Milton Herald - October 27, 2022

Milton City Council corks alcohol debate with new ordinance

By AMBER PERRY amber@appenmedia.com

MILTON, Ga. — After months of debate over manufacturing limitations, the Milton City Council voted Oct. 17 to a set of caps on the amount of alcohol local microbreweries, micro distilleries and brewpubs can produce each year.

The 4-3 vote cemented a key element of the city’s alcohol regulations and ended a nearly year-long moratorium on new alcohol license applications.

The revised ordinance places an annual production limit of 3,000 barrels for microbreweries and microdistill eries and a 5,000-barrel cap for brewpubs. Mayor Peyton Jamison and councilmemembers Juliette Johnson and Andrea Verhoff cast the dissenting votes.

Wrapped into the vote were details related to standard and non-standard on-premise consumption, retail pack age, hybrid, manufacturing, specialty and add-on licenses. While there was debate on barrel limitation, specifically, licensing changes were not part of the discussion.

Jamison confirmed that current license holders would not be impacted by the proposed changes.

New licensing requirements

As part of standard on-premise consumption, City Man ager Steve Krokoff said event facilities will require a use permit going forward. Restaurants, hotels and golf courses will not require a use permit.

For non-standard on-premises consumption, the coun

Area mayors upbraid county for inflexibility over sales tax

By ALEXANDER POPP alex@appenmedia.com

ATLANTA — Mayors from 12 Fulton County cities gathered in Atlanta Monday to share growing concerns over negotiations with the county to reach an agreement on the distribu tion of countywide sales tax rev enue.

Speaking before a backdrop of firetrucks from Atlanta, South Ful ton and Sandy Springs, the mayors said hopes of a resolution continue to fade following the latest round of talks with Fulton County officials.

For months, city officials have been at odds with Fulton County over how the estimated $3 billion in revenue from the local option sales tax will be apportioned over the next 10 years.

The latest negotiations, held Oct. 7 at the Georgia Municipal Associa tion offices in Atlanta ended without a resolution or clear way forward.

Atlanta mayor concerned Speaking to a crowd of officials and media, Atlanta Mayor Andre

AMBER PERRY/APPEN MEDIA

Billy Allen, owner of the self-named Crabapple restaurant and piano bar, sits among a packed house for the Milton City Coun cil Oct. 17 meeting. Allen will be able to renew his license every year as part of per the Council vote. However, new applications for the same license will not be permitted.

City:

cil conceded to allow

the city has one limited

Billy Allen’s restaurant and piano bar in Crabapple. The license, granted late last year, allows the busi ness to serve alcohol so long as it main tains a minimum of 30 percent of sales from food. Dozens of Billy Allen sup porters have packed council meetings in recent weeks to ensure the business is allowed to continue operating under special provisions granted by the City Council last year.

Allen will have the option to renew his license going forward under the same terms as it was initially granted, not to be

confused with a “grandfathered” license.

The ordinance revision also changes conditions for retail package licenses, which includes package distilled spir

its and packaged malt beverages/wine. Package distilled spirits will now require a use permit.

Under hybrid permits are brewpubs and farm wineries. Farm wineries will continue to be required to obtain a use permit. Meanwhile, brewpubs will not require a use permit but will have limited to a 5,000-barrel annual production cap.

The two types of manufacturing licenses, microbreweries and microdis tilleries, will require a use permit.

Two of the three specialty licenses, incidental service and BYOB, will now re quire review from the Community Devel opment director. There was no material

change to specialty gift shop licenses.

Krokoff also detailed add-on licenses — craft beer/wine markets, alcohol beverage permits, Sunday sales (two types) and an cillary tasting. Craft beer/wine markets will require a council-approved use permit.

Related zoning changes

The council also voted 5-2 to prohibit brewpubs in C-1 and mixed use-lots, adopt definitions for brewpubs, mi crobreweries and microdistilleries and update their barrel limitations. Mayor Jamison and Councilwoman Johnson cast the dissenting votes, with Jamison explaining his vote as one respective of the barrel limitations.

Prior to the initial vote on the alcohol code, Jamison said the barrel limita tions were unnecessary because of the required use permits for microbreweries and microdistilleries and because brew pubs are 50-50 establishments, meaning they would need to derive as much busi ness from food as they would alcohol.

Jamison’s comments came after Josh Rachel stated his preference for a larger barrel limit during public comment. Ra chel, who has plans to open Hyde Brewing in Milton, said his business model rests on in-house servicing and not distribu tion. But he argued the low 3,000-barrel production limit would stifle any potential future needs for his brewpub.

AMBER PERRY/APPEN MEDIA

People file out of Milton City Council Chambers after officials adopted revisions to the city’s alcohol ordinance.

See

Josh Rachel, who has plans to open Hyde Brewing in Milton, argues his preference for larger barrel limits during public comment at the Oct. 17 City Council meeting. While his brewpub business model rests on in-house servicing, he wants to be

Council:

The Milton Planning Commission first proposed the 3,000-barrel limita tion for brewpubs, microbreweries and microdistilleries, in part, because of water consumption. Councilman Rick

Mohrig said water usage shouldn’t be part of the discussion because the city doesn’t control its water supply. He also said other cities don’t have the proposed limitations.

“We’re trying to solve a problem we don’t have,” Mohrig said.

Councilwoman Carol Cookerly said the limitation was also to create an iden tity for Milton and restrict growth.

AMBER PERRY/APPEN MEDIA

City Council opts out of sanctioning fellow member

By AMBER PERRY amber@appenmedia.com

MILTON, Ga. — In a unanimous vote Oct. 17, the Milton City Council decided to take no action against Councilman Paul Moore for a ruling from a threemember panel that he violated city eth ics policy.

The council vote comes six weeks after the city’s Ethics Commission de termined that Moore improperly par ticipated in a vote to table discussion of whether the city should provide funding for traffic calming devices within his neighborhood, White Columns. The eth ics complaint was filed May 6 by Tony Palazzo, president of the White Columns Homeowners Association.

The violations are related to sec tions dealing with ethics for city officials and department directors, disclosure of interest and abstention to avoid conflicts of interest.

At the Aug. 30 ethics hearing, at torneys recommended to the mayor and City Council that Moore be given a written censure or reprimand outlining the ethics violations he committed and that they be publicly announced at one of their regular meetings and included in the official minutes.

After noting that Moore commit ted three out of seven ethics violations he was charged with, Mayor Peyton Jamison said Moore has been “suffi ciently sanctioned.”

“Per the city’s ethics code, the council is not empowered to disturb or change the panel’s findings on violations of the code,” Jamison said. “Our only author ity is to determine what, if any, penalty should be imposed.”

Over the past several months, many residents have come forward to voice support for Moore at the City Council

meetings. They have also sent emails to local media highlighting Moore’s many years of service to the community.

At the Oct. 17 meeting, three Milton residents spoke on his behalf, includ ing former Milton City Councilwoman Laura Bentley who called on officials to re-evaluate the ethics ordinance.

“The full picture is not just the find ings,” Bentley said.

She said Moore was found to have had the appearance of impropriety based on a statement that he never made. Bentley also said case law that support ed a complete dismissal was ignored.

“The process is flawed,” she said.

MILTON

ETERANS BREAKFAS

FILE PHOTO

Paul Moore, center, is sworn as a council member by Milton Municipal Court Judge Brian Hansford in January 2020. The Milton City Council has decided to take no action against Moore who was found in violation of the city’s ethics code for vot ing to defer a decision to provide city funding for traffic calming devices within his neighborhood.

AMBER PERRY/APPEN MEDIA

Former Milton City Councilwoman Laura Bentley advises councilmembers to reevaluate the city’s ethics ordinance at the Oct. 17 meeting.

Youth football in Johns Creek ‘gasping for air’

BY AMBER PERRY amber@appenmedia.com

JOHNS CREEK, Ga. — Adam Cleary, a board member for Johns Creek Hawks Football, is about at his wit’s end after his many failed attempts to garner sup port from the city for youth football.

The Johns Creek Hawks, also known as the Johns Creek Youth Football As sociation, is a K-5 flag football, commu nity-wide program. The association is led by volunteers, like Cleary.

He’s faced the ongoing issue of not having dedicated field space in the city. With no home base, Cleary is left scram bling to find practice fields, and when he finds one, he has to pay rent.

“To be perfectly honest, I’m gasping for air to keep this mission alive and almost ready to tap out and look for greener pastures in another city if our community leaders lack the interest in its value,” Cleary said.

When young players don’t have the infrastructure to practice, numbers and talent at the middle and high school levels suffer, Cleary said. The Hawks are separate from the football feeder pro gram, but are foundational for middle school teams, whose players move onto the high school level.

Cleary wears multiple hats and sees football at a few different angles. He works alongside the Hawks to develop elementary-aged football players, but he’s also the president of Northview Jr Titans Football, one of the four middle school feeder programs in Johns Creek. He’s also the head coach of the eighth grade team.

All of Cleary’s sons do or have played football. He described what it was like to watch his oldest play and have other male role models. He also described the overwhelming inclusivity of the sport and its positive effect on kids’ health.

“One of the reasons I push for [foot ball] so hard is because it can change a lot of kids’ lives who are in tough situ

ations,” he said. “It needs to be a sport here.”

Feeder programs

Brooke Liley, president of Chatta hoochee Jr Cougars Football for the past three years, faces similar issues. The feeder programs also run without tangible support from the City of Johns Creek.

“The numbers are down,” Liley said.

Liley said there were 60 kids this year, but that number is still “extremely low.”

She said Chattahoochee introduced flag football, second through fifth grade, after Johns Creek Youth Football Asso ciation because tackle football has been flailing.

Liley wants to mirror what the City of Milton does at Bell Memorial Park where the North Atlanta Football League provides youth tackle (grades 2-5) and flag (K-5) football leagues and camps to Milton and Alpharetta residents.

“It’s hard to be competitive when these kids aren’t playing at younger ages,” she said.

The Jr Cougars, as with other feeder programs, must rent the high school fields. The organization spends about $6,500 a season, a “huge cost,” which

ADAM CLEARY/PROVIDED

Second and third graders, who play with the Hawks association, practice for an upcoming football game.

Alpharetta approves plans for Windward development

By ALEXANDER POPP alex@appenmedia.com

ALPHARETTA, Ga. — Alpharetta officials have approved a 51-acre, mixed-use development that is expected to be a “catalyst for change” in the Windward Parkway area.

Plans for the Continuum develop ment at Windward Parkway and West side Parkway call for bringing in more than a million square feet of new office space, retail, restaurants and mixed residential.

The Alpharetta City Council gave unanimous approval for the project at a meeting Oct. 18.

Originally proposed in 2021 with a much grander vision for offices, a hotel, retail and hundreds more residential units, development plans approved Mon day were more conservative, after talks with city staff, officials and the public, Community Development Director Kathi Cook said.

Cook said if approved, updated de velopment plans would call for rehabili tation and construction of 1.3 million square feet of office space, 73,800 square feet of retail and restaurant space, and construction of about 400 mixed residential units. The property is the former Hewlett-Packard corporate campus.

The project will be developed in eight phases, beginning in 2023 and 2024 with the office building rehabilitation and retail construction, and rental op tions delivered in 2026. The residential components of the development are tied to the commercial and retail portions, Cook said.

Attorney Julie Sellers, who repre

sents the developers, said even with the scaled down plans, they expect Con tinuum to be a true “catalyst” for change in the Windward Parkway area, without competing with other local mixed-use developments.

“It definitely needs a shot in the arm over there to keep Alpharetta an eco nomic powerhouse,” Councilman Doug DeRito Said.

Sellers said the development will offer the same amount of retail as Alpharetta City Center on twice the amount of land, with a “modest amount of residential.”

“We are complementing the existing uses in the city,” she said. “We are not competing with Avalon; We’re not trying to be a second Avalon … Similarly, we’re really focused on this being a modernday office place.”

Mayor Jim Gilvin said he was ini tially skeptical of the proposal, but after seeing the revisions, believes it was an answer to the city’s aging office stock. Gilvin said the city needs to focus on what employers and employees need and want from a “modern day office” space.

“What you’ve brought before us today is that product,” he said.

Before voting to approve the pro posal, councilmembers shared their appreciation of the applicants and the updated designs.

Councilman John Hipes said he liked how the project came together and was refined through talks with city staff.

“I know where this project started and there was a lot of stuff crammed in there, and you really heard what we had to say,” he said. “When that happens in Alpharetta, we have successful working relationships and projects.”

PROVIDED/ CITY OF ALPHARETTA

Renderings show a proposed 51-acre mixed use development at Windward Park way and Westside Parkway scheduled for completion in 2026. Plans show the development will combine high tech modern office space with retail and mixed housing options.

Developer unveils new plans for North Point

By ALEXANDER POPP alex@appenmedia.com

ALPHARETTA, Ga. — Trademark Proper ties shared updated plans Oct. 11 for a massive redevelopment project at North Point Mall.

Speaking at a community meeting attended by some 100 residents, Trade mark CEO Terry Montesi shared site plans and renderings, breaking down exactly how large portions of the mall would be demolished and reworked into a “live-work-play” development along the lines of Avalon, Halcyon and other north Metro Atlanta projects.

“Our goal for this is to create a vibrant 24/7 mixed-use neighborhood. A neighborhood, not a mall,” Montesi said.

The newly rebranded “North Point” development, if approved, would include 315,000 feet of new retail and restau rant space, a hotel and hundreds of rentals and for-sale housing options on the 84-acre mall property.

Construction would occur in mul tiple phases, with the demolition of 64,000 square feet of existing mall space and construction of an “outdoor walkable village” first, and then several rounds of construction of housing por

tions, Montesi said

Plans for the development were ap proved Aug. 4 by the Alpharetta Plan ning Commission, subject to multiple conditions. The project plans are ex pected to go before the Alpharetta City Council for final approval Nov. 7.

Trademark representatives said there’s still some discussion to be had about the development’s main point of contention — rental units.

Developers originally requested more than 1,200 rental units for the project. That figure was later reduced to 900 rental units and 103 for sale units as a condition approved through the Plan ning Commission.

Montesi told community members that decreasing rental units in the de velopment, could jeopardize the finan cial backing of New York Life, who in 2021 purchased North Point Mall from

Brookfield Property Partners.

“It is very, very, very, very difficult to make the economics work if we keep reducing the number of multifamily units,” he said. “Because that’s where the economic value is stored in malls across the country.”

Montesi said they faced harsh opposi tion to rental units from local officials, who painted the large multi-family devel opments as a potential draw for “tran sient” and “disengaged” residents. He said they argued the development would bring, luxury, “renter by choice” apartments to the community, and it would have a low density, compared to other developments they’ve worked on nationwide.

“We were told, ‘we don’t care,’” he said. “I understand that you’re proud of your community. But the market looks around the country and capital goes where it’s welcomed.”

For every 50 rental units removed, the project loses $12 million in econom ic value, he said, and with the signifi cant investment on the line from New York Life, which has reportedly pledged more than $174 million to the project, they are walking a fine line.

“We’re somewhere around 175 units of multifamily away from legally getting approval,” he said. “We’re off right now.”

ALEXANDER POPP/APPEN MEDIA

Trademark Properties CEO Terry Montesi speaks to community members at a meeting at North Point Mall Tuesday, Oct. 11.

Most elderly Grove Way residents have relocated

By CHAMIAN CRUZ chamian@appenmedia.com

ROSWELL, Ga. — While the Roswell Housing Authority convened its monthly meeting at 199 Grove Way Oct. 11, out side, a small group helped a longtime ten ant move out of her run-down apartment.

Every day, the property gets a little quieter as the half dozen remaining ten ants move out, some as far as Atlanta, Cumming or out of state.

Beth Brown, executive director of the Gainesville Housing Authority which manages the property through a mutual agreement with the Roswell agency, said she expects that number to drop to six within the next 30 days. There are still three tenants, however, who have not found housing options they would even consider applying to.

Seven months ago, the 33 tenants at the public housing development received notice they had until the end of August to vacate. The building, also known as Pelfrey Pines, consists of 40 units built in the mid-1980s. The Roswell Hous ing Authority owns another 55 incomebased housing units in the area.

The City of Roswell found that the property had several structural issues, including settling and cracks, costly deficiencies in the stormwater drainage

systems, missing steel structures and deteriorating steel supports in columns and suspended stairways.

But, the area-wide housing short age and landlords’ unwillingness to accept Section 8 vouchers has limited the elderly residents’ options, especially those who are also disabled. So, over the summer, Vietnam War veteran Michael Dowda sounded the alarm, pleading with city officials to get involved.

The housing authorities later said that the Leumas Group, which had been hired by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, would continue to help the tenants look for housing, and that there would no longer be a set deadline for them to move out as long as the building remained safe.

Dowda, Sheila Richards and Wanda Wilbanks, who spoke to Appen Media in July, have all found new housing.

At the Oct. 11 meeting, Karen Parrish, chairwoman of the Roswell Housing Au thority, said she recently met with a group of legislators and told them about the chal lenges they were facing at the apartment complex. She said State Rep. Chuck Martin seemed interested in getting involved.

Additionally, Parrish said Christo pher Nunn, commissioner of the Georgia Department of Community Affairs, had reached out encouraging them to con

Sheila Richards, who spoke to Appen Media in July, is one of the Grove Way apartment residents who has since found new housing.

tinue working with the development firm Pennrose to redevelop 199 Grove Way.

In July, the Roswell Housing Author ity announced it planned to submit a 4 percent Low-Income Housing Tax Credit application to the Georgia Department of Community Affairs to build and renovate approximately 150 units on its existing site, increasing the supply of affordable housing in the area by 55 units.

If the project is approved and funded, it would be a $40 million investment in the Groveway community. All the resi

dents that were relocated throughout the process would have priority and the right to return to the new property. Par rish said there are four “big issues” all redevelopment plans for housing authori ties are facing right now – rising interest rates, pricing on tax credits, construction costs and regulations on banks.

However, President Joe Biden’s $2 trillion infrastructure plan could offer some relief.

The plan proposes a wide range of tax credits to incentivize investment in afford able housing, community development and clean energy. The proposal leverages the public/private frameworks established by existing tax credit programs to spur major new investment in infrastructure.

In other business at the Oct. 11 meet ing, Brown said the Roswell Housing Authority’s year-end financials did not vary from what was presented at the end of June except for some slight reclassifications and Community Development Block Grant funds that had lingered from last year.

They will be submitted to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to begin their audit, which should be ready by the end of January.

The Roswell Housing Authority meets at noon on the second Tuesday of every month in the Community Room at 199 Grove Way. The next meeting is Nov. 8.

CHAMIAN CRUZ/APPEN MEDIA

OPINION

Couple celebrates ‘Lifetime of love,’ 75th wedding anniversary

By CHAMIAN CRUZ chamian@appenmedia.com

SANDY SPRINGS, Ga. — It’s been more than 75 years since Harold Banister sent his future wife a note asking her out on a date, but he says they are more in love than ever.

Harold, 94, and Louise Young Banis ter, 91, live in Sandy Springs. However, their story began on July 6, 1947, in Williamston, South Carolina. World War II had ended two years prior.

At the time, Harold said sugar was the last commodity to be removed from ration ing, gasoline was 13 cents a gallon and the average annual income was $2,854. He added that an average new car cost about $1,290, while an average new house cost $6,550.

The South was covered by family farms, and gospel songs were all the hype. On the Sunday afternoon the cou ple met, Harold said he talked a friend into hitch-hiking 8 miles north from his hometown in Belton to Williamston, South Carolina, to attend a gospel sing ing at the local high school.

Louise and her friend arrived late, and as they looked around the school’s gymnasium for a seat, Harold said he convinced his friend to give his up and entertain the other girl. Harold wasted no time asking Louise for a date. But, to get rid of him, she told him that she never considered dating a boy unless he asked her in writing. Not expecting to hear from him, Lou ise gave Harold her address.

She found a letter in her mailbox two days later.

Harold said he believes what hap pened next was like God arranging them on a blind date. While Louise looked over the letter with her mother and younger sister on their front porch one day trying to decide what to do next, one of Harold’s relatives happened to stop by for a visit.

After a few minutes of conversation, Louise’s mother asked the relative if

she knew Harold. She replied with an emphatic “yes” and a positive recom mendation. Harold received the girl’s reply the following Thursday. It was a “yes,” with directions to her house and a time – Saturday, July 12, 1947, at 6 p.m.

Harold said he would have walked, if necessary, but he and another high

school classmate who owned a car and his girlfriend ended up going on a double date. The date went so well, Harold said, that Louise told him he could come back the next Saturday.

Harold bought a used car that same week and proceeded to visit Louise ev ery Saturday for four months, which is when they married. They sold the car to

purchase furniture. Shortly before their fourth wedding anniversary, however, Harold was drafted into the Korean War. Louise supported him during that time, moving to Mississippi and other states just to be with him. As Harold rose through the ranks, so did Louise in her various jobs. After many years, Har old left the Air Force to spend the next 52 years working at IBM.

Today, the couple’s son, Mark, lives 11 miles from their home in Sandy Springs, and they are looking forward to celebrating their 75th wedding anniversary on Nov. 28. Harold says Louise is the prettiest 91-year-old he’s ever seen.

“We believe God had something to do with our meeting and the life He has given us,” Harold said. “I had been to Louise’s hometown on business but never socially. Why that Sunday? Why did the relative show up while the letter was being discussed? Only God knows.”

Allen Jackson, senior pastor at Dunwoody Baptist Church, said he’s known the couple for almost 35 years. He described them as “incredibly sweet” and “just magical.” The church plans to honor Harold and Louise at the 8:30 a.m. ser vice the Sunday before their anniversary.

“If any of us make 75 years old, it’s sort of a mile marker, but to be married 75 years and still be in love,” Jackson said. “It’s apparent that they’re still in love. They defer to each other. They finish each other’s sentences. It’s just adorable.”

Jackson said Harold visits the church every Monday morning to deliver a spread sheet of its attendance, patterns and trends for the week. He joked that it’s hard for any one to get any work done when he’s in the office, because they all love talking to him.

He thinks what’s helped Harold and Louise’s marriage last for so long is their faithful spirit. Jackson also said that Har old is a good listener and a great friend.

“I would definitely say that his faith is a big part of his steadiness in marriage and work, life, all of it,” Jackson said.

BANISTER FAMILY/PROVIDED Harold and Louise Banister are celebrating their 75th wedding anniversary on Nov. 28

RENEE DIERDORFF, Co-founder of Kid Biz Expo

Kid Biz Expo goes ‘beyond the lemonade stand’

By AMBER PERRY amber@appenmedia.com

WOODSTOCK, Ga. — Lemonade stands, those cliche starter projects for busi ness-minded kids, are typically isolated on some neighborhood intersection, without the educational experience of surrounding competition.

But, at Kid Biz Expo, young entrepre neurs are empowered to go “beyond the lemonade stand,” through workshops and markets where they can sell goods around same-aged peers. Dedicated to expanding a kid’s entrepreneurial spirit, Kid Biz Expo serves ages 8 to 18. Co-founder Renee Dierdorff said middle school ages are the “sweet spot.”

Ten-year-old Avery Adcock sold bracelets with her business AdorAble You at the Oct. 1 Kid Biz Expo in Milton — the two A’s are purposefully capital ized to refer to Avery’s initials.

Mom Kimberly said they set up a lemonade stand over the summer.

“Mom buys the lemonade. Mom buys the bracelet kit. And, then they just get to make a little bit of money for that hour or two,” Kimberly said. “But for this, it was really about investing in her table … and kind of being responsible for all of those aspects of the marketing, the business and learning that you get out of it what you put in.”

Kevin Peppers homeschools his daughter Clara, a crafty 11-year-old who also participated in her first expo. She sold an array of accessories, like home

made earrings, crocheted scrunchies, quilted keychains and fabric lipstick holder keychains.

Kevin said he’s been watching Kid Biz Expo from day one.

“[The expo] is such an exercise in un derstanding entrepreneurship,” he said. Entrepreneurship is a concept he built into Clara’s homeschool lesson plans. Before attending, he and wife

Angela sat down with Clara to go over product inventory and pricing, profit and loss.

The expos are also a great chance for Clara and her mother to work together crafting, Kevin said.

Ainsley Ro, a 12-year-old artist, was another first-timer at the Kid Biz Expo in Milton. She sold canvas and glass paint ings along with homemade stickers.

Her mother Cyndi Ro said Ainsley has ADHD and struggles in school and that art has always been an important outlet for her. Ainsley started her own Etsy shop when she was 11. It didn’t get a lot of traffic. But Kid Biz Expo changed up the dynamics.

“She always says she’s not a real art ist. That’s like her tagline,” Cyndi said. “But, this really helped her because she sold so much merchandise. She was like, “Wow, people actually like what I do.”

Dierdorff and friend Amy Guest came up with the idea for Kid Biz Expo a few years ago, when Guest’s middle daugh ter Avery started selling cotton candy and Guest’s other daughters, Aidyn and Austyn, wanted to start something of their own. Guest’s oldest is best friends with Dierdorff’s oldest, so Dierdorff’s two daughters, Layla and Harper, got involved, too.

After using Cherokee Connect to poll interest, Dierdorff and Guest organized their first event in a church parking lot in August 2021. There, 27 kids set up shop and more than 400 people at

tended.

There isn’t much engagement be tween sellers and customers at a farm ers market, Dierdorff said. But at the first expo, visitors asked the kids a lot of questions about their products.

“It was just a very positive environ ment that day,” Dierdorff said. “You can’t replicate it anywhere.”

The expo’s success led Dierdorff and Guest to establish the idea as a nonprof it. After applying in December last year, Kid Biz Expo became an official 501(c)(3) in March.

The nonprofit’s flagship is the Kid Biz Expo, where kids can register for a spot for a $45 fee. Kid-preneurs bring their own 10x10 tent, signage and other supplies.

Dierdorff and Guest also started hosting workshops in January, to total nine for the year. The workshops, which are on business-related topics, are scheduled between the expos for prepa ration.

Dierdorff recalled a recent workshop about brainstorming business ideas. Others have been about developing a pitch, goal planning and digital market ing.

Next year, Dierdorff plans to launch Kid Biz Coach and Kid Biz Connect.

Arranged in a conference style, she said Coach will be like “workshops on steroids.” There, kids will be able to connect with people from industries that

It was just a very positive environment that day. You can’t replicate it anywhere.

KIMBERLY ADCOCK/PROVIDED

Avery Adcock, 10, accepts payment from a customer at the Kid Biz Expo Oct. 1 in Milton. Avery sold bracelets from his business, AdorAble You.

Kid:

are specific to their business and stay in touch with them throughout the year.

Kid Biz Connect will be a kid-to-kid networking event.

Dierdorff also has plans for Kid Biz Tech and Trade, which will be for kids whose businesses are service based, like dog walking, as well as for those inter ested in careers like coding.

Now, Kid Biz Expo has a board of nine directors, including Dierdorff and Guest, each offering a unique perspec

tive to operations.

“It’s been a whirlwind,” Dierdorff said.

While Dierdorff doesn’t get paid through Kid Biz Expo, her efforts are rewarded in other ways.

“On the days of the expos, I think the biggest thing that warms our hearts is the confidence and the smiles from the kids,” Dierdorff said. “As the day goes on, especially if they’re new to it, and they’re maybe a little timid in the begin ning, but quickly, they see how engaging and positive the people that come are … their confidence just soars.”

For more information about Kid Biz Expo, visit www.kidbizexpo.com.

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CYNDI RO/PROVIDED

Ainsley Ro, 12, gives a thumbs up by her inventory in the Oct. 1 Kid Biz Expo event in Milton. She sold paintings on canvas and glass as well as homemade stickers under the business name Ainsley Makes Stuff.

Owners: Jim and Linse Miller

Wellstar Health System welcomes new surgeon

ALPHARETTA, Ga. — Wellstar Health System recently welcomed a new doc tor and surgeon at its Orthopedics and Sports Medicine practice on Upper Hem bree Road in Alpharetta.

Officials with the hospital system said Dr. Eric Kiskad don, a fellowship-trained orthopedic surgeon, recently joined the Alpharetta prac tice after years of practice and research in the orthope dic field.

“I was drawn to Wellstar by the opportunity to build a truly unique joint replacement program, while working with a dedicated and compassionate team,” Kiskaddon said. “I look forward to working with the community of Wellstar physicians and providers to provide a world-class joint replacement experience for our patients.”

his orthopedic surgery residency at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio, serving as administrative chief resident and was named an emerging leader by the American Orthopedic Association. Following residency, he completed a fellowship in adult reconstruction at The Ohio State University.

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“He performs direct anterior approach and posterior approach total hip replacement, total knee replacement, partial knee replacement, and revision hip and knee replacement,” officials said. “In addi tion, he manages fractures around prior joint replacements as well as infected hip and knee replacements.”

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Kiskaddon received his doctor ate of medicine at the University of Louisville, where he was named to the Gold Humanism Honor Soci ety, officials said. He completed

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Alpharetta Arts commissioner cleared of ethics charges

By ALEXANDER POPP alex@appenmedia.com

ALPHARETTA, Ga. —The Alpharetta Board of Ethics voted 3-2 on Oct. 13 to clear Arts Commission Vice Chairman Gene Andrews of multiple ethical wrong doings alleged in August.

Andrews, who was appointed to the city’s Cultural Arts Commission by Mayor Jim Gilvin, was accused of using “his title and power of position as com missioner” to intimidate, threaten and leverage transactions from Atlanta artist Jennifer Sutton, during a text exchange earlier this year.

On Oct. 13, both Sutton and An drews were able to stand before the eth ics board and tell their sides of the story, which concerned a dispute over a New York art show and a contract between Sutton and another artist represented by Andrews.

Text message screenshots that ac companied Sutton’s complain, filed Aug. 18, show messages between the two par ties quickly became hostile and deterio rated after Andrews requested amend ments be made to a contract for an art show that was already in progress.

“Clearly you don’t get I’m also a City Commissioner google me I don’t play

when it comes to my clients,” a message written by Andrews said.

“Are you threatening me with your title??,” Sutton responded.

During the hearing, Sutton told the board that she had only filed her complaint because she truly felt like Andrews had crossed a line and needed to be held accountable.

“I would like to see accountability,” she said. “I feel that someone at his level … they should be held to a higher standard. I myself am not a city official however, I try to conduct myself as fair and professionally as possible.”

Andrews responded saying the exchange with Sutton didn’t cross any lines and didn’t involve his appointed position in the city. He pointed to the work he was put into helping the city, and said he shouldn’t be judged for one text message exchange.

“I love Alpharetta. I love what I do,” he said. “So, when someone comes to our community and makes this accusa tion that I’m this big, bad wolf … In a 15-minute conversation, you can’t depict who I really am.”

In closing statements after the hourlong hearing, both parties said they would accept whatever decision was made by the Ethics Board.

Gene Andrews, vice chair of Alpharet ta’s Cultural Arts Commission, speaks to the Alpharetta Board of Ethics at a hearing held Oct. 13 at city hall. An drews was cleared of ethics violations by the board at the hearing.

Board members deliberated in execu tive session for an hour before returning and voting 3-2, with board members Gracile Dawes and Lindsey Ann Burnett opposed, to deny the charges.

However, despite clearing Andrews

of charges, several board members had harsh words for the arts commissioner and said several of his text messages were “problematic.”

“I eat people like you for dessert … She’s a perfect example not to deal with this type of black person. Her brand will be toast,” Dawes quoted from Andrews’ text messages. “We do believe that these statements could give the appearance of a threat to her person and her business in conjunction with your position as a City of Alpharetta arts commissioner.”

In the end, Andrews was asked to re flect on the messages and the complaint made by Sutton.

“When you are representing City of Alpharetta, you always have to keep that in mind, under all circumstances … some of the members of the board would actually like to have you acknowledge Miss Sutton’s concerns with the way that she felt by those texts that were made,” Ethics Board Chair Gina Kel lis said. “The board would like to see the parties formally make amends and perhaps put this episode behind both of you.”

Andrews agreed to Kellis’ request, approaching Sutton to apologize when the meeting was adjourned and shaking her hand.

By: William Shakespeare | Adapted by Erica Schmidt

by: The Bridge Ensemble at Cambridge High School

October 28 – 7pm | October 29 – 2pm & 7pm | November 2 – 4pm & 7pm

November 2nd performances will be performed by The Bridge Ensemble’s JV cast. Macbeth is performed with the expressed written consent of Dramatists Play Service.

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Tax:

Dickens said he was gravely concerned over the discourse that has come from Fulton County negotiators.

“More importantly, they are not engaging in this process in a way that will reach an appropriate outcome by the deadline,” Dickens said. “In fact, Fulton County continues to hold up the threat of letting LOST expire alto gether, a reckless move that would be disastrous for the residents that we all serve.”

Dickens, who has largely steered clear from the public displays sur rounding the 2022 LOST, said that like the other 14 cities in Fulton County, Atlanta would suffer greatly if LOST were eliminated. LOST revenues make up nearly 20 percent of Atlanta’s gen eral fund revenue, which funds “vital public safety and quality of life” proj ects, he said.

County officials have argued that they too have obligations, and county government provides many statemandated services like libraries, public health and a court system. Those ser vices, they argue, have only increased by the wave of new cities incorporating over the past 15 years.

The county is seeking to increase its split of the sales tax revenue from the 4.97 percent it has received over the past 10 years to as much as 15 percent or higher.

“We believe that the work of the cit ies is clearly important,” Fulton Coun ty Commission Chairman Robb Pitts said at a recent mediation session. “But we know, without a doubt that the services Fulton County provides are important. In fact, in most cases they are a matter of life and death for many people.”

A public safety issue

The mayors argue that cutting their share of LOST funding would ultimately impact services like fire, EMS and police the most, because their most expensive pieces of equipment are largely funded by tax revenues.

Sandy Springs Mayor Rusty Paul said that if the county’s LOST revenues are increased, his city, along with Mil ton and East Point, cannot raise their millage rate to make up the difference with property taxes.

That means their only option is to cut services.

“We have the ability in our city to pay to make sure that people have an eight-minute response time with our am bulance services … that goes away, then response time on ambulance service goes up 50 percent in Sandy Springs, that means people will die,” Paul said.

Paul said that after the last negotia

tion session held Oct. 7, there’s been no sign that county officials want to come back to the negotiating table.

“We’re at a total stalemate,” he said.

Negotiations halted

During that meeting, county nego tiators proposed raising the county’s share of LOST distributions from the current 4.97 percent to 7 percent and then up to 15 percent over 10 years.

City negotiators noted this proposal was nearly identical to several previous offers that had already been rejected, due to their expected impact on the cities.

“Mayor Dickens laid out a plan based on conversations with the county commissioners themselves that we thought would move the ball,” Paul said. “And what happened was they took two steps back and went back to a previous position, back to the 160 per cent Increase, which just totally blew everything out of the water. So, we’re at an impasse right now.”

Dickens said the cities were gener ous when they offered up a 40 percent increase in county LOST proceed, and he called the 160 percent increase pro posal a “slap in the face.”

Closing out his comments on Mon day, Dickens challenged county officials to return to the negotiating table and for residents to contact their district representative on the County Com mission to press them for a resolution before the current LOST agreement expires on Dec. 31.

“To the County Commission, it’s

simply time to step up, come to the table and work with these mayors to get this done,” Dickens said. “We all have a job to do and I’m calling on you right now to work with us to get this done.”

City and county officials have not scheduled any additional mediation ses

sions and initially planned to advance the issue to a formal arbitration process if mediation fails.

Alpharetta Mayor Jim Gilvin previ ously told Appen Media that so far, county officials have expressed no interest in participating in arbitration with the cities.

PHOTOS BY ALEX POPP/APPEN MEDIA

Sandy Springs Mayor Rusty Paul speaks at a press conference Oct. 17 about negotiations with Fulton County over distribu tion of the countywide local option sales tax. Behind him are mayors from a dozen Fulton County cities, including Roswell Mayor Kurt Wilson, second from left, and Alpharetta Mayor Jim Gilvin, third from right.

Johns Creek Mayor John Bradberry speaks at a press conference in Atlanta Oct. 17 regarding negotiations with Fulton County officials over distribution of the countywide local option sales tax. Behind Bradberry, from left, are Milton Mayor Peyton Jamison, Mountain Park Mayor Jim Still, College Park Mayor Bianca Motley Broom, Sandy Springs Mayor Rusty Paul and Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens

Blue Light season has returned

Blue light therapy, also called pho todynamic therapy (PDT), is a treatment that can help eliminate precancerous lesions and lower one’s risk of skin cancer. A PDT treatment involves ap plying a medicine called aminolevulinic acid (ALA) to a patient’s skin and then shining blue light on the treated area to activate the medicine. ALA is an organic, naturally occurring amino acid that our bodies use to make hemoglobin. When applied to the skin and acti vated by blue light, ALA preferentially kills pre-cancerous cells that make up lesions called actinic keratoses (AKs). Patients can often feel their own AKs by running their fingers over sun damaged areas such as the tip of the nose, the tops of the ears or the scalp. AK’s usually feel rough or hard and will sometimes bleed if picked. AKs can develop into skin cancer if untreated. PDT has a “season” because most precancer treatments leave the skin tempo rarily irritated and paradoxically vulner able to the sun’s rays for a period of a few days to a week as healing takes place. Good cells need time to heal into the place

previously occupied by bad cells. After a PDT treatment, a patient needs to avoid the sun for a few days. If a patient is go ing to see a child or grandchild’s baseball game, go fishing, golfing, boating or other wise be in the sun, then many dermatolo gists would recommend waiting to perform preventative skin cancer treatments until a less sunny time of year when it’s easier to avoid the sun’s UV rays.

Now that the days are getting shorter and the sun is less intense, it’s time to start thinking about skin cancer preven tion again. Multiple treatment options exist to help prevent skin cancer includ ing in-office treatments like PDT as well as at home creams that a patient applies such as fluorouracil, imiquimod, diclof enac and tirbanibulin. A dermatologist can help a patient choose the best, per sonalized treatment.

PDT and the best topical treat ments can eliminate 75% or more of one’s actinic keratoses and dramatically decrease the number of times a patient has to have spots frozen or cancers cut out. Our experience is that thoroughly treated areas that were growing skin cancers at the rate of one per year often

Brought to you by – Brent Taylor, MD, Premiere Dermatology and Mohs Sur gery of Atlanta

Three ways to work with sadness in your life

Brought to you by - Jason Howard, Licensed Associate Professional Coun selor at Summit Counseling Center

As the last quarter of another year moves along, the days get shorter, and holiday festivities ramp up, it is very common to feel sad. It is also common to tell ourselves just to think happy thoughts, push through, and avoid any of the mental or physical signals this very useful emotion brings. New re search studies are finding people experi ence physical relief, emotional calm, and improved relational connection when they allow themselves to observe, name, and work with rather than against sad ness. There is also a benefit to recogniz ing when normal sadness is shifting into depression and choosing to take steps to help your body and brain respond.

Here are three suggestions that can help when you notice feeling sad:

1. Get Curious. Every emotion has a set of body and brain cues. Emotions also have valid and natural purposes, including sadness. When you feel tired, sluggish, teary, or have a lack of motiva

tion, pause and get curious. Instead of judging the moment, get curious about why it is showing up today or in this season. See the helpful reminders to honor the loss of someone or something important. Reflect on losses or goals not achieved this year. Getting curious about sadness often provides a new ap preciation for the people and experiences that still bring you meaning and value.

2. Get Active. Sadness signals its presence with a set of automatic natural body cues. All of

us at some point experience sadness as a range from tiredness and low energy to feeling pain or hollowness in the gut. We also can easily forget the positives in life. These cues are hard-wired into our brain and body to signal a need to pay attention and make a possible change. First, we need to check if the sadness is justified and helpful. If it is not justified or helpful, act opposite the sadness by reaching out to a trusted friend, dis tracting with positive or upbeat music, pray, walk outside, or text encourage ments to three people. If the sadness is justified and it would be helpful to engage it, get active by allowing your self to remember and grieve. The key to working with the sadness is to let your

brain and body know you are taking the signals seriously.

3. Get Support. If you find yourself feeling persistently numb or afraid of giving sadness any space in your life, it may be time to get support from a trained professional who understands how thoughts, emo tions, and actions affect our life. At the Summit, we have an easy-to-use online tool to help you determine in a few min utes if your recent thoughts or actions tied to sadness may be associated with a common, treatable mental health need.

Blue:

go multiple years without another skin cancer after PDT treatments. Cosmetically, PDT can be part of a skin rejuvenation regimen. On the face of men and women and on the upper chest “décolletage” area of women, PDT treatments can address the pre cancerous component of sun-damaged skin, and then laser treatments (such as 532/1064nm Nd:YAG laser) can help address aesthetic components of sun damage. These treatments allow

Visit screening.mentalhealthscreening. org/SUMMIT to get your results and a recommendation for a counselor that can help.

Sadness can be a valuable emotion. Choose to pay attention to its signals and access the help you need in order to feel more connected to yourself and enjoy each day more.

many rough, red or brown spots to be eliminated resulting in medical and cosmetic benefit.

If you would like to repair sun damaged skin and treat actinic kera toses or are simply overdue for a skin exam, consider Premier Dermatology and Mohs Surgery of Atlanta. Dr. Brent Taylor is a fellowship-trained and board-certified dermatologist and Mohs surgeon. Kathryn Filipek, PA-C has greater than 15 years of experience in dermatology and has expertise in medi cal dermatology, cosmetic injectable treatments, sclerotherapy, external laser treatments and more.

OPINION

Entrepreneur Jake Hughes was quite a fellow

BOB MEYERS Columnist bobmey@bellsouth.net

Every time I drive by The Silos pocket park in Alpharetta I think of Jake Hughes, and I wish I had known him. Successful entre preneur, farmer and friend to all, Jake was the definition of an overachiever.

Jacob William Hughes (1898-1987) was one of 13 children raised on a cot ton farm in Neeces, South Carolina. He was a natural born businessman. In his mid-20s, he decided that the future was in transportation. He bor rowed seed capital from the local bank and bought a used eight-seat Buick with a luggage rack on top. He painted “Bus” on the sides and launched his first real business, hauling passen gers from Columbia to Charleston, SC. Later in 1933, he and friend Lon Ship man (1900-1988) joined forces with a small bus line and founded Southeast ern Stages. To this day, the company provides scheduled and charter motor coach services throughout the South east. Jake’s son Bill worked his way up in the company and served as CEO until 2020 when he retired. He is cur rently chairman emeritus. The founders weathered the Great Depression and moved operations to Atlanta in the late 1930s. During World War II, the company made a lot of money transporting soldiers around the state. But Jake and Lon had farming in their blood, and both bought farmland. Lon bought 60 acres in Sandy Springs and became a weekend farmer. Jake began accumulating land in old Milton County, eventually more than 1,000 acres. Jake’s brother C. A. Hughes managed the farm while Jake continued to live in Buck head. On weekends, he would come up to his farm from Buckhead and cut hay where the North Farm subdivision is today.

Never one to sit still, Jake started several farm-related businesses. Toward the end of WWII, he established the Jake Hughes Hereford Farm and began buying Hereford cattle by bidding on the best cattle specimens at cattle auctions. In March 1945, the Atlanta Constitution commenting on “the new and budding” Hereford industry, reported that at one auction where 45 of the finest cattle in the state were sold, Jake bought one of the two top specimens Clybel Princess 1st for $1,500. The following month, he sold a Hereford, Millie Domino III, for the top price of $1,300 at an auction where 75 Herefords were sold. Sometimes he would have as many as 100 Herefords

on his farm.

Next, Jake went into the dairy busi ness with Holstein cows, known for their high milk production. They were the only breed that could make money, according to Roy Rusk (1916-2012) who worked for Jake for many years. Jake hired numerous workers for that labor intensive business. In 1950, he built the three silos that constitute the pocket park where field crops such as corn and grains were ground up and stored until they fermented into animal feed. His large dairy barn was just north of the silos.

Jake stopped using the silos in 1967 when he switched from dairy cows to Black Angus and pure French Charolais cattle. They ate hay rather than silage and could take advantage of Jake’s abundant grazing acreage. Jake once sold a Charolais bull named Alabama Designee for $100,000, says C. V. Dinsmore, a land and commer cial real estate specialist who enjoyed a number of business relations with Jake.

Jake’s next business, which he

operated for several years, was egg production. He had some large chicken houses and sold his eggs all over the country.

Then came the business of regis tered American Quarter Horses. Jake built a large circular arena where he auctioned off high-quality animals to buyers from all over the world. He operated the business for about 10 years in the 1950s and ’60s and had as many as 30 horses at any given time. C. V. Dinsmore recalls that Jake had two award winning champions, Cap tain Joker and Jake’s a Million. Jake called his business the Jake Hughes Quarter Horse Farm.

From 1953 to 1973, Jake and Roy Rusk operated the Crabapple Sausage Company producing 1,500 to 3,000 pounds of sausage a day which they sold to the public at the sausage mak ing facility and to grocery stores all over Georgia.

Jake loved to play the stock market and read the Wall Street Journal every day.

When Jake was in his 70s he sold

The City of Alpharetta created a pocket park in 2003 surrounding the silos that Jake Hughes built to support his dairy business. The silos are one of the most recognized symbols of the city and are a constant reminder of the area’s agrar ian roots.

off parcels of his holdings to develop ers. Neighborhoods such as North Farm, Saddle Creek and the Kroger shopping center in Crabapple were built on his land.

Jake Hughes was a caring and gra cious man with a Midas touch who always sought the very best of the best and who left his mark in many ways in North Fulton.

Bob is director emeritus of the Milton Historical Society and a Member of the City of Alpharetta Historic Preservation Commission. You can email him at bob mey@bellsouth.net.

ATLANTA CONSTITUTION

Jake Hughes paid $1,500 for a champion heifer cow, the second highest price for a cow sold at a Hereford cattle show in Mansfield Ga. Forty-five Herefords were sold at the auction. Jake’s young son Billy Hughes, left, is shown holding his fa ther’s auction purchase. March 1945

BOB MEYERS/APPEN MEDIA

CRABAPPLE DENTISTRY/PROVIDED Jake Hughes built these silos in 1950 to make and store feed for his dairy business, and he used them until 1967 when he switched from dairy to raising beef cattle which fed on grass in his large pastures. Circa 1950s.

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Proper grammar never gets old

I just read Ray Appen’s column on grammar in the Herald. Kudos. The decrease in correct grammar, not only in speech but in writing, is disturbing. Defenders say we have a marvelously elastic lan guage and it’s always chang ing, etc. While there is truth in the natural evolution of word meanings and use, gram mar is a different matter. And an increasing failure to use correct grammar negatively impacts our ability to com municate and to understand others.

The letters we have of Civil War soldiers, even if they are not entirely representative of the population, do suggest a thoughtfulness, understanding and ability for expression far higher than the average college graduate today.

I tend to be wordy myself, and must take care. In my work writing, I use such aids as Grammargirl.com and now even Grammarly!

My biggest peeve lately is the “Me and him” subject construct I seem to hear all the time. Not only should it be “I” and “he” but the “he” should be placed first out of common courtesy (which might even help people to remember the subject/object difference). But it’s “me” first these days, in more ways than one.

I diagrammed sentences in school, and better, was lucky to have married a girl who grew up in Catholic school and was made to diagram sentences a lot! Children growing up in our house got edited by me for content and flow, and their mother for clear, concise, grammatically correct writing!

Anyway thanks for your column. You may be playing “Nearer My God to Thee” on the deck of the Titanic, but that’s the way to go down!

Rob Rogers Cumming

Football:

includes the field, the lights, any secu rity and janitorial services.

“Every time you step on the field, you have to pay for it,” Liley said.

Eyes set on Cauley Creek

Cleary said he’s tried getting the city to host the Hawks at Shakerag Park in Johns Creek – to no avail. He’s now set his sights on the new Cauley Creek Park.

The $26 million park development project is set to have two turf and two grass multi-purpose fields. Because football is a single-season sport, Cleary wants to primarily use them in the fall for games as well as for some summer conditioning.

Johns Creek Recreation Manager Kirk Franz said decisions on how Cauley Creek will be used is being vetted out through the 2016 Master Parks Plan up date. The update, to be completed by the end of the year, involves a near-$157,000 contract with PROS Consulting.

The update includes community sur veys. But, to Cleary’s chagrin, he said the survey had no mention of the word “football.”

Survey results were presented Sept. 22 at a public input meeting for the Parks and Recreation Strategic Plan. While the results do not mention any thing about youth football, they touched on other sports, like pickleball.

“There are some Parks and ‘Wreck’ problems here!” Clearly wrote in an email describing the survey.

Recreation in Johns Creek

Outside of Johns Creek-sponsored adult coed softball, the city’s sports programs are provided through park associations which partner with the city through contractual agreements. The volunteer-run organizations, like the Hawks, are left to their own accord.

Recreation Manager Franz said that field rentals are waived for park associa tions because they’re essentially offering sports programs on the city’s behalf.

“If we didn’t have park associations, I’d have to have a staff of at least a dozen people to run the programs that these volunteers do, right?” Franz said. “So, it’s a win-win for the city.”

Franz said employees in the Johns Creek Public Works Department, which supervises Parks & Recreation, are contracted workers from Jacobs Engi neering. There are around four full-time employees, including himself, and a handful of part-time workers. Volunteerrun associations do the footwork that the department can’t do alone.

Johns Creek currently has two athletic associations, Ocee Park Athletic Association and Newtown Recreation, which have facility usage agreements

with the city.

Ocee Park Athletic Association man ages all recreational programs offered at Ocee Park, which has eight softball/ baseball fields and one T-ball field. Established in 1993, the association sponsors youth baseball and softball programs for boys and girls ages 5 to 16.

Newtown Recreation athletic associa tion offers recreational programming for a variety of sports, including flag football, at Newtown Park.

But Cleary said the Hawks differ from the Newtown program. The Hawks are more focused on development, trav eling to compete, whereas Newtown is passive recreation, he said.

High-dollar contracts

The facility usage agreements with the city allow the nonprofits to freely use their respective park for sports, provided they invest in park improvements. Apart from 2021 during the pandemic, the financial contributions to the city from each organization is set at either 5 per cent of gross park-related program and concession fees or $25,000, whichever is greater.

Cleary said those charges aren’t viable for the Hawks. He said 20 to 40 percent is a reasonable bargain ing discussion because the program recently restructured. While the Johns Creek Youth Football Association has been around for more than 20 years, the association rebranded into the Hawks a couple of years ago.

Exceptions can be made, though. In the facility usage agreement between the city and Autrey Mill Nature Preserve and Heritage Center, the preserve is only required to pay 5 percent of its revenues toward park improvements.

Cleary said he’s open to any kind of arrangement with the city.

“Our bottom goal is to have a citysponsored youth football program here, whether that’s us running it, whether that’s the city running it or another organization,” he said. “If it’s not us, because we’re not the best organization, that’s fine, too — we can help that orga nization out.”

Cricket reigns

Franz said the city’s recreation model rests on flexibility.

“We as a city simply just don’t have plenty of fields where we can say, ‘Okay, well, each sport can have their own dedi cated field,” Franz said. “We have to be very flexible and versatile in how we use our fields.”

Cleary’s predicament is familiar to those involved in other youth sports in the city, like soccer, basketball and lacrosse, cricket included.

The Johns Creek Cricket Associa tion also doesn’t have any contractual agreement with the city. But the sport has seen some triumphs in the past few years with the addition of six cricket bat

ting cages and two turf cricket pitches at Shakerag Park, which are some of the only municipal cricket facilities in the Southeast region, according to an Aug. 18, 2021, agenda report for the Johns Creek Recreation and Parks Advisory Committee.

Leadership Johns Creek, a civic organization that fosters community in volvement, also unveiled the state’s first cricket electronic scoreboard in 2020 at Shakerag, a $25,000 project funded by members of Cricket TEAM (Together Everyone Achieves More).

And in 2020, Johns Creek issued a Request for Proposal (RFP) seeking a youth-focused recreational cricket partner. TEAM applied, but the city de cided the association didn’t have enough experience. The following year, the city re-issued the RFP and selected Atlanta Cricket League.

After the facility usage agreement was awarded to the league, a subsid iary organization related to the Atlanta Cricket League sent emails in violation of the Purchasing Policy. All bids were then rejected.

City Council on youth football

At its Oct. 17 meeting, the Johns Creek City Council renewed an existing agreement with the City of Alpharetta for its Parks Without Borders program that waives non-resident fees for participants in youth softball, baseball, lacrosse and soccer programs held in the two cities.

Football was not listed in the agree ment.

The agreement was originally on the consent agenda, but it was called up for discussion because of the football exclusion. Chris Haggard, Johns Creek assistant Public Works director, said the reason lies in what Johns Creek can of fer, or what it can’t.

“At this point, we don’t have much football to offer to their side,” Haggard said.

He also said the city doesn’t know enough about Alpharetta’s football pro gramming. But he added that it’s a con versation Johns Creek and Alpharetta will continue to have.

Johns Creek City Councilman Larry DiBiase asked Haggard if Public Works can run a football program as a means to expand Parks without Borders.

Haggard said that it’s not possible with current staff and explained the city’s model with regard to partnering with park associations.

“We do need to look at how we get support for feeder youth sports, espe cially football,” Mayor John Bradberry said.

While Councilman DiBiase sup ported the renewal to prevent delay, he stressed the city must have an “honest conversation” about program structure and what resources can be put for ward to make Parks without Borders successful in a way that may include youth football.

ADAM CLEARY/PROVIDED

Adam Cleary stands with his son Gavin. Cleary, who is the Northview Jr Titans Liaison for Johns Creek Hawks Football, has been trying to partner with the city to support and promote the Hawks.

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Nancy Mitford, anyone?

I’d heard of the Mitford sisters but didn’t know much about them until I visited the Cotswolds several years ago. On a bicycle ride during that trip, we got an introduction to their story from our tour guide not only because their family home was in the Cotswolds village of Swinbrook, but also because we ate lunch that day at the Swan Inn, owned at the time by the Dowager Duchess of Devonshire, the last surviving Mitford sister. That’s why I adore the two books I describe here.

“The Bookseller’s Secret” by Michelle Gable

If, as I do, you like books about books, this one’s for you. The story shifts back and forth between WWII London and the modern-day, and includes the real-life author Nancy Mitford, making it an unputdownable read for me. Though

I’d heard of the Mitford sisters, I’d never read any of Nancy Mitford’s books. This story details her struggles to write an other successful novel as she is support ing herself working at the Heywood Hill bookshop during the war. Her wit is one of the main attractions of these chap ters. That and glimpses of characters like author Evelyn Waugh. Remember “Brideshead Revisited?”

Like Mitford, the modern fictional author Katie Cabot is enduring a similar dry spell, three years after penning a best seller. As her story unfolds, we see the parallels in their lives and struggles, but that’s not the best part. For me, the best part is the mystery about a possible missing Nancy Mitford manuscript, an autobiography. Did she really write one? The mystery unfolds against the back drop of Nancy’s fascinating life during and after the war. Hence, my decision to pick up “Pursuit of Love” which is supposedly her fictional version of those years.

“The Pursuit of Love” by Nancy Mitford Nancy Mitford really did work in a bookshop in London during WWII,

and in 1945, she wrote “The Pursuit of Love.” The sisters in the book are based on Mitford and her sisters, though it is not a one-for-one match. The foreword in the edition I read was written by her sister Jessica in 1982. All in all, it was a fascinating and often LOL read.

How much of the story, especially the details about the main character’s French lover, are true to life? It is a fact that Nancy Mitford did have a long-time affair with Gaston Pawleski, an associate of Charles de Gaulle. Did she meet him in a French train station as depicted in this novel? Did he visit her in London during the war? I could likely find the answers by spending a few hours on the internet, but I think I’ll just remember the tales told in Nancy’s book and the more recent “The Bookseller’s Secret.”

You know a novel has stood the test of time when it has been turned into an Amazon Prime series, and that’s what has happened with “The Pursuit of Love.” For me, thoughts about both books continued to surface in my brain for several weeks. In my mind, that’s the mark of a good story.

If you find these descriptions in

teresting, I recommend you start with Michelle Gable’s fictionalized account.

Award-winning author Kathy Manos Penn is a Sandy Springs resident. Find her cozy mysteries locally at The En chanted Forest and on Amazon. Contact her at inkpenn119@gmail.com, and follow her on Facebook, www.facebook.com/ KathyManosPennAuthor/.

DEATH NOTICES

Sandra Christian, 83, of Alpharetta, passed away October 3, 2022. Arrangements by Northside Chapel Funeral Directors & Crematory.

Katherine Clark, 81, of Alpharetta, passed away October 4, 2022. Arrangements by Northside Chapel Funeral Directors & Crematory.

Joanne Hall-Hellen, 77, of Alpharetta, passed away October 9, 2022. Arrangements by Northside Chapel Funeral Directors & Crematory.

Geoffrey Lariosa, 61, of Alpharetta, passed away October 15, 2022. Arrangements by Northside Chapel Funeral Directors & Crematory.

John McHugh, 96, of Roswell, passed away October 11, 2022. Arrangements by Northside Chapel Funeral Directors & Crematory.

Raymond Pohlman, 78, of Roswell, passed away October 3, 2022. Arrangements by Northside Chapel Funeral Directors & Crematory.

James Pounders, 72, of Roswell, passed away October 8, 2022. Arrangements by Northside Chapel Funeral Directors & Crematory.

Ai Qiu, age 68, Alpharetta, passed away October 9, 2022. Arrangements by Northside Chapel Funeral Directors & Crematory.

Iris Seltzer, 88, of Roswell, passed away October 8, 2022. Arrangements by Northside Chapel Funeral Directors & Crematory.

Charles Stefl, 87, of Milton, passed away September 28, 2022. Arrangements by Northside Chapel Funeral Directors & Crematory.

Joseph Tillman, 93, of Roswell, passed away October 7, 2022. Arrangements by Northside Chapel Funeral Directors & Crematory.

Jay Tokarz, 63, of Milton, passed away October 11, 2022. Arrangements by Northside Chapel Funeral Directors & Crematory.

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SALES MANAGER NEEDED AT HOME FASHION CENTER (ALPHARETTA, GA).

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Reader Advisory: The National Trade Association we belong to has purchased the above classifieds. Determining the value of their service or product is advised by this publication. In order to avoid misunderstandings, some advertisers do not offer employment but rather supply the

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