The City of Dunwoody, Georgia, has a land mass of 13.03 square miles, a population of 51,779 and 54% live in single family homes. The City of Dunwoody's proposed General Fund budget for 2024 was $33.4 million with 61 employees.
The City of Dunwoody contracts with Engineering Companies to develop road intersection projects. They choose Road Work Contractors based on a “scoring system”. Prices have quadrupled. They offer subsidies to attract companies to locate in Dunwoody. They focus on creating “gathering venues”, more parks, 12 foot Multi- Purpose Paths and “walkability”. We have empty bike lanes. All paths lead to MARTA Trains at Perimeter Mall.
In the real world, Dunwoody residents all use cars to shop for groceries. Many live in subdivisions that have their own swimming pools and tennis and pickleball courts. Most walkers remain in their subdivisions and visit neighbors. Cul de sacs are used to play kick ball.
Dunwoody Voters routinely vote NO on Bond issues to buy more Parks. They resist projects like 12 foot paths that seize their easements.
The Dunwoody
Veterans Memorial Building in Brook Run Park, located at 4770 N Peachtree Rd,
Dunwoody, GA, primarily hosts the City of Dunwoody's annual Memorial Day
Ceremony and Veterans Day events. These events include patriotic
performances, speakers, and wreath-laying ceremonies at the Veterans
Memorial. Additionally, the building and surrounding park are used for
other community events, such as the Walk
with a Doc program, which
meets near the Veterans Memorial, and the Food
Truck Thursdays event. The
building itself is often rented out for various community events and
gatherings.
The Veterans Memorial is small and there are no on-going Veteran’s activities that have ever been scheduled. The purpose of this “monument” is to have everyone gather there on “Memorial Day”. Another use of this space is to host random outdoor gatherings if any are needed.
Veterans tend to meet throughout the year in their own facilities like VFW Halls. The $490,000 approved to fix the leaking roof sounds excessive. Building yet another “gathering place” is not “critical infrastructure”.
Dunwoody likes to fund non-critical infrastructure for “entertainment” and ignores critical infrastructure like roads and storm water pipes. We have empty bike lanes. The seizure of easements from homeowners and the12 foot multiuse paths need to stop. Dunwoody road improvements are too expensive and make things worse. More parks and Greenspace are unnecessary around subdivisions. “Saving” Perimeter Mall is not a priority for homeowners in subdivisions. The Perimeter Mall is 30% unoccupied. Building more Apartments is being resisted.
MARTA rail was built to connect shopping malls. Now the shopping malls are failing. Apartment rentals are replacing the shopping malls. Now MARTA bus routes are replacing previous “Rail Expansion”.
Many established Subdivisions with large homes on large lots are stable. A few Subdivisions with large homes on small lots between subdivisions are stable. A few clusters of Town Homes with no lots in commercial areas are stable. A few established Apartment building in between subdivisions are stable. A few Subdivisions with small homes on small lots are either overpriced if new or in need of repair.
Lemonade Days Festival: For several years, 100% of the proceeds from the Lemonade Days Festival, a public event, were directed towards supporting Donaldson farm's rehabilitation and management. It is yet another “gathering place”.
The overspending by the Dunwoody City Counsel is reversable, but will require replacing the entire city counsel with candidates who will focus on reducing costs. The Georgia Legislature will need to repeal “Regionalism Laws” and tighten their city charters to prepare for less federal funding. Despite Dunwoody’s Republican Roots, the entire city counsel is composed of Democrats who support adding recreation to the city priorities. This is a “City Manager” run city. The Mayor chairs the meetings. The City Counsel is preoccupied with layers of “Master Plans”.
According to recent reports and statements from the Trump administration's US Department of Transportation (USDOT) led by Secretary Sean Duffy, the department's priorities have shifted away from certain areas that were emphasized under the previous administration, including funding primarily for bicycle infrastructure like recreational trails and shared-use paths.
While funding for some existing formula-funded programs under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (like the Surface Transportation Block Grant Program and National Highway Performance Program), which may indirectly support such projects, continues, there's uncertainty surrounding the future of funding for projects that don't align with the Trump administration's priorities.
In particular, a leaked internal memo directed USDOT operating administrations to review competitively awarded grants and potentially remove or reprogram funds for "activities that are allocating funding to advance climate, equity, and other priorities counter to the Administration's Executive Orders," including those where the primary purpose is bicycle infrastructure.
Therefore,
while some federal funds may still be available through formula grants, it
is uncertain whether the Trump administration's USDOT will actively continue to
provide dedicated grants specifically for 12-foot multi-purpose paths.
Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader
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