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PHOTO GALLERY
First responders display services for community By HAYDEN SUMLIN hayden@appenmedia.com SANDY SPRINGS, Ga. — National Night Out is a campaign to foster stronger relationships between the community and law enforcement, and Sandy Springs turns it into a party. The “Back to School Bash” Aug. 6 welcomed hundreds of children and their families to City Springs for three hours of fun exploring local public safety. Some activities, like Fire Medic Otis Johnson’s CPR classes, are more educational. Others like the inflatable obstacle course and Prehistoric Nation’s lifelike dinosaurs, are more geared toward getting
the back-to-school jitters out. Johnson said he loves teaching people how they can save lives, especially with his stop-the-bleed lesson. It surprised him that some parents were more enthusiastic about learning than their kids. Throughout the evening, disk jockeys Coach D and LeoRASoul kept kids active with competitions on the City Green like hula hoop. The Sandy Springs Police and Fire departments spread out their vehicles along Mount Vernon Highway and Galambos Way, giving attendees an opportunity to hop in and look around.
See RESPONDERS, Page 6
DEAN HESSE/APPEN MEDIA
Madison and Mackenzie Saldana check out Sandy Springs Fire Department Tower 52 with Fire Apparatus Engineer Storck at the National Night Out on the City Green at City Springs Aug. 6. The event, billed as a “Back to School Bash,” drew hundreds.
Sandy Springs weighs higher costs on planned transportation projects By HAYDEN SUMLIN hayden@appenmedia.com SANDY SPRINGS, Ga. — Sandy Springs elected officials got the latest reading Aug. 6 on how rising construction costs are affecting city plans to spend its share of Fulton County transportation sales tax revenue.
Residents approved a five-year extension of an existing .75-cent sales tax in 2021 to fund transportation projects. The tax runs through March 2027. Updates on the city’s projects funded through the prior Transportation Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax program (2016 and 2021) come from Chris Burnett, the city’s member of the Fulton
County TSPLOST Citizen Oversight Committee. One resident from each Fulton County city, excluding Atlanta, sits on the oversight board. Burnett, a former member of the Dunwoody City Council, begins as Sandy Springs Economic Development director this month.
“My role in representing the city on the oversight committee is to attempt to determine the validity and accuracy of the process,” Burnett said. “We’re not an audit body … so we do rely heavily on the county and our intermediary firm for the accuracy of tax collections and data.”
See PROJECTS, Page 15