Dunwoody is getting a dedicated city hall

(Emphases are added.  See notes below.)

Dunwoody, GA – May 5, 2016 – The City of Dunwoody agreed in principal to establish a new location for its City Hall by signing a purchase agreement for the lot and building located at 4800 Ashford Dunwoody Road.


The selection is a result of a two and a half year exploration conducted by city staff and planning consultants to determine the optimum location for the first City Hall complex completely owned by the eight year old municipality. The decision to select 4800 Ashford Dunwoody Road was based on a prioritized list of considerations and needs for a new City Hall, primarily looking at accessibility, convenience, overall cost and capability for future growth.


The agreement signed by the City of Dunwoody covers the purchase of the three and a quarter-acre lot and building for approximately $8.25 million. The city will continue further due diligence and inspection of the property over the next 90 days and, dependent on the due diligence findings, expects to close on the purchase within approximately 120 days.


“We performed extensive assessments and evaluations of available, existing or vacant properties within the city to see which might be the most beneficial solution for our citizens and city staff,” said Dunwoody Mayor Denis Shortal. “As city leaders and staff reviewed options, the 4800 building rose to the top of our list as the most fiscally prudent and logistically sound choice.”


With an estimated 45,000 gross-square feet, the newly purchased building offers slightly more overall square footage than the space currently leased by the city (located at 41 Perimeter Center East) and an annual cost comparable to existing yearly lease terms. The city intends to conduct minor modifications to its future building to create well-organized, efficient office space for the entirety of city staff, police department, municipal court, and city council chambers.


“We believe the new City Hall building will allow us to better serve our citizens,” said Mayor Shortal. “Our intent is to utilize the first floor of the new City Hall as the primary space where citizens and businesses will interact with the city through permitting, licensing, police department, court or council and public meetings. The central location, sufficient parking and overall accessibility make this new City Hall an ideal fit for our community.”


The city anticipates moving into the new City Hall space following the close of the sale and the completion of all planned modifications to the building, estimated to be no later than the end of Q1 2018.

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For more information regarding the City of Dunwoody, please contact Bob Mullen, Marketing and PR Director, at 678.382.6700 or bob.mullen@dunwoodyga.gov.

A few notes:

1)  The location is ideal:  city hall has to serve full-time residents and commuters and visitors alike.  The old C&S Bank building on Ashford Dunwoody is a middle ground for all of those populations. It may not be the geographic center of the city, but it is the "center" of where everyone can get to it.

2)  I've been inside - even without redecorating or renovating it's an attractive space.

2.5)  added - the press release makes no mention of the chamber or CVB space.  I'm sure details about their futures is forthcoming

3)  Two and a half years ago the process for finding a permanent city hall was begun.  That puts the process at around January 2014.  Mike Davis was the mayor at that time.  That means, Mike Davis' administration began the process that made this result possible.

4)  During the DHA candidate forum in 2015, Mike and Denny had to know that the process for obtaining a site for a permanent city hall had to be well on its way to a conclusion.  And yet, when Denny was asked about a city hall location, he clearly stated that a "citizen committee" had to be formed to determine the best way to proceed:  build, buy, or lease.  I didn't hear any word of a citizen committee being formed, but it must have happened because Denny said so in his campaign speech.   it had to happen very quickly because Denny was inaugurated in January and this deal is announced in early May. 

Anyone who served on this committee, please post in the comments here or on any other blog/social media and let the public know what actually happened.

Here's the video from the DHA forum.  Denny's comments on city hall and a "citizen forum" to determine the best course of action begin at about the 51:49 minute mark.

#PrayForUGA

Service for Halle Scott (DDD)
Visitation: Sunday, May 1st at 4:00 PM in the parlor at Dunwoody United Methodist Church
Funeral Service: Sunday, May 1st at 5:00 PM in the DUMC sanctuary

Reception: Immediately following the service in the Fellowship Hall at DUMC

Websites need spring cleaning too! 5 Tips to stay up to date

The pollen season has passed; the scrub-the-pollen-off-of everything season is in progress.

Over the past couple of weeks I've done audits and website upgrades for some clients who took a look at their websites and realized they needed a refresher.

You can follow these tips too and decide if you should spruce up your website:

1)  Make sure your design is current

Yes, I'm going to be a broken record on this one.  If I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times, websites have to accommodate both large and small mobile screens to be relevant to today's user.  If your design is more than 3 years old, or does not display well on small screens, it's time for a makeover.

Here's one I did for long-time SDOC client and Dunwoody CPA Susan Renegar.  Her first website was a single billboard, and it did the job for a number of years:

Then 2009 and the Mobile Explosion hit.   Susan's website was still just one page, but it needed a fresh look to the still-current content:

Here's the result:

Best of all, this new version is easy to use on all devices, including an iPhone.

2)  Sit and read your content.  And look at your pictures.

You wanted to manage your own website to save money.  But it was hard to schedule time to update your text and pictures, or even your store inventory.  How's that working for you?  Your search engine results are probably saying, "Not so much".  Search engines just looooooooove text content that changes frequently.  Spend some time reading your website, or get a friend or relative to do it for a really fresh insight.  Then either use your control panel to change your text, or get back in touch with your webmaster to update it.

3)  Are your add-ons up to date?

If you are using a popular open-source content management system like WordPress, Joomla, or Drupal, then you probably have some add-on functionality to add more features to your site.  These are called Plugins, Extensions, or Modules, respectively.    All of these CMS connect to a central database that scans your plugins and versions to make sure they are up to date.  Take a look at what you are using to generate a contact form or a calendar, or a store, or whatever.  Consult with your webmaster to see if there's a better way of displaying or integrating your content.  Ask them to get rid of duplicate functions, or if your features can be added more efficiently.  Keeping your website software up to date is a key defense against hacking.

4)  The hands-on database cleanout.

For those of you who are CMS afficianados.  You probably know how to install your plugins, etc.  You also know how to "uninstall" them.  But did you know that the data gets left behind in the database after you delete an obsolete plugin?  Just because you follow the advice above and delete unneeded plugins (even going through the uninstall process) doesn't mean that the space-hogging database entries are gone.  Most plugins do not "clean up after themselves" upon uninstall, even though they are supposed to.  (WordPress is notorious for this.)  A database administrator should access the database directly and make sure that obsolete "orphan" data is gone from the database tables.  You'll be amazed at how much faster your website runs without unneeded data getting loaded.  (WARNING:  this task is NOT a DIY project, or for a casual web designer.  This requires a skilled database administrator who knows how to make a backup before starting work and knows how to remove data without damaging anything.)  

5)  The obvious:  check your contact information

Company employees get added, other employees leave but their email addresses can last forever.  make sure your email links or contact forms so that data doesn't go to people who are no longer with your organization.  Always check your website if you change email addresses so you don't miss important customer leads.

Bonus Tip:  make Spring Cleaning a quarterly affair.  Schedule a reminder to evaluate these steps every quarter.  Stay in touch with your web developer to keep your software from going out of date or content from going stale.  Maintenance is a lot easier when you only have to do a little at a time to stay on top.  Just like at home.