Council Approves Demolition of Two Brook Run Park Buildings, New Officer Sworn In

Two buildings are coming down in Brook Run Park.

Despite a plea from one Dunwoody resident to save one of the two buildings on the list, the council voted Monday night to award a bid to demolish the structures.

The council voted 7-0 for the demolition of buildings seven and eight in the park. Seven is the building next to the theater and eight is the two-story building next to the dog park.

Dunwoody resident Max Lehmann asked the council to defer its decision, saying building seven is in decent shape and shouldn't be torn down.

"I'm not sure we've given this building enough time to really determine its value," he said. "When a full and proper needs analysis is done for the city in three to five years to determine if we are going to lease or build, you may find yourselves scratching your heads and saying, 'We had a 7,000-square-foot building, a flex space,' and saying, 'Gee, it's gone now.'"

But Public Works Director said the city has gone through the building as well as the consultants working on the long-term plan for Brook Run.

"The conclusion at this point is that this is 7,000 square feet that we don't have use for," he said. "There is 60,000 to 70,000 square feet of surplus space in the park with the theater and maintenance facility and old dormitory. We have a lot of space out there that we really don't foresee any use for."

The bid was awarded to Diversified Environmental Management for a price of $89,310.30. The demolition will include asbestos and the company has agreed to take away all the building materials from the demolition.

Smith and others said that increasing park space in the city is a high priority.

"Park land itself is so scarce in Dunwoody that the land that the building is one is probably more valuable to us than the building itself," Smith said.

Councilman Doug Thompson agreed.

"We need park space," he said. "Yeah, a building would be nice for something we may use in the future. But there's not identifiable need for a 7,000 square foot building, but I can tell you there is a identifiable need for park space."

In other action, the council…

• recognized Dunwoody Police Officer William Furman, whose work with the Dunwoody Police Explorers program was recognized by a county organization.

DeKalb Police Alliance, a group of businesses that support public safety, named ten public safety champions for 2010.

Furman was nominated because of his work with the Explorer Program, which works closely with students in the community.

The group did more than 400 hours of community service last year

• had Mayor Ken Wright administer the oath of office to new Dunwoody Police officer Juan Grullon.

Grullon, a bilingual officer with 13 years experience, had been working as an embedded law enforcement professional in Afghanistan, acting as a liaison between military and Afghani police forces.

He's also worked with the Amtrak Police as a special agent in their counter-terrorism unit and worked with the East Point Police Department for several years.

• approved a bid for sidewalk construction from Cotangent Technical Services.

The bid came in at $91,963.80. The project will be funded with $185,000 the city has left in the capital budget for sidewalk construction for 2010.

Eleven contractors put in bids.

• awarded a contract for storm water infrastructure inventory.

The city awarded a bid of $22.50 per structure by TerraMark Land Surveying. The total cost will be about $135,000.  The city is required by law to keep an inventory.

• passed a resolution in support of the city applying for the IBM Smarter Cities Grant. The grant gives out $200,000 to $400,000 to the winning cities to be used for technology.