How would you like to wake up every morning, open your front door and be greeted by this lovely retention pond?This is the view that neighbors who live across the street from Dunwoody High School on Womack Road get to see every day. At least for now. Hopefully that won't be the case in the near future.
Joe Hirsh, of Public Comment Joe fame (see various posts on Rick Calliahan's blog for more on Joe), is one of those who lives across the street from the pond. And Joe is not happy about it. Here is the email he sent to DeKalb County Public Schools (the county is responsible for the project), as well as City of Dunwoody officials.
"The design of the storm water pond at Dunwoody High School is an absolute public health hazard.
Stagnant water remains for an unlimited number of days. I just took a sample of water from the pond, and I am not surprised to see the substantial number of mosquitoes in it. I suppose there are probably TENS OF THOUSANDS of mosquito larvae in the pond. Yet, in an email exchange with Doster Construction and DeKalb County Schools, they say the pond is working properly and as designed. Really? They must be morons.
I am demanding that this public health matter be remedied immediately. I don't care who has jurisdiction of the property. Figure it out and take care of it. This situation is appalling.
From the Georgia Department of Community Health: "The most common mosquito-borne viruses in Georgia include West Nile virus, Eastern Equine encephalitis virus, and LaCrosse virus. Saint Louis encephalitis virus has also been detected in Georgia in the past. Mosquito-borne viruses are most active late spring through early fall in Georgia."
Stagnant water remains for an unlimited number of days. I just took a sample of water from the pond, and I am not surprised to see the substantial number of mosquitoes in it. I suppose there are probably TENS OF THOUSANDS of mosquito larvae in the pond. Yet, in an email exchange with Doster Construction and DeKalb County Schools, they say the pond is working properly and as designed. Really? They must be morons.
I am demanding that this public health matter be remedied immediately. I don't care who has jurisdiction of the property. Figure it out and take care of it. This situation is appalling.
From the Georgia Department of Community Health: "The most common mosquito-borne viruses in Georgia include West Nile virus, Eastern Equine encephalitis virus, and LaCrosse virus. Saint Louis encephalitis virus has also been detected in Georgia in the past. Mosquito-borne viruses are most active late spring through early fall in Georgia."
Dunwoody Councilor Adrian Bonser brought the retention pond to the attention of the city staff, and below is the response of city engineer Richard J. Edinger.
"I went out to look at the pond this morning, and it is installed as designed. This pond is known as a micro-pool extended detention pond. The pond is split into three sections to maximize the route that water takes to get to the outlet, which helps maximize sediment removal, and one cell of the pond is required to hold water to help prevent re-suspension of sediment during storm events.
I think Joe is right to be concerned about mosquitoes and one way to control them is for the school system to use larvicide briquettes in the water. This can be done in an environmentally friendly way. For more information about the safe use of larvicides for mosquito control, please see the EPA’s website."
I think Joe is right to be concerned about mosquitoes and one way to control them is for the school system to use larvicide briquettes in the water. This can be done in an environmentally friendly way. For more information about the safe use of larvicides for mosquito control, please see the EPA’s website."
DeKalb County has since placed the necessary briquettes in the water, and councilor Robert Wittenstein says he has been told by our elected DeKalb School board member Jim Redovian that trees and other landscape features will be added. Hopefully that is the case. Not only for Joe and his neighbors, but for the community as well. The pond is an eyesore!
Road Closure
The Federal Aviation Administration is closing Perimeter Summit Parkway from Parkside Place to Lake Hearn Drive on Saturday starting at 8 a.m. and reopening the roadway section at 5 p.m. on Sunday to film a commercial. Parkside Place and Lake Hearn Drive should be utilized to maneuver around this closed section of the roadway.
3 comments:
It's been my experience that name-calling, i.e. "moron" rarely gets a person far in getting their requests responded to.
Rumor has it there is a DHS Community Construction Update (and special emphasis on the retention pond) meeting in DHS Media Center on Aug 31 at 6:00pm.
If confirmed, DHS has double-booked parent information meetings. Senior parents are also scheduled at 6:00pm on same night.
Unless it is rescheduled, if you're a senior parent with an interest in the construction update, you will have to choose which meeting to attend. It appears the DHS construction design team didn't look at the DHS website for conflicting events.
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