Chastain Park Conservancy hosts annual auto show
By HAYDEN SUMLIN hayden@appenmedia.com
ATLANTA — A quarter mile south of the Sandy Springs city limits, a few hundred car enthusiasts enjoyed classic hot rods and fall weather Oct. 27 at the Chastain Park Auto Show.
The Chastain Park Conservancy, a community nonprofit with a
mission to maintain and enhance the 268-acre park, came up with the idea for an outdoor auto show during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Now in its fourth year, the Chastain Park Auto Show brought dozens of young families and their children to the Red Lot across from Cadence Bank Amphitheater.
While Chastain Memorial Park and
its Conservancy operate in the city of Atlanta, more than 3.2 million people from Metro Atlanta and around the country visit the park each year.
The Conservancy says it ensures the park’s amenities are clean, safe and green for the diverse community it serves.
See AUTO, Page 13
A young car enthusiast snaps photos of his favorites Oct. 27 at the Chastain Park Auto Show off Powers Ferry Road. The president of the Chastain Park Conservancy said proceeds from the fall gathering go toward capital projects at the park.
New Georgia law invites rise of ‘slot machines’ in area stores
By HAYDEN SUMLIN hayden@appenmedia.com
NORTH FULTON COUNTY, Ga. — With legal, skill-based “slot machines” popping up at convenience stores across the state, some Metro Atlantans want to know how they work.
A new law passed during the 2024 legislative session expanded the kind of rewards machines could offer players, inviting an increase of awards-based gaming in stores around town.
Coin-based amusement machines, different than slot machines in Las Vegas and Native American casinos, are classified as skill-based games in state law.
Instead of pressing a button and randomly winning a prize, coin-based operating machines, or COAMs, require players to make a decision before any prize is awarded.
See MACHINES, Page 12 HAYDEN SUMLIN/APPEN MEDIA Three coin-based operating machines from Banilla Games and International Game Technology sit in the back of gas station in Metro Atlanta’s Central Perimeter.
HAYDEN SUMLIN/APPEN MEDIA
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COMPARING POLICE TRANSPARENCY
Sandy Springs vs. Johns Creek
Sandy Springs
Johns Creek
Each week Appen Media requests police incident reports to inform residents about the safety of their community. Sandy Springs continues to withhold what it calls the “narrative reports.” It is the only city Appen Media covers that follows this practice, which goes against guidance from the Attorney General, Georgia Bureau of Investigation, Georgia Sheriff’s Association, Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia and Georgia Press Association. Appen Media will continue pursuing the release of more detailed documents that belong to the public in order to inform residents how safe – or unsafe – their city is.
Passion for environment drives Stormwater staff
By AMBER PERRY amber@appenmedia.com
JOHNS CREEK, Ga. — Johns Creek Stormwater Utility Manager Cory Rayburn was still energized days after a presentation on Creekside Park at the Southeast Stormwater Association’s Annual Regional Stormwater Conference.
On the third floor of City Hall, he began an hour-long conversation by describing the many benefits of the project, the city’s biggest to date at nearly $36 million. Stormwater Engineer Roman Carey, a self-described lifelong “tree hugger,” sat across from Rayburn in the room covered in maps.
A large screen showed unseen park renderings, and at one point, data on weather extremes, illustrating a progressive situation that spoke to the urgency of their role in the Public Works division.
It hasn’t rained since Hurricane Helene swept through Metro Atlanta, bringing with it 10 inches of rainfall in two days.
“We’ve had the driest October on record,” Rayburn said. “...It’s these extreme events that really put a lot of pressure on our infrastructure and our drinking water resources.”
City staff in the Stormwater Department oversee water quantity and water quality. That day, Stormwater Inspector Dahn Nguyen was out sampling waterways around Johns Creek for E. coli.
A novel approach
In August, city leaders broke ground on Creekside Park, the tentative name for the 21-acre plot behind City Hall. It’s an innovative project.
The park’s upper pond will feature an amphitheater and deck over the water, terraced seating and pedestrian access areas, including a 15-foot-wide boardwalk that stretches to a lower constructed wetland area. There will also be a trail connection to the pedestrian tunnel under Medlock Bridge Road, the park’s southern gateway.
The project seeks more than to activate the area with a green space for visitors to enjoy, but it also has
Johns Creek Stormwater Utility Manager Cory Rayburn and Stormwater Engineer Roman Carey stand next to a map of plans for Creekside Park, which includes constructed wetlands that will add 4.5 million gallons of stormwater storage.
major utility. Rayburn said it will add around 4.5 million gallons of stormwater storage for the entire area downstream.
He said the plan is to reduce the water in the lower wetland pond about 5 feet and regrade it into a series of shallow and deep wetland pools, then planting native species.
The pond will help with downstream flooding as well as water quality. Plus, the extra detention volume encourages growth in the Town Center area.
Rayburn said it’s an economic incentive, saving upstream developers up to millions of dollars in creating a detention pond themselves. It also saves space, giving developers more buildable area.
“For us, it’s a win-win,” Rayburn said. “We’re doing good for the downstream folks, but we’re also providing some economic incentive for redevelopment upstream, and we’re using constructed wetlands to do it. It’s kind of a novel approach.”
‘Headwall to headwall’
Aside from coordinating new projects, the team oversees repairs to the existing stormwater infrastructure. That’s 23,000 assets — 150 miles of pipes as well as
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manholes, catch basins and other structures.
The city has spent around $11 million on operating and maintaining its stormwater system since it implemented the Stormwater Utility in 2021, and Rayburn said Johns Creek is ahead of schedule.
More than 1,700 stormwater assets have been maintained by removing excess sediment; around 80,000 feet of pipe has been cleaned; and more than 400 pipe segments, spanning 30,000 feet, have been repaired, replaced or lined.
Rayburn said the city’s use of “trenchless technologies” have resulted in significant cost savings. They extend the life of a pipe by 80 years and cut the price of a traditional repair in half.
One practice, called “cured-in-place pipe lining,” works by forcing a flexible liner into an existing pipe and curing it with steam to create a new pipe. Another process, called “spincasting,” uses a remote-controlled robot to spray the insides of an existing pipe with a fiberreinforced cement that hardens in place.
“So, we’re extending the life of these pipes without having to dig up roads and without having to dig up yards,” Rayburn said.
Without the city’s stormwater credits — incentives to good stewards — and if all $70 annual household bills were paid, the utility would bring in around $3.2 million to maintain, repair and improve the city’s stormwater system.
And, in Johns Creek, one of the newer Metro Atlanta cities to implement the program, the service extends “headwall to headwall,” meaning the city can help repair pipes on private property that are connected to the public right of way.
Carey does most of the reconnais-
sance, checking out complaints or issues, overseeing a lot of the repair work. He engages with residents regularly, advising them of the opportunity for the city to step in and take the burden, so long as they grant the easement, or right of entry.
Carey said homeowners often assume repairs are the city’s responsibility anyway, but that’s a misconception. Carey’s role involves a lot of education.
“A lot of calls that I go out to, what I hear is, ‘You guys neglected the system for 10 years,’” Carey said. “‘Well, this system, this pipe, is through your property. Technically, you neglected it for 10 years, but we have the ability to help you.’”
Sometimes, a pipe on someone’s private property can affect a larger system, like a project that Carey oversaw last year in the Foxmoor subdivision, a neighborhood developed in the early ’90s. Ten properties were affected.
“Essentially, the entire pipe system was undersized, which was causing flooding within the cul-de-sac, which led to water issues for individual residents who weren’t even touching the pipe systems,” he said.
While pipes in the public right of way are often made of concrete, ones through residents’ yards are typically made of corrugated metal which is good for about 40 years. If ignored, Rayburn said they will start to collapse, causing sinkholes, or in worst-case scenarios, washed-out, collapsed roadways.
“It’s much more expensive than to do the preventative maintenance,” Rayburn said, adding that the city has an asset management strategy that prioritizes repair and maintenance.
Future relief
Rayburn said the City of Johns Creek is exploring a grant-funded program for residents experiencing the detrimental impact of stormwater to their property, like erosion — issues that fall out of the city’s jurisdiction in its extent of service.
Appen Media previously reported on backyard erosion in the Parsons Run subdivision and recently visited the home of a couple in Lexington Woods experiencing a similar issue. Using walking sticks, Ronald and Trevolyn Sullivan descended
CIVIC DUTIES: In a new series from Appen Media, Civic Duties will take readers behind the scenes of local government. Senior Reporter Amber Perry and her colleagues will shadow employees across different city departments and turn those experiences into original reporting, so residents get a closer look at what exactly local governments provide the community. See CIVIC, Page 13
AMBER PERRY/APPEN MEDIA
Perimeter Connects celebrates ‘Biketober’ with path preview
By HAYDEN SUMLIN hayden@appenmedia.com
DUNWOODY, Ga. — Perimeter Connects led a group of Metro Atlantans from Perimeter Mall to a completed segment of PATH400 Oct. 22 in celebration of “Biketober.”
Perimeter Connects is an arm of the Community Improvement Districts that consults with employers and property managers on transportation solutions to alleviate commutes and grow the business district.
The route took cyclists from the mall down the new Ashford Dunwoody Trail to Hammond Drive where the group maneuvered cycle-track gaps, parking lots and bike lanes before crossing the roadway to Perimeter Center Parkway.
Johann Weber, program manager for Perimeter Connects, said the initiative’s goal was to receive feedback on existing path segments, discuss what comes next and understand how the regional network could be improved.
Weber said the sketchiest part of the bike ride was the path gap on Hammond Drive between Ashford Dunwoody Road and Perimeter Center Parkway.
The Park Center development and SYNC at Perimeter apartments have options for cyclists, but the eastern half of Hammond Drive in Dunwoody is lacking multi-use paths or trails.
After stopping at the Perimeter Center Parkway bridge over I-285, riders continued south to Lake Hearn Drive where PATH400 eventually ties in at the intersection with Peachtree Dunwoody Road.
About 20 people turned up for the
community bike ride, including some Dunwoody Police officers with their e-bikes, Perimeter Connects staff, Dunwoody staff, City Councilman Rob Price and 2023 Sustainability Hero
Jason Metzger.
Chris Burnett, economic development director for Sandy Springs, also attended the ride to his city’s portion of PATH400, just a couple blocks from the Dunwoody city limits.
For public infrastructure projects in Central Perimeter, the Perimeter Community Improvement Districts can supplement local funding in Sandy Springs and Dunwoody with its own from commercial property tax collections.
For path projects on Ashford and Peachtree Dunwoody roads, the PCIDs have split project costs, making them more feasible for both city governments.
The first phase of the Ashford Dunwoody Trail is complete with the Peachtree Dunwoody Trail slated for construction in 2027.
Dunwoody and Sandy Springs are prioritizing connections to the Village and City Springs. To connect the two counties, the PCIDs fund path connections at the Perimeter district.
Multi-use paths, shared-use trails or side paths are wider than the typical 5-foot-wide sidewalk, so they accommodate the movement of pedestrians and cyclists.
The Atlanta Regional Commission’s 2050 Metropolitan Transportation Plan has $3.9 billion in funding for the completion of the regional trail network, spanning from Cherokee to Fayette County.
See BIKETOBER, Page 12
HAYDEN SUMLIN/APPEN MEDIA
Dunwoody Police officers, residents, city staff and City Councilman Rob Price, right, chat in the Perimeter Mall parking lot Oct. 22. Perimeter Connects, a program of the community improvement district, hosted a community ride for “Biketober” on key trail segments in Dunwoody and Sandy Springs.
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ARMADA HOFFLER/PROVIDED Southern Post, a mixed-used development on Alpharetta Highway, features nearly 140 luxury apartments, 95,000 square feet of office space and 40,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space.
Southern Post opens doors to ‘vibrant’ development
By AMBER PERRY amber@appenmedia.com
ROSWELL, Ga. — Roswell city leaders celebrated the grand opening of Southern Post, a 4.28-acre mixed-use development off Alpharetta Highway.
The property features nearly 140 luxury apartments, 95,000 square feet of office space and 40,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space.
Nearly 100 residents are living on-site in the multifamily portion, Chandler Residences, and around 90 percent of retail space is leased.
The roster features Amorino, Azotea Canwtina, BODYROK, Bey Mediterranean Kitchen + Bar, Watch Your Wrist, Sweathouz, Cavina Wellness, Belux Coffee, Silla Del Toro, Grana and Da Vinci’s Donuts.
One major component of the ecosystem is Vestis, a uniform and workplace supply provider that spun off from Aramark and became a publicly traded company last October.
In March, the business announced it would house its corporate headquarters and Teammate Support Center at Southern Post. It is the development’s largest tenant.
Scott, a Roswell resident, said there had been no doubt that the city would be Vestis’ home.
“Roswell, you’re deciding how our day starts because we’re driving down these roads and we are entering these buildings and we are coming into Southern Post … we are proud to be here,” Scott said. “We are proud to call this place home.”
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Roswell Inc Executive Director Steve Stroud introduced a slate of speakers including Shawn Tibbetts, CEO of Southern Post’s owner and developer Armada Hoffler; Kim Scott, CEO and president of Southern Post tenant Vestis Corporation; and Roswell Mayor Kurt Wilson.
Tibbetts said the new “vibrant mixed-use community” is a place “where convenience and connection occur.”
“It’s a place where people gather, and it’s a place where memories are made,” Tibbetts said. “This is a true ecosystem.”
Mayor Wilson closed out the grand opening, hours before Southern Post was scheduled to host a block party with music, food, cocktails and giveaways.
Wilson said Southern Post transformed a declining economic area into something “vibrant,” alluding to its former use as a plaza built in the 1960s.
“It’s now a dynamic hub and will be for the next 20 years, of activity that blends Roswell’s history with modern design and innovation,” Wilson said. “It’s the perfect example of smart growth and revitalization that the current council and I are committed to bringing to Roswell.”
Living historian educates Roswell community
ROSWELL, Ga. — Jim Sawgrass, a native Floridian of Muscogee Creek (Mvskoke) descent and living historian of the southeastern tribes of Florida, Georgia, and Alabama brought his educational program based on the history and culture of Southeastern Native Americans to Riverside Park in Roswell on Sunday, Oct. 27.
Dressed in historic 1800’s-era native clothing, Sawgrass demonstrated tools, weapons, toys and other implements and talked about the food, clothing, shelter, beliefs and cultural practices of
the Southeastern Native Americans.
The program which was presented by Roswell’s Historic House Museums and the city of Roswell also featured traditional drumming and dancing.
“I’m showing things that go back thousands of years: life ways, farming, fishing, hunting, gathering of nature. The Native knew how to live off the land, that’s for sure. I’m very honored to be here to share our story,” Sawgrass said.
— Photos by Dean Hesse
a native Floridian of
descent and living historian of the southeastern tribes of Florida, Georgia, and Alabama leads an educational program based on the history and culture of Southeastern Native
Francisco Zamora drums and sings during an educational program based on the history and culture of Southeastern Native Americans at Riverside Park in Roswell on Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024.
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Jim Sawgrass (left)
Muscogee Creek (Mvskoke)
Americans at Riverside Park in Roswell on Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024.
Audience members join in a friendship dance during an educational program based on the history and culture of Southeastern Native Americans at Riverside Park in Roswell on Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024.
Aigauge Jumper performs a traditional dance during an educational program based on the history and culture of Southeastern Native Americans at Riverside Park in Roswell on Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024
Henry Mekseree performs a traditional hoop dance during an educational program based on the history and culture of Southeastern Native Americans at Riverside Park in Roswell on Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024.
BEHIND THE PHOTOS: Dean Hesse is an award-winning photojournalist who has been capturing stories for Decaturish since 2019.
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HOLLY
THE INK PENN
What do Kansas, London both have in common?
These mysteries have two things in common. Given my love of murder mysteries, the obvious commonality between the settings of Kansas and London is, of course, murder. I must admit, however, that what I enjoyed most about them was that they both involved writers.
“The Mystery Writer” by Sulari Gentill
I recall reading “The Woman in the Library” by this author and marveling at that mystery set in Boston. Her latest is set in Lawrence, Kansas. The main character is Theodosia Benton who leaves law school in Australia and lands on her brother’s doorstep in Kansas. She’s pursuing her dream to write a novel.
Described as a “literary thriller that turns the world of books and authors upside down,” this one kept me guessing. What does a conspiracy theory have to do with a mystery writer? A yet to be published mystery writer? Hints from online posts drop throughout the book, and before long, you may believe in conspiracy theories yourself.
Gentill’s writing process as described in a Q&A in the back of the book intrigued me. “I’m not a plotter,” she says. “I just sit down and start writing. For me, the story unfolds as I write it. I don’t really know what will be on the next page, let alone at the end of the book, and I discover what I’m trying to say through the novel as a whole as I write it.”
As a writer, I describe myself as a pantser, not a plotter, meaning I write by the seat of my pants. I do create what I call a quasi-outline, and yes, my characters often lead me in a slightly different direction, but her process seems quite a bit looser.
In “After She Wrote Him,” her first standalone novel, she “found herself writing a mystery that spoke about the writer’s relationship with her characters.” That description was enough to send me in search of that book. “The Woman in the Library,” her second standalone, was “about the relationship between the writer and the reader.”
This third one concerns “the writer’s place in society and the power
of the story to influence behavior.” Doesn’t it make you wonder what the next one will tackle?
While I wait to find out, I plan to find her Rowland Sinclair WWII Mysteries, set in Australia. It could become a favorite series. You never know.
“Close to Death” by Anthony Horowitz
Perhaps you’re familiar with the author because you’re a fan of Masterpiece Mysteries on PBS, or because you’ve read his Sherlock Holmes mysteries. Most recently, I’ve watched “Moonflower Murders”—the sequel to “Magpie Murders”—on Sunday nights. Both are based on Horowitz’s mysteries. I first discovered the author when I watched “Foyle’s War,” for which he wrote the screenplay.
“Close to Death” is the fifth book in his Hawthorne & Horowitz series. Hawthorne is a former London police detective, and Horowitz is tasked with writing about his exploits in the private sector. In the first four books, the author follows Hawthorne as he solves a murder case in real time. Supposed to be an observer, Horowitz never fails to insert himself into the action, mistakenly thinking he’s stumbled onto clues. Instead, he inevitably puts himself in danger as he fumbles around. All of this is written from Horowitz’s point of view. This time, the tale starts out in third person, and it’s only sixty pages in that you hear from Horowitz in a section titled ‘The Fifth Book.’ It’s an ingenious structure. We learn that his publishing contract obligates him to write a fifth book, but because Hawthorne doesn’t have a current case, the author is forced instead to write about an old one. Thus, the book flips back and forth between the past and the present, and between first and third person.
Filled with twists and turns until the very last page, this book will keep you guessing. Horowitz is surprised to learn who killed the victim “with a crossbow bolt through his neck,” and I predict you will be too.
Happy reading!
Award-winning author Kathy Manos Penn is a Sandy Springs resident. Find her cozy mysteries on Amazon or locally at The Enchanted Forest, Bookmiser, Tall Tales, and Johns Creek Books. Contact her at inkpenn119@gmail.com, and follow her on Facebook, www.facebook.com/KathyManosPennAuthor/.
KATHY MANOS PENN Columnist
OPINION
PRESERVING THE PAST
Benjamin Franklin Lesh Civil War diary
BOB MEYERS Columnist
This is the story of a young Civil War soldier, Benjamin Franklin Lesh (1845-1882), based on the diary he kept. Franklin was 18 years old when he joined the Ohio Volunteer Infantry Nov. 6, 1862. His great grandson, Ned Lesh, a resident of Roswell has a copy of Franklin’s diary which was meticulously kept during his final year of military service in 1864 and 1865. Ned’s Uncle Harvey, deceased, had the original handwritten diary, which was typed by Harvey’s daughter Virginia Ramsey, also deceased. My notes are italicized.
Clearly troops spent a lot of time marching during the day or sometimes all night. It rained frequently and the troops were often soaking wet and uncomfortable. There were frequent skirmishes with Confederate soldiers which Lesh calls Rebs, Johnny Rebs or Johnnies.
I will quote a few highlights from the diary using Franklin’s spelling and language. It starts on May 1,1864 by describing a march from Decatur, Alabama, to Georgia marching over the Chickamaga battle grounds which “looks torn up pretty bad…we camped on Chickamaga Creek.” [The Battle of Chickamauga in September 1820, 1863, was the second bloodiest battle of the war after Gettysburg as Union troops sought to seize control of Chattanooga, a major rail hub and manufacturing center. The Union troops lost the battle but came back in late November under Maj. Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman and retook Chattanooga which led to the Atlanta campaign when Atlanta fell to Sherman’s troops.]
[maybe a week or two later] “This morning we started out and marched till midnight and camped in an open field. Morning came too soon.”
[next day] “This morning we started out and marched fast and pretty steady and the weather being warm, made it pretty hard for us. At two we stopped and was ordered to make coffee and rest till four, but we rested till sundown and then marched all night, till broad day light. We drew rations and set out at nine and arrived at Kingston about three in the afternoon.” [On May 18, 1864, General Sherman occupied Kingston and stayed there for three days as he prepared for his push toward Atlanta.]
NED LESH/PROVIDED
Benjamin Franklin (Frank) Lesh (1845-1882) was only 18 when he joined the 63rd Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry in November 1862. His occupation was listed as musician. He mustered out in July 1865 after three years as a soldier during the Civil War. In May 1864 the regiment joined Sherman’s Atlanta campaign. Lesh is buried in the North Canton (Zion) Cemetery, Stark County, Ohio. In 1866 he married Eliza S. Bushong. The regiment lost during its term of service two officers and 91 enlisted men killed and mortally wounded and five officers and 259 enlisted men by disease, for a total of 357 fatalities.
[Some days later.] “We drew rations and started out reconnaissance. We crossed a little hill from where we could see the Mountain Kennesaw at a distance of about seven miles. We went along the railroad. Deployed skirmishers [solders sent ahead of troops to harass the enemy] , have
drove the rebels back a piece. “It rained all day today Sunday. The skirmishers are picking [a line of soldiers set out in front of the main soldiers to provide early warning] all the time. Some of our batteries are sending their compliments to the Johnnies.”
[Some strange developments as the war is not going well for the Confederates.] “I seen a great many of them run into our lines waving a white flag some turned and fired into their own men.”
“This morning we got orders to go to Marrietta, thirteen miles. We reached it by night. We drew our skirmishers and lost not one man.”
“I have been over in town, Roswell. The factories are all burned. Our men have the bridge about down.”
“This morning we started for Decatur Ga., but encountered the Johnnies, so we stopped and camped for the night.”
“All the talk is about the veterans and election, which will be elected, Lincoln or McClellan.” [ The election was held Nov. 8, 1864. Lincoln defeated former Gen. George McClellan by a wide margin, partly due to the Union victory at the Battle of Altanta.]
“I went along the railroad and saw where the rebels burnt a trestle. Election day, our boys voted. I bought pounds of hard beat [?] at Altoona and saw the prisoners and wounded men. They tried hard for that place but was whipped and lost a number of men.”
[The Battle of Allatoona took place Oct. 5, 1864.]
“This is my birthday, November 4. Two years ago today I enlisted.”
“This is election day, everything seems lively and peaceable…. The election was as follows in our regiment: For McClellen – 93; Abaham Lincoln – 218 votes….We got our pay and I got 10 months pay from the first of November 1863 to the last of August 1864. Six dollalrs a month since the first of May 1864….Sent home 60 dollars and paid off my debts.”
[Final entry.] “March 1, 1865 We lay in camp all day. The rebels are fortified at Cheran….Moved at six nineteen miles to town. The rebels ran and left all the sick men, camp equipment, teams and forty pieces of artillery. I took a walk through town and saw the sick rebels. It is a very nice town on the great Parddee River.”
[Franklin was mustered out July 8 1865 after three years of active service.]
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 bobmey@bellsouth.net. Bob welcomes suggestions for future columns about local history.
Machines:
Continued from Page 1
It’s a small, but important step that avoids the language of a bet for money.
State statute defines two types of coin-based amusement machines.
Class A ones, like typical arcade games, kiddie rides and pool tables, do not allow players to carry over points after a play or game.
Class B coin-based amusement machines are also games of skill that may allow a successful player to carry over points won on one play to a subsequent play or plays.
For retailers, the licensing for a Class B machine is 400 percent more than Class A machines.
Class B machines, often resembling Vegas slots, are what has folks’ attention.
Most forms of gambling, including sports betting and Vegas-style table games, are illegal in Georgia. Since the early 1990s, the traditionally conservative state has been relaxing its gambling laws.
In 1992, voters approved an amendment to the Georgia State Constitution that allowed a governmentrun lottery. Former Gov. Zell Miller signed a bill the same year creating the Georgia Lottery Corporation with the mission of supplementing traditional education funding in the state.
Revenue collected through the state lottery funds the Helping Outstanding Pupils Educationally Scholarship. It also funds the state’s Prekindergarten program for 4-year-olds.
The HOPE Scholarship program provides Georgia students with a 3.0 GPA or higher with an opportunity to attend a public college or university at a fraction of the price.
Since 1992, the Georgia Lottery Corporation has transferred $28.3 billion to Georgia students.
Les Schneider, an attorney and lobbyist for the Georgia Amusement and Music operators Association, said legislation surrounding coin-based amusement machines is all about
At a gas station in Metro Atlanta’s Central Perimeter, a woman plays one of the store’s coin-based amusement machines, which resemble Las Vegas-style slot machines. Under state law, these types of coin-based amusement machines are legal because of their skill component.
ensuring the well-performing industry is efficiently regulated and legally operated.
In 2013, the Georgia General Assembly passed legislation regulating the coin-operated industry under a division of the Georgia Lottery Corporation.
The COAM Division oversees strict licensing standards, financial responsibilities and communication. It says awareness and education are fundamentals for license holder, which is especially important after the General Assembly passed House Bill 353 during the 2024 legislative session.
The new state law allows valid COAM Location License holders to award winners with non-cash redemption gift cards, which can be redeemed anywhere in the state for a product.
Previous law only allowed winners to redeem their prizes for merchandise sold in the store where the machine
a connection point between the two.
they played is located.
Schneider said one of the arguments in favor of the bill anticipated increases to state sales tax revenue because of the gift card initiative.
Opponents of the bill say that the gift cards create more incentives for people to play Class B machines, which can be destructive and addictive to those who use them.
The bill also changes when COAM Location License holders report their gross retail receipts from a monthly to a quarterly basis.
Schneider said the best thing that reform bill did was to regulate and bolster the Georgia Lottery Corporation’s education revenue. He said he thinks the state may get the funding for universal pre-K as a result.
The bill also increases the tax rate, divided evenly between machine owners and retailers, from 10 percent to 13 percent.
Community engagement is an essential part of Appen Media’s newsroom strategy. That’s why reporters for the Herald and Crier newspapers seek out all sorts of reader questions. Want to learn more about something in the area? Send questions to newsroom@appenmedia. com or go to appenmedia.com/ask.
Schneider said Class B coin-based amusement machines are not Vegasstyle slots for a handful of reasons.
For one, the most you can win per play is $5. If you play a Class B coinbased amusement machine 100 times, the most you can win is $500.
In October, Appen Media went to a gas station along Roswell Road (Ga. 9) in Metro Atlanta’s Central Perimeter to check out some of the Class B machines.
When players sit down at a Class B machine, they are shown grand prizes of a couple hundred to a couple thousand dollars. The problem is that most players think they’re sitting down at a Vegas-style slot machine and have a shot at winning the jackpot on a spin. For a player to be eligible for a $2,000 payout, they’d have to play 400 times at a minimum.
The reality of gambling or any skillbased game is that players will lose.
Not all games from the same manufacturer require the same level of skill or decision-making, and often, the required action is a simple as clicking a button.
When your reporter went to cash out his $5 in prizes, he received a scratch off lottery ticket, one of the options for “winners.”
With an original stake of $10, the reporter lost all his cash. The lottery ticket didn’t yield an early retirement.
While there are some ethical questions about how Class B machine makers design and create their skillbased games, the legal ones seem to be cleared up.
For communities to take advantage of the initiative, they need multi-use connections to major corridors in the regional network like PATH400. The cities representing each side of the Perimeter Community Improvement Districts have turned a focus to developing their own Master Trail plans with Central Perimeter as
Sandy Springs is constructing two of three segments needed for the completion of PATH400 through its city limits. Atlanta is wrapping up their portion of PATH400, which will be constructed up to the Sandy Springs border at Nancy Creek.
From Lake Hearn Drive, Brookhaven plans to continue the Ashford Dunwoody Trail south of I-285 and inside its city limits.
trail vision for north Metro Atlanta is split between Fulton and DeKalb counties.
the existing multi-use path, Thomas said she loved how wide they were.
“I felt totally safe and wasn’t worried about the cars at all,” she said. “I would have no concerns about riding on the trails with my children.”
When asked about plans for the regional trail network, Thomas said she’s very excited.
“I really appreciate all the advocacy work that has taken place behind the scenes to make this happen,” she said. “This will have a big impact on the quality of life in Dunwoody.” Continued from Page 5
Like the Perimeter Community Improvement Districts, the regional
One resident, Christine Thomas, said she heard about the bike ride in the city’s monthly newsletter. She said she doesn’t bike around Dunwoody often because she knows two people who have died riding on Georgia roads. Instead, Thomas prefers going on mountain biking trails or the Big Creek Greenway in Roswell.
When asked what stood out about
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Auto:
Karen Meinzen McEnerny, former Sandy Springs City Council member, submitted her award-winning 1963 Austin Healey 3000 BJ7 Mark II Sports Convertible into the auto show Oct. 27 for the first time.
McEnerny, known during her years as an elected official for tree advocacy, said it took some convincing for her to take “Lucky Lady” out of her garage.
She said organizers of the Chastain Park Auto Show approached her earlier this year about submitting her Austin Healey at the show and placed the classic in the six-car Inner Circle.
The Austin Healey 3000 is a British sports car built from 1959 to 1967. Records show only around 6,100 of the Mark II BJ7 sports convertibles were built in August 1962.
The story of “Lucky Lady” spans two restorations over more than five decades in the McEnerny family.
Bob McEnerny, Karen’s brother, first restored the British sports car in 1971 after the family purchased it for her. In 1973, an at-fault driver struck the front of the car and totaled it.
From left, car restorer George Pope and Karen Meinzen McEnerny, owner of the hghghg, celebrate their Best of Show award at the fourth annual Chastain Park Auto Show Oct. 27. McEnerny said her bdcb has won several awards across
credits restorationist and Powder Springs resident George Pope with getting the first car she ever owned back on the road.
Pope, who McEnerny calls “Michelangelo,” completed the four-and-a-half-year restoration with an entirely new frame in 2017.
her brother Rob.
“A rags to blue ribbon story over 53 years,” she said.
R1S or a 1940s Ford Super DeLuxe, has
update to the City of Atlanta early next year.
The Austin Healey sat for more than 40 years in the McEnerny family garage before Karen was able to get it restored. She
Civic:
Continued from Page 4
the steep slope of their back yard, arriving at a trench that has expanded over time. They said a tree from their neighbors’ yard had recently fallen into the yard of someone living across the way.
“Homes are beginning to move down,” Trevolyn said, adding the expensive efforts of her neighbors to build up their embankments to slow erosion and the legal limitations on construction allowed in the area.
Erosion is affecting nearly a dozen homes in Lexington Woods.
The Sullivans were told about the city’s grant program, which has more than $420,000 in funding in fiscal year 2025. The application process will be open sometime next year, once it’s finalized.
Applicants will be able to install green infrastructure on their property like rain gardens, permeable pavement as well as stream restoration projects.
“There’s about 10 different mechanisms of improving water quality downstream and preventing some of those erosion issues,” Rayburn said.
He noted that the environmental permitting process on the city’s stream restoration project, currently in the
Since then, “Lucky Lady” has won a couple awards at auto shows in Savannah and Atlanta. McEnerny, the longtime southern Sandy Springs resident, took home the Chastain Park Auto Show’s 2024 Best in Show award alongside Pope and
The Chastain Park Conservancy passed six additional awards, while patrons enjoyed food trucks, dozens of additional classic hot rods and a beautiful fall day in north Atlanta.
Rosa McHugh, president of the Conservancy, said the Chastain Park Auto Show started out with around 75 cars in 2020.
The number of participating vehicles, whether they be all-electric 2024 Rivian
the Lexington Woods subdivision.
works, took 18 months. It will restore 1,500 linear feet of stream bank and add a multi-use, 10-foot-wide trail connecting McGinnis Ferry Road to Creekside Park.
“There’s kind of a quicker way to do some of that kind of stream bank work, but we’re currently talking with [the Environmental Protection Division of the state Department of Natural Resources,] the folks that kind of regulate the buffers and variance process,” Rayburn said.
He emphasized the issue is not just in Johns Creek.
“Everywhere you have development, you start seeing degraded streams,” Rayburn said.
Impact of dog waste
Rayburn, who has a bachelor’s degree in environmental health science, said he’s always been a “policy geek.” Later, he earned a master’s degree in civil engineering.
“I’ve wanted to try to implement poli-
Some of the capital projects under consideration are streetscape and pedestrian safety improvements at park gateways, improvements to the under-developed Northwoods section and activation of the wooded Palisades area abutting Chastain Park Golf Course.
McHugh, who has led the Conservancy for about a decade, said community input and involvement are what she’s looking for from neighbors.
To learn more about the Chastain Park Conservancy and its comprehensive plan updates, visit www.chastainparkconservancy.org/. Continued from Page 1
cies that will protect homeowners and to improve water quality and improve the environment,” he said.
Since Rayburn joined the City of Johns Creek in 2021, the City Council has passed a dog waste ordinance. Pet owners in violation must pay a fine.
“It’s not something we talk about all the time, but it’s important,” he said.
Last year, Rayburn worked with Student Leadership Johns Creek to develop a survey on dog waste and pamphlets on the city’s stormwater system, handed out at Pup-a-Palooza.
The city is plagued with impaired creeks and streams, meaning they don’t meet the state requirements for fishing, swimming and other recreation. Rayburn said one of the main contributions to the poor water quality is dog poop.
Rayburn oversaw a series of master plans that addressed the issue, identifying a number of projects across three major areas in Johns Creek that could help improve water quality.
Master plans help obtain grant money.
Just this past year, he said the city has received almost $1 million to help with bigger projects, like the stream restoration effort near Creekside Park.
“There’s an unprecedented amount of funds for infrastructure,” Rayburn said. “Having those master plans really help smaller, medium-sized cities to really get some of those federal grant dollars.”
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Chastain Park Conservancy President and CEO Rosa McHugh stands behind the Auto Show awards table Oct. 27.
MEINZEN FAMILY/PROVIDED
AMBER PERRY/APPEN MEDIA
Trevolyn and Ronald Sullivan describe the nearby eroded embankment in their backyard in
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