Commission Committees Make Progress

In addition to approving a standing meeting time and place– every Thursday, except Thanksgiving at 8 p.m. at St. Martin's Episcopal School, the Governor's Commisison on Brookhaven provided progress updates from each of its 10 committees.

• Contracts & Proposals: The committee is receiving bids from vendors.

• Executive Search: They will have a standing meeting at the commission’s temporary headquarters at 2536 Caldwell Road. They are developing job descriptions for the city's main positions and are establishing salary ranges for each position since there is not yet a set budget.

• Offices & Facilities: The committee members have assembled core professional firms and representatives, narrowed criteria for police department and city hall, identified six tentative sites for both police department and the city hall and scheduled tentative inspections of police department space next Tuesday. Members are working on a request for proposal for targeted buildings as they identify them for cost-appropriateness, efficiency and layout.

• Project Management & Communications: Committee Co-Chair Tisa Moore has taken on external communications. The committee will hold its second meeting at 2 p.m. on Saturday at the commission's temporary headquarters.

• Transition Services: This committee has not met yet “primarily because of the nature of that committee. It’s an overarching committee,” Commission Chairman and Transition Services Ben Vinson said.

• Finance: This committee will have first official meeting on Monday at 7 p.m. and will create subcommittees then. Commission Co-Chair Todd Lantier said the Brookhaven YES taskforce has been meeting unofficially.

• Planning & Zoning: During its recent meeting, the committee laid out its goals, tasks and the overall structure of committee. The committee established three workgroups: Planning & Zoing RFP workgroup, a Permitting & Inspections workgroup and a Code Enforcement workgroup. The group plans to meet again Wednesday.

• Police: This committee met for the second time Wednesday. The members received the following information from Dunwoody, Sandy Springs and Johns Creek: complete startup and budget numbers for police departments, current budget numbers and existing contracts, items that are leased and those that are purchased, vendor information and communications information. Committee members are exploring contract for 911 dispatch options, considering the possibility of private or foundation donations since few grants will be immediately available.

• Parks & Recreation: This committee has not held its first committee meeting yet.

• Public Works: The committee established a regularly scheduled meeting for every Thursday at 6:30 p.m. at the commission's temporary headquarters. The committee plans to take inventory of facilities and operations of DeKalb County roads and drainage systems and is developing an action plan.

Also during the meeting, Vinson announced the two candidate training sessions to be hosted by the Georgia Municipal Association on Oct. 9 from 6 to 8:30 p.m. and on Oct. 13 from 9 to 11 a.m.

Both commission members JD Clockadale and Jed Beardsley were absent from the meeting. Committee Co-Chair Charlie Robertson sat in for Clockadale during the meeting.