JC Arts Center goes ‘bowling’
City mulls changes to charter ... again
Fundraiser has chili and bowls ►►PAGE 22
Would put manager, attorney under mayor ►►PAGE 10
AAC GM Borders in Hall of Fame Chris Borders caps memorable career ►►PAGE 21
January 30, 2014 | northfulton.com | 73,500 circulation Revue & News, Johns Creek Herald, Milton Herald & Forsyth Herald combined | 50¢ | Volume 18, No. 5
Brumbelow Road gets green light
A NIGHT WITH THE STARS
Signal agreement may trigger more cooperation By HATCHER HURD hatcher@northfulton.com
REAL LIFE PHOTOGRAPHY
Isakson keynote speaker at JC Chamber gala
U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson, center, is the keynote speaker for the Johns Creek Chamber gala, “A Night with the Stars.” With him are Chamber President John Bemont, left, and JC Chamber Chairman Craig McCoy, CEO of Emory Johns Creek Hospital. See full story, page 24
JOHNS CREEK, Ga. – The newly configured City Council took a step toward laying to rest one of the controversies of the recent city elections when it signed off on a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the city and Roswell that will clear the path for a traffic signal at Brumbelow Road and Nesbit Ferry Road. The fruits of that agreement by the new council may go well beyond just one agreement about a traffic light. It seems to have triggered an interest among Johns Creek, Roswell, Alpharetta and Milton on a number of issues. In a Jan. 27 workshop, Mayor Mike Bodker brought
for approval a memorandum of understanding he and Roswell Mayor Jere Wood had hammered out. It followed closely the original MOU proposed by Roswell with some modifications made. “The discussions were good,” Bodker said. “We not only covered this item, but Mayor Wood brought up the potential for working on other border issues with Roswell.” One of those might be to replace the intersection with a traffic circle, but that would be sometime in the future, Bodker said. The advantage of a joint project is that it receives a higher priority for federal funds if it is a traffic improvement for multiple jurisdictions. Other traffic issues could become joint North Fulton projects. Roswell and Alpharetta have both expressed interest in working more closely on joint projects of
See COUNCIL, Page 4
Bernardi at helm of city’s economic development New JC Advantage president/CEO maps out growth strategies By HATCHER HURD hatcher@northfulton.com JOHNS CREEK, Ga. – Johns Creek Advantage – the city’s public-private economic development corporation – has successfully completed its fundraising campaign, and new JCA President and Chief Executive Officer Courtney
Bernardi has signed on to crank the engine and start growing businesses and jobs in the city. Bernardi, formerly the head of the Newton County Chamber of Commerce’s Office of Economic Development, came aboard in January to begin the city’s economic development efforts.
With a war chest of $1.4 million (see sidebar Page 8), Bernardi is ready to hit the ground running. In her new position, it will be her job to bring in new businesses while retaining the 2,500 existing businesses in the city. “We will be implementing a plan with five strategies to improve the city’s business and economic outlook. Not only business attraction and retention – but recruiting new
See BERNARDI, Page 8
HATCHER HURD/STAFF
The JCA’s Courtney Bernardi is focused on steering the course of Johns Creek’s economic development.