Jersey Mike's Subs to donate 100% of all sales to Special Olympics on Wednesday - Dunwoody's Jett Ferry / Mount Vernon location is looking forward to your visit.

Neighbors,

I wanted to make you aware of a corporate benefit sponsoring Special Olympics whereby 100% of all sales at Jersey Mike's sub shop will be directed to the worthy organization.   Please make a point to stop by for lunch or dinner to support the cause.  The restaurant opens at 10 a.m. and closes at 9 p.m. and all purchases during that time period count towards the donation.  If you make it in, please say hello to my friend Allegra behind the counter because she is awesome!

Jersey Mike's Subs
2458 Jett Ferry Road; Suite 220
Dunwoody, GA 30338-3060
(770) 394-1999

Order on-line    https://www.jerseymikes.com/5001/dunwoody-ga

At Jersey Mike's Subs, they're all about quality. High quality meats and cheese sliced in front of you, store baked bread, and the authentic taste – served Mike's Way, fresh lettuce, onions, tomatoes, oil, vinegar and spices! Of course, everything is served with a smile.

Dunwoody resident Mr Kim McGrady named Carnegie Hero

Kim A. McGrady

Dunwoody resident Mr Kim McGrady named Carnegie Hero. The Carnegie Medal is given to those who enter extreme danger while attempting to save the lives of others. Only 10,291 Carnegie Medals have been awarded since 1904.

18 Americans to receive Carnegie Medal for acts of extraordinary heroism

Dunwoody City Council Agenda for Monday March 28, 2022. (Chamblee Dunwoody / Mt. Vernon Design, Financial Advisor for possible bond, Trees for your front yard)

DUNWOODY CITY COUNCIL MEETING
March 28, 2022
6:00 PM – DUNWOODY CITY HALL
4800 ASHFORD DUNWOODY ROAD
DUNWOODY, GA 30338

Participate via Zoom - https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81992407366

Or One tap mobile:  +14702509358,,81992407366# US (Atlanta)

Or join by phone:  US: +1 470 250 9358  Webinar ID: 819 9240 7366

Agenda - City Site Agenda

Invocation  

PUBLIC COMMENT - in person or raise hand in Zoom.

Approval of Contract with NV5 for Final Design of Mount Vernon Road Corridor Improvements between Corners Drive and Mount Vernon Place 

SECOND READ: RZ 21-04: Rezoning for 4553 North Shallowford Road from the Current PD District to the O-I District and a Concurrent Variance from 27-72

Approval of Construction Contract for Intersection Improvements at Chamblee Dunwoody Road and Womack Road

Contract Award for Sidewalk Construction at Brook Run Park

Discussion - Conceptual Design for Village Crossroads - Chamblee Dunwoody Road from Womack Road to Roberts Drive Corridor Improvements

Discussion - Approval of Financial Advisors for possible future Bond

Discussion - Resolution Requesting Approval to Surplus Police Vehicles

Discussion - Trees Atlanta Front Yard Tree Planting Program

Recap of the 2022 Dunwoody City Council Retreat, City Finances and a lot of other stuff were discussed. Electronic documents are available.

 

Earlier this week the City of Dunwoody hosted a two day Council "retreat" talking about operations, finances and future plans.  We stopped in Suwanee for a walking tour with their City Manager to discuss Public Art and as that happened I also chatted up the Asst. City Manager to discuss the highly successful Suwanee Beer Festival that just occurred as I want to bring the Dunwoody Beer Fest back to Brook Run Park in the Fall.

After lunch, we ran up to Dahlonega to hold the rest of the meetings. If you read my March 22nd Blog announcing the retreat, my guess of topics were spot on with the main issue being long-term funding strategies moving forward. One thing to know about a "retreat" is that no official votes occurred and that everything discussed at that meeting will be discussed again and even more fleshed out with a great deal of more detail. A retreat is a place to raise questions to discuss options and data but the fast pace of the conversations really just give staff an idea as where we were individually as council members but with no details to the specifics, there are a lot more discussions to be had.

Below are all the documents that were placed in the City Council binders and though we didn't get to everything, I can say that we spent most of our time on financing strategies for everyday operations and the financing of capital needs. As I explained last Monday, Dunwoody's financing mechanisms are different than surrounding municipalities as we have locked in taxable valuations and an automatic 1 mil rollback to homeowners therefore, creative options need to be offered, and Mayor Deutsch is doing just that with a possible parks special tax district for the entire city.  At incorporation, the parks committee to start the city said we needed $300K to run the parks and we are now averaging $3 Million per year therefore this is an idea being floated to lower that delta.

Besides finances, we discussed pedestrian safety, traffic calming, sidewalk construction, crime statistics, police retention and pay, and a few tweaks to our mission statement and council meeting rules. All documents presented to Council for discussion are linked below.

 01a 2022-03-21 City Council Meeting Agenda.pdf
 01b 2022-03-22 City Council Meeting Agenda.pdf
 02 2022 Retreat Topics Slides.pptx
 03 2022 City Council Retreat Day One Finance.pptx
 04 2022 Council Retreat Pedestrian Safety.pptx
 05 Edge City Retreat Slides.pptx
 06 Dunwoody Village Retreat Slides.pptx
 07 Resolution Amending the Rules and Procedures for City Council Meetings ORIGINAL.docx
 08 Dunwoody Council Training 1-31-2022 Final.pptx
 09 SLFRF-Final-Rule-Overview.pdf
 10 Capital List Unfunded 2021.pdf
 11 Police ARP and Exit Trends.pptx
 12 2014-05-09_PedSafetyStudy_FinalReport.pdf
 12 2016.12.12 Traffic Calming Policy Final Approved.pdf
 12 Complete Streets Policy.pdf
 12 Sidewalk_Program_edited 2015.07.08.docx
 12 Vulnerable Road User Ordinance.pdf
 13 Mission and Vision 2022 Retreat V2 (002).pptx
 14 Police Annual Report.pdf
 15 2022 Pay v CPI-U.xlsx
 16 How We Make a Difference ARP.pptx

Kudos to the Dunwoody Crier and reporter Sydney Dangremond for joining the Council at the meeting and writing a nice recap as linked below.

After two days of meetings up in the mountains, Wednesday morning found Councilman Lambert, Public Works Director Michael Smith and I downtown talking to GDOT about the proposed express lanes on 285, but I guess that is a story for another day.

Crier Article
 

City of Dunwoody schedules 2022 Strategic Planning Retreat

 

 AGENDA

 DUNWOODY CITY COUNCIL

SPECIAL CALLED MEETING

 

MARCH 21, 2022

 9:30 AM - CITY OF SUWANEE - CITY HALL

330 TOWN CENTER AVENUE

SUWANEE, GEORGIA 30024

AND

2:30 PM - FORREST HILLS MOUNTAIN RESORT  BOARDROOM

135 FORREST HILLS ROAD

DAHLONEGA, GEORGIA 30533

 

MARCH 22, 2022

 8:30 AM - FORREST HILLS MOUNTAIN RESORT  BOARDROOM

135 FORREST HILLS ROAD

DAHLONEGA, GEORGIA 30533

 

The Dunwoody City Council will be holding our annual planning "retreat" to come together as a Council to set Strategic Planning for the coming year.  Retreats are a powerful management tool for local government leaders to refocus on a city's mission and develop priorities that are in line with a City’s core values. They are opportunities for elected officials and city staff to step back from the day-to-day routine and organize around the foundational elements of our service – who we serve, what values we uphold, and what direction we are headed.

 

With two new Council members it is an opportunity for existing Council & staff to get to know them as we all discuss our priorities.  The first session is usually a recap of the year's challenges & accomplishments, special presentations, updates from staff and eventually we move into setting goals/priorities for the future.  This retreat seems a little different as we are heading to Suwanee City Hall for the morning meeting followed by a trip up to Dahlonega for an overnight stay & a second day of meetings.  Last year we had special training and discussions on re-zonings (probably because we had the Dunwoody Village and other rezonings in the works) and then talked about City Operations in the time of Covid.

There are no read-ahead documents for the meeting, which I believe will be recorded but unsure if it will be live-streamed.  City Council members have no real advanced notice of the retreat conversations but I am guessing both short and long term city finances will be a huge topic.  The City has American Rescue Plan funds to spend and we want to make sure we follow the appropriate rules.  The 2022 budget is set but we now have escalating operational, material and personnel costs with more desired services like events, concerts and quality of life improvements while we are also adding additional park infrastructure to maintain.  Long term, these circumstances of rising costs and service increases along with the residents continued desire for high level of service are not long term sustainable on our fixed revenue streams without some future adjustments. 

 

Some might suggest an infrastructure bond referendum is needed to cover capital improvements (intersection / trail / park improvements (including Nature Center, Spruill Arts Center, Austin, Vermack) and others) so that our residents can enjoy the use of those improvements short term while also paying for them vs us saving for those improvements for many years so that future residents can enjoy them at a later date.  With inflationary pressures making material costs rise faster than the bond funding cost, I am sure this topic may be discussed but then again we are attempting to sell a property whereby those funds could be reinvested into the capital needs if that sale were to go through (which is not a guaranteed as there still contingency hurdles to overcome).

With the City of Dunwoody having a residential property tax assessment freeze in place, a one mil credit to homeowners and a mileage rate that hasn't increased since incorporation 13 years ago, the typical Dunwoody Homeowner is now paying about the same for sanitation ($265) than they are for city taxes that funds all other city services.  

 

We have known of these budgetary issues for years (and placed cautionary statements directly into our budget documents as shown below) but we have worked around the issues by setting priorities & reducing costs but with inflationary pressures now hitting the city, I am guessing this item will be discussed.  

Did you know that Taggart's Driving School in Dunwoody Village offers free Driver's Education with a State Scholarship available to all?

At least two, if not all three of my teenage sons took advantage Georgia Driver's Education Grant for free driving school at Taggert's Driving School in Dunwoody Village and here is how to go about doing it.

Teenagers can not get a drivers license until their 16th birthday in Georgia, and not until the proposed new driver has been driving under an instructional permit for one year before that.  A right of passage for many 15 year olds is to go to the DMV on or soon after your birthday to get your permit.  There is a vision test and a basic written examination to pass plus there will be numerous id cards, utility bills and school documents to bring to prove age, residency and school attendance, so be prepared.

After the permit is obtained, the permit number is the key to being able to register for the Georgia Driver's Education Grant and you would want to do that as soon as the permit is obtained.  The application criteria is needs based but if there are no needs applicants the grant is given out on a first come first served criteria.  In my sons case, we were selected for the educational grant several months after completing the application which is perfect as we used those first several months driving around empty school parking lots and cemeteries where he couldn't kill anyone but his father.

After filling out the application, and you are eventually chosen for the grant; the State notifies you with a redemption code and you register with Taggarts with that number and the class cost for the 30 hours of instruction and 6 hours of driving are waived (a $535 value).

Once driver's ed is completed, there is also a requirement to provide 40 hours of supervised driving with parent or guardian in order to get the license and then for good measure my Dad forced me to change the oil in the car, know how to jump the battery and change a tire.

Good luck with your young driver as it is truly a memorable right of passage for our youth and a for some of us older folks, it can also be a traumatic parental period as well.  

FYI, there are no break pedals on the passenger side.   Enjoy.