Public Hearing on Monday for Traffic Calming in Village Mill

With the new elementary school opening in August, this measure gives the neighborhood options and as this is our first traffic calming hearing, I am very interested in hearing opinions from all the residents affected.

Public Hearing Documents

The City of Dunwoody, GA will be conducting a Public Hearing on Monday, April 13, 2009 at 7 pm to consider accepting the attached plan and initiating the final petition process for Traffic Calming in Land Lot 361 of the 18th District on Village Creek Drive between Womack Road and Olde Village Lane.

The residents of Village Mill Subdivision have been working with DeKalb County for over eight years to address the excessive speed of vehicles traveling through the neighborhood. DeKalb County performed a traffic study in 2005 that confirmed that speeding does exist on Village Creek Drive between Womack Road and Olde Village Lane. The 85th percentile speed of 39 mph on a road posted at 25 mph, meets the criteria for traffic calming measures which is generally accepted to be 11 mph or more over the posted speed.

The initiator(s) from the neighborhood met with the DeKalb County design engineer for this affected area to discuss alternate methods of traffic calming available to them and to review the proposed plans. DeKalb County held a Public Meeting with the neighborhood in April 2008 and worked with the residents to develop the attached plan to install six (6) Speed Tables on Village Creek Drive. The initiator(s) took this plan back to their neighborhood and they conveyed to the staff that they are in support of the attached proposed design and with moving forward to the final petition process. This plan was presented to the DeKalb Board of Commissioners for acceptance and the initiation of the final petition process in October 2008, but the BOC tabled the action due to the pending incorporation of the City of Dunwoody.

The initiator(s) have requested that the City pick up and continue the process with this neighborhood at the point in the process they were with DeKalb on December 1, 2008 when the City was incorporated. This Public Hearing has been advertised and appropriate signs have been posted notifying residents in the area. If the plan is accepted by the City Council, the initiator(s) will have 90 days to acquire 65% valid “yes” signatures from the 46 affected property owners in the affected area on Village Creek Drive and Village Creek Court.

Walking Wednesday in support of Safe Route to Schools was a tremendous success at Kingsley Elementary.

Kingsley's first Walking Wednesday was a tremendous success!

More than 100 students participated in Kingsley's inaugural walk to school event on April 1st, joined by over 50 parents, Kingsley Principal Karen Graham, City Councilman John Heneghan, Dunwoody Police Chief Billy Grogan and several members of the Dunwoody Police Department. It was a wonderful sight to see the walkers form a mini-parade as they steadily marched down N. Peachtree Road on their way to school.

Mother Nature must have appreciated our efforts, providing dry and pleasant conditions for our walk. Early morning showers stopped shortly before our walkers gathered together, with the rain resuming just after we arrived to school.

Our police escort was a great help, slowing down some early morning commuters and providing safe passage across Mt. Vernon Hwy. and N. Peachtree Rd.

Kingsley will continue its Walking Wednesday program this year, with walks scheduled for this Wednesday and 5/13. I hope that Kingsley's success will inspire other Dunwoody schools to establish similar programs, and that children walking to school will soon be a common sight on Dunwoody.

Doraville Community Gardening Presentation, Monday April 13 at 7 p.m.

Residents of our neighboring City of Doraville are interested in starting a community garden and they are meeting Monday night at City Hall to discuss options with Mr. Bobby Wilson of the DeKalb County Extension. If you are interested in this subject, please feel free to attend.

Tonight - Monday April 13th
7 p.m.
Doraville City Hall
3725 Park Avenue
Doraville, Georgia 30340

H/T to Joseph at Dorablog

Dunwoody City Council Meeting Agenda for Monday April 13

Monday, April 13 2009 at 7 p.m.
Dunwoody United Methodist Church
1548 Mt. Vernon Rd, 30338

Agenda

• Proclamation: “Arbor Day”
• “Comcast Cares Day” – Andy Macke
• Introduction of Court Clerk
• Approval of Meeting Minutes from March 16, 2009
• Approval of Meeting Minutes from March 23, 2009

• PUBLIC HEARING
  Chapter 14, Article 2 Development and Environmental Code
  Presentation and Recommendation by Community Development

• PUBLIC HEARING
  Village Creek Drive Traffic Calming
  Presentation and Recommendation by Public Works
  ACTION ITEM: Accept the plan and start the 90-day petition process for traffic calming measures in Land Lot 361 of the 18th District on Village Creek Drive between Womack Road and Olde Village Lane.

• Recommendation for Award of Probation Services Contract.

• Resolution of intent to participate in the National Flood Insurance Program.

• Resolution amending Alcohol License Fees.

• EXECUTIVE SESSION - legal, real estate, and personnel discussions.

I made a promise for Dunwoody Crime Stats & Maps and we will deliver.

Where are the Crime Stats?

The Dunwoody Police Department is up and running and a records management system will be selected very soon and once that happens the City will be looking for the best solution to post city crime information online. I have heard a complaint (just one) that we (the City) have not made this a priority as we moved away from the DeKalb County Police but I wanted to reassure you that it is most definitely a priority that I and other members of the Council feel very strongly about.

The reason I bring this up is because the AJC has a nice article on crime statistics that I thought was worth reading and I just wanted to reassure the the Dunwoody citizens that we will be bringing forward an electronic, no cost solution to publicize general crime statistics.

AJC - Obtaining crime information can be a challenge

My blog is getting a little press and earning me big bucks.

My little neighborhood blog is featured on the front page of the DeKalb Champion Newspaper and it also received the quarterly contributor award from the Community Radar website. I never intended for my little blog to make me rich nor bring me personal recognition but I guess it is nice to be recognized for submitting quality items of interest. Even if it is just for sharing information on low cost Georgia Aquarium tickets that a Dunwoody reader was able to take advantage of, I was just glad I could just pass the information along.

Champion Newspaper Article by Jonathan Cribbs

"You could say John Heneghan’s city council campaign began when he started Heneghan’s Dunwoody Blog. The site, hosted on Blogger, launched in 2005 with the headline: “DHA – Dunwoody Mom and Dad Crowned.” It was a simple piece of community news lifted from The Dunwoody Crier, the local paper. (It was my Wife Kristin who was named Dunwoody Mom of the Year.)

Cut to March 2009. Heneghan sits on the City of Dunwoody’s newly created city council, representing Post 6. He won more than 4,000 votes, more than 60 percent of the vote in the city’s first elections in September. And he did it bypassing a good number of tried-and-true campaigning methods, including campaign signs and advertising."

Community Radar - Awards Cash for quality blogging.

"This time around the most popular item published was the work of a community leader familiar to many of you. John Heneghan has long made a difference for his own neighborhood using the power of blogging. As a leader in the newly formed city of Dunwoody, John has continued to use the awesome power of the Web to promote civic awareness among his constituents.

This is the type of information sharing Community Radar is tailored to support and amplify through its one-of-a -kind civic information network. Join me in thanking John for his contributions to our community and in offering appreciation to all contributors to our site."

I was awarded $50.00 from Mr. Kim Gokce of Community Radar and will be donating the prize money to the Susan B. Koman Breast Cancer 3-Day Walk taking place October 23 - 25, 2009. Thank you Kim for the honor of the award and I would also like to thank you for offering a website where community members can post & read local items of interest on a daily basis; I read it every day.