Under the Hood Sponsored section ►►page 20
Schools name new principals Five vacancies filled in North Fulton ►►page 14
Strut your stuff
Oh Boy!
Fashion show benefits Drake House, Closet ►►page 23
New Peruvian style chicken restaurant opens ►►page 24
June 19, 2014 | northfulton.com | 73,500 circulation Revue & News, Johns Creek Herald, Milton Herald & Forsyth Herald combined | 50¢ | Volume 18, No. 25
400-ft. antenna sends residents bad signal Council’s final vote June 30 By HATCHER HURD hatcher@northfulton.com JOHNS CREEK, Ga. – Johns Creek City Council wants to go ahead with plans to build a 400-foot public safety radio antenna, but residents say it’s too tall and want other options. Around 30 residents turned out at the June 16 City Council meeting to voice their displeasure about the city’s plans to build the radio tower on property at 9855 Old Medlock Bridge Road, which is near the old Warsaw Elementary School and is described as a commercial area. The antenna is part of the new countywide public safety radio net for police, fire and emergency personnel, now that the county’s current system is at “end of life” and must be replaced. The other cities of Roswell, Alpharetta, Sandy Springs, Milton and Mountain Park have opted to build a separate radio net that will “talk” to the countywide system. Johns Creek decided it was cheaper in the long run to be part of the county net than come up with the $2 million buy-in paid upfront to join the North Fulton net. Mayor Mike Bodker said the choice was one 400-foot tower at Old Medlock Bridge Road or erect one or possibly two additional 200-foot towers in other locations in the city. The extra towers would mean an additional $3.5 million.
“I think we impact the city less with one tower. I’m told we could reduce the height to 200 feet, but then we would need an additional Bodker one possibly two towers throughout the city,” said Bodker. “This new tower will ensure that the voice needs of our police officers, EMTs and firefighters will have immediate radio contact. This tower will give us that,” he said. The Fulton School Board also has concerns that school police officers should be able to have radio signals that penetrate school walls in all locations. This tower will ensure that. But residents at the meeting said a tower that tall with blinking red lights would be an eyesore in the city, and that other options had not been fully explored. Steve Witt, Medlock Bridge Homeowner Association president, said he thought the decision was “being rushed” to meet the June 30 deadline. He wanted additional studies done to show if the job could be done using 200-foot towers including the existing one on the Jones Bridge water tank. Resident Mark Sullivan wanted the city to look at existing towers and the possibility of “piggy-backing” on them as a substitute for the one 400foot tower. Barry Baum argued that
See ANTENNA, Page 6
Keep Your Business Moving Forward.
Price in GOP leadership mix U.S. Rep. Tom Price, R-6th, is one the Republicans looking to move up in party hierarchy after Rep. Cantor’s upset. See story, page 8. Hatcher Hurd/Staff
‘Bizarre’ resident’s claim has TPA delaying zoning By HATCHER HURD hatcher@northfulton.com JOHNS CREEK, Ga. – A mystery man who showed up at the At the June 3 Johns Creek Planning Commission meeting, had a developer at Monday night’s City Council meeting asking for a deferral. TPA Group, the owner of Johns Creek’s Technology Park was seeking a rezoning of
20 acres for residential development when a man came forward at the Planning Commission with a startling claim. TPA Group wants to sell off the 20 acres at the 6900 block of McGinnis Ferry Road at 11400 block of Technology Circle and wants the land rezoned from office to residential. At the meeting a man came forward to say
See BIZARRE, Page 4