment section toward the end of the meeting. If you don't pre-register, you can use the "raise hand" feature on zoom during the meeting to be added to the public comment list.

Discussion only items listed below - no votes will be taken on Wednesday.

Presentation of the Comprehensive Plan Update Draft

Chamblee Dunwoody Road - Dunwoody Village Complete Streets Analysis 

Presentation Dunwoody Village Rezoning Masterplan

Review and Consideration of New Dunwoody Village District Zoning Regulations (Chapter 27)

Resolution to Adopt Updates to the Dunwoody Village Master Plan

RZ 20-01: An Ordinance to Amend the Official City of Dunwoody Zoning Map to Rezone Multiple Parcels Within Dunwoody Village to Create Newly Adopted Dunwoody Village Districts as Contemplated in the New Dunwoody Village Zoning Regulations

DUMC was removed from Village Overlay on June 8, 2009.

 Dunwoody Village Code and Dunwoody Village Master Plan

City of Dunwoody will be upgrading Tilly Mill from N Peachtree to Womack with Sidewalks, Bike Lanes and Paving.

Video

The Dunwoody City Council directed staff to return to the drawing table to prepare final design options putting sidewalks on both sides of Tilly Mill Road, retention of the middle turn lane as requested by the residents who live on Tilly Mill, and reduced lane widths in order to allow bike lanes along this route to be squeezed in.  

As a Complete Street community the Dunwoody city council attempts to correct all infrastructure needs be it roads, sidewalks, crosswalks and bike lanes when a major infrastructure component is being installed because attempting to retrofit these items after the fact is either impossible or unfeasible.



December 14 proposals & May 26 proposals are linked with final design coming soon.

Videos of the Dunwoody City Council Meetings of Jan 13, 2014

Video - 6 pm CAD2CAD 911

Video - 7 pm (Glass, DeKalb Sanitation, Paving, Complete Streets, Trees)

A hero walks among us - a Dunwoody crossing guard saved my son's life.

My son Declan, age 7, a first grader at Chesnut Charter Elementary walks about two blocks to school every day with a fourth grade neighbor.  Thursday morning about 7:15 am (15 min before sunrise) it was a foggy morning with a slight drizzle so Declan was wearing his bright Red rain coat.  The kids walked down North Peachtree Rd to Chesnut.  Crossing guard Ms. Lorraine Knox assembled a few children at the crosswalk in front of the school, stopped North Bound traffic with her Double Sided Lit Stop Sign and there was no South Bound traffic to stop. 

Kids crossed under the supervision of Ms. Knox who was standing in the middle of the road with her lit stop sign and Declan was the last child to go across.  At this point a vehicle coming Southbound was heading towards the Chesnut crosswalk without acknowledging Ms. Knox’s stop sign nor having any intention to stop and she then she took it upon herself to push my son Declan out of the way of the large pickup truck.  Declan’s rolling backpack was hit and dragged 10 feet down the road.

The driver, Mr. Henry G. Skelton of Sandy Springs pulled over, saw that no one was hurt and the Principal Veronica Williams escorted him to the office so he could provide his driver’s license and a phone number.  After the license was copied, Mr. Skelton was in a hurry so he decided to be on his way.

I was getting ready for work when the call from the school came in, I rushed over, verified Declan’s well being and called the police as they had not yet been contacted.  The next hour was mostly spent being a wall flower in the Principal’s office where I listened to the details of what happened as the Dunwoody Police and the DeKalb County School Police questioned Ms. Knox, Ms. Williams and others.    Knowing that Declan was fine, I actually spent most of my time worrying about Ms. Knox, reassuring her and providing numerous hugs as she was physically shaken by the incident.  That evening Principal Williams notified the entire Chesnut community of the incident in an email and asked that we all be advocates for safe driving in our school zone.

Based on the official Dunwoody Police report, Mr. Skelton was cited later in the day with “Obedience To Authorized Person Directing Traffic”.

By all accounts, Ms. Knox saved my son Declan’s life and the Heneghan family will be forever grateful!

I have been a proponent of traffic safety, especially around schools and through residential zones for a long time and believe that more still needs to be done to secure our children's well being.  I will be asking the City of Dunwoody to work very closely with the DeKalb County School System and the various Parent Teacher Associations to do a full analysis of each school and then install the best in class infrastructure suited to each school's needs as well as provide further education to all involved.

I am not sure if any real infrastructure improvement would have stopped this specific incident but we as a community have the responsibility to try.  My possible suggestions or next steps to stop this accident or other accidents from being repeated are as follows.  Please feel free to comment or email me with more.

The South bound school zone flashing light showing that the school speed zone is in effect on North Peachtree is located almost two blocks away from Chesnut at Riverglenn and I believe that distance needs to be shortened by placing another Flashing School Zone light system before Peachford, most likely near North Peachtree Court.  North Bound may not need another notice as PCMS is served by a traffic light and visibility is much better.  I do not believe that there is a School Zone flashing light system on Peachfrord and this needs to be reviewed.

The crosswalk indicators that have been placed in between the two rows of traffic may be ineffective as they are routinely hit and knocked out of place.  On Thursday, the date of the incident the sign was not in place at Chesnut and honestly it wouldn’t have been much of a help if it had.  At my Monday night Dunwoody City Council meeting I will be returning the last two signs that were placed at Chesnut as they aren’t doing anything productive being propped up against the school building near the front door of the school.

I will be suggesting that all major roadway crosswalks serving Dunwoody schools be outfitted with HAWK lights and/or the in ground crosswalk lights I suggested for a possible new crosswalk at Tilly Mill and Stonington.  (On related news, I talked to Mr. Bob Lundsten who is Elaine Boyer’s Chief of Staff and he will be exploring more options with the City of Doraville in order to get the cross walk on Tilly Mill installed).

State law allows a zero tolerance for speeding in a school zone whereby the Dunwoody Police can issue citations at 1 mile over the maximum posted school zone speed limit and we need to seriously assess what our standards and priorities need to be for the safety of our children.   This incident needs to be a wake up call for the community and I am not just saying it as the Father but also as the City Councilman who is worried about your children.  The City Council hired a special traffic (and crime suppression) unit who will soon be targeted at the problem spots within our community.   My question is will the community be able to stomach strict enforcement?

On Wednesday, the day before the incident I was tasked to be the "walking school bus driver" for my neighborhood walk to school day and on my walk to school with a group of children I noticed that the four foot wide sidewalks on North Peachtree Road are not wide enough to allow a parent and a child to walk side by side without someone being in the grass or terribly close to the street.    I would like to see the sidewalks around all Dunwoody schools evaluated for proper width and safety and where possible I would like them widened where numerous children walk.    I would also like the curb height evaluated near schools as the granite curbs on N. Peachtree (and many other places) are woefully inadequate to stop a car from rolling on to a sidewalk.

I would like to see standardized, highly reflective crossing guard uniforms and devices for all Dunwoody crossing guards.    I would like to see assertiveness training as well as a refresher course for all Crossing Guards on an annual basis and then make sure that each guard is evaluated by a supervisor at least once per quarter of the school year.  I would like to see an educational program by both the schools and the city on traffic and bike safety to educate our children.

I would like each PTA as well as the Dunwoody Community in general to start planning for Wednesday May 1^st which is national crossing guard appreciation day.  Though I am not sure I want to wait that long to honor Ms. Knox and the other dedicated crossing guards; I want this to be a yearly Dunwoody event.

Please slow down in our school zones and know the 25 miles per hour speed limit is the maximum speed allowed and that slower is also acceptable.

Thanks.

Declan's Dad and a Dunwoody City Councilman

Agenda for December 10th Dunwoody City Council Meeting

Monday, December 10th
Dunwoody City Hall
41 Perimeter Center East

Dunwoody, GA 30346

5:00 p.m. - Exec Session

6:00 p.m. - Work Session

7:00 p.m. - Voting Agenda
Watch Live at 7 pm

Agenda (my comments in RED)

Recognition of Government 101 Graduating Class.
Proclamation Recognizing Dunwoody High School Cross Country Team and State Champ Ms. Alex Cameron.
Update on the CAD-to-CAD Interface Project. (Getting very close.)
Approval of 2013 Planning and Zoning Meeting Schedule.
Approval of Position Allocation and Compensation Chart. (Staffing levels & Salary)
Resolution Appointing Board of Ethics Members. (Janet Webb & Wade Wright)
Resolution Appointing Community Council Members. (Steve Barton & Susan Harper)
Resolution Appointing Development Authority Members. (Augustine, Gaddis, Miller)
Resolution Appointing Planning Commission Members. (Anders, Converse, Dwyer)
Resolution Appointing Board of Zoning Appeals Members. (McCahan, Mitchell, Penn)
Resolution Adopting 2013 Legislative Priorities.
Approval of Settlement Agreement re: Litigation. (Joseph Hirsch v. City of Dunwoody - will be removed from consent)
Resolution Authorizing and Approving an Intergovernmental Agreement With DeKalb Countyfor Water and Sewer Pavement Repairs.
False Alarm Research Report.(follow Sandy Springs model?)
Resolution In Support of DNR Recreation Trails Grant Application.
Approval of 2012 Capital Paving Contract Amendment.
Approval of Five Year Paving Plan.
Approval of 2013 Paving Plan.
Approval of Contract for Road and Stormwater Maintenance.
Resolution to Approve an Intergovernmental Agreement with DeKalb County for theEstablishment of an Excise Tax on Energy used in Manufacturing.
Acceptance of Georgia Emergency Management Agency Grant. (Missing from Agenda packet?)
Approval of Amendment to Jacbos Engineering, Inc. Contract. (additional civic engagement)
FIRST READ: Ordinance to Authorize the Lease of a Fire Station to DeKalb County.
FIRST READ: Ordinance to Authorize the Lease of the Dunwoody Library to DeKalb County.
FIRST READ: Ordinance to Authorize Transfer Water Tower Property to DeKalb County.

Video of Aug 27th Dunwoody City Council Meeting

Video

Passed - Approval of External Auditing Services Contract.

Passed - SECOND READ: Adoption of Ordinance to Amend Chapter 26: Streets, Sidewalks, and Other Public Places Regarding Special Event Signage.

Passed - Resolution to Approve and Authorize the Acceptance of Department of Natural Resources Recreational Trails Grant

Passed - Approval of Georgia Department of Transportation Local Maintenance and Improvement Grant Contract Amendment.

Passed - ACTION ITEM: Request for City Council to Fund a Hearing Officer for the Board of Ethics.

• Long discussion on this document: Ethics Board Request for Hearing Officer - passed on recommendation of City Attorney and understanding that learning curve is tough to follow let alone be forced to use Georgia Rules of Evidence
  

Passed - ACTION ITEM: Approval of Intergovernmental Agreement with Georgia Department of Transportation Regarding Dunwoody Village Parkway TE Grant.

• Da "Original" Mayor, Regency, Dunwoody Chamber of Commerce, Village Burger and others come out in strong support of the Dunwoody Village Parkway. Long discussion with other options deemed not viable by most of council.

Dunwoody pushes forward with sidewalks and bike paths on major roads.

 Video

Short excerpt from Dunwoody Reporter Article

As Dunwoody continues to add bike lanes, a debate has started over whether it’s a good idea to encourage biking on some of the city’s busiest roads.

Dunwoody City Council recently approved a contract to build bike lanes on Mount Vernon Road and is hoping to receive grant funding before it adds bike lanes to Chamblee-Dunwoody Road.

The projects are part of the city’s transportation master plan and fall in line with the Complete Streets Policy, which calls for adding sidewalks and bike paths whenever possible during construction.

“When we do a transportation project, and in some cases regular paving projects, we’ll consider accommodating all users of the public right of way,” said Public Works Director Michael Smith.
Smith said bike lanes have been built on other major Dunwoody roads, like North Shallowford Road and Roberts Drive, as well.

Agenda for August 22nd Dunwoody City Council Meeting

Monday, August 22nd
Dunwoody City Hall
41 Perimeter Center East

Dunwoody, GA 30346
6:00 p.m. Work Session - No Video

7:00 p.m.Watch Live

Agenda & full city packet

• Sole Source Vendor Approval for State Fingerprinting - Grant Award
• Appointment of Bond Counsel - Miller & Martin, PLLC 
• Adoption of Complete Streets Policy.
• SECOND READ: Revisions and Re-adoption of the City of Dunwoody Zoning Map, and All Previous Amendments Thereto.
• Approval of Stonington Drive Storm Drain Replacement Project.
• Award of Contract for ITB 11-32 for North DeKalb Cultural Arts Center Security System.
• Public Hearing & Resolution to Authorize and Approve the Purchase and Financing of Property Located at 4000 Dunwoody Park Drive.
• Award of Contract for RFP 11-04: Comprehensive Update to City Zoning Ordinance and LandDevelopment Ordinance.
• Resolution to Appoint New Member to Serve on Dunwoody Volunteer Coordinating Committee.
• Public Hearing & Resolution to Authorize the City Manager to Purchase 24.09 Acres of Property.

Video of the August 8th Dunwoody City Council Meeting

Video

Agenda for August 8th Dunwoody City Council Meeting

Monday, August 8th
Dunwoody City Hall
41 Perimeter Center East

Dunwoody, GA 30346

7:00 p.m.

Watch Live

Work Session Agenda & full city packet

• Financial Reports Through June 30, 2011. (notice checkbook entries)
• Discussion of E-911.
• Impact Fee Kick-Off Briefing by Ross + Associates.
• Discussion of Contract Award for RFP 11-04: Comprehensive Update to City Zoning Ordinance and Land Development Ordinance.
• Discussion Complete Streets Policy.
• Discussion of Tilly Mill Crosswalk.
• Discussion of Stonington Drive Storm Drain Replacement Project.
• Discussion of ITB 11-32 for North DeKalb Cultural Arts Center Security System.
• Discussion of Purchase of Property Located at 4000 Dunwoody Park Drive.

Aug 8th Audit Committee Agenda - Strategic Risk Assessment

What future safety improvements should the city be investing in? Do you have suggestions?

Now that we have all of the radar speed limit signs installed near our schools, what are your suggestions for future safety improvements that can be implemented sooner rather then later. Sidewalk and street improvement dollars will be coming but what else can we do now to make the city safer?

Improved cross walks, bike & pedestrian safety training for our children, police enforcement, reflective lane markers, improved street lighting standards?  These items will probably be discussed in the Transportation master plan but I figured there was no reason to wait. 

Thoughts?

SRTS Traffic Safety First Report Final

Dunwoody Village conversation turns to Transportation and I keep thinking Complete Streets.

Tuesday evening there were about 80 people in attendance for the comprehensive land use meeting on the Dunwoody Village with about half of them being first time Comp Plan meeting attendees.  I took a strategic spot in the room (near someone whom I knew would be vocal) and turned on my recorder hoping that every other speaker wasn't on the other side of the room.  As a member of the city council attending a public forum I see it as my opportunity to listen and learn what the community wants without me interjecting my views into the conversation. 

Though this was a zoning and land use meeting, traffic was the major topic of conversation of the evening and I learned that we need to move quickly on the Comprehensive Transportation Plan that the council has budgeted for 2010. 

Everything that I have read and heard from our citizen's, points me to reviewing and possibly adopting a complete streets policy after the transportation plan is completed. My eyes and ears are still open to other options for transportation planning but that is how I am currently leaning and I will be sharing some of the philosophies of this transportation policy in the coming weeks and months.  Several members of the audience on Tuesday stated that our transportation planning should mirror the walkabilty and bikeability of the City of Roswell and guess what policy they just adopted? Yep, it is Complete Streets.

Below is the PowerPoint presentation from the evening and below that are my audio recordings.  (If you are reading this via an e-mail the PowerPoint presentation is not visible (but the link is) therefore you may want to read this on the web to check out some of the online tools that I am using to upload documents.)  The next Comp Plan meeting on the calendar is January 5th to discuss the Georgetown / Shallowford area but I believe the Georgia Tech students who were looking at Dunwoody Village will be reporting out in early December. Stay tuned.
Dunwoody Village Comp Land Use Meeting of Nov 4, 2009

11032009_Dun_Village_CLUM_1.mp3
11032009_Dun_Village_CLUM_2.mp3
11032009_Dun_Village_CLUM_3.mp3
11032009_Dun_Village_CLUM_4.mp3