Update from Councilman Shortal

The following update was emailed to me from Councilman Denis Shortal this morning.  It preceeds this evening's city council meeting.

My fellow citizens .... the following is an update of items that maybe of interest ...

1. Good News - Charlie Was Found ... My thanks to all of you who got involved in the search for the McCrocy's family Dog ... Charlie. About a day after I sent out the email with Charlie's photo asking for help, some fine citizens spotted Charlie and he is home safe and sound. Below is a note from the McCrorys and photo of Charlie after he was found:

CHARLIE IS HOME!


We would like to thank everyone in Dunwoody for helping us bring Charlie home. We found him this afternoon in a backyard on Withmere Way. We have lived in Dunwoody for many years, but this experience has really showed us the true community of Dunwoody. We would like to thank all our family and friends for their relentless searching (too many to name right here but you all know who you are), as well as total strangers who reached out with sightings info, offerings of help and some just calling and e-mailing to check on the search. We will be eternally grateful to the Dunwoody community for bringing Charlie back to us!

2. Green Market .... For those of you looking for the Green Market it has moved to the Spruill Center Gallery which is located on the corner of Ashford Dunwoody Rd and Asbury Square. The Green Market will still be on Wednesday mornings with the same vendors and great selections. The reason for the move was the Post Office needed the old location space do to the closing of the Post Office Branch on Shallowford Rd.

3. Paving ... There are three different paving projects that are on going somewhat simultaneously by three different contractors ... Paving is a great enhancement to our City but paving will require patience from all of us as there will be traffic disruptions.  Full Depth Reclamation Paving (FDRP) .... There are seven streets in this project ... These are streets that had extensive deterioration and lacked adequate pavement thickness for normal resurfacing. FDRP is a process where the existing pavement is completely pulverized, mixed with the underlying soil and then cement is added to form a stabilized base which is then overlain with new asphalt pavement. (That is probably more info than you needed.) One of those streets in now complete in Leisure Valley ... this is street DC accepted before our cityhood. The street wasn't up to specs and by default the responsibility fell upon us when we became a city ... (as you know the City has responsibility for all streets and roads within our boundaries). This is a new construction area where the old builders went broke. We were fortunate enough to work out an arrangement where the new builders paid about 56% of the cost. The other streets in this project are... Tennille Ct, Vernon Oaks Dr, Tichenor Ct, Broughton Ct, Tyndall Ct and Arnaud Ct. Total cost of this portion of the repaving is approx. $370K.

Capital Paving Plan (CPP). CPP is the type of paving we have done in the last two years. This process involved milling the streets, deep patching the bad spots and then overlain with new asphalt. This work was started over a week ago on Perimeter Center East which is currently a little over half done. The other streets in this project are Ashford Ctr Pkwy, portions of Winters Chapel Rd, Ashley Ct, Sanlee Ln, Arrie Way, Lakesprings Cr, Lakesprings Ct, Charmant Pl, Joel Pl, Joel Ln and W. Fontainbleau Ct. The rain we had last week slowed progress on this project but I won't complain about the rain as it was needed to get our lawns, etc. back to good health.

The third Paving Project is the enhancements on Mt Vernon Rd … this includes widening the road, adding curb and gutter where needed, adding sidewalks on the south side and repaving ... there will be bike lanes as part of this enhancement. There will be some tree removal (which is currently in progress) involved in this project to accommodate the sidewalks. A second part of this project is enhancement to Chamblee Dunwoody Rd south of Womack Rd. This portion of the project has been put on temporary hold pending the outcome of a "shovel ready" grant that we found and have applied for ... we are awaiting the outcome of that grant application.

4. City Signage ... Thanks to all of you for your input. There is a blond lady that I hang around with a lot and she also agrees with your point of view. You can rest easy as we are going back to the "drawing board" on the city/way finding signage. That is one of the reasons we became a city .... your representatives are fellow citizens that you know, and can contact easily and they will respond. The public feedback is a key part in running our city as long as that feedback is not individual self-motivated ... in this case it definitely worked. I was out on the road with the paving crews this week and I have a fairly good working knowledge of that subject. When it comes to art and signs ... I personally can't even draw a "stick man." We will get a couple of graphic art type folks combined with some citizens with a good corporate knowledge of historic Dunwoody and proceed forward.

5. Voting ... Candidate Primaries and other major issues are on the 31 JUL 2102 election ballot .... just nine days for today. This is your website for all voting Information ... http://web.co.dekalb.ga.us/Voter/default.html

How and Where to Vote ... See under "Normal Voting" below for instructions to see "specific" sample ballot for your area of DC.

You can still vote absentee but time is getting short. Go to the above website and on the left side of the page click on "Application and Forms" and in the middle of the next page click on "Absentee Ballot Application." Fill out the application -- remember this is a primary and you must choose either a Republican or Democratic Ballot (the general non-partisan issues will be on both on these ballots). At this date I recommend you fax your ballot application to DC Election Office (DCEO) ... Fax Ph # is 404-298-4038. Your application must be received NLT 4 PM on Friday, 27 JUL ... You will receive your ballot in the mail .... fill it out and mail it back to the address shown. To be counted your ballot must be received NLT 31 JUL at the DCEO.

Advance Voting ... Advance Voting is voting in person from 7 AM to 7 PM at five polling places around DC starting 23 thru 27 JUL 2012 ... the closest Advance Voting Polling Place to us is Chamblee City Hall, 5468 Peachtree Rd, Chamblee, GA 30341. Remember whenever you vote in person you need a picture ID.

Normal Voting ... Normal Voting will be at your regular polling place on Tuesday, 31 JUL from 7 AM to 7 PM. To find your regular polling place go to the above website, click on "Current Election Information" ... first items on the top left column ... and on the next page click on "Voter Specific Sample Ballot," it is the second item in the center of the page, fill out the required personal information and click "submit" and a page will come up showing your polling place and location. Also about 1/2 way down that page you will see a paragraph entitled "Your Sample Ballot(s)" and at the bottom of that paragraph you can select the "specific" Republican or Democratic ballot for you area of DC.

My Comment of Voting ... Over the last 10 months I have been the senior Marine at the funeral, in the Atlanta area, for two very patriotic young Marines who lost their lives preserve your privilege to vote. Pls. keep faith with them by voting at this and all subsequent elections!

6. TSPLOST .... This issue, among others, will be on all ballots for the 31 JUL election. Basically it adds a one cent to the sales tax in each region. There are 12 regions in the state and DeKalb and nine other counties are in the region which encompasses the greater Atlanta Region. Each of the 12 regions across the state will vote independent of each other whether or not to pass TSPLOST … i.e., only those regions that vote in favor of TSPLOST will have TSPLOST. As I see it the positive for Dunwoody are ... we would get approx. $12 million from the regional funds to complete the Mt Vernon Rd enhancement from the city east boundary to Ashford Dunwoody Rd and additional $112.5 Million with $337.5 million in matching federal funds to enhance the I-285 / 400 intersection plus we would get approx. $800 — 900K annually for the 10 year life of TSPLOST for capital road enhancements within our city. The negative are it is a sales tax increase of approx. 14% ... also we are the only region to have a 85%/15% split where 85% of the funds go to regional projects across the region and 15% of the funds go to local projects for the individual counties and cities ...… all other regions have a 75% / 25% split. The last negative factor is trust. How you vote is your decision ... you decide!

7. DeKalb County Fire & Rescue (DCF&R) ...… Currently DCF&R is planning on outsourcing ambulance service in DC. There is currently a Request for Proposal (RFP) on the street with a due date of 9 AUG 2012. If this project goes forth this will probably be implemented sometime later this fall. This is brought on by the fiscal issues in DC. How it is currently envisioned to work is that when you place an EMT / Paramedic 911 call the first response would be a fire truck from one of our fire stations and on the truck will be an EMT and a Paramedic. At the same time the contract ambulance will be dispatched to the scene with an EMT and Paramedic on board to take anyone who requires it to a medical facility. I will keep you updated as this situation develops. I like the current system better.

8. Stage Door Players (SDP) ... Meredy and I went to see SDP production of "High Society" last night ... all we can say it was excellent and we highly recommend the play. The remaining shows are on Th, Fr and Sat 26, 27 & 28 JUL and 2, 3 and 4 AUG @ 8 PM ... There is also a Sunday Matinee on 29 JUL and 5 AUG at I think 2:30 PM. Call 770-396-1726 or go on line at info@stage door players.net. The plays have been sold out so get your tickets early. If you haven't been to SDP we would highly recommend you start supporting this crown jewel intimate theater of Dunwoody. One day I envision some of our generous citizens stepping forward with the funds to renovate the Brook Run Theater (I am pretty sure we can get the votes to name it after you) which would be a venue enhancement while more that doubling the seating capacity.

9. City Meetings and Event of Interest ...
23 JUL @ 7 PM ... City Council Meeting @ City Hall
24 JUL @ 1 PM ... Dunwoody Design Review Committee Meeting ... At the Dunwoody Homeowners Association Office ... 5527 Chamblee Dunwoody Rd.
24 JUL @ 4 PM ... Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) Meeting at City Hall
26 JUL @ 7 PM ... TSPLOST Forum @ Georgia Perimeter College (GPC)
28 JUL @ 7 PM ... Dunwoody Nature Center (DNC) Summer Concert @ the DNC ... Bring your food and beverages in a picnic basket and enjoy a wonderful evening for the entire family.
01 AUG @ 7 PM ... Dunwoody Zoning and Land Development Code Rewrite ... Public meeting @ The Fellowship Hall @ DUMC

10. Dunwoody Bakery Grand Re-opening ... I attended this event this passed week. Jill, the owner tells me she uses all organic ingredients and everything is also gluten free. She is going to start serving lunch starting in August.

11. Pat Sadler .... At tomorrow night's city council meeting we will honor Pat Sadler who for the last ten years has been the President of Dunwoody Senior Baseball. Pat, is moving to NC to retire and play golf. Pat, on behalf of all the citizens of our fair city ... Thanks You! You are my definition of a real "community activist."

12. It is about time I put an end to this update before I have to get a copy write. Please pass this on to all your friends, neighbors, members of your HOA or anyone else you think maybe interested. If anyone would like to be added to my email list please let me know and I will make that happen. Thanks for your continued support and remember that each of us are the City.

Let Us Continue To Build Our City Together

Denny Shortal
Dunwoody City Council, District One, Post-1
Mayor Pro Tem
denis.shortal@dunwoodyga.gov
PH (O) 678-382-6700 (C) 678-246-9006