When Brookhaven City Council meets this month, it will finally have a place to call home.
Since the city’s first day in December, the nomadic council has been holding meetings all over the city, from St. Martin’s Episcopal School to Oglethorpe University to Congregation Or VeShalom to the Brittany subdivision clubhouse.
Because Brookhaven’s temporary City Hall is located in the city of Dunwoody, council members wanted to find places within Brookhaven’s city limits to meet.
Soon, the council will be able to settle down at the city’s Municipal Court building.
Interim Deputy City Manager JD Clockadale said the build-out of the city’s municipal court facility is nearly complete. The court is located in Suite 125 of Building Two in Corporate Square, near the intersection of North Druid Hills Road and Buford Highway on the southern end of the city.
Clockadale said all that’s left to do is install some of the final touches, such as a camera system and bullet-proof glass.
“We’re getting the final pieces. Furniture is coming in this week. We are moving fast,” Clockadale said.
Once Brookhaven gets approval from the state, DeKalb County officers may begin writing traffic citations that will be heard in Brookhaven Municipal Court.
Chief Municipal Court Judge Laura Stevenson said the majority of cases that come to Brookhaven Municipal Court will be traffic-related. The court will also hear some ordinance violations and misdemeanors.
“Hopefully, we’ll be open for business in March,” Stevenson said.
DeKalb police will continue to operate in Brookhaven until the city sets up its own police force. Officials have estimated that it will likely be late summer before the city’s police department will be ready.
Clockadale said the city has been able to set up the municipal court for $8,000 to $10,000 less than expected.
On a recent afternoon, Clockadale and Brookhaven’s Purchasing Manager Brad Middlebrook carried risers into the courthouse to build the judge’s dais. The two city employees rolled up their shirtsleeves and hauled the boxes themselves to save the $200 on delivery costs, they said.
Middlebrook said he has been scouting office furniture from used furniture liquidators to furnish the court. “We easily saved $3,000 just on furniture,” Clockadale said.
Middlebrook said using risers will end up being about $2,000 cheaper than building a custom dais.
“These are portable so we’ll end up being able to take them with us if we leave the building,” he said. “We’re trying to do things as economically as possible.”