07-21-17 Sandy Springs Reporter

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JULY 21 - AUG. 3, 2017 • VOL. 11— NO. 15

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Perimeter Business ► From farm to frozen treats PAGE 4 ► Bike shares growing

in Perimeter area

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A train ride back in time

City takes new tactic against false alarms BY JOHN RUCH johnruch@reporternewspapers.net

HERITAGE SANDY SPRINGS

This train, known as “Little Buck” or “The Dinkey” by locals, was in operation from 1880 to 1921 and ran twice daily from Sandy Springs to Chamblee. It ran from Roswell Road at the Chattahoochee River and once transported President Theodore Roosevelt to visit his parents at Bulloch Hall. The train line’s story is one of many tales of local history recounted in Heritage Sandy Springs’ new publication, “The Sandy Springs Gazette.” See story, page 13.►

STANDOUT STUDENTS Westminster grads win national debate championship Page 20

The city of Sandy Springs can be held up as a great example of thoughtfully approaching its public art program with carefully crafted goals, strategies, criteria and policy. CHERI MORRIS Chair of Art Sandy Springs’ “ArtSS in the Open” public art program

See Commentary, page 10

OUT & ABOUT Stepping out, speakeasy style Page 19

After receiving more than 10,000 false fire and police alarms last year, the city is making a major legal shift to put alarm companies, rather than alarm-users, on the hook for registration and fines. But security company owners rang alarm bells at a July 18 City Council meeting where the change was approved, saying it would force them to raise costs or stop doing business in the city. City officials say the system of fining alarm-users has barely reduced false alarms since it was enacted in 2012. Last year, “97-plus percent” of all alarm alerts were false, Fire Rescue Chief Keith Sanders said, and the city spent over $776,000 responding to them. Security company owners had feisty responses, with some debating Mayor Rusty Paul while he threatened to have others removed from the audience for applauding or grumbling aloud. But the business owners appeared to misunderstand key points and had to step back from some critiSee CITY on page 14

Retiring city attorney recalls founding, legal battles BY JOHN RUCH johnruch@reporternewspapers.net

When City Attorney Wendell Willard retired on July 1, the city lost more than its familiar legal voice. He played a key role in the city’s 2005 incorporation, which sparked metro Atlanta’s cityhood trend, and was an influential advocate for the city in his dual role as a local state representative. In a recent interview at his Roswell Road office near City Hall, Willard recalled how the job of shepherding the cityhood bill became a mission to protect Sandy Springs’ public-private partnership model of governSee RETIRING on page 15


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