Dunwoody Council Candidates Get Look At City Services

By DAVID MARKIEWICZ / The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Saturday, August 16, 2008

Candidates for Dunwoody’s first council got a look Saturday at what might serve as the blueprints for the new DeKalb County city.

Task forces set up to study the best ways to provide municipal services when Dunwoody begins to operate Dec. 1 issued their reports to the candidates at an all-day session.

The reports are only recommendations and are non-binding. But they likely will carry significant weight with new council members, who will have little time to prepare for cityhood after Sept. 16, when they and a mayor will be elected.

Candidates for the six council seats heard reports on zoning, courts, parks and police, among other areas.The lengthiest presentation, though, came from the private company that wants to provide basic services to the city.

Representatives from CH2M Hill explained how the firm would provide services such as planning and zoning, inspections and permitting and code enforcement and how it would help secure grant funds if the council chooses to hire it.

The firm does such work for other new metro Atlanta cities – Sandy Springs, Johns Creek, Milton and Chattahoochee Hill Country. The company was selected over another bidder by a panel appointed by the Citizens for Dunwoody Inc., the group that headed the task force effort.
Oliver Porter, a consultant to Dunwoody in its cityhood preparations, said council members could set up their own municipal operation, but that would be far costlier than hiring an outside contractor.

Rick Hirsekorn, vice president for CH2M Hill, said the company already has selected the staff that will work for Dunwoody, if the council selects the firm. The company also has a building that initially would be used as a city hall.

As for the recommendations in the task force reports, council candidate Tom Taylor summarized them by saying that the groups asked for a higher and costlier level of services than was projected in a budget submitted to Dunwoody by the Carl Vinson Institute of Government at the University of Georgia.

Taylor noted that the police task force, which he chaired, recommended a police budget of about $3.4 million in the first year of the city, compared with the $2.8 million projected cost in the Vinson study.