Sandy Springs
Arts Center
Alpharetta
AUGUST City Council approves contract for PATH400 construction
Forsyth County
Dunwoody Nature Center
Ameris Bank Amphitheatre
Dekalb County Fulton County
Sandy Springs
► PAGE 3
24 0 2 r e m Sum r
a d n e l a C
► PAGES 8-9
M ay 3 0 , 2 0 2 4 | A p p e n M e d i a . c o m | A n A p p e n M e d i a G r o u p P u b l i c a t i o n | 5 0 ¢ | Vo l u m e 3 , N o . 2 2
City hones budget to prepare for 2025 fiscal year Council agrees to place extra $800,000 in reserve By HAYDEN SUMLIN hayden@appenmedia.com SANDY SPRINGS, Ga. — The Sandy Springs City Council agreed at its third 2025 budget workshop May 21 on the allocation of an extra $800,000 to general fund reserves.
Given dwindling revenues from commercial property taxes, increasing construction costs and other inflation considerations, councilmembers opted not to commit the extra cash. Councilman Tibby DeJulio, the selfdescribed “cheapest” member of the council, has raised concerning economic challenges at city meetings for the past several months. With uncertainty in the national
economy, DeJulio said he is all for revisiting the expenditure of the funds at a mid-year review of the budget. Other councilmembers agreed. Following the second workshop May 14, city officials briefly discussed options for the allocation of the funding windfall, which surfaced thanks to the state’s expansion of its local maintenance and improvement grant program.
Elected officials opted to circulate their proposals privately in preparation for the May 21 line-by-line presentation of the 2025 budget. Councilwoman Melody Kelley withdrew her proposal for a city-wide affordable housing study after other councilmembers showed a lack of interest.
See BUDGET, Page 12
Woodland students prepare to take on pollution problems By AMBER PERRY | amber@appenmedia.com
AMBER PERRY/APPEN MEDIA
Cameron Jasso and Reyes Castillo, third graders at Woodland Elementary School, showcase their semester-long project that attempts to solve land pollution May 20. Keep North Fulton Beautiful, a recycling center in Sandy Springs, partnered with Woodland to provide parameters on the student’s problem-based learning projects.
SANDY SPRINGS, Ga. — Third graders at Woodland Elementary School got creative in semester-long projects that explore solutions to air, water and land pollution. Their presentations spanned ocean- and land-cleaning robots, prototypes made of cardboard, to letters written to school administration about a recycling program on-site. Ryder Leary, executive director of Keep North Fulton Beautiful, visited classrooms May 20 to get a look at the projects in their final form, shown in PowerPoints and demonstrations. He had previously given classes a high-level overview of pollution and visited the school to provide feedback while projects were in progress. Leary said Keep North Fulton Beautiful has had a relationship with Woodland for a few years, dropping into talk about what the nonprofit does and general recycling information. But, he opted to make this year more engaging, providing parameters to the students’ problem-based learning projects, integral to the school’s curriculum. Leary joined Keep North Fulton Beautiful last July.
See POLLUTION, Page 13
ROBIN BLASS
#1 SMALL TEAM COMPANYWIDE 2023 404-403-6561 C | 770-394-2131 O RobinBlass.com
Atlanta Perimeter Office 4848 Ashford Dunwoody Road | Atlanta, GA 30338