Council bid

BROOKHAVEN

Funny announces bid for Brookhaven’s District 4 seat

BY SAMMIE PURCELL

Brookhaven resident John Funny has announced he will run for the District 4 Brookhaven City Council seat this November.

Funny, who serves as the chairman for

Brookhaven’s Social Justice, Race and Equity Commission, announced his bid in a press release on June 15.

“I offer our community real world experience and hands-on leadership as I seek their support in electing me to this role,” Funny said in the release. “I believe in Brookhaven and will continue my advocacy to make it the best place in the metro to call home. We all know the impact that policy decisions can have on a community and as your Councilman, I promise to be your voice and your leader to ensure that our interests are fully represented.”

In addition to serving on the social justice commission, which has been tasked with addressing issues of diversity in the city, Funny served eight years on the city’s Planning Commission, which evaluates land-use issues and makes recommendations to the City Council.

According to the press release, Funny has never run for public office before, and is currently the owner and operator of Grice Consulting Group, LLC, a transportation planning and engineering firm.

The District 4 seat is held by Councilmember Joe Gebbia, who announced earlier this year that he would not run for reelection. One other candidate, Dale Boone, has said he will also run for the seat.

Brookhaven businessman John Funny has announced a run for Brookhaven’s City Council. (Special) A site plan of the amenities to be added in the city’s new Langford Park at 1174 Pine Grove Ave. (Special/Lose & Associates)

Brookhaven to kick off planning for Langford Park

The Brookhaven City Council has approved a $130,000 contract with architectural firm Lose & Associates to begin planning the new Langford Park.

During a June 15 meeting, the council approved the contract, which will include engineering, design, permitting, bidding and construction management of Langford Park. The city purchased the property at 1174 Pine Grove Ave. in April of 2020.

At its May 25 meeting, the council approved funding in the amount of $200,000 to move forward with the Langford Park project. According to city documents, the contract with Lose & Associates is already budgeted in the project account.

According to Parks and Recreation Director Brian Borden, the approval of this contract will allow the city to begin the planning process for the park. A future meeting with Lose & Associates will kick off that process, including discussion of the master plan and project goals.

According to the contract, proposed improvements for the park include a looped concrete pathway, a playground, a seating area, and a pavilion that could be used for small events.

The new park will be located in the Brookhaven Heights neighborhood.

Stormwater fees to increase

Brookhaven residents will see their stormwater utility rates rise by $28 this year.

During a June 15 meeting, the Brookhaven City Council voted to increase the stormwater service fee rate from $66 to $94. The original resolution increased the fee to just $73.98, but the council voted to go higher.

According to Chief Financial Officer Steve Chapman, the fund has “basically been drained down to having no fund balance” due in part to a number of emergency stormwater repairs the city has undertaken.

“If you were to just raise it to the bare minimum, of course we would always try our best to create a fund balance going forward,” Chapman said. “As this system hits us with emergency fixes, it makes it more and more difficult to be able to pay for these things without having resources available to do so.”

A city spokesperson said the rate will be effective on the November 2021 tax bills sent by DeKalb County.

Brookhaven starts 9.4 mile paving plan

Brookhaven has started repaving 24 streets across the city.

The paving project will cover nine roads in the LaVista Park area and 15 roads throughout the rest of Brookhaven, according to a city press release. The Brookhaven City Council approved a $3.5 million contract for the project with Allied Paving Contractors back in April, along with a loan of $1.2 million from its General Fund unassigned fund balance to the LaVista Park Special Tax District fund for that area’s paving project.

The first streets to be paved will be Longwood Trace, Sheridan Court, East Osborne Road (from Caldwell Road to Apple Valley Road) and Citadel Drive (from Wild Creek Trail to Briarcliff Road).

City officials say if the project goes as expected, by the end of 2021 Brookhaven will have paved a total of 211 roads since 2014.

— BRIEFS BY SAMMIE PURCELL