The Board Members in attendance were: Larry Adams, Stephen Barton, Robin Burch, Dennis Crean, Greg Crnkovich, Tom Dwyer, Bob Fiscella, Bill Grossman, Renate Herod, Alan Mothner, Gerri Penn, Howard Westcott, Jean Williams, and John Heneghan.
Bill Grossman, President, welcomed all Board members and visitors.
Announcement and Political Campaign Speakers
- Michael Rothenberg is running for DeKalb County Superior Court Judge
- Eric Christ is the Democrat running for State Senate seat District 40.
- Robert James, the former Solicitor General of DeKalb County, is running for DeKalb County DA
Approval of Minutes – The minutes for September 12, 2010 meeting were approved unanimously.
Community Affairs
- Candidate Forum – Bill Grossman said the Candidate Forum is on Oct. 26th at 7 p.m. in the Fellowship Hall at Dunwoody United Methodist Church. The Crier is running an ad for three consecutive weeks. The Forum is limited to three political races, State House, State Senate and School Board District 1. Bill is hoping for a good turnout and mentioned the poor turn out at the recent School Board Forum sponsored by Edukalb. We are allowed to use the DHA Crier ad for our neighborhood organizations.
- LUD 2010 – Renate announced that Light Up Dunwoody will be on November 21 and starts at 4:30 p.m. It will be much smaller than last year and will cost less. The parade will start at 4:30 p.m. at the DHA office and will proceed to the Farmhouse. Santa will be on the porch of the Farmhouse and photos may be taken. There is no cost to the public for photos. Renate is getting estimates for sound systems and a DJ. The tree will be on the Farmhouse grounds and the lighting will be at 6 p.m. After the lighting, people can walk to the Dunwoody Nature Center for cocoa. Renate said the committee has not made a push for sponsors yet.
- Code Enforcement - Gerri met with Tom LaPenna of Code Enforcement. Walton Ashwood Apartments passed reinspection. Two Blocks Apartments has complied with about 50% of their 80 violations. Peachtree Place North had approximately 1,500 violations and has 30 days to come back to the City with a plan of action. The next inspection is Amli Perimeter Place. It is one building with 323 units. The City now has four approved 3rd party certified inspectors to inspect the interior of all apartment units All apartment complexes must have all of the interiors of their units inspected in order to renew their business license.
Messages and Updates from the President
- Georgetown Kroger – Bill Grossman said that Coro Realty has been in negotiations with Kroger for a rehabilitation and expansion of their store and shopping center. The Georgetown Village Committee met with representatives from Coro and Kroger. To expand their space, Kroger will be taking over the Tuesday morning space and the store will have a new interior. Kroger may be ready to come before the DHA Board in November.
- Membership Direct Mailing Campaign – Bill G. said that the mailings will only go out to the 30338 and 30360 zip codes. The City will tag on to our mailing. There will be two different letters one for renewals and the other for the membership campaign that goes to everyone else who is not currently a member. Bill also said they are going to try and use the web to survey existing members but he is not sure if we will be using Survey Monkey. Bill said he is open to suggestions for other survey companies. Greg asked if the mailing will be going to the Perimeter area and Bill said it won’t this year.
Board Only Discussion
- Bill Grossman said that Mark Berkholder the owner of the former Ace Home Place Shopping Center said that Chik Fil A was interested in the former Blockbuster location. They would have to get a rezoning in order to have a drive thru window. Dennis said he took an informal survey of 35 people and 34 of them were in favor of a Chik Fil A and one did not have an opinion. Dennis wanted to see if anyone could take a pulse of how people feel in the surrounding neighborhoods. Greg feels Chik Fil A is the best of the fast food restaurants but has a concern with the drive thru window and referenced the Chik Fil A in Sandy Springs and the problems there. Greg thought it would be good to see if Mark Berkholder would be willing to knock down the former Ace building and make a connecting road from N. Peachtree at Mt. Vernon to Jett Ferry.
- Robin Burch asked for feedback on the retention pond at DHS. She said that no one from DHA is working with the School Board on this and part of the pond is on the right of way. It was suggested that maybe the School System could participate in the Adopt a Spot program for landscaping. There actually may be some money for landscaping.
- Bill Grossman announced that the Executive Board had approved funding for Charlene to get a new computer and funding for the Crier ad for the Candidate Forum.
The meeting was adjourned