COMMUNITY
WELLNESS
No bond this time
Zika in the classroom
Former Police Sgt. Anthony Robinson will remain in prison while he appeals his conviction for assaulting teen suspects. 4
Public Health Commissioner Brenda Fitzgerald has called on educators to help disseminate information about the Zika virus. 6
Put Litter in Its Place Let’s Do Our Part to Keep DeKalb Beautiful
EAST ATLANTA • DECATUR • STONE MOUNTAIN • LITHONIA • AVONDALE ESTATES • CLARKSTON • ELLENWOOD • PINE LAKE • REDAN • SCOTTDALE • TUCKER
Copyright © 2016 CrossRoadsNews, Inc.
April 2, 2016
Volume 21, Number 49
www.crossroadsnews.com
Hank’s office evacuated because of suspicious mail By Ken Watts
tocol and the situation ended without injury to anyone. “After the all-clear was given, the office remained open,” Phelan said. “The congressman wanted the business of the district to continue.” Johnson was in Seattle, Wash., attending a Congressional Black Caucus meeting. Phelan said Cummings, a college student who interns Tuesdays and Thursdays at the office, went home after she was released. “She handled herself well,” he said. “She was very composed. She did what she was trained to do.”
A suspicious package with red powder caused the evacuation of U.S. Rep. Hank Johnson’s District Office in Lithonia and an hourlong closure of Hillandale Drive on March 31. The congressional staff and employees from neighboring offices in the Hillandale Drive building were left outside in the parking lot for several hours, and intern Elexis Cummings, who was opening the mail, was quarantined in the office until a Hazmat team arrived. Richard Phelan, Johnson’s communications director, said everyone followed pro- Please see HAZMAT, page 3
DeKalb Fire Rescue’s Hazardous Materials Team prepares to enter Congressman Hank Johnson’s district office on Hillandale Drive on Thursday.
Jerry Waldrop / SPECIAL
Blasting resuming at Snapfinger plant Work halted to improve public notification
Five months after the Oct. 23 groundbreaking (below), the construction site of a dewatering building at the Snapfinger Wastewater Treatment Plant is deserted. The county halted work and blasting on March 1.
By Jennifer Ffrench Parker
Residents surrounding the Snapfinger Wastewater Treatment Plant are preparing for “the shakes again” as blasting resumes April 4 on the $187.8 million Phase II of the expansion of the aging facility on Flakes Mill Road. Blasting, rock excavation, and construction of a sludge dewatering building halted March 1 as residents fought with the county over compensation for damages filed by 123 homeowners from the project’s first phase. The work stoppage at the plant, at 4224 Flakes Mill Road in Decatur, came in the wake of a Feb. 16 meeting in which residents of Dogwood Farms, Riverbend, Camelot and other subdivisions along Dogwood Farms Road complained about outstanding Phase I claims and called for the Phase II construction to stop until they were settled. Some of the claims date back to Dec. 20, 2013, which was the county’s first deadline for filing. Scott Trowler, DeKalb Watershed Management director, said on March 30 the blasting and construction activities were Scott Trowler suspended “to assist the county in resolving some of outstanding claims and improve public notification and outreach.” Trowler, who was hired by the county 15 days before the Oct. 23, 2015, groundbreaking on the project’s second phase, said the site was not closed down. “A project of this nature, just because the equipment is not moving, there is other work being done,” he said. “Construction activity is going on right now. Engineering work is under way.”
Work is set to resume on April 4.
The project is the largest of $1.35 billion in water and sewer improvements under a Consent Degree between DeKalb County and the Environmental Protection Agency. DeKalb residents and businesses are funding the upgrades with increases in water and sewer billing rates that went up 16 percent in 2011 and another 11 percent each in 2012, 2013 and 2014. Phase I construction, which was completed in September 2013 at a cost of $7.6
reach and participation of blasting and the impacts.” “Notification was paramount to make sure that we have a fully engaged community,” he said. Brennan added that the county wanted to let the community be fully well aware of what is going on and how it might impact them. “During the first round of blasting, we could have done a little better job with notification and that was the largest underlining reason why the cessation was done,” he said. Now, 48 hours ahead of any blasting, Alicia Penne, the Watershed Department’s public relations manager, said they will be notifying 800 residents for the resumption of blasting “to help them manage expectations.” “We want to let them know what they should expect,” she said. “We are trying to make sure that everyone is on the same page.” Phase II construction, which is scheduled
million, included clearing, grading and rock fracturing in the area designated for the new wastewater treatment facility. The DeKalb Board of Commissioners approved $350,000 to settle 123 claims. County press secretary Burke Brennan said Wednesday that there are seven claims still outstanding. Trowler said the primary reason for the temporary cessation of blasting and construction was “to improve public out- Please see SNAPFINGER, page 4