The Dunwoody Homeowners Association at its annual meeting on Feb. 26 announced this year’s Fourth of July parade theme will be “50 Years of Wildcat Pride” to honor Dunwoody High School’s 50-year anniversary.
School principal Tom Bass and longtime school of finance teacher Steve Fortenberry will be the parade’s grand marshals.
The parade, the largest in Georgia with more than 2,500 participants and 35,000 spectators, is co-sponsored by Rough Draft Atlanta and the DHA. Matt Weber will again be joined by parade veteran Penny Forman as co-chairs of the event.
Registration for the parade is now available online at www.dunwoodyga.org. Non-profit and community groups can register free of charge, while corporate entities can participate for $150. Candidates for office, political parties and other such organizations are charged $500. There are also several levels of sponsorship opportunities still available, Weber said.
“We really want 2023 to have even more of a ‘hometown feel,’” Weber said. “We’ve heard from neighborhoods looking to enter a float, swim team entries, and even just local neighborhood kids on their bikes.”
During the annual meeting, attendees heard updates from several elected and governmental officials about projects that impact the Dunwoody area, including upgrades to aging water and sewer lines.
David Hayes, the director of Watershed Management for DeKalb County, said he has heard the concerns voiced by Dunwoody residents about metal plates installed on streets that seem to linger for long periods of time while repairs to water and sewer lines are taking place.
“The average age of the pipes in this area is about 55 years, which is essentially the end of life for pipes,” Hays said. “We do hear your concerns about the metal plates and are working to be more proactive about it.”
Hayes said the department is hampered by a lack of subcontractors to perform the work, as well as a shortage of employees within the department. Hayes said the watershed department, which is budgeted for about 700 employees, has 106 vacancies.
Hayes said the department is recruiting aggressively and exploring technology options to ease the strain on its existing employees. The department is in the middle of implementing a $1.345 billion upgrade to the county’s water and wastewater infrastructure.
The lack of available manpower was also addressed by DeKalb Fire Chief Darnell Fullum, who said staff shortages have, among other factors, impacted EMS response times within the county.
He also cited abuse of the EMS system as one of the main contributors to slow response times, in cases where residents call for emergency services when it isn’t warranted. In addition, he said, overtaxed hospitals are unable to handle the influx of patients into their emergency rooms after they are transported by ambulance to the facilities.
“We have to wait until the hospital says we can unload the patient, and the average time for that is 55 minutes,” Fullum said.
In other news, DHA President Bob Fiscella announced former mayoral candidate Bob Dallas is joining the board of directors and that longtime board members Gerri Penn and Debbie Montgomery have agreed to extend their terms.
Newly elected State Rep. Long Tran (D-District 80) also gave a legislative update about several bills that will impact Dunwoody residents if passed, including the installation of school speed zone cameras and an increase in the allowable maximum weight of tractor trailers on some roadways.