The next time you contemplate trash day, you may want to ponder whether or not you could live with just one pick-up per week or you absolutely, positively, must have two per week.

We have been reporting for a few weeks now that DeKalb County is lowering the number of trash pick ups from two times per week to once per week. Yard waste and recycling will continue to be picked up one time per week each - just as they are now. The kicker is that if it is decided to keep the rates the same as they are now - we will get 25% less service for the same money - 50% less service when looking at trash pick-up alone. 

According to Mayor J Max Davis, our City Administration will be able to decide for us whether we accept the plan as proposed by DeKalb County or whether we want to pay extra for exactly the same service we enjoy now. This is why you need to take 5 minutes to let the City know your preference and have your opinion counted.

Mayor Davis said during a January 22 City Council Meeting that he thinks the one day per week pick-up may lead to really stinky trash and that he prefers the two day per week trash pick-up - but does understand that paying $40 more per year is an issue as well for some citizens.

The two likely scenarios are:

1. 1 Recycling, 1 Yard Waste, 1 Trash Pickup
   = Costs stay the same, lose 1 Trash Pickup.
2. 1 Recycling, 1 Yard Waste, 2 Trash Pickup
   = Cost will rise $40.00 per year, Service stays the same.

Note: Despite rising costs for labor and operations, this is the first proposed change in DeKalb sanitation fees since 2007.

If you have an opinion and would like to address the Mayor or your City Councilperson beyond what you are capable of in the survey above, here is their email address information:

• Mayor J Max Davis: jmax.davis@brookhaven-ga.us
  
• Rebecca Chase Williams - District 1: rebecca.williams@brookhavenga.gov
• Jim Eyre - District 2: jim.eyre@brookhavenga.gov
• Bates Mattison - District 3: bates.mattison@brookhavenga.gov
• Joe Gebbia - District 4: joe.gebbia@brookhavenga.gov

Present*:
Mayor J Max Davis, District 1 Councilwoman – Rebecca Chase Williams, District 2 Councilman – Jim Eyre, City Clerk – Susan Hiott, Interim City Manager – Marie Garrett, Interim City Attorney – Bill Riley, * District 3 Councilman – Bates Mattison, joined later

The meeting got under way with a review of the City Charter by Bill Riley. The first topic was a discussion on Term Limits.

"We’ve looked at that [Term Limits for the Mayor] and term limits are only of course for the Mayor, there’s been some discussion of having 2 full terms instead of a partial term and a full term for the Mayor. After some research we think that probably we’re going to need to have that passed at the Legislature rather than by home rule since it is an election matter”, said Riley. “If that’s something that you [Mayor Davis] desire we can certainly get it into this years hopper and see if we can’t get it through if that would be the desire of the Council on that.”

According to the "Let's Talk Trash" schedule, the last public outreach meeting on Sanitation will be held this weekend.

Saturday, Feb 2, 9 AM
Chapel Hill Middle School
3535 Dogwood Farm Rd
Decatur, GA 30034

At the 1.22.13 City Council Meeting, Mayor J Max Davis brought up Sanitation (Trash, Recycling, and Yard Waste), where Bill Riley explained that the City has pursued an IGA with service levels to remain as they are today. There is a kink in that plan, however. As many of the Brookhaven Citizens may already know, Dekalb County is considering countywide rate increases for Sanitation Services. Bill Riley explains, "I would anticipate that when they [Dekalb County] make a decision on what they are going to do, they will come to the cities and offer either once a week or twice a week for Garbage pickup...whenever they do it, it will go to all the cities at one time...they will present a couple of options and the cities will vett and choose the option and build the IGA around that." 

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.