Group Holds Public Meeting Supporting GA 9 Library Site

by Jason Wright / Appen Newspapers

February 25, 2009 A group of Alpharetta and Milton citizens believe they have the perfect site for the proposed 25,000-square-foot Alpharetta Library slated to replace the existing facility on Canton Street — and to prove it they held a public support meeting Feb. 19 at North Park's Adult Activity Center.

The site, which is 6 acres and sits on Ga. 9 at the corner of Main Street and Winthrope Park Drive, is one of a few being considered for the new library including the proposed City Center and old Milton High School.

Library Director John Szabo also said it has been proposed the collection be housed in the old Ingles building in the Stoneview Commons shopping center, but that is unlikely.Zainab "Zee" Mirzaie, who lives in Winthrope Park subdivision abutting the site, helped organize the meeting with Friends of the Alpharetta Library (FOAL) board member Doug Davisson. She said she decided to get involved after receiving notices in the mail that the county was planning on making a decision on where to put the new site.

She decided to take a grass roots approach, which Alpharetta Councilman Jim Paine, who was in attendance, lauded."The addition of a library at 495 N. Main Street will greatly enhance the positive environmental quality and charm to the surrounding area, and add great pride to the community with the display of an impressive structure for everyone to see on a major thoroughfare," she wrote in an e-mail sent out to surrounding residents."There are other choices," said Davisson, who was acting on his own behalf and not in any official capacity for the FOAL board. "But we believe this is the best site."

At the meeting Szabo and Scott Graham, head of staff for Fulton County Commissioner Lynne Riley, took prepared questions from e-mails and some from the roughly four dozen audience members in attendance.

Szabo said of the eight new libraries planned after the November passing of the library bond referendum, only three have definite sites. All those have been donated, he said, so the system must look at a number of sites for the other facilities. And that means public input."Our ears are wide open," he said. "[At this point] it's not about numbers or votes. The best thing to do is talk about the positive aspects of the site."Szabo said the site should be selected by the fall, and is recommended to the Library system's Board of Trustees, who then make recommendations to the Fulton County Board of Commissioners.They vote on the ultimate site.Graham said the best thing for citizens to do is to be vocal — starting at the Board of Trustees meetings."Make your opinions known there, then make your way to each and every Board of Commissioners board member, as they all vote."Szabo concurred."We need to know why this site would be the best for Alpharetta," he said.

That prompted one audience member to speak up."Because I would prefer a library to a mini mall," he said. It got a hearty round of applause.Graham also warned folks to maintain their support and energy, because the wheels of government move slowly."This is a marathon, not a sprint," he said. "This is not going to be a decision that's made in 30 days."

Mirzaie welcomed the challenge and promised the community's support even after the new facility is built."You've got a group of people here who are willing to volunteer and be a part of the new library community," she said.

Party Marks Opening of 911 Center

publication date: Jan 31, 2009

By Jonathan Copsey/ STAFF

Something big must have happened Monday night to warrant two fire trucks and police cruisers to come out in force, lights blazing, to the Alpharetta Public Safety Building. Turns out it was a party.Finally, after more than two years of planning and construction, Alpharetta’s Command and Control Center (C3) was officially opened with as much fanfare as could be mustered, with the doors flying open for guided tours of the new center complete with food hot off the grill. The foyer was packed with well-wishers and the curious eager to see the newest addition to Public Safety’s mighty arsenal. Housing all emergency functions for both Alpharetta and Milton, the C3 has the ability to track all police and fire vehicles within north Fulton and all Rural Metro EMS services, have direct video feeds from emergency vehicles and view traffic conditions through cameras at busy intersections. It truly is a one-stop-shop for emergency planning.

The ribbon cutting was attended by most of the Mayor and council, along with Fulton County Commissioner Lynne Riley and members of the City of Milton’s Public Safety Department. “Everybody said we could not do this for $500 thousand. We did it for less,” said Alpharetta Director of Public Safety Gary George. A proclamation was granted to George and his department by Governor Sonny Perdue, praising him for accomplishing such a feat.

‘Initiated by the City’

Who would have thought that there would be such confusion around four simple words? At last week’s Alpharetta Council meeting, Community Development Director Diana Wheeler presented a change to the Unified Development Code (UDC), the manual of how the city works. Those four words had Council split in the interpretation, leading to the item being tabled for further discussion. The UDC change largely outlined how changes to the code that are initiated by the city can be brought before Council, requiring that in the future, there must be two public hearings with the Planning Commission in attendance. After the two hearings, the Commission may make a recommendation on the change and present it to Council. While Council members all agreed that having at least two public hearings was a good idea, Councilman Doug DeRito raised issue with those four words: what does “initiated by the city” mean? Does it mean the Council? Does it mean the Planning Commission? Does it mean city staff? “

‘The city’ could be anyone in the city,” said DeRito. “I think there’s a real bright line between the policymakers of the city and the management of implementing those policies.”According to DeRito it would be possible for a member of staff – such as in the Community Development Department – to devise a change and present it to the elected officials without having it go through a public vetting process. Not only would that be cause for concern, but the very fact that they had presented a change was overstepping their role in the government. That power is reserved for elected officials. “I don’t want any employee of the city setting policy for the city,” said DeRito. “That’s not their role. That’s not their function.”

The other council members were largely confused by this thinking, arguing that even if a staff member made such a change, it would still have to come before both the Planning Commission and the Council for approval.

“We have to vote on it anyway,” said Mayor Arthur Letchas. “We hire these people to make recommendations. They can make their recommendation and we don’t have to accept it.”By and large, the other council members sided with the Mayor, although they said they understood DeRito’s concerns. Councilman David Belle Isle said that a change to the UDC was not the place to be having the discussion and made a motion to pass the originally presented change with a few minor modifications. DeRito was still not happy, and he made another motion to table the issue so council can discuss it further. That motion passed with all council members except for Letchas voting in favor. Councilwoman Cheryl Oakes was absent from the meeting.

N. Fulton Joins Nation Wide Homeless Census

publication date: Jan 31, 2009

By Jonathan Copsey / STAFF / Beacon Media

The bitterly cold morning of January 23 saw two men walking through woods looking for something that turns out to be very rare in North Fulton. They were looking for the homeless.

As a part of the bi-annual Homeless Census Count, a national survey of the homeless, Alpharetta Police office Terry Joyner and Thomas Capitano, who works for Fulton County Human Services, visited many of the areas Joyner knew the homeless to live. For Capitano, this was his second year taking part in the census; he began helping in 2007 after he read “Homeless for the Holidays,” The Beacon’s article that year detailing the homeless camp near North Point Mall.

“I was floored,” said Capitano. “I honestly had no idea that there were homeless people living in the woods. These individuals are truly homeless. They are living in places not made for human habitation.”

It should perhaps be considered a blessing that the night had only five homeless people documented, although there was evidence of many more. “There was a tunnel where a female was living but no one has seen her in two weeks,” recounted Capitano. “We went to the tunnel and saw cushions and different junk that you could tell someone was living in it.”

Under census guidelines, only people seen by the counters can be counted. Also, unless accompanied – as Capitano was – by an officer no one was allowed out of their cars. It was a purely visual survey. This can create problems with the count, such as people living in areas not visible from the street, or those who are living in their cars. The woman who lived in the tunnel could not be counted because she was not seen. Despite the low numbers and fairly uneventful night, Capitano was pleased to have taken part. “It’s a great experience,” he said. “It really puts things in perspective. There are people here who don’t have the luxuries of life that we take for granted… I’ll definitely be doing it again next time.”