| 1482 Dresden Drive - Close Call Overnight in Brookhaven, elevated winds and saturated ground proved to be more than some trees could handle. In Ashford Park at 1482 Dresden Drive, in an unbelievably close call, a large Red Oak fell, narrowly missing a house, however the small SUV - just 6 feet away, had its front end crushed. This tree, if it fell just a few feet further to the left, would have crushed the home. A time to be thankful no one was injured and the home is still in tact. It appears Georgia Power had already repaired the power line the tree took out as it fell to the ground. TheBrookhavenPost.com arrived on the scene at 7:00 AM and the connection from the power pole to the home was reconnected. Fallen Trees Take Out Pump Generator - 2 Trees Fall - 2 More Leaning Over Power Lines In the Cambridge Park neighborhood - on Stratfield Dr. (Near the corner of Stratfield and Ashford Dunwoody) - 2 trees fell taking out a generator that powers a large stormwater pump. Dekalb County Department of Watershed Management and Stormwater Management were dispatched to the site around 2 AM according to workers on the scene. The generator that drives the pump will be replaced, however, there will likely be a temporary one installed to get the pump back up and running quickly. |     |
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 1.24 Town Hall Meeting - 200+ in Attendance. PhotoCredit: The Brookhaven Post The First City of Brookhaven Town Hall Meeting, held January 24th at 7:30 PM, in the Woodruff Auditorium at Marist School.
The purpose of the the event was to introduce the Mayor and City Council and the City’s department heads, provide departmental updates and processes, present updates on the City’s ordinances, future plans, and provide time for City of Brookhaven citizens to ask questions of the Mayor, Council and staff. Getting the evening underway, Mayor Davis provided a brief summary of events beginning with the swearing in on Dec 10 (video here) and since that date Davis explained that they have been going through a rapid series of events such as City Council Meetings, Work Sessions, etc., ensuring that the City get started up as the Charter dictated on December 17th. On December 17th, the newly elected Mayor and Council held their first City Council meeting in the history of the City of Brookhaven at 12:01 AM (Video Here). Later in the day on December 17th there was a ribbon cutting ceremony at Brookhaven City Hall (Video Here). Mayor Davis fast forwarded to January 18th, where he explained that City Operations and Community Development started taking applications for alcohol licenses, business licenses, and building permits. Two days before, the City held an open house where over 120 people attended, signifying a high degree of interest for prospective business.  Mayor J Max Davis and the City of Brookhaven have released their 2013 Proposed Budget.
"As required by the City Charter, it is my pleasure to submit for your consideration the proposed Fiscal Year (FY) 2013 budget for the City of Brookhaven. Over the years, many citizens have poured countless hours and worked passionately to create true local control and a more responsive government for Georgia’s newest City. I look forward to working together to create a vibrant and proactive City; one focused on accessibility, transparency and provision of the level of services our citizens deserve. We have been entrusted to provide nothing less and together we will be held accountable as stewards. As Brookhaven’s first mayor, I ask you to join me as we meet the needs of our great community." "The FY 2013 budget will present challenges. As was expected, our first year budget revenues are significantly less than they will be in our first full year of operations and revenue projected for 2014. However, our FY 2013 Budget anticipates enough revenue to support a responsive and transparent City while remaining within the millage rate cap outlined in the charter. For our first year, I recommend we adopt the 3.35 mill maximum outlined in the charter. Though my preference is a lower millage rate, I do not feel that would be a responsible recommendation for our first year due to the high level of demands from years of neglect, the significant revenue sources not received until 2014, a troubled real estate market just starting to rebound, and the unknown expenses we may face during our first year. With that being said, it is my strong desire that staff and Council exercise the restraint and oversight needed to reduce this rate for our residents as early as next year." "During our first year the City will lack the financial reserves needed in order to stabilize the cash flow needs of operations as compared to what we will have in 2014." On the heels of last nights Brookhaven Town Hall Meeting, Mayor Davis informed the citizens that 2014 will bring a full budget - just as the CVI predicted with "no surprises."  On several occasions, during City of Brookhaven City Council Meetings, the topic of a Brookhaven Police Force has been discussed. The conversations have been very consistent - that plans are for the City to assemble a Police Force in Summer 2013...but it has also been discussed - nearly in the same breath - the need to get a Permanent City Manager hired as soon as possible, who will ultimately hire the Chief of Police.
In an email sent out by Mayor J Max Davis on January 23rd, Mayor Davis explains, "We should have our City Manager search wrapped up in February. This will let us start building our Police Department which should be up and running this Summer." Some factors that will play a roll in the creation of our own Police Force are adopting the 2013 Budget, the number of officers our budget will support, Intergovernmental Agreements (IGA) for Special Units such as S.W.A.T., Bomb Squad, Gang Units, etc. And not to mention, what the Brookhaven IGA with the County for Police has/will cost the City while we are getting our framework solidified. It really does boil down to what we can afford as a City - across the board.  The meeting began at 7:30 PM with a full City Council and Administration present, who were joined by 16 citizens and media. The Invocation was delivered by Rabbi Hayyim Kassorla who also gave a brief history of Congregation Or VeShalom.
Announcements included an explanation and details of the January 24th City of Brookhaven Town Hall meeting at Marist School by Interim Deputy City Manager, JD Clockadale. "Essentially the Town Hall is built to give some brief presentations by Mayor, City Council and various departments, but it's really designed for citizens to provide input and/or get questions answered by those who are running the city on a day-to-day basis." The event will introduce the Mayor and City Council and the City’s department heads. They will provide departmental updates and processes, present updates on the City’s ordinances, future plans, and will also provide time for residents to ask questions of the Mayor, Council and staff.  The City of Brookhaven Public Works Department is off and running on their first day on the job. Mayor J Max Davis was on hand to inspect the first pothole repair in the history of The City of Brookhaven. The repair work is currently under way at 1883 Manville Dr. This pothole, was reported to the Public Works Department a day or so ago via SeeClickFix, an application that citizens can download onto their smartphone, which enables the citizen to snap a photograph of the issue. SeeClickFix records their GPS location and upon the citizen clicking the "Submit" button, the app sends an alert to Brookhaven Public Works. Lowe Engineers, the public/private partner with the city and RoadWorx crews were making the repair. A short video of the work being performed is below the photo gallery.
 The First Town Hall Meeting by an elected City of Brookhaven official was held on Wednesday night in the Recreation Building at Ashford Park. Jim Eyre, City of Brookhaven Councilman for District 2; along with the Mayor and fellow Councilpersons, have been hard at work building the foundation on which our new City of Brookhaven will rest. The meeting began with a presentation by Councilman Eyre - providing a snapshot of what has transpired during the first 30 days in the life of our new city. "With the city being in existence for 30 days now, I want to take an opportunity to let you know where we've been...we've gotten official business out of the way, we've passed codes, we've passed ordinances, we've passed resolutions, that set us up as a city...now we can start looking forward to the fun stuff [park master plans, etc.] - we've got the building blocks set." After Jim completed his presentation, he took questions from the audience and had a great open exchange of information and ideas. One of those questions was, "How much money has been spent so far?" Councilman Eyre answered, "We've asked that question. We're supposed to be getting a budget report shortly. While we have been constructing the real budget, we just signed the vendor contracts this week and Marie [Garrett - Interim City Manager] is getting a summary of those." Councilman Eyre, assured the attendees that he too is anxious to get the summaries and is pushing to have those as soon as possible. In terms of the actual full budget, Councilman Eyre explained that the Brookhaven Fiscal year was established to run from January 1st to December 31st - and that the 2013 Budget will likely be established in mid to late February each calendar year. Additionally, Councilman Eyre noted that there will be public meetings once the budget is nearing it's adoption date.
 7:30 PM Public Hearing On a rainy night in Brookhaven, the Brookhaven City Council assembled at the Cowart Family YMCA on Ashford Dunwoody Rd for a pair of meetings. The Mayor and City Council were joined by a small showing of citizens, vendors, attorneys and media. First up for the evening was the 7:30 PM Public Hearing where Bob Dallas, a citizen of Dunwoody who sits on the board of the YMCA here in Brookhaven, welcomed the Mayor and City Council. Mayor J Max Davis opened the Public Hearing on the Zoning Ordinance. Mayor Davis solicited the attendees for any persons who wished to speak "for" or "against" the Brookhaven Zoning Ordinance. With no public interest in discussion, Mayor Davis closed the Public Meeting on Zoning. The Council moved on to the next agenda item:
Moving on to the second Public Hearing of the evening, Mayor Davis again called for public input on the issue of the Brookhaven Sign Ordinance. No public opinion as offered. The Public Hearing on the Sign Ordinance was closed. On to the last item on the Public Hearing schedule:
The Public Hearing Meeting of 7:30 Adjourned.  8:00 PM
Special Called Meeting Brookhaven Mayor, J Max Davis called the 8:00 PM meeting to order, followed by a Roll Call by our new City Clerk, Susan Hiott. In attendance was a full city council; with the exception of District 4 Councilman Gebbia, however, there was a quorum had. Most of the audience from the 7:30 PM Public Hearing remained. Mayor Davis and Council moved through the agenda in order which led to Item K:
 A very cozy, standing room only crowd, met tonight in the "Little White House" on Caldwell Rd. in Ashford Park. There was a full council on hand and this was the first Council meeting with our newly hired Brookhaven City Clerk, Susan Hiott at the helm. Not attending was Bill Riley, Interim City Attorney, although another attorney from his firm was present as his surrogate.
To kick things off, Dennis Williams, Pink Pony CFO and Executive Vice President, addressed the council. Mr. Williams and his partner opened the Pink Pony 22 years ago. Mr. Williams stated that he wanted to address the council from a human perspective - rather from a legal perspective. He spoke of long-term employees - some of which have been with the Pink Pony for 20 years. According to Mr. Williams his employees are in jeopardy of losing their jobs if the Brookhaven City Council adopts the Sexually Oriented Business Ordinance that it is considering which could prohibit the sale of alcohol on the premesis. "Not keeping us in the format we agreed to for all of these years with Dekalb County, it's going to take money out of the pockets of fathers and mothers...their incomes are going to be dramatically affected." Mr. Williams stated the number of employees that could lose their jobs could be as many as 280 to 300 people. "..because competitively with the City of Atlanta and surrounding clubs, the format which would be introduced is not competitive." In closing, Mr. Williams assured the Council that they would continue to run a tight ship and continue to be a responsible and good corporate neighbor. Click HERE for the Full Story. |
