Sanitation Forum #1

Tonight was the first of three scheduled public forums on the sanitation issue here in Dunwoody. Warren and Council should save everyone the time and hassle of two more forums and cancel them both. The Dunwoody sanitation issue is done - stick a fork in it. After tonight's presentation I cannot see how any council member can go ahead with issuing an RFP on sanitation. Doing so would be a waste of time and money.

I liked tonight's set-up. I congratulate whomever set it up (perhaps Warren?). After hearing opening remarks from City manager Warren and Jeff Timler the audience was treated to six well-informed speakers on the issue.

I was expecting more folks in the audience, but it was rainy and a decent football game was on TV. Only the Lawrence Welk crowd showed up, in addition to the entire council (except Danny Ross) and the mayor. Of course farmer Bob was there as were maybe three other folks under age 65. The Dunwoody elderly folks are still mad about that closing post office so don't mess with them on this trash issue.

DeKalb Sanitation started things off with a presentation from Billy Malone and Ted Reinhart. A Powerpoint display (no popcorn) covered the basics, reminding and educating the audience of DeKalb's umbrella coverage regarding removing waste. DeKalb has been sending trucks out here since the 1940's. Rumor has it the first ever Dunwoody trash pickup was five empty cases of moonshine from the beloved Farmhouse. Seems like even back in the day the Dunwoody folks could throw a party.

DeKalb made many great points. One thing I did not know is they do not collect before 8 AM. I like that. A Waste Management truck used to rumble through our neighborhood around 7 AM - I did not like that.

Next we heard from a representative from the city of Chamblee. Chamblee handles its own trash service. Chamblee has only 12,000 folks and only 900 homes so their situation is unlike Dunwoody. Chamblee has three garbage trucks (costing over $100,000 each). I won't waste time on the Chamblee situation as Dunwoody never was considering starting our own service, but at least we got that option out of the way. It is important to note that Chamblee fees do not cover the costs and the city has to pull several hundred thousand dollars a year from their general fund to subsidize sanitation.

Moving on we heard from Mr. Howe from Doraville. Doraville opted out of county sanitation and went private in 2005. Doraville is much smaller than Dunwoody. Folks in Doraville pay $200 instead of the county rate of $265 but their level of service dropped as well. In the end, Mr Howe advised Dunwoody to keep what it has with DeKalb and not go private. Big words from someone whose city four years ago was where we are now.

Next was Sandy Springs representative Mr. Black. Being that Dunwoody is the little brother of Sandy Springs, I'm glad our neighbors sent someone over. I have to note that although Mr. Black works for Sandy Springs, he was with DeKalb for many years so he may be either biased or just wise with experience. I'll call him wise. He mentioned that Sandy Springs is private but said,

"I don't know why you'd go private here. It's (DeKalb) an excellent service at a great price."

One key thing Mr. Black reminded us about was the 1998 tornado that hit Dunwoody. he worked for DeKalb then and said DeKalb sanitation sent 60 crews out here and got the roads cleared and the debris out of here. He did not mention it but it goes without saying that Waste Management nor any other private company could not offer that level of service if such a disaster were to happen again. I think this was one of the most important points of the night. Warren and the other outsiders working for / running the city did not live here then and do not know of the destruction that took place.

Side note: This same issue was raised during the police decision. Could a Dunwoody PD handle a large-scale operation like DeKalb police could? Could Dunwoody PD have investigators, air support, SWAT, etc? The answer is no now, but sanitation and law enforcement are different. With a civil unrest situation or a need for tactical officers, we could call in other government agencies. With a tornado type situation Sandy Springs could not lend a hand with Waste Management and Doraville could not send ADS (their private trash hauler) to assist. Not comparing apples to apples, but worth noting.

Mr. Black states that DeKalb Sanitation has one of the top composting sites in the entire USA. Mr. Black of Sandy Springs could not speak more highly of DeKalb Sanitation.

Last up was a man from the State Dept. of Community Affairs. He said DeKalb is the largest public sanitation operation in the state. He said DeKalb landfill has 65 years worth of room, the largest on the east coast. The state average for landfill capacity is 27 years. He did mumble something about a use-based system whereas the more trash you have the more you pay (pay by the bag kinda deal). He said this type of system encouraged waste reduction. The only thing it encouraged tonight was grumbling from the Lawarence Welk folks sitting in front of me.

In review, the entire panel was pretty clear that Dunwoody should keep what it has now.

Public comment was not much, just a few supporters. One thing I liked was my district (district 1) councilman Robert Wittenstein standing up to ask a question during public comment.

Side note: The mayor and council folks had to sit not in their comfy leather swivel/rocker chairs up front, but instead the hard seats in the audience. The council folks brought padded seat cushions for their delicate butts. They were made of corduroy, all matching, with an image of the Farmhouse stitched in silk. I think they were gifts from the Dunwoody Preservation trust knitting club.

Anyway, Mr. Wittenstein put it out there, asking the county directly, 'can we stay with DeKalb and continue to pay the same as other DeKalb residents'? I could not think of a better question to ask. The answer from DeKalb was 'yes'. Although thy cannot guarantee the same rate we have now (they can't promise that rate to anyone in DeKalb either), they said things would stay the same through 2010. But he did say if their was an increase in 2011, it would be for everyone in DeKalb. We'd experience that increase if we did not become a city, so it's a wash. That was good news to hear. Of course the ultimate voice on this will be the DeKalb CEO and the DeKalb commissioners. But from what I gathered the CEO would go along with his Sanitation director. The city of Lithonia is in DeKalb and has kept DeKalb sanitation. They pay the same as we do now.

An interesting comment from the Doraville guy. He mentioned their failed annexation from last year and blamed part of it on sanitation. Those unincorporated DeKalb residents now have DeKalb trash but would have had to switch to Doraville's private system if annexed.

Our fear should be that if we try going private and it fails, would DeKalb Sanitation take us back? Would the CEO an commissioners allow us back in? Probably not.

I see no reason for Dunwoody to venture out and seek bids form private sanitation service. I feel even stronger about this after tonight's meeting.

I anticipate we'll keep DeKalb, with the city taking over the billing and adding a fee of $20 or so per household. Just hope they do a better job than they did getting business licenses switched from DeKalb to the city. But I think the sanitation department will be more willing to simply email an Excel file over with the current accounts.

Roll On DeKalb Trash Man!

Please take a look at my post from last week regarding my visit to the DeKalb Central Transfer Station and SP Recycling.

Charter School for Dunwoody?

Would Dunwoody parents be in support of a private company setting up a charter school in the city of Dunwoody? Depends on the grade level, I guess. Imagine sending your kid to an office building with a floor converted into a school, down near Perimeter Mall. Or perhaps in a renovated building in Brook Run. Your kid would receive a quality education from certified instructors, without much interference from DeKalb County School System.

How does it work? Who pays?

Right now DeKalb School System gets a certain dollar amount per student. I do not know the amount but be sure it is more than enough to educate a child and provide a safe environment (a school, be it a traditional school building or a converted office building).

The state allows charter schools and funding is distributed to the charter school based on enrollment. Depending upon where those kids live, their local district is not issued the funding to educate that child.

What if that money could be assigned to your child then distributed to a charter school (not a typical private school like Marist) instead of say Peachtree Middle School?

I envision a privately run charter school in Dunwoody, serving grades 6-12. The school would be open to city of Dunwoody residents, upon qualifying. The parents would also be required to chip in at the school, perhaps with tutoring, guest lecturing, etc. I'll volunteer to be the school's principal for the first year. Al T. will be the boy's basketball coach and Sustainable Pattie will teach horticulture. Arts Festival Lady of course teaches art class, and General Shortal will be our Civics teacher. Farmer Bob will teach public speaking.

Currently there is a home school type program in Georgia that 'takes' money from DeKalb if you enroll your student in said program. The school is virtual and called GVA. The curriculum is a mix of state required stuff (too bad for that) and content developed by K12, a private company that develops school curriculum. But virtual schooling is not for everyone.

There is a case in the courts now involving the Gwinnett School Board versus Georgia's superintendent of schools and a few other folks. The Gwinnett educators don't want competition for 'their' tax dollars. They (as do all other state school boards) prefer the monopoly system whereas the county/state collects money from everyone then passes that money back to the local school systems.

I'd like to see a true voucher system in place; one allowing for parents to choose between traditional government operated schools, a private charter school, a religious based school, or a home-based education.

Here is one link on the issue. And another link. Here's a final link with lots of interesting (and informing) comments on the Gwinnett issue.

DeKalb Sanitation

Soon Dunwoody residents will be asked to speak at public hearings regarding the issue of trash pickup in Dunwoody. The city has a deal in place with DeKalb that expires in 2010. The city can renew with DeKalb or choose a private vendor (most likely Waste Management or Allied).

The city could choose to open things up and let us, the homeowners, choose who we want. The city could set guidelines and approve private haulers to operate within the city, then homeowners could then select (like we do for natural gas). But I doubt that will happen so no use me discussing that here.

Since I know Council will not open things up, I firmly believe staying with DeKalb is our best option. Many of us did not like some of the 'services' DeKalb provided BD (Before Dunwoody), but I am convinced trash hauling is something we keep.

Not one to hide behind a keyboard waiting for someone to email me a hot story, I hauled myself down to DeKalb's new Central Transfer Station. This place is down near the county jail off of Memorial Drive at I-285.

I toured the new admin building there and met with a DeKalb sanitation official for my tour. Let's back up a minute. DeKalb has three transfer stations: Central, East, and North.

Pretend you are your trash bag. We'll call you 'Brown'. First you'll get filled with all sorts of nasty stuff, then you'll be placed into a large can, most likely outdoors beside the family garage. Then on Monday 'Big Yellow' comes rumbling down the street, a guy jumps off the back bumper and tosses you into the back of the truck. Here you'll make close friends with other Dunwoody trash bags, mainly from your own neighborhood.

Those trucks rolling through Dunwoody can carry 4000 to 16000 pounds of trash (average truck is 4 ton).

Once the truck is full of bags you'll take a ride to Buford Hwy. You'll arrive at the North Transfer Station on Buford Hwy. You'll be dumped onto the ground. Here you'll see your bag friends from the neighborhood, and you'll meet new friends from other parts of Dunwoody. You'll see bags from Vanderlyn area, Chesnut, Kingsley, and some of your Austin bag buddies. Sorta like a swim meet. But don't get too comfortable! A rubber tire loader will scoop you up and put you in a large trailer (these trailers hold 80,000 pounds of trash). This large trailer will then haul you to your final resting place; Seminole Road Landfill.. The Native American ancestors must be proud to have their tribe name chosen for the landfill road. (Waste Management operates their own landfill in N Georgia).

No one seems to care what landfill the trash ends up in, just so we can't smell it. I have heard chatter regarding the recycling program, thus the reason for my adventure to the Central Transfer Station off of Memorial Drive.

It is here your recycling materials go on Wednesday afternoons. I planned my trip to follow my blue bag of recyclables. I named this week's bag of empties 'Blue'. After being picked up over here on the west side of Dunwoody my recycled waste made it to 'Central' Wednesday evening where it was dumped on a concrete floor. I met my bag on Thursday morning and saw him get scooped up by a rubber-tired loader and dumped into one of those huge trailers.

Quick Fact: Dunwoody (ZIP Code 30338) has 2973 households participating in its recycling program, and has 10 businesses participating. I do not have numbers on other Dunwoody ZIP codes like 30350, 30346, and 30360. (I think that ten businesses participating in recycling is a very low number considering the number of businesses in that ZIP. Perhaps the Chamber could encourage businesses to sign up)

Side Note: DeKalb Sanitation will come up to our fairs and festivals upon request. They will offer recycling tips and show off those nice shiny blue tubs on wheels. Contact Sheri L Arnold .

Okay, let's get back to my boy Blue. Last we heard Blue was dumped on a floor then scooped up and thrown into a large trailer. What next for this mixed bag of recyclables? Blue will take a ride to Forest Park, GA to the SP Recycling Center. Don't let their pretty web site fool you. The recycling center is not lined with flowers and winding trails across lush green space. A recycling center is noisy, dusty, and noisy, yet a couple of steps above a land fill. I did some research on SP and found them to be one of the best in the business. They have locations across the country, including Forest Park, GA.

DeKalb has a contract with SP Recycling Corp. that probably expires around the same time Dunwoody's contract expires with DeKalb. DeKalb is not the only sanitation department taking their recyclables to SP. Haulers from Cobb, Atlanta, Gwinnett, and all over Atlanta take their recyclables to SP - and so does Waste Management. No matter who Dunwoody uses our recyclables will most likely end up in Forest Park at SP.

Quick Facts: SP takes in over 6000 tons a month of material. Summer months 'produce' the least amount of recycled materials through the year while November through January 'produce' the most.

Now that Blue, our bag of recycled goods , has arrived at SP, what next?

Oops, we need to back up a little bit. Along with that bag of plastic and aluminum, we all use the blue tub (we'll call him Tubby, Blue's brother). Tubby is full of paper and cardboard. Tubby's contents ride in the same truck and then the same trailer as Blue. Tubby and Blue end up on the same floor at SP.

The contents of Blue and Tubby will be dumped onto a concrete floor, then scooped up onto one of many conveyor belts. During its first trip on a belt, sorters (human) will pull off and separate the cardboard and newspaper. You'd think metals or plastics would be the 'gold' in a recycling center, but not here. Newspaper is the thing SP wants the most. SP sells newspaper to a paper mill here in Georgia (pay attention and you'll see that most of what SP collects gets recycled and ends up somewhere here in Georgia). A single newspaper can be recycled up to five times.

Cardboard and paper are the easiest to sort and the most profitable. There are a couple of cardboard manufacturers in Georgia and your cardboard will end up with one of them.

What does a recycler not want? Glass. Glass is heavy, tears up machines, and cannot be sold easily. Since the US does not do much in the ways of reusing glass bottles like they do in Europe, most glass recycled in the US will be remelted or processed into a fiberglass product of some sort. I called a few recycling centers in a couple of states and found out most have to pay to get rid of glass. That's right. They can't sell it and have to pay to have it hauled away.

Those plastic grocery bags are not a good 'recyclable' item either. These things are considered 'dirty' plastic and have little to no value and may wind up in a landfill anyway.

Many folks toss items in the recycle tubs and bags and think all is well. When you place a garden hose or a wicker basket into a recycling bag, it will get sorted out and sent to the landfill. It's important for all of us to know what to recycle, but just as important for us to know what not to try and recycle through our trash provider.

What happens to the 'good' plastic (soda and water bottles) that we recycle? Much of it will be sold to a carpet maker in north Georgia where it will be turned into some type of floor covering.

The steel and aluminum will most likely go to a smelter here in Georgia for processing.

Do you throw non-recycling items into Tubby or Blue? If yes, you are hurting the process by making your 'clean' items 'dirty' and making the recycler's job more difficult (and more expensive).

Back to the subject of Dunwoody and trash. No matter who we choose our garbage will end up in a landfill in Georgia. One is up stream and one is downstream. No matter who we choose our recycled goods will end up at SP. There are not many players in the recycling game here in Atlanta. SP is the big boy on the block and with this economy and low materials costs don't look for another to come on line soon.

Did you know Dunwoody residents can pick up free mulch and compost from DeKalb Sanitation? DeKalb recycles all those yard trimmings and also fallen trees from throughout the county. Here's a great story by the DeKalb Master Gardener Association.

Quick Fact: DeKalb picks up 200-400 tons of yard debris a day.

DeKalb's landfill also produces electricity by harnessing landfill gas. (see DMGA link above)

When some in Dunwoody think of DeKalb County it is always not pleasant thoughts. Yet, in my opinion, the most pleasant thing about DeKalb is its sanitation department.

I ask that our city manager and council members contact Billy Malone or Charlie Gill at DeKalb Sanitation and request a tour of the transfer station, the landfill (including the mulch/compost area), and SP recycling. Go and see for yourself the top rate job they are doing.

Dunwoody Yes folks and our current council were hands-on for many of the decisions made in regards to service. Sanitation should be no exception. I'm asking King John, The General, Witty, Danny, Adrian, TomT, and Hizzoner to put on their dungarees and go see for themselves.

I expect DeKalb to raise fees for Dunwoody due to the recycling part. DeKalb contracts this out and will probably be paying more in the future for this service. However, even with an increase of say 25%, I strongly feel DeKalb Sanitation is our best option.

Residents are NOT interested in saving money in this area. I like to keep a hold on as much of my money as possible, but I also recognize a bargain when I see it.

Please voice your support at the upcoming public meeting on the sanitation issue. Encourage your council to meet with DeKalb Sanitation now to start negotiations for renewal.

Money is not everything. Dunwoody did not look for the least expensive pistols for its police department. We did not hire the least expensive city manager. Dunwoody did not buy the least expensive software for the police department. Warren did not buy the cheapest microphones for the council chambers (well, maybe he did at first, but he corrected that mistake).

Let's not look just at price when it comes to sanitation. DeKalb Sanitation provides a great service and its landfill operations are top notch.

Roll On DeKalb Trashman!

Council To Remain Same for Two More Years

Congratulations to our three qualifying council members on 'winning' another four years to city council. All three ran great campaigns.

Actually, there will be no election as no one qualified to run for office against the three incumbents. The city will save about $10,000 since there is no need to have voting.

Councilmen Heneghan, Ross, and Wittenstein have two more years on their current terms.

Lots of things can happen over the next two years. As I stated earlier, any council member who supports an alternative to DeKalb trash service (and that alternate replaces DeKalb) will not win an election. People are not interested in saving $50 a year while taking a risk on an inferior service provider. I spoke with a representative at DeKalb trash and will have a special report coming very soon on this issue.

The current council put in lots of hours getting the city running and I appreciate all of their efforts. I wish them all success the next two (and four) years.

1500 condos, 1500 apartments

Any time I'm at a city council meeting or a Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) meeting and a bunch of guys in dark suits with fancy charts show up, you know it's something big.

Tonight's ZBA hearing at city hall was no exception. What may not be news to all, is news to some. Tonight a development group cleared their final hurdle for a massive development in Dunwoody. This new mixed use development will add 1,500 apartments and 1,500 condos to the Austin Elementary School zone (and to Dunwoody Elementary 4th, 5th school, Peachtree Charter MS, and Dun High School).

The development also claims to include two hotels, with 400 rooms total between the two (Not huge hotels, about 200 rooms each. To compare, La Quinta on Peachtree Dunwoody has 142 rooms and the 'W' has 225 rooms).

Also they say 400,000 sq feet of new office and 400,000 sq feet of retail. The blue rectangular building on the far right of the map above is where the AJC headquarters will be later this year. I think I'll contact the developer and lock in the retail spot next to the AJC and put in a bar.

This deal has been in the works for a couple of years. This thing (the development) started in DeKalb County, then was inherited by the City of Dunwoody. Don't go getting mad at our ZBA members for approving the three variances. (Side note: the variances tonight were for piping 400+ feet of a stream, yet no one from Vernon North showed up to protect THIS stream. I guess some streams are more important than others).

This deal had already received the seal of approval from DeKalb, US Army Corp of Engineers, State EPA, State DNR, GRTA, ARC, FBI, CIA, DHA, DPT, Lemonade Days, Vernon North Canal Company, Kettle Brazen Bleu Chip Company, and a few others I can't remember. Tonight's vote was just a formality to a project with greased wheels.

This will surely add some tax revenue to the city but will also demand service in return. Of course the biggest issue here will be schools. Numbers vary, but expect at least 21 kids per 100 apartments. I could not find a number for condos so I'll use the same number (could be more or less). Simple math tells me at least 630 kids will be living there when the place is complete and rented full.

The name of this development is High Street.

The big concern here now that this thing is all approved will be the stages of development. No doubt the apartments and condos will be first. This will provide some cash flow to get things rolling. Plus, there is no need for retail there until after the apartments and condos are rented. No retailer is going to build there until people are living there.

Once this thing gets built we'll probably need a mini police precinct on the west side of the mall. Dunwoody Police already spend a lot of time at the mall. Police reports are filed daily with shoplifting and thefts from autos and car accidents from Perimeter Mall. Add more shops and 8,000 more residents (along with the current MARTA station) and you'll have lots of action.

The true danger, as a wise bow tie wearing man said to me, is a repeat of the Sembler situation at Brookhaven. There, Sembler had grand plans like you see in the photo above. Sembler built the apartments......then stopped. The same thing could happen here. The site plan for High Street shows green space, trees, sidewalks, a few more trees and the apartments and condos. I know one thing - those condos and apartments will be built. Not holding my breath on all of it.

The economy and housing is showing somewhat of an improvement lately, but commercial real estate is now crumbling all over the country, Atlanta included. The commercial side of things may take years to recover.

I hope they put lots of nice restaurants in High Street and offer free parking. Perhaps then Perimeter Mall will remove their huge valet lot so I can park close to a door. As mentioned before on this blog, I take my money to the North Point Mall because they don't 'reserve' all the front spots for valet. It's their mall (Perimeter) and they can do what they want, as can I.

Time to watch the end of the Boise State / Oregon game so enough for tonight. More on the ZBA hearing later.

New Chips

King John has done a nice job the past couple of days covering local events and I have posted nothing. Tomorrow stop back here for a recap of Thursday's Zoning board of Appeals meeting.

Today I bring you a review on a new item at Costco: Kettle Buffalo Bleu Krinkle Cut Chips.

These are very tasty. It's hard to just have one chip and move on to something else. The 30 ounce bag (851 grams for you wacky metric folks) is priced at $5.29. For a hefty bag like that, I think the price is fair.

The chips do have a "Brazen spice" as claimed, I think. I am not really sure what 'brazen' means. I looked up the definition and could not find an adjective that related to food or a spice. But the marketing folks at Kettle get a thumbs up from me on this one.

I really could not taste the bleu cheese, but regardless, the chips have a distinct taste. I've moved on from the old-school salt & vinegar chips and same for bbq flavor. I needed a new chip flavor in my life and I think these will fill that void.

If you buy a bag for a party, make sure to get the chips at the bottom of the bag as they have more spice on them. Also, I had to use scissors to open the bag as the 'pull sides apart' method did not work for me (I have decent arm strength, but apparently not enough for opening this brand of chips. They must have some special adhesive for sealing the bag).

On the topic of Costco, they need to make that self-checkout for us folks only buying a bag of chips and a Snuggie. If you have a full cart (especially a flatbed cart) with all kinds of stuff and alcohol (alcohol scanned in self-checkout makes a light flash, signaling to everyone that you are having a party I guess) you should not be in the self checkout lane. I highly suggest Jerome's lane, even if it has more people in it. I knew Jerome from his days at Sweet Tomatoes and that guy smiles 24/7.

Yes, Costco is selling the Snuggie now. Guys, have your wife buy this item. When a guy goes in alone to Costco and comes out only with a bag of chips and a Snuggie, it looks a little weird.