Free "Slow Down" Signs Available

With more children walking the neighborhood to school, the Dunwoody North Civic Association is happy to provide free Slow Down signs for those who want them.

If you are a resident of the Dunwoody North Communities and are interested in obtaining a sign, please e-mail me at John@Dunwoodynorth.org with your address and one will be delivered.

Please remember that these signs should not be placed in the county right of way.

Skate Park is now officially open.

http://wm.wxia.gannett.edgestreams.net/news/leslieskatepark072807-6p.wmv

To the skaters who are directing a certain amount of anger at me & this board, there is no reason to do so. The park is built & not going away.

My neighbors & I have expressed numerous frustrations at the operational policies of Brook Run Park for years (just look at the website) and the skate park is just the most recent. We will remain involved in all aspects of operations at Brook Run to insure that the park and the community can coexist in harmony.

With your help that can be achievable.

Now for the serious question. Can someone please recommend the right board for a 6 foot 5, 245 lb novice skateboarder? I plan to buy it at Woody's so if they carry something suitable there for me, please let me know.

Thanks.

John

Brook Run opens, now largest skate park in Ga.

The AJC Published on: 07/27/07
By MARCUS K. GARNER

At 27,000 square feet, Brook Run Skate Park is expected to open Saturday in Dunwoody as the largest public facility of its kind in Georgia. (The Factory Skatepark in Newnan, and Woodward Skate Park at Discover Mill in Gwinnett, are privately owned operations with more than 34,000 square feet each.)

Brook Run, is unique among Georgia's public skate parks because users must pay a fee, wear a helmet and sign a liability waiver.

Here is a comparison of some public skate parks around Metro Atlanta:

Brook Run Skate Park
4770 North Peachtree Road, Dunwoody
Operated by: DeKalb County Parks & Recreation
Helmets / pads: Required / recommended
Fee: Daily — Youth: $3 (DeKalb Resident), $5 (non-resident); Adult: $4 (resident), $6 (non-resident)
Hours: May-August: 10 a.m.-10:30 p.m. Monday-Saturday; Noon-10:30 p.m. Sunday; September-April: 3-10 p.m. Monday-Friday; 10 a.m.-10:30 p.m. Saturday; Noon-10:30 p.m. Sunday
Lights / music provided: Yes / Yes
Bikes: BMX bikes allowed (without pegs).
Liability waiver: Required (those under 18 must have parent or guardian sign, too).
Size: 27,000 square feet.
Features: 12-foot "pool" area, streetscape area with steps, grind rails, ramps and boxes, "flow bowl" area with concaved clamshell feature

Skatepark of Athens
4440 Lexington Road, Athens
Operated by: Athens-Clarke County Leisure Services
Helmets / pads: Required / recommended
Fee: No
Hours: Sun-up to sundown
Lights / music provided: No / No
Bikes: BMX bikes allowed (without pegs), rollerblades allowed
Liability waiver: No
Size: 14,000 square feet
Features: Streetscape with steps, ramps, grinding edges and rails, and a 4,500 square foot flow bowl

McKoy Park
534 McKoy Street, Decatur
Operated by: City of Decatur Recreation and Community Services
Helmets/pads: Recommended
Fee: No
Hours: 7 a.m. — dusk
Lights / music provided: Yes / no
Bikes: No
Liability waiver: No
Size: 4,750 square feet
Features: old tennis court with metal 5 ramps donated; 2 spines, a pyramid, a grind rail and grind box, 1 breaker

Pinkneyville Park
4758 South Old Peachtree Road, Norcross
Operated by: Gwinnett County Parks and Recreation
Helmets/pads: Recommended
Fee: NoHours: Sun-up — 11 p.m.
Lights / music provided: Yes / No
Bikes: No
Liability waiver: No
Size: 9,500 square feet
Features: 2 connected bowls, a plaza/streetscape with grinding rails, and a box ramp in the center of the park

Ronald Reagan Park
2777 Five Forks Trickum Road, Lawrenceville
Operated by: Gwinnett County Parks and Recreation
Helmets/pads: Recommended
Fee: No
Hours: Sun-up — sunset
Lights / music provided: No / No
Bikes: No
Liability waiver: No
Size: 4,500 square feet
Features: Plaza/streetscape with grinding rails, and a box ramp in the center of the park

DeShong Park (opens Aug. 11)
2859 North DeShong Road, Stone Mountain
Operated by: Gwinnett County Parks and Recreation
Helmets/pads: Recommended
Fee: No
Hours: Sun-up to sunset
Lights / music provided: No / No
Bikes: No
Waiver: No
Size: 10,000 square feet
Features: Streetscape with stairs and grinding rails

Mountain Park Park (opens end of summer 2007)
5050 Five Forks Trickum Road, Lilburn
Jurisdiction: Gwinnett County Parks and Recreation
Helmets/pads: Recommended
Fee: No
Hours: Sun-up to sunset
Lights / music provided: No / No
Bikes: No
Waiver: No
Size: 8,500 square feet
Features: 10-foot deep bowl, 6-foot half pipe, 6-foot volcano ramp

Skate park built at residents' expense - AJC Editorial

CityLife Opinions: Skate park built at residents' expense

By John Heneghan
For the Journal-Constitution
Published on: 07/26/07

DeKalb County is about to open Georgia's premier skate park at Brook Run Park in Dunwoody, just three blocks from my home. As the father of three young boys, you would think that I would be ecstatic over this type of attraction being so close. Well, I'm not. You see, I am also president of my subdivision's homeowners association. Residents of our neighborhood have witnessed the clear-cutting of more than five acres of aged hardwoods to allow for construction of the attraction.

Now that it is here, we must endure bright lights and music blaring through speakers until 10:30 p.m., seven nights a week.

Four years ago, a 16-point comprehensive master plan was developed for the park. One of the suggestions was a skate park for teenagers and post-playground kids. The park, according to the plan, would be sculpted to fit the existing topography and wooded areas.

Instead, the largest, most technical skate park in the Southeast with professional-grade attributes stands where a huge grove of trees once stood.

You see, DeKalb County wants this $2.1 million attraction to generate revenue for other parts of the county. So when the county reviewed the small skate parks in Decatur, Gwinnett and Athens (none of which have lights, staff, remain open after dark or charge a fee), they decided to go much bigger, charge admission and maximize revenue by adding lights to extend the hours so this facility could "produce" revenue.

The immediate residential neighborhoods surrounding the park did not ask for Georgia's biggest commercial skate park to be installed, but it was, and we certainly did not ask for it to be open so late.

I met with Commissioners Elaine Boyer and Kathie Gannon who, after visiting the park, agreed that hours should be rolled back and additional trees planted to re-establish a visual screen from Peeler Road.

Supposedly, these two commissioners convinced several upper levels of DeKalb management of the mistake being made with the extended hours of operation. Boyer made a formal request to CEO Vernon Jones for an official modification of the proposed hours of operation. Unfortunately, in spite of what the commissioners' recommendations were, the request was denied.

It would appear that Jones is no longer acting in the best interest of ALL DeKalb residents. If he were, he would have recognized the flawed policies instituted by the parks department and followed the recommendations of the commissioners elected to speak for us. Instead, Jones is a candidate for the U.S. Senate first and foremost. It would appear he is using the operational policies of this Dunwoody skate park to make a statement to his other DeKalb constituents hoping to gain some warped sense of political favoritism from this matter.

Ironically, Jones is campaigning on the improved "quality of life" platform in DeKalb. Funny, I never thought lower property values meant improvement.

Heneghan is president of Dunwoody North Civic Association.

DeKalb Responds To Brook Run Criticism

Mary Swint
Friday, 15 June 2007

http://broadcastatlanta.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4995&Itemid=871

DeKalb County Parks and Recreation Department began demolition of the old hospital at the Liane Levetan Park at Brook Run in Dunwoody on June 15, two days after a crowd of residents complained about mismanagement of the park during a Bond Advisory Council meeting at Brook Run on June 13.

“We are proud to see improvements of our parks underway,” CEO Vernon Jones said Friday morning. “We are committed to our children and keeping our park facilities updated and the demolition of the hospital is a part of that plan.”

DeKalb County purchased from the state in 1998 the old Brook Run hospital and nursing home that were formerly used to treat mentally ill patients. In January 2001, DeKalb County awarded a $150,000 grant to the Dunwoody Preservation Trust to develop a master plan for the property. Later the county committed $11.5 million in park bond revenue for improvements to the park. The neighborhood and county park officials disagree over whether the community was involved in plans for the park.

About 30 community members protested on June 13 the county’s plans to operate a large new skate park until 10:30 p.m. every night at the park in a residential neighborhood and across from a church. They also complained about the size and noise of the skate park, which is expected to open sometime between June 21 and early July.

John Heneghan, president of the Dunwoody North Civic Association, said the community was also concerned about a lack of security at the 102-acre park, which is patrolled by one contract officer. Other community concerns were a lack of communications from the Parks Department about the fees for the skate park, a lack of benches in the shade at the children’s park, a problem with the creek and the clear cutting of trees on five acres.

State Rep. Fran Millar, DeKalb Commissioner Jeff Rader and Dan Magee from the Parks Citizens Advisory Committee attended the meeting held near the children’s park at Brook Run.
Earlier in the week, Parks Director Marilyn Boyd Drew responded to Dunwoody resident Paul Lowry’s questions about Brook Run, which he had sent her on May 24 after being told he could not raise the questions at a meeting with the parks department.

http://www.dunwoodynorth.org/brookrun/Drew_06112007_Brook_Run.pdf

In her letter dated June 11, Drew said, “Much of the landscape material will be lost due to the final grading plan. The demolition of the hospital and power plant will leave a very deep hole in the ground. The final grade will be resolved by a cut and fill method to reduce the amount of dirt to be hauled into the site. Thus, many of the plants will be destroyed. The abatement/demolition contract was awarded on January 23, 2007 and the notice to proceed was issued with a start date of March 15, 2007. The contracted period is 180 days, and the ending date is September 2007. We will not be placing any orange fencing around the trees as the significant trees are outside of the Construction area.”

“The park plan is being confused with the master plan,” Drew said. “The plan for the skate park was determined with input from the public. Until the design charrette was completed, the plan for the skate park did not exist. The final plan did include a speaker system for managerial control and entertainment. Lights were also part of the final plan, thus the development is following the adopted plan. The construction documents were reviewed and approved by the County's Planning and Development Department and all zoning buffer issues regarding the facility within the park were approved. The building was designed to handle a number of activities for small event rental, as well as food and beverage concessions,” She added, “Hours have not yet been determined.”

Lowry and others are concerned the skate park will become a regional attraction in their neighborhood.

In response to Lowry’s question about marketing plans for the skate park, Drew said in her letter, “The facility will be marketed in the same manner as we do with the swimming pools, recreation centers, golf courses and tennis facilities. We depend on fliers, public service announcements, press releases, DCTV. Citizens of DeKalb County between the ages of 8 and 45 are the target population. We anticipate patrons will come from the metro Atlanta area. The department will recommend resident and non-resident user fees. The actual cost has not been determined. We are not comfortable making predictions on attendance at this time; however, we will implement a managerial plan that is flexible enough to manage the attendance peaks just as we manage them at other Park and Recreation facilities.”

Lowry asked the Parks Department about future plans for more tree cutting in the park.

Drew responded, “We do not have plans at this time to fell additional trees, other than to remove those that may pose safety concerns; e.g., severely leaning, dead or diseased trees. The trees you mentioned that are flagged may have been the result of survey crews marking the location of trees for their engineered site survey plans. We will investigate further to confirm. Flagging will be removed by the end of June.”

“What is the plan for the maintenance facility and equipment space requirements?” Lowry asked park officials. “There are many trucks, equipment and material now stored in the park on hard courts, parking lots, fields, etc. There has been much trash including broken beer bottles in that area.”

Drew replied, “The plan is to continue to operate the North area maintenance facility at Brook Run. We are investigating options for screening the equipment from view by path users in other areas of the park. Debris found in and around the maintenance facility will be removed daily.”

In response to Lowry’s question about plans for walking trails, Drew said, “Walking trails in the park remains a high priority. We will determine the exact layout at a later date.”

Regarding security and public safety at the park, Drew said, “Security has and will continue to be addressed by a Security Guard, currently assigned 24 hours a day, seven days a week as well as the North Precinct, which patrols Brook Run as part of their overall community policing program. Parks and Recreation has met on-site with staff from the North Precinct relative to the upcoming opening of the Skate Park to familiarize them with the facility and to request input from them on overall park and facility security. Adjustments will be made as deemed necessary.”

Lowry also asked Drew about trash pick-up in the park along Peeler Road.

“Additional trash receptacles will be placed in the park by the end of June,” Drew responded. “Trash pick-up along the perimeter of the park will take place weekly. Maintenance of the right-of-way along Peeler Road is the responsibility of the Sanitation Department. We will contact Sanitation to initiate a coordinated effort to maintain the area.”

Lowry asked about some walking trails next to the dog park being fenced off and the dog park being moved due to complaints about the barking.

Drew replied, “The department was made to leave the area closed as walkers with dogs on a leash continued to use the trail and the dogs in the homes continued to bark. This area will remain fenced off. Walkers will have to exit that leg of the trail at the dog park and utilize the sidewalks along the roadway.”

Accounting of 11.5 Million, Shade/Benches, Speed

Dear Mr. Billups,

I attended the DeKalb Park’s meeting of July 12th at the Mason Mill Recreation Center and I enjoyed my conversations with you & Commissioners Gannon and Rader. I will not be able to attend this evenings meeting at the Lynwood Recreation Center but a number of my residents will be in attendance. Since there was no time allotted for public comment aside from the charrette process; I presented you with a written copy of my planned remarks discussing four concerns that I have regarding Brook Run Park.

I also asked yourself & the EDAW representative if it would be possible to obtain an electronic version of the complete 50+ page color document created by EDAW outlining the Masterplan for Brook Run? If it is, I will immediately digitize the document (if not already in that state) and then post it on my Dunwoodynorth.org web page dedicated to Brook Run.

Below & attached are my comments & concerns, each of which I would like you to officially acknowledge.

Thank you,

John Heneghan
Dunwoody North Civic Association

Tonight's meeting was set to engage citizens to develop a new vision and framework to improve DeKalb’s parks and recreation system. I am here tonight to emphasize that my Dunwoody community has voiced many concerns to the Parks Department regarding the operation of Brook Run Park and we are thankful that the Board of Commissioners & the Parks Department are taking steps in the right direction regarding the future operation of the park.

Tonight I am here to publicly stress four points regarding Brook Run.

During the last Parks bond referendum push County officials publicized that $11.5 million dollars were to be earmarked for Brook Run Park and that if the referendum were passed; the County would hold a special charrette type meeting at Brook Run Park to determine the order that the Master plan would be developed. This promised meeting has yet to happen & I look forward to it taking place at some point in the near future. Prior to that meeting taking place, I would hope that he county would be able to provide the community a complete accounting of the expenditures and the balance of the $11.5 million dollars available for future development of the master plan.

2. We are looking forward to the reasonable operation of the skate park and the promised reforestation along Peeler as proposed by Commissioner Elaine Boyer.

3. In the June 19th edition of the Dunwoody Crier, Mr. Billups is quoted as stating that plans are being made for more benches and for shade awnings to be installed at the Children's Adventure Playground & I am hear tonight to officially confirm that quote & ask if a timeline might be available for these improvements?

Finally, I am requesting that Speed Limit Signs be posted through out the park, with a maximum speed of no greater then 20 mph by county law. At the moment there are none.

Thank you for the allowing me the opportunity to raise these issues.