Dunwoody debates $1M turf field installation costs

Some Dunwoody City Council members are split on whether or not to spend $1 million to install turf on a DeKalb School-owned field.

The panel is hesitating despite assurances that the DeKalb County School District officials will contribute monies if the construction costs exceed the budget.

The turf installation expenditure at a Peachtree Middle School has been discussed for the last several years, with users complaining that its lack of grass and uneven ground makes it unplayable.  

The field, which is owned by the county, was part of a 25-year land lease transaction between DeKalb and the City of Dunwoody that resulted in the city being able to access it during certain hours of the day. 

As part of the agreement, the city promised to make certain improvements to the field, including lighting and maintenance, which were completed in 2019.

A citizen’s advisory capital improvement committee report submitted in May 2023 listed installing a turf field as its top priority among hundreds of other options. 

While youth-sports representatives have been lobbying for the turf installation, city officials and council have alluded to a reluctance to move forward. 

Council member John Heneghan during previous meetings had been pushing city staff for a report about the fields, which Dunwoody Parks and Recreation Director Rachel Waldron presented at the Feb. 24 meeting.

Preliminary estimates put the cost of the turf installation around $1.25 million, she said, although an official project bid package has not been released. 

Heneghan said that he believes the turf project should advance to the bid stage.

“We have budgeted it and we’ve put it on the back burner for some reason, but I’d like to see it move forward,” he said. 

During public comment during the meeting, DCDS Region 1 Board Member Andrew Ziffer said he had consulted with school Superintendent Dr. Devon Horton, who promised to fund cost overruns should the project exceed $1 million. 

“We are committed to being good partners with the city of Dunwoody,” Ziffer said. “If we have not been a good partner in the past, we need to fix that.”

Dunwoody Mayor Lynn Deutsch, while thanking Ziffer for the commitment, said she has been wary of partnering with the school district because of a variety of poor past experiences.

“They haven’t always been the best partners, and I will leave it at that,” she said. 

Tom Lambert also pushed back on the expenditure, saying that since a $60 million parks and trails bond referendum was defeated in 2023, the council needs to re-evaluate its priorities for funding capital improvement projects.

“We need to reassess our priorities with our very limited available dollars,” Lambert said. “It may be that our money would be better used on properties that the city owns.”

Deutsch said the council will discuss the proposal at its mid-March council retreat.