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JULY 2019 • VOL. 13 — NO. 7
Sandy Springs Reporter ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT
PBS to air local singer’s documentary P5
DUNWOODY SALUTES AMERICA WITH ANNUAL FOURTH OF JULY PARADE See pull-out section pages 15-18
North end plans include new business district, shopping center studies and trail BY EVELYN ANDREWS evelyn@reporternewspapers.net
itself in books and magazines as an ideal, revolutionary “model for the 21st century municipal government.” Has the notion of Sandy Springs exceptionalism and its privatization philosophy been proven false? Does the shift put the city at risk? Did the particular system ever really matter as much as the people running it? Some of the most expert opinions differ. “In no way do I see this decision as a re-
The city is weighing creating a Community Improvement District to help fund projects on the north end as it moves forward with recommendations from task force plan, including mapping the possible route for a “Greenline” trail and requesting proposals for shopping center redevelopment. The city’s studies came out of recommendations from the North End Revitalization Task Force, which last year drafted a report with ideas ranging a new multiuse trail similar to the BeltLine to a massive city-supported “catalyst” project that could inspire other developers to build the north end. A Community Improvement District is a self-taxing group of commercial business owners that funds infrastructure projects. By law, CIDs cannot tax any residential owners or properties, including single-family homes, condos or apartments. Worthy said in a presentation at the June 18 City Council meeting that the city is doing the CID review internally to see if businesses are interested and to determine which properties “could be impacted.” The presentation also revealed a map of the Greenline trail’s possible route. The trail is proposed to run to the upscale Huntcliff neighborhood, Chattahoochee River, Roswell Road and Sandy Springs Charter Middle School.
See IS on page 19
See NEW on page 31
COMMENTARY
GDOT chief: ‘Benefits of express lanes are proven’ P10 COMMENTARY
SPECIAL
Reporter wins Honored as a newspaper 15 Georgia of General Excellence Press awards 2018 P10
A map illustrates possible routes for a “Greenline” trail.
Is city’s privatization shift a big risk or no big deal? BY JOHN RUCH
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The city’s shift away from its “publicprivate partnership” system of outsourced, privatized government services in May was done in low-key fashion, presented as a mathematical cost-savings move. But it was a dramatic change for city that touted many other benefits to privatization and pitched
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