Gaining perspective from the back row of a Dunwoody City Council Meeting.

For the last eight months I have sat at the front table of every Dunwoody City Council meeting, been in on every conversation, recorded and even published audio of these meetings for those who were unable to attend. I missed the Monday night work session meeting and therefore am in the dark as to what occurred, what conversations took place, who was for, or against, the various items that will be voted upon come next Monday night.

Yesterday I asked for comments from those who were in attendance and I received two replies. Let me share with you the perspective of those sitting in the back row of the audience, those who may have a slightly different perspective from the front row had I been there, since their back row (everyman) perspectives are just as (or more so) valid, informative and even entertaining then what I would perceived took place.

The first reply I received was from Mr. Max Lehmann who provided me the text of his public comment to the council from Monday night where he requested improvements of public notice regarding zoning matters to maximize community awareness of land use and development. He even pointed to the statements that I made in my blog regarding the lack of public notice in our first step of our rezoning process which is the Community Council.

From Fri May 15 blog, It was discovered that the City, unlike DeKalb County, does not require rezoning signs nor notice to neighbors prior to these Community Council meetings therefore the odds of the community actually showing up to fight or support the application is very minimal. I will be looking to have these policies reviewed and changed thereby allowing the community more notice of what is going on.

The other item is that the City website should be making the complete packet of information which is given to the various committee members available on the internet for review to everyone. What appears to be happening now is that just the agenda is being provided on the web and that doesn't have the same detail as the full committee receives.

I haven't had the time to discuss this with other Members of the City Council or Community Development, but these conversations will happen soon. I will be recommending that changes take place to make the rezoning process more transparent in order to give the neighbors more notice when a rezoning is proposed near them; as well as recommend changes to make the Community Council more relevant in bringing about a public discussion of the zoning issues in an informal, open discussion of the interested community.

The second response I received was from Mr. Rick Callahan, a regular at our meetings, who also stood up at the public comment section of Monday's meeting to voice his opinion regarding something on the agenda. He spoke out against City committee members being chosen from outside the City of Dunwoody and I am told that two hours later, he was the only man in the room who wasn't being paid to be there. Rick provided a complete recap of the meeting (except for the short period where he may have fell asleep) from his back row seat. The recap is straight forward, irreverent, opinionated and gives his unique perspective of what he saw. Is it completely accurate? No. I see some flaws in his reporting (the signs on Ashford Dunwoody were a directional sign pointing to the new City Hall & Police Station.) but then again he was sitting in the back row and missed the paper being passed across the front row.

I appreciate the fact that residents like Mr. Lehmann and Mr. Callihan, as well as a few other regular attendees, take the time away from Jack Bower on Monday nights to help guide the City with their insightful & heartfelt public comments. I would like to thank Mr. Rick Callihan for submitting his recap and I look forward to seeing him sitting in the back row again real soon.

If you haven't been to a Dunwoody City Council meeting yet, I highly recommend it to know what is going on in this great City and please do take advantage of the public comment section at the beginning of the meeting.

It was put there just for you. Thanks.

Dunwoody Police starts Bike Patrol and Explorer Post

Lieutenant David Barnes and Sargent Mike Carlson.

The Dunwoody Police Department is in the process of organizing a Dunwoody Police Department Explorer Post. The Dunwoody Explorers will meet on a weekly basis at police headquarters to train in different aspects of law enforcement. Law Enforcement Exploring is a worksite-based program for young men and women who have completed the eighth grade and are 14 years of age, or are 15 years of age but have not yet reached their 21st birthday. Exploring is governed by Learning for Life which is a division of the Boy Scouts of America. Application

Dunwoody Police Mission Statement and Core Values

The Heneghan's have decided to move.

2305 N. Peachtree Court, Dunwoody 30338

Before anyone jumps to any conclusions, we have already found another house here in the Dunwoody North subdivision, I will still live in district three and will remain on the Dunwoody City Council. Kristin & I purchased this home in 1997 prior to knowing that we would someday have three, soon to be six foot six, 250 lb football playing boys that will be eating us out of house & home. We seriously considered putting an addition on the home but decided to upgrade instead.

Our home is a beautiful two story traditional, four bedroom, two and half bath, four sided brick home with a basement which sits on a level wooded lot on a cul-de-sac just off North Peachtree Road and is just a half mile outside I-285. The location allows walking to Chesnut Charter Elementary (1 block away), Peachtree Charter Middle School (1/2 block away), Swim Tennis (1/2 block away), Brook Run Park (2 blocks away) and the Marta bus stop is even at the corner. The house has been well maintained and the site includes a huge workshop & storage shed.

Realtor.com home listing & Zillow home listing

We love this neighborhood and the sense of community that it provides so much that we are only moving a block or two over and would like to see this home go to a nice family. The street only has 13 houses and is a fun group of neighbors where you know everyone's name and our kids play together in the street at the end of the cul-de-sac.

The last couple of weeks we have had done painting, minor carpentry work, landscaping, pressure washing, chimney cleaning and the house is finally ready to show. Our first open house is today, Sunday, May 17th from 2 until 5 pm. Please stop by or if you would like a showing at another time, please contact our agent (and Dunwoody North resident) Rawson Grobety of Keller Williams at 770-845-4097.

Agenda for the May 18th Dunwoody City Council Work Session

Dunwoody City Council
Work Session (No votes.)
Dunwoody United Methodist Church
Monday May 18th @ 7 pm

Agenda

• Dunwoody Arts Festival Presentation
  
  
• PUBLIC HEARING - Dunwoody Convention & Visitors Bureau.
  
  
• FIRST READ: Ordinance to Amend Chapter 23: Streets and Sidewalks by creating Adopt-A-Spot program.
  
  
• Boyken Status Report.
  
  
• April Financial Report.
  
  
• Federal Stimulus Program Update.
  
  
• Discussion of Ordinance to Amend Chapter 2: Administration
  
  
• Resolution to transmit the Community Assessment and Community Participation Plan for the City of Dunwoody Comprehensive Plan process. (Huge File 8 MB)
  
  
• Presentation of a Lights Off/Power Down policy.
  
  
• Request to initiate a zoning text amendment for an Outdoor Lighting Efficiency ordinance.
  
  
• Request to initiate a zoning text amendment to create a zoning category for land used for public services and facilities.
  
  
• Discussion of Temporary Outdoor Seasonal Sales and permitting options.
  
  
• Discussion of resolution adopting and approving a license fee for door-to-door salesmen and solicitors in the City of Dunwoody.
  
  
• Discussion of Ashford-Dunwoody Road Signage. (Directions to City Hall)
  
  
• Discussion of Automated External Defibrillators (AED’s).

Dunwoody Elementary School Update & lack of public notice for Community Council Meetings

This evening after a busy day at work, I rushed over Dunwoody High School to listen to the final update of the new Dunwoody Elementary School that was given by Principal Jonathan Clark, Ms. Pat Pope, Dir. of Operations / Construction, Ms. Robin Burch of the Dunwoody Homeowners Association who was also representing the City of Dunwoody to obtain several building and landscaping changes, and the head of transportation / busing, (I missed his name).

Below is the recording of the meeting which lasted about 53 minutes.

05142009_DunElem_Update.mp3

Here are a few highlights from memory, so I encourage you to listen to the meeting instead of quoting me if you are going to rely on the information. The school will open on time with about 750 - 800 students and the capacity of the school is about 950. Most of the teachers are from the three feeder schools (Austin, Chesnut & Vanderlyn) and the school website will be updated the first week in June providing the names. Dress code is plain solid colors (Jeans & shorts are OK, collared shirts preferred.) or school spirit wear (either Dunwoody Elem School or from any other school in the cluster including DHS). Start time is 7:45 until 2:15 pm with the students from Austin riding in separate buses and the children from Chesnut & Vanderlyn sharing the buses with their local school. The shared buses will pickup at the house bused students from the Elementary school (greater than 1.5 miles walking miles from local ES) and bused students to DES (greater than 1.5 miles from DES) and then drop off at the DES before bringing the younger students back to the lower elementary school. In the afternoon it is reversed, picked up at DES, head to the lower elem and then drive home. A number of complaints and suggestions were provided on the tentative transportation plan but it will not be final until June so things can still change. Landscaping is much improved near Windhaven Court, nicer fence lines. The school health clinic has been reconfigured, doubled in size. The playground equipment is age appropriate but the speakers couldn't describe it. There will be after school care available and the list of activities will be released prior to the start of school.

As far as the complaints of environmental damage highlighted in an AJC article and stop work orders, Ms. Pope dismissed both claims and stated that the school was in full compliance.

Over all I was happy with the presentation, I like Mr. Clark, I know and trust the leaders of the PTO and am looking forward to being a Dunwoody Elementary School parent for the next four years.

Immediately after that meeting I headed over to the Community Council to listen to a presentation on a Special Land Uses application for transitional housing in an existing apartment complex behind Peachtree Middle School. The Community Council is the first step of the rezoning process which is then followed by the Planning Commission and then the City Council. I mentioned the CC meeting on the blog but there were only seven residents in the audience and four of us were either Planning Commission or City Council Members and are not allowed to ask questions nor influence the conversations.

It was discovered that the City, unlike DeKalb County, does not require rezoning signs nor notice to neighbors prior to these Community Council meetings therefore the odds of the community actually showing up to fight or support the application is very minimal. I will be looking to have these policies reviewed and changed thereby allowing the community more notice of what is going on. The other item is that the City website should be making the complete packet of information which is given to the various committee members available on the internet for review to everyone. What appears to be happening now is that just the agenda is being provided on the web and that doesn't have the same detail as the full committee receives.

Before that meeting was fully over, I left to catch the last couple of innings of my son's playoff game at Murphy Candler, which was then followed with my boys and I viewing of the Ivy Riders Classic Cars and the Dunwoody Police Soap Box Derby Car.

New transit line proposed to cut through a Dunwoody Neighborhood, GDOT presentation on Thursday May 21st.

Georgetown Rec Center meets Transit Options

This evening I received an e-mail inviting me to attend an Ashford Alliance Meeting (think Dunwoody Homeowners Assoc but inside 285) for a special presentation from the Georgia Dept. of Transportation to discuss the proposed new transit line and stations which will be part of the Revive 285 project.

When: Thursday, May 21st at 7:00 Pm
Where: St. Martins Church 3110 Ashford Dun Rd, 30319 - Behind Gable Hall

I have attended a number of the Revive 285 meetings and was aware of the plans to add a transit line through Dunwoody connecting the Doraville & Dunwoody train stations, but tonight was the first time I observed two of the options going directly though a Dunwoody Swim Tennis facility and wanted to make the community aware of the circumstances.

There are maps linked below showing some of the options for Dunwoody but the maps that concern me are the Ravinia North & Ravinia South options both of which would immediately impact the Georgetown Swim Tennis.

Perimeter Mall Option
Ravinia North Option
Ravinia South Option
Chamblee Dunwoody Option
Doraville Option

Station Area Information Sheets

Next Steps and Status Update.

Another interesting issue is that the proposed Shallowford Rd. transit station seems to have been taken off the table and the information is no longer available on line?

I will not be able to attend this meeting because of a previous appointment but will be requesting that the Dunwoody Public Works Director be in attendance and report back to the Council & Community as to its status. The e-mail I received from the Ashford Alliance stated that questions can be asked in advance by submitting them ahead of time via email to rrs@sprinkledci.com or lyon7306@bellsouth.net