Dunwoody Crier — July 25, 2019

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Don’t miss this week’s grocery deals! See the insert inside.

Vietnam veteran Jim Torbert shares experiences at History Alive series ►►page 8

J u l y 2 5 , 2 0 1 9 | T h e C r i e r. n e t | A n A p p e n M e d i a G r o u p P u b l i c a t i o n | S e r v i n g t h e c o m m u n i t y s i n c e 1 9 7 6

DeKalb School Board considers redistricting to ease overcrowding By CONNER EVANS newsroom@appenmediagroup.com DUNWOODY, Ga. — The DeKalb County School District will consider redistricting to alleviate overcrowding at schools in Dunwoody and throughout the county. On July 8, the City of Dunwoody ordered the school district to stop work on the installation of new trailers at Dunwoody High School because it had not secured the proper land disturbance permits. Work resumed two days later, but city staff and community members have been waiting for a long-term plan

from the school district beyond portable classrooms. At the time of the trailer installation, Mayor Denis Shortal said he had not heard any long-term plan from the school district. At the July 8 City Council meeting, Councilwoman Lynn Deutsch said the Board of Education was abusing its power by not getting the proper permits. “They’ve broken every rule they could practically,” Deutsch said. Since then, the School Board is-

See TRAILERS, Page 2

CONNER EVANS/CRIER

DeKalb Schools is in the process of installing two new quad-classroom trailers to Dunwoody High School in an effort to ease overcrowding before the school year begins.

Dunwoody to pursue new route for ambulance coverage zone By CONNER EVANS newsroom@appenmediagroup.com DUNWOODY, Ga. — Dunwoody’s shortest route to securing its own ambulance coverage area has evaporated. Just before the city could present its case to a special EMS Council committee July 18, the panel voted to disband. “We’re back to the beginning,” Dunwoody City Councilwoman Lynn Deutsch said. The committee never had the power to grant Dunwoody its own ambulance coverage zone, but it could recommend to the Region 3 EMS Council, which governs such matters, that the city deserves its own service zone. Right now, Dunwoody is part of a countywide coverage

area operated through DeKalb County. The Dunwoody City Council passed a resolution July 8 declaring DeKalb County in breach of its agreement with the city because ambulance response times for life-threatening calls has trended upward over the past six months. The contract went into effect in October, five months after Dunwoody declared an EMS state of emergency. Dunwoody’s plight also spurred creation of the special ad hoc committee, made up of regional public safety leaders, which was charged with evaluating performance of local EMS services. Officials from Dunwoody were prepared to reiterate their case for a separate coverage zone — apart from DeKalb County — when the committee met July

18 at Dunwoody City Hall. The city has also taken issue with DeKalb County’s ambulance service provider, American Medical Response, saying the company has not demonstrated an ability to meet response times. Before the meeting, Dunwoody Councilman Terry Nall said that because the county is “woefully behind” on a recommendation for a new ambulance provider, the meeting should be the time to say “enough is enough.” This is the time to recommend a change to the DeKalb ambulance zone, Nall said. Instead, before Dunwoody representatives could speak, the ad hoc committee voted to suspend all future meetings and dissolve the panel until future reconstitution.

“(Our charge was) to allow the city of Dunwoody or any other municipalities in the current DeKalb zone to meet with an ad hoc committee to discuss their vision of EMS for their city,” said Clayton County Deputy Fire Chief Rich Elliott, a committee member. “I feel like we’ve accomplished that.” The committee vote to disband followed a brief presentation from DeKalb Fire Chief Darnell Fullum, who listed improvements the county has made to EMS service since Dunwoody’s state of emergency declaration. The fire chief pointed to the increase in the number of ambulances currently servicing Dunwoody, including one at

See AMBULANCE, Page 4

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