OCT. 28 - NOV. 10, 2016 • VOL. 7 — NO. 22
FACEBOOK.COM/THEREPORTERNEWSPAPERS
Dunwoody Reporter
TWITTER.COM/REPORTER_NEWS
reporternewspapers.net
Perimeter Business ► Filmmaking frenzy hits northern arc PAGE 4 ► Buyers line up for farms, sport estates PAGE 6
Hoos in the forest?
Residents battle over location for new baseball fields BY DYANA BAGBY dyanabagby@reporternewspapers.net
PHIL MOSIER
Sadie Mann, 4, takes a breather at the Dunwoody Nature Center Trail during the center’s Oct. 15 inaugural Art in the Park event, “Hoos in the Forest.” Sadie was part of a tour led by artist Sally McInerney of 20 creatures the artist created from natural, found materials now installed along the trail. After the tour, McInerney gave a workshop on building sculptures made from natural materials. Read story page 13.►
STANDOUT STUDENT Andi Rozelle
Holy Spirit Preparatory School, senior
The way that the election is conducted makes it very difficult to ‘rig’ an election for many reasons. In DeKalb County alone, there are more than 3,000 pieces of equipment that would have to be tampered with in order to have a substantial impact on the election. H. Maxine Daniels DeKalb County Elections Director
Page 20
See COMMENTARY page 10
Where to build new baseball fields and what kind of athletic fields the city needs are major issues bubbling to the surface as the City Council considers what to do about a land swap agreement with DeKalb schools. Residents and officials representing all sides of the issue debated the land swap at the Oct. 24 council meeting, which also saw Meredy Shortal, wife of Mayor Denis Shortal, blasting the new school as a “business” and the deal as “horse-trading.” The City Council is slated to vote Nov. 14 on entering into an intergovernmental agreement, or IGA, with the DeKalb County School District to swap the land where the current Austin Elementary School sits in exchange for the 10.2acre Dunwoody Senior Baseball fields in Dunwoody Park. The school district See RESIDENTS on page 14
OUT & ABOUT Council approves MJCCA Book Festival $24.2 million Nov. 5-20 Page 17
budget for 2017
BY DYANA BAGBY dyanabagby@reporternewspapers.net
The Dunwoody City Council approved its 2017 budget of $24.2 million at the Oct. 24 council meeting without any discussion. The 2017 budget includes a 3.5 percent salary increase for the city’s approximately 87 employees to go into effect April 1. The budget was approved by voice vote along with several other items as part of the council’s consent agenda. Also approved as part of the consent agenda was a 4 percent merit raise for City See CITY on page 15