Sandy Springs Crier - May 15, 2025

Sandy Springs receives funding to help construct all of PATH400

By HAYDEN SUMLIN hayden@appenmedia.com

SANDY SPRINGS, Ga. — The Atlanta Regional Commission has stepped in with an $18 million grant to help Sandy Springs construct all segments of PATH400 from its southern border with Atlanta to Central Perimeter.

The Sandy Springs City Council approved a budget amendment to accept the funding windfall May 6 after discussing the immense impact on regional connectivity and the buildout of the city’s Springway Trail Plan.

City Councilman Andy Bauman said the project is transformative, and the connectivity between cities and neighborhoods will propel the community forward.

Sandy Springs TSPLOST Program Manager Allen Johnson said the grant allows the city to construct the full 2.3-mile path from Loridans Drive within the city of Atlanta to an existing multi-use path built as a part of the Transform Ga. 400 and I-285 project.

“Segments one and three are currently in construction,” Johnson said. “At the end of the year, ARC said … these other jurisdictions can’t use the money, would you be willing to take it?”

See PATH, Page 9

Visitors cross the Orkin Lake boardwalk, part of the first completed segment of the

Chattahoochee River to Roswell Road. Two more segments are planned, one through Big Trees Forest Preserve, the other north to Grogans Ferry Road.

City heralds opening first segment of trail network

By HAYDEN SUMLIN hayden@appenmedia.com

SANDY SPRINGS, Ga. —

Sandy Springers can now discover Orkin Lake via the first completed segment of the Morgan Falls Loop, a nearly 2-mile path connecting Roswell Road to the Chattahoochee River.

About 100 people, including community advocates, neighbors and city officials, gathered along the lakefront May 2 for a ceremonial ribbon cutting. Representatives with regional trail advocates, like the PATH Foundation and the Sandy Springs Conservancy, thanked city leadership for prioritizing

connectivity across the city.

Through community donations, the Sandy Springs Conservancy has chipped in around $65,000 toward design and construction of path segments around Morgan Falls Overlook Park.

The completed 1.88mile path is 8 to 12 feet wide, connecting the city’s riverside park to Roswell Road at Cimarron Parkway.

The pedestrian and cyclist facilities open a piece of Morgan Falls Overlook Park that has been densely forested and inaccessible to the public for years.

See OPENING, Page 20

Sandy Springs Conservancy Board

center, discusses the inception of the Morgan

Orkin Lake boardwalk at a May 2 ribbon

and City

the ceremony to hail the path’s community impact.

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Fire Department initiatives loom large in budget talks

By HAYDEN SUMLIN hayden@appenmedia.com

SANDY SPRINGS, Ga. — The Sandy Springs City Council met May 6 to give staff direction on drafting the 2026 operating budget.

During the first of three budget workshops, elected officials reviewed some of the assumed operating and capital expenses from each city department head.

Requests related to operations, like staffing, are paid through the general fund. Other project-related and multi-year requests fall within the capital projects fund.

Operating budget assumptions total just under $41 million, and forecasted

capital expenses are just over $45 million.

The public won’t see the city’s proposed budget or any breakdowns of specific funds until the third workshop, set for May 27.

The operations and capital improvement budgets make up only a piece of the city’s overall spending plan, which topped more than $1 billion across all funds last year.

Multi-year funds expand the city’s budget beyond what it spends annually.

Examples include last year’s $530 million budget for the Public Facilities Authority and $230 million set aside for Fulton County’s transportation-focused sales tax.

See BUDGET, Page 20

CITY OF SANDY SPRINGS/PROVIDED

The proposed replacement of Sandy Springs Fire Station 1 off Spalding Drive just east of Ga. 400 is estimated to cost around $17 million. Fire Chief Keith Sanders and City Manager Eden Freeman said the replacement is needed and the city can issue more debt to pay for it.

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Fulton County Commission ups funding for jail staffing

Finger-pointing sparks tension

By HAYDEN SUMLIN hayden@appenmedia.com

ATLANTA — The Fulton County Board of Commissioners approved $6.4 million May 7 for the Sheriff’s Office to retain, hire and pay overtime to employees providing detention services at its jail facilities.

The supplemental funding is on top of the sheriff’s existing $151.5 million budget in fiscal year 2025.

The resolution comes amid a federal consent decree to restore conditions at jail facilities to constitutional, humane standards. The probe into the county’s Rice Street jail and three annexes, including one in Alpharetta, began in 2023 after the murder of an unindicted inmate who had been in custody for eight months.

Fulton County Sheriff Patrick Labat, District Attorney Fani Willis and the Board of Commissioners have come under fire for management of the jail facilities, backlogs in the judicial system and a lack of funding for a solution.

“We’ve obviously had a difficult time with staffing, specifically for detention services in our jails. It’s been a persistent issue particularly over the past four years,” County Commissioner Bob Ellis said. “We’ve applied a different sort of measures to try to increase it. We’ve obviously bolstered our annual funding resources.”

From 2021-2024, he said, the county has increased the Sheriff’s Office budget by 52.5 percent – or $67.1 million.

The Board of Commissioners have

boosted salaries, increased retention and implemented hiring efforts and periodic overtime funding, yet Ellis said staffing levels have remained steady since the pandemic. According to the resolution that provides the $6.4 million in extra funding, the county has spent just under $30 million on overtime at the Sheriff’s Office since 2021.

When comparing overall staffing levels, the Sheriff’s Office lost 31 filled positions from 2020-24. The Human Resources Department reported that, as of March 25, there were 144 vacant positions, the largest number of them in detention services.

Ellis said the operational and the supervisory issues cited within the DOJ investigative report call for stop-gap measures.

He said the Sheriff’s Office overtime fund sunsets at the end of this year and will come for reevaluation.

The quarterly overtime funding totals $5.4 million through the end of the year. It is separate from the $1 million for hiring and retention.

The resolution contains strong language, expressing the Board of Commissioner’s concern about an alleged deficiency of training, security and preemployment screening.

The agenda item referenced a list of 28 Sheriff’s Office employees who have been arrested at a Fulton County Jail facility since 2023. Most charges are for providing contraband or for mistreating inmates, but some include aggravated assault, cruelty to an inmate and sex trafficking.

“There’s a lot of things that we can note, pre-screening could be an issue,” Ellis said.

Funding:

Continued from Page 4

“One could presume it can be a contributing factor to the violence and vandalism present within the jail.”

The resolution requires quarterly reports of employees who receive overtime pay at the Sheriff’s Office.

County Commissioner Dana Barrett confirmed that the overtime funding is available to any employee providing detention services, but retention and hiring fund is for full-time staff.

“I’m going to support it because I want the Sheriff’s Office to be able to pay overtime for these services, and I want to ensure we have those staffing hours covered at the jail,” Barrett said. “I will say there is a lot of language in this resolution … I think there’s a lot of unnecessary commentary.”

Commissioner Marvin Arrington said he approves of the one-time funding, but some of the resolution’s language involved unnecessary finger-pointing.

“If we point the finger at someone else, we wind up still having to pay the budget,” Arrington said. “I just can’t support … all of this finger-pointing … I don’t know if you’ll accept my friendly amendment or not.”

Ellis said he could not and then called a vote.

Commission Chair Robb Pitts was absent from the meeting.

Arrington abstained, and commissioners voted 5-0 to approve the $6.4 million funding for detention services at the Fulton County Jail.

Shortly after, Sheriff Labat issued a statement calling the resolution “dog whistle politics,” saying it “mischaracterizes the budget and operations of the agency.”

The sheriff said Ellis is engaging in repeated hyperbole, which is both unproductive and divisive. He said most of the increased funding for the Sheriff’s Office is due a transfer of inmate health services within his department.

“While we share the BOC’s concern for staffing and safety in the jail, effective solutions require honest assessments, not misleading figures and oversimplified narratives,” Labat stated. “While we acknowledge what appears to be a step in the right direction, the reality is that the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office has faced decades of inadequate funding.”

Responding to the sheriff’s statement, Ellis said the resolution is backed up by facts and the claim that he has not visited jail facilities in the past four years is false.

“The Board of Commissioners strongly urges the sheriff to immediately limit all non-core services, including law enforcement activities for which state or municipal agencies have concurrent jurisdiction, and to redirect all available Sheriff’s Office resources to the staffing of Fulton County jail facilities,” the resolution says.

North Springs student’s poem wins spot in MLK Rose Garden

SANDY SPRINGS, Ga. — The Martin Luther King Jr. National Historical Park and Preservation District selected a poem from North Springs High School freshman Zoe Allen as a winner of this year’s Inspirational Messages of Peace Contest.

The selection gives her poem, “The Flower of Love,” a permanent plaque at the MLK “I Have a Dream” World Peace Rose Garden. Allen is scheduled to read her poem May 15 during a ceremony at Ebenezer Baptist Church.

Freshman social studies students wrote a poem inspired by the work of the King family and the mission of the International World Peace Rose Garden, exploring themes of peace, love and unity. Under the guidance of ninth-grade English teacher Caroline Beltrami, the school narrowed down seven finalists: Allen, Destiny Alexander, Layla Baker, Theo Ballou, Priscilla Murguia, Mary Okugbeni and Emery Overton.

AP Human Geography teacher Kelly Olson led the initiative.

“This is an incredible achievement, not just for Zoe, but for our entire school community,” Olson said. “This project gave our students a meaningful way to reflect on peace and justice, and Zoe’s words will now inspire visitors for years to come.”

North Springs High School was one of two Fulton County schools invited to participate in the 2025 competition, due to the student body’s strong commitment to community service, particularly their active volunteer participation in MLK Day at City Springs.

“I wanted to write something that reflects love and kindness in the world,” Allen said. “It’s amazing to know that my words will be part of such an important place.”

North Springs High School says it applauds the dedication of all student finalists, and it reflects the power of young people to inspire change.

— Hayden Sumlin

NORTH SPRINGS HIGH SCHOOL/PROVIDED

From left, ninth-grade English teacher Caroline Beltrami, freshman Zoe Allen and AP Human Geography teacher Kelly Olson celebrate Allen’s winning poem, “The Flower of Love.” The submission earned top honors in the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historical Park and Preservation District and International World Peace Rose Gardens’ Inspirational Messages of Peace Contest.

South Vietnamese, U.S. veterans commemorate fall of Saigon

By HAYDEN SUMLIN hayden@appenmedia.com

DUNWOODY, Ga. — Dozens of retired South Vietnamese and Americans gathered at Brook Run Park April 29 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the fall of Saigon.

The Black April Commemoration honors the memory of allies, civilians and soldiers of the former Republic of Vietnam. On April 30, 1975, North Vietnamese forces captured the southern capital of Saigon, marking the end of the American-backed government and the war.

DeKalb County CEO Lorraine Cochran-Johnson, District 6 Commissioner Ted Terry, state Rep. Long Tran (D-District 80, Dunwoody) attended the two-hour ceremony at Georgia Way South and Crescent Circle.

The ceremony was held at the new war memorial, crowd-funded by the Vietnamese American Community of Georgia and the Atlanta Vietnam Veterans Business Association. It’s the only Vietnam War Memorial in the United States created as a partnership between the South Vietnamese and American veteran communities. Both groups and Dunwoody officials unveiled

the $1.5 million monument last October.

The Vietnamese people’s strong sense of community found a home in

Metro Atlanta with an estimated 25,000 living in Gwinnett County, considered a central hub for the group on the East Coast.

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John Butler, a retired army field officer who serves as chair emeritus of the Atlanta Vietnam Veterans Business Association, introduced guests alongside Vietnamese American Community of Georgia President TraMy Nguyen.

They recognized Dunwoody Parks and Recreation Director Rachel Waldron for her help getting the monument installed at the 110-acre park.

Along the sidewalk surrounding the monument, the South Vietnamese community put up dozens of

photographs from 1975 depicting the thousands fleeing communist policies on boats and rafts. Hundreds of thousands of South Vietnamese civilians and soldiers were killed, and the end of the war displaced millions. April 30 is day of remembrance and mourning, known as “Tháng Tu Đen” or “Black April.”

The keynote speakers were retired U.S. Army Col. Ton That Tuan and Alfred J. Lipphardt, commander-inchief of the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States. The ceremony included national anthems, wreathlaying, a powerful moment of silence, the offering of incense and a candlelight vigil.

Special Section

May 15, 2025

Sandy Springs Crier | 10

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OPINION

Everybody has a price: two stories

“You can get anything you want at Alice’s restaurant” –Arlo Guthrie, popular folk singer I want to tell you two very short stories. But before I share the stories, I want to throw out a couple ideas to think about first.

Today, write a big enough check and you can get anyone or any country to do just about anything. Betray someone for 30 pieces of silver or sell out an entire country – an ally – for a check for a couple billion or maybe promises of lots of oil and a bunch of F-115SAs. Promise lots of people anything in return for their votes. That’s the way the world works, right? If the check is big enough, if the promises are appealing enough – even if they will not be fulfilled – everyone and everything is for sale.

Right? And we’re good with that? Everything is a transaction. Everything is a deal. That’s all that matters. You give me what I want, and I will give you something you want. If you are the best at making deals, you always win, right?

Do you? For how long – a year, maybe two? What happens after that?

Tell me again what “to win” means. Who wins? Who actually loses?

A long time ago, it mattered if someone told the truth. Now what matters is only that what a person says is believed or, if it is not challenged. Veracity is irrelevant now, it seems. Say something enough times and it becomes true, right?

Seriously?

A long time ago, in a far away land, there were people who we now call “old school.” They had this silly idea that a handshake was their bond, and if you shook hands on something, nothing else was needed; you could take it to the bank. These “old school” people believed that their word was their bond. “If I tell you I will do something, I will do it. If I tell you I won’t do something, I won’t do it. If I promise to pay you, I will pay you. If I say something, it will be the truth” –things like that. “Trust” was the basis of this old-school way of thinking. And trust is what we have just discarded – lost, absolutely abandoned – domestically and worldwide. It is probably unrecoverable at this point.

Why would we do that?

There used to be a country years ago where “rule of law” was the standard; everyone was protected by, and everyone was expected to obey the same law – a place where one law applied to everyone, no exceptions. Then one day, it didn’t.

Is there a cost to that? Does anyone

today even think of the cost of what is happening?

Penny-wise, pound foolish? As long as I get enough of those gold eggs today, I don’t mind killing and eating that goose that lays them. Isn’t that what is happening right now?

Here are the two stories. Both have something to do with these four things: honor, integrity, respect, and trust. A long time ago, these were important things. We used to call them “values.”

Story #1. Jim Cowart was one of the biggest builder/developers in Atlanta. He built Lennox Mall, office buildings, subdivisions, YMCAs and more. He was what I would call a “bedrock” of the Atlanta business community. I heard him tell a story one day about playing golf with one of the officers of his company. I have written about it before.

“During the day, I noticed that every time my VP marked where his ball had landed when he put the ball back down to hit it, he always put it in front of the mark – a couple inches closer to the hole – instead of behind the marker. Shortly after that golf game, my VP was out of a job. He probably never realized why, but, to me, if someone cheats it doesn’t matter if it is something major or something trivial, they cheat.”

What people say and do matters, and everything does have a cost. Lies matter. Truth matters. Integrity matters.

Story #2. Another Jim Cowart story. When Jim was first starting out in the business, he purchased a tract of land because the interstate was going to be built through it. He scraped the money together – money he didn’t really have – to buy the land. After the purchase, a representative of an elected official approached Jim and suggested that he make a moderate (many thousands of dollars) contribution to his campaign, and if he did, he would be assured that the planned interstate would for sure go through his land. Jim refused, even though all the money he had at the time was tied up in the land. The interstate ended up bypassing his tract, and Jim said that it was another 20 years before he was able to get his money back out of it.

In the past, not everything was for sale. Some people valued things like integrity and honesty above money. Giving up those values was too high a cost for them to sell or sell out.

Honesty, honor and integrity still mattered. Lies mattered; they were unacceptable – as were liars.

I miss “old school,” but I have not lost hope that we can return to those values – for all our sake. Old-school values matter now more than they ever have. We absolutely cannot go forward and survive as a society – or as a country – without them. Time is short.

Fred Miles and time spent as a prisoner of war

VALERIE

In January 2025, I wrote about a July 2, 1944, service held at Dunwoody Baptist Church to honor community members who were serving during World War II. I wanted to learn more about the individuals on the list and decided to start with Pvt. Fred Miles, listed as interned at Camp Hakodate in Japan.

Fred’s parents, Nancy and Fred Miles, Sr., moved from Atlanta to the corner of Dalrymple and Brandon Mill Road in 1915, a year before he was born. The property later became known as Lost Corners and is now Lost Corners Preserve, thanks to a planned donation by Peggy Miles. Peggy was Fred’s younger sister. His other siblings were Edward, Totsy and Henry.

A fire in 1973 at the National Person-

nel Records Center in St. Louis, Missouri, destroyed much of the World War II military personnel files, so finding out more about Fred Miles meant piecing together history from various sources. He completed his draft card in 1940, indicating he was employed by A C Miller Co. in Atlanta, a truck and auto body manufacturer. Miles was single when he enlisted, and his mother was his contact person. He entered service at Fort McPherson June 5, 1941, training from June 16 to September 20, 1941, at Fort Sill in Oklahoma. (fold3.com and ancestry. com)

National Archives records show that Pvt. Fred H Miles was part of the 36th Infantry Division, 131st Field Artillery Regiment, Headquarters Battery. The majority of this regiment was from Texas. On May 15, 1943, the Atlanta Journal newspaper reported that after not hearing from Fred for a year and a half, his mother received a telegram from the War Department. He was a prisoner of the Jap-

anese, according to the International Red Cross. Miles was a member of the Lost Battalion, captured on Java, part of the Dutch East Indies when the Dutch ended their resistance to Japan in March 1942.

The Miles family occasionally received a card from Fred. In October 1945, 29-year-old Miles was liberated and returned to the U.S. He spent time recovering at Battey General Hospital in Rome, Georgia, before returning to his Sandy Springs home. Recollections from other prisoners at Hakodate indicate brutal conditions including 10-hour workdays in the coal mine or on the docks. Some prisoners were sent to work on the Burma Railway. There were beatings and little food offered.” (Atlanta Journal, Oct. 16, 1945, “Japanese prisoner of three years returns”)

The prisoners were able to hear about the outside world at night with a radio smuggled in by the 200 American prisoners and a detachment of Canadians. The radio was cleverly concealed in a paneled

wall.

When Miles returned home, his mother said she “…never gave up hope that she would see him alive again.”

Miles received three bronze battle stars, a Presidential citation, seven overseas service bars, and a ribbon for service in the Asiatic-Pacific Theater according to his Honorable Discharge papers. At the end of his service, his rank was corporal. (ancestry.com)

The 1950 census records show Fred Miles working as a motor mechanic. He and wife Minnie Amy Reece lived on Hilderbrand Road with their two children. Minnie Reece Miles died in 1962, and Fred Miles died in 1974. Both are buried at Arlington Memorial Park.

Award-winning author Valerie Biggerstaff is a longtime columnist for Appen Media and the Dunwoody Crier. She lives in Atlanta. You can email Valerie at pasttensega@gmail.com or visit her website at pasttensega.com.

letters). The clues are numbered 1 through 7, with each number containing 3 clues for the 3 answers on the line. But here’s the catch! The clues are not in order - so the first clue in Line 1 may (or may not) actually be for the second or third answer in that line. Got it? Good luck!

SURNAMES

1. Hot rock. Katmandu land. Hammerin’ Hank of baseball fame.

2. “Midnight Run” actor Charles. Vittles. A __ and a prayer.

3. Little wriggler. “North by Northwest” actor James. Amulet.

4. “The World in His Arms” actor Gregory. Prepare to propose. Maui neighbor.

5. Monster. Johnny of “Sweeney Todd”. Stand-offish.

6. Mountain lion. Humpback, e.g. Running mate of ‘68.

7. Boredom. “Finnegans Wake” author James. Surefooted wild goat of Eurasia.

1 Hot rock. Katmandu land. Hammerin’ Hank of baseball fame

2. “Midnight Run” actor Charles. Vittles. A ___ and a prayer.

How to Solve: Each line in the puzzle above has three clues and three answers. The last letter in the first answer on each line is the first letter of the second answer, and so on. The connecting letter is outlined, giving you the correct number of letters for each answer (the answers in line 1 are 4, 5 and 5 letters). The clues are numbered 1 through 7, which each number containing 3 clues for the 3 answers on the line. But here’s the catch! The clues are not in order - so the first clue in Line 1 may (or may not) actually be for the second or third answer in that line. Got it? Good luck!

3. Little wriggler. “North by Northwest” actor James. Amulet.

4. “The World in His Arms” actor Gregory. Prepare to propose. Maui neighbor

5. Monster. Johnny of “Sweeney Todd.” Stand-offish.

6. Mountain lion. Humpback, e.g. Running mate of ‘68

7. Boredom. “Finnegans Wake” author James. Surefooted wild goat of Eurasia and Northern Africa.

Budget:

Continued from Page 3

Those totals are expected to carryover with a slight decline after last year’s spending.

Sandy Springs operates on a fiscal year budget which runs from July 1-June 30.

After a couple of rounds of feedback, the budget will come before the City Council for two public hearings June 3 and 17 to approve the 2026 spending plan.

Some of the assumptions in the city’s operating budget include $2.1 million for general liability insurance, an 18 percent increase, and an estimated $10.8 million for employee health insurance, a more than 20 percent increase.

Other operating assumptions include $12.6 million to service debt for the Public Facilities Authority and more than $10 million for several annual contracts for the 24/7 call center, ambulance services, animal control, jail services, public works and recreation and parks maintenance.

City Manager Eden Freeman said staff will discuss elected officials’ feedback May 20, the second budget workshop.

Fire Department initiatives

The largest potential expenses are $17.2 million for a rebuild of Fire Station 1 and around $3 million for an addition to Fire Station 3. The request is for a multi-year capital project, totaling $20.2 million.

Fire Chief Keith Sanders said his department’s data for response time demand shows Fire Station 1 off Spalding Drive needs to remain at its current site, but it’s in desperate need of repairs with a crumbling foundation and flooding.

Sanders said he is also proposing a change to shift schedules for firefighters and paramedics, a measure which 70 percent of them support. Instead of receiving two days off after a 24-hour shift, Fire Department personnel would receive four consecutive days off after two, full-day shifts.

Sandy Springs’ North Fulton neighbors Roswell and Johns Creek have made the move already.

Opening:

The 2A segment is the first installment of the Morgan Falls Loop, a 5-mile path around Morgan Falls Overlook Park. Plans call for addressing the project in five segments.

The Springway is the name of the city’s ambitious 31.4-mile trail master plan, encompassing all scheduled multiuse paths within Sandy Springs.

Mayor heralds trail growth

Mayor Rusty Paul spoke during the ribbon-cutting, reflecting on progress made at the first park the city built after incorporation.

“Today, we celebrate not just the finished segment, but progress toward a greater vision laid out in the 2019 Sandy Springs Trail Master Plan,” Paul said. “Springway is not just about Sandy Springs, it’s designed to connect to the trail network in Roswell, Atlanta’s PATH 400, Cobb’s national recreation trails

Sandy Springs Public Works Director Marty Martin, right at podium, updates elected officials May 6 on his department’s operating and capital requests for the coming fiscal year, beginning July 1.

Elected officials responded positively to the change after Sanders described firefighters driving from Rome and Macon to the city for their shift. It’s estimated to cost around $175,000 for a six-month trial.

Sanders said another priority is to get Fire Station 4, which sits just inside the city of Atlanta off Wieuca Road, inside Sandy Springs city limits to better serve the southside.

City Manager Freeman said staff has been working on a future location for two years but have been unsuccessful because of current uses and costs.

“I have worked with our financial advisers, and we do have the capacity to issue the additional debt to be able to build Station 1, add onto Station 3 and build a new Station 4 … without affecting our triple A bond rating,” Freeman told elected officials.

City Councilman Andy Bauman said the 2026 spending plan doesn’t include Fire Station 4 and mentioned the city’s use of eminent domain to acquire a property. No specific site was mentioned.

Freeman also said the city’s pay-as-you-go capital program would be affected by an increase in debt service, meaning less progress on other projects around the city.

and Dunwoody’s trail system; this is truly a linchpin.”

Conservancy Board Chairman Jack Misiura said projects like the Morgan Falls Park Connector are what the nonprofit is all about. Misiura said the nonprofit and its volunteers are focused on building out the rest of the Morgan Falls Loop and other paths around the city.

The highlight of the path is a 2,933-foot-long boardwalk with concrete decking over Orkin Lake.

Work on the segment began in December 2022 but ran into some expensive delays when crews struck solid rock beneath the lake.

The extra work delayed completion some 18 months.

The Georgia Department of Natural Resources contributed $3 million for the project through a conservation grant under the Georgia Outdoor Stewardship Program. The city covered the rest of the $8.8 million construction cost of the first segment.

After approving work changes to the contract, some related to drilling for the

Details on bond issuance will come later, Freeman said. City watching economic shifts

The city manager told council members that there will not be a capital budget ballot during this year’s budget process.

When Sandy Springs has a funding windfall, staff develops a capital budget ballot for elected officials to prioritize a list of projects around the city. Last year, elected officials passed on allocating $800,000 in additional funding thanks to the state’s expansion of its local maintenance and improvement grant program. Instead, the city kept the money in reserves.

While discussing requests across various departments, City Manager Freeman said her staff is monitoring potential price escalations. She said there has already been a price increase for IT Department equipment, and she’s working with staff to “soften the blow.”

The city has stable funding sources, Freeman said, and it is monitoring construction prices and impacts from tariffs.

Following the meeting, Freeman said the city is holding off on a capital budget ballot this year is because it doesn’t have the extra money. Last year’s expansion of paving funds was a one-off, she said.

The Sandy Springs Performing Arts Center is requesting some additional funds for Chinese fireworks at the Stars and Stripes Celebration and general increases for food and drink, Executive Director Bill Haggett said.

“We’ve certainly serviced a lot of people, 81,000 people have gone through this past year to our Signature Events,” Haggett said. “They are free.”

Mayor Rusty Paul and City Councilman Tibby DeJulio said they remember when the city was predicting a $1-2 million annual subsidy for the Sandy Springs Performing Arts Center just a couple of years ago.

Because the Performing Arts Center funds free community events at City Springs, Paul said a balance needs to be struck to ensure it can operate self-sufficiently.

“It comes down to management; Bill and his team have done a phenomenal job of managing this in a way that keeps us from having to subsidize it,” Paul said. “We have to be very careful with what we do with our presenting sponsors … we want it to all be successful.”

boardwalk and others more routine, the project cost jumped $1 million. City officials have directed staff to pick more feasible path projects moving forward.

More in the pipeline

In February, the city submitted a grant application to fund segment 2C, which runs 1.6 miles from Morgan Falls Overlook Park along the Chattahoochee River to Grogans Ferry Road.

The rest of the project consists of retaining walls, drainage structures, pedestrian bridges, roadway realignments, landscaping and trail signage. For a map and more information, visit sandyspringsga.gov/ springway-trails-morgan-falls-connector.

Brenda and Ed Gerber, live off Wing Mill Road and would have an easy neighborhood connection to the Morgan Falls Loop and the Chattahoochee River if the 2C segment is funded and built. The Gerbers said the existing segment was “impressive” as they took off across Orkin Lake to explore.

Recreation and Parks Director Brent Walker said it’s great to have the

complex construction project completed. Walker said he’s thrilled to see residents enjoying it.

The path allows nearby families easy access to Morgan Falls Overlook Park, including the Chattahoochee River, dog park and the hydroelectric dam, without using a car. The Springway has planned connections to surrounding neighborhoods, schools and parks on both side of Roswell Road.

City Councilwoman Melody Kelley, representing the Morgan Falls area in District 2, said there is a tangible human benefit to the trail, offering thousands of Sandy Springs families access to new recreational opportunities.

“This represents a part of a huge public investment in the city’s North End … we’re at around $70-$80 million invested right here in this district,” Kelley said, turning to a familiar face in the crowd. “I actually have a former student [at Georgia State] who happens to be a constituent, and I think about her family and their ability to access this trail.”

SERVICE DIRECTORY

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