Landlord complains of late-night downtown noise; council approves budget adjustments, licenses and appointments

A downtown landlord told Dalton’s mayor and council on Jan. 20 that her tenants are experiencing repeated late-night noise tied to the nearby Deja Vu Social Club and urged the city to find a solution.

"My name is Melissa Williams. I'm the owner and manager of E and D Legacy. I own the building at 222 North Hamilton Street," Williams said during public comment. She described complaints occurring between roughly midnight and 7 a.m., naming incidents at "02:06AM" and "01:36AM," and said police responses have not resolved the problem. Williams said she has begun warning prospective tenants about the noise and that she has received a notice to vacate for one unit. She provided contact numbers and asked to be contacted if the club owner wished to speak.

Council took multiple consent and action items after public comment. Finance staff presented Budget Amendment No. 5 for FY2025, which staff said increases revenues and transfers in by $1,500,000 to reflect additional monies received from a Dalton utility transfer and a transfer fee from the Dalton Whitfield Regional Solid Waste Management Authority; the council approved the amendment on voice vote.

On the first FY2026 budget amendment, finance staff (Cindy) said the city's commercial insurance premium was about $97,000 over budget and that contingency funds would be used to cover the shortfall. The transcript includes an inconsistent numeric entry (Cindy also stated "9,097,000" in the record); the city finance presenter said contingency funds will be used and council approved the amendment on voice vote. (The record does not provide full documentary backup for the numeric inconsistency; that will require confirmation with finance staff or meeting minutes.)

Council also approved two alcohol-beverage licenses recommended by the Public Safety Commission: Logan's Row House Enterprise LLC (d/b/a Logan's Row House; applicant Heather Jordan) at 811 Walnut Square Boulevard, and All American Entertainment LLC (d/b/a Big Time Builders and Cafe; applicant Glenn Elrod) at 1129 South Thorne Avenue. The council reappointed Frank Robertson to the JDA through Jan. 31, 2027 and appointed Brian Cooksey to fill an unexpired JDA term through Jan. 31, 2028. The police chief also presented and the council approved the city's annual equitable-sharing agreement with the Department of Justice.

The meeting concluded with council recognizing volunteer Julie Locke for work on the Temple Beth El Memorial Park project and with council members praising the rec department’s recent team successes.