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OPINION
Meet John Breyer, veteran, executive ► PAGE 16
Housing summit panelists tell of ‘frozen’ market in North Fulton By HAYDEN SUMLIN hayden@appenmedia.com
Jarrard recommended limiting public comment to two opportunities during formal sessions, one before the consent agenda and one before new business. Each public comment session, he suggested, would be limited to 30 minutes, with three minutes provided for each speaker. Currently, Milton allows five minutes for each speaker during public comment, with no time limit on the session. Georgia Assistant Attorney General
NORTH FULTON COUNTY — Panelists for the North Fulton Improvement Network’s housing summit Feb. 20 made one thing clear, many people cannot afford to buy a home in the region. The Improvement Network, formed in 2014 as a poverty task force, is a community think tank that supports public and private solutions to workforce housing, income and employment, transportation, child well-being and food insecurity. The six cities making up North Fulton — Alpharetta, Johns Creek, Milton, Mountain Park, Roswell and Sandy Springs — are some of the most desired places to live, work and raise a family in the United States. Jack Murphy, chair of the North Fulton Improvement Network and senior account manager at the Metro Atlanta Chamber, compiled statistics from the Federal Reserve in St. Louis to chart regional housing availability. The NFIN divided the North Fulton population by generation, Generation Z (ages 15-24); millennials (ages 2544); Generation X (ages 45-64); and baby boomers (ages 65 and over). With a median income of $91,522,
See COUNCIL, Page 10
See HOUSING, Page 14
HAYDEN SUMLIN/APPEN MEDIA
Milton resident Mary Cronk speaks before the City Council Feb. 21 about a number of proposed changes to its public comment policy during meetings.
Speakers say plenty about public comment By HAYDEN SUMLIN hayden@appenmedia.com MILTON, Ga. — Residents had questions about a City of Milton proposal that would place restrictions on public comment at the Feb. 21 City Council meeting. They also renewed their concerns about granting an alcohol license to a neighborhood winery. Nine residents signed up to speak during public comment preceding the consent agenda.
Speakers voiced their opinions on the Blackmaral Lane farm winery and proposed changes to meeting procedures. Mary Cronk, former member of the Design Review Board, spoke first about proposed changes to public comment, proposed by City Attorney Ken Jarrard. “This was not the first time the City Council heard most, if not all, of these recommendations,” Cronk said. “The city attorney made them initially, I think, during a retreat council had last spring.” At a Jan. 17 special-called meeting,
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