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Buckhead Reporter
Perimeter Business
Let’s be safe Vaccines are necessary COMMENTARY 6
Shine on
www.ReporterNewspapers.net
FEB. 20 — MARCH. 5, 2015 • VOL. 9 — NO. 4
Brightest are recognized STAR STUDENTS 16-17
Bobby Jones more than ‘figurehead’ to golf course
PAGES 7-11
Amid safety concerns, Lake Forrest dam faces uncertain future BY ANN MARIE QUILL
annmariequill@reporternewspapers.net
Cody Tomczyk, far left, with playing partner Randy Sieger, watch Bill Hunter, center, tee off at the Bobby Jones Golf Course on Feb. 14. The three, along with Donny Snyder, back right, took in a round at the Buckhead course named after the iconic Atlanta golfer.
PHIL MOSIER
BY JOE EARLE
joeearle@reporternewspapers.net
Things started with a bench. Well, the idea of a bench, really. They haven’t gotten around to buying the bench itself just yet. As Anthony Smith remembers it, he and his regular golf partners were playing a round at the Bobby Jones Golf Course five or six years ago when, somewhere around the 17th hole, they decided the course needed a place they could sit for a moment and rest. “We said, ‘We ought to buy a bench for this hole,’” he said. “‘We’re tired of walking.’” That led to talk of other ways the regular players at the venerable Buckhead golf course could come together to help improve the place. Soon, the Friends of Bobby Jones Inc. was formed. “We’re trying to speak up for the golfers,” said Smith, president of the Friends group, and a regular player of the Bobby Jones course for about 18 years. “Technically, our mission is to enhance the course at Bobby Jones and make it a more pleasant experience.”
The group, which started with five members and has grown to 220, has bought tables and umbrellas for the clubhouse and recruited volunteers to help trim bushes overrunning the parking lot at the public course, Smith said. The group raises money through an annual golf tournament in September, he added. The Friends’ most recent addition to the course, which is owned by the city of Atlanta, is a new historical display in the clubhouse showing highlights of Jones’ career, the development of the course named for him and his personal involvement in the construction of the course. The Bobby Jones Heritage Room display, which is open to the public, includes photos of Jones playing golf, and of trophies he won and copies of newspaper clippings and public records related to the development of the course. Included is a photo of Jones teeing off during the first round played at the Bobby Jones Golf Course. The Friends group plans to introduce the Bobby Jones Heritage Room with a reception as part of a celebration SEE BOBBY JONES, PAGE 4
Something must be done about Lake Forrest Dam, engineers hired by the cities of Sandy Springs and Atlanta say. If the dam fails, the resulting flood could kill people and destroy houses downstream. “Your dam right now has some severe deficiencies,” Chuck Wilson of Schnabel Engineering told residents attending a public meeting called jointly by the two cities at Chastain Horse Park on Feb. 11. Wilson said the dam’s problems include a severe slope on the dam’s downstream side, an aging spillway pipe that water flows through during storms, and the dam’s inability to hold enough water during an extreme storm. But exactly what will be done remains unclear. First, the lake will be drained to make the area immediately safe and so that engineers can adequately study the dam, Wilson said. The dividing line between Buckhead and Sandy Springs runs through the three lakes related to the dam, so any decisions about the dam must be reached jointly by officials of the two cities. During the Feb. 11 meeting, Sandy Springs officials were hesitant to say what their options would be to make the area safe for residents once testing was complete. During a Feb. 3 Sandy Springs City Council meeting, Wilson gave a presentation that proposed several options, including repairing the dam, permanently draining the lake or creating a storm water retention area upstream. SEE AMID, PAGE 3
PHIL MOSIER
Both Sandy Springs and Atlanta are mulling options on how to repair the dam.