Johns Creek police bust party; cite 36 teens for drinking

By MARCUS K. GARNER
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Johns Creek police broke up a Memorial Day “lock-in” graduation party, citing 36 teens for under-aged drinking.

Police also charged the owner of Anatolia, a restaurant, and arrested her son, and three adult security guards for serving alcohol to minors and obstructing police early Monday morning, authorities said.

Owner Rabia Gungoren and her employees said the staff didn’t serve alcohol to teens at the Sunday-night-to-Monday morning party. Gungoren said police are targeting her young clientele.
“This is discrimination against teenagers,” Gungoren said Wednesday night by phone.

According to a police report, an officer arrived at the 10970 States Bridge Road around 2:30 a.m., and noticed several cars parked in the back, but none parked up front.
One teen fled as the officer approached, but was caught and said “he had been held against his will,” police said.

Police ordered everyone inside to exit the building, after seeing people hiding in the kitchen and restaurant through the windows.

But 30 minutes passed before the front door opened, police said. Inside, officers found people hiding in air ducts in the building rafters, in refrigerators, and under tables, and saw wine bottles, beer cans, cases and a keg still cold to the touch, police said.

Police said a breath analysis was used to determine those under 21 had been drinking alcohol, and each was cited and returned to their parents.

Anatolia employee Carrie McDonaugh, who also was cited for under-aged drinking, contradicted police reports.“Before I got the citation, I asked the officer, ‘could you please Breathalyzer me,’” McDonaugh, 20, said Wednesday night. “But he refused.“Pretty much no one was Breathalyzed except for the people over 21 who they let drive home.”“We didn’t want him to drive home drunk,” she said.

Gungoren’s son Mehmet Gungoren was working that night and was charged with serving alcohol to minors. Three security guards — Michael Shane Bickes, Vincent Darren James and Patrick Wilson Bull — were arrested and charged with disorderly conduct. All four were taken to the Doraville jail, where they were released on bond, authorities said.

Another teen was arrested for having less than an ounce of marijuana, police said.

Gungoren’s restaurant was cited last September for serving alcohol to minors, a mistake she admits to. “I’m very careful about what I’m doing here,” she said. “My son told me he never gave anybody alcohol.”

Quick Notice

May 26-29: Johns Creek Baptist Church will host a basketball camp for players in grades 1 through 6. For more information, call 678-474-4442 or visit www.jcbc.org.

New Milton County Legislative Advisory Committee

Many thanks to J.D. Easley / House Communications Specialist GA General Assembly for providing this information.

ATLANTA - Representatives Mark Burkhalter (R- Johns Creek) and Jan Jones(R-Milton) announced today an initial Milton County Legislative Advisory Committee. The Committee will assist and advise Representatives Burkhalter and Jones as they proceed forward with historic legislationto allow the re-creation of Milton County.

Rep. Burkhalter first introduced legislation to facilitate Milton County's re-creation over 15 years ago. This January Rep. Jones authored House Resolution 21 to allow the re-creation ofpreviously-merged counties. Rep. Burkhalter and other north Fulton representatives co-sponsored the resolution.

Two counties remain that were merged in the 1930s, Milton County in north Fulton and Campbell County in south Fulton. North Fulton legislators will push to bring HR 21 to the House floor for a vote in the 2010 Georgia General Assembly session."The Milton County Legislative Advisory Committee will evaluate,collaborate with and make recommendations to the north Fultondelegation," said Rep. Jones. "I look forward to working with theCommittee to addressing issues identified in the recently-released study performed by the University of Georgia and Georgia State University onthe re-creation of Milton County."

The primary areas to be evaluated by the Committee relate to separating the counties' functions, establishing a new school system and addressing judicial services and tax concerns. The Committee will serve through March 2010.

The Committee will consult and engage north Fulton citizens with expertise in specific areas being evaluated. It will also serve as a conduit for information and input with other north Fulton elected officials, including school board members, judges, mayors and city council members.

The Committee will be composed of: Tom Campbell, Fulton County Superior Court Judge; former State Representative Randall Johnson, Johns Creek City Council Member Jim Paine, Alpharetta City Council Member, Mayor Pro TemRusty Paul, Sandy Springs City Council Member, Mayor Pro Tem; former State Senator Robert Proctor, Tax Attorney, north Fulton resident Katie Reeves, Fulton County School Board Member Lynne Riley, Fulton County CommissionerAshley Widener, Fulton County School Board Member Ex Officio Mark Burkhalter, State Representative, Speaker Pro TemEx Officio Jan Jones, State Representative, House Majority Whip.

Autrey Mill Preserve: A golden treasure hanging by a thread

by Hatcher Hurd / Appen Newspapers

May 14, 2009 I wonder how many people in Johns Creek are aware of the 46-acre Autrey Mill Nature Preserve and Historical Center off Old Alabama Road – and how many of them care about the feud that has erupted between its board members and the Johns Creek City Council.

Autrey Mill has been a non-profit nature preserve since 1987, with nature trails along a small creek that runs through the property. Over the years it has become a refuge for historic buildings facing the bulldozer in Newtown, Warsaw and Ocee. It was always a sparsely settled area so there just aren't many buildings of note to begin with.Fulton County had a hand in keeping the place going. Any land Autrey Mill acquired was given to the county under a conservation easement.What started out as strictly a nature preserve quickly became a safe harbor for historic buildings that otherwise would have been torn down. The Heritage Center aspect has a small town with a church, farmhouse and other buildings in which the volunteers have created a 19th century village.

Historic homes restored and maintained such as the Summerour House are treasures of Autrey Mill Nature Preserve and Historic Center. (click for larger version)

All seemed well until the city acquired title and responsibility for Autrey Mill Preserve. Now what once seemed to be an amicable arrangement for everybody has devolved into a tangled mess that only the lawyers seem able to unravel.

Why did it come to this? Talk to the city's folks, and they say all they want is reasonable control over a facility in which they have tremendous liability exposure. The Autrey Mill Board of Directors has said it will sail on with the new lease it signed with Fulton County the day after the residents of Johns Creek voted to become a city.

Since then, neither the City Council nor the Autrey Mill Board has been able to get what it wants out of the relationship. The Autrey Mill Board has complained since the city took over, it has not been granted the ability to lease out buildings for weddings and other events because the city won't allow alcohol.

The use of Autrey Mill as an event space is one of the few ways it has of raising revenue. This is one reason the board thinks the City Council wants to "take over" the property.

Not so says the city, but then why does it say no to the weddings and other events if not to bring pressure on the Autrey Mill Board. It needs to raise money just as any non-profit organization, and events bring people to the park as well as revenue.The issue of liability is easy to overcome, other cities do it with ease. So why is the city waving the "Liability" flag when a standard catering agreement will cover everybody's tail? It makes the board suspicious.

It would do the city little good to oust the board. Who would take on the operation of Autrey Mill? The city would incur a $300,000 annual liability without volunteers to run the facility. The land easements ensure the property could not be turned into, say, ball fields.What is needed is some give and take here, fellas. What we have is a new city with some ideas about how the park should be run and some career volunteers who have created and operated Autrey Mill since its inception.

Everybody sounds suspicious of one another, everybody has their back up. And now it has all landed in court.

Well, perhaps for once, the lawyers can settle things. They know each other and seem confident of settling things amicably. Maybe it will work.

But the city should take a lesson from Fulton County and the city of Roswell. They are masters of using volunteers to manage property and save their respective governments millions in operating costs. That is where the devil is, not in acquiring property but in the maintenance and operation of it. In this case, it is the programming of the park that would be onerous to the city.

Roswell has three gems of historic homes. It provides the maintenance, but Bulloch Hall and the Archibald Smith Plantation are manned by volunteer docents and directors paid by their respective boards.Fulton operated Autrey Mill, Cochran Mill in South Fulton and Big Trees in Sandy Springs with volunteer boards that worked well.

Johns Creek should take care not to "win" in court but lose when all of the volunteers walk out.Likewise, the volunteers need to work with the city. It is the city's land, and despite all that you have done in the past, you have to earn the right to stay every day. We need you there, doing what you do. So everybody take a deep breath and let the two lawyers settle this.Autrey Mill is a special place run by special people. Let's keep it that way.

Cheeseburger Bobby's To Open in Johns Creek.

By Joe Guy Collier
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Local burger chain to open new locations

Cheeseburger Bobby’s, a Kennesaw-based burger chain, has opened an outlet in Canton and signed agreements for restaurants in Johns Creek and Acworth.

The Canton outlet, opened by new franchisee owners Bob and Carol Burton, marks the fourth Cheeseburger Bobby’s location in metro Atlanta.

The chain also has signed a two-store development agreement with brothers Rob and Eric Heidt, who plan to open a store in Johns Creek this summer and an Acworth location by next summer.

Johns Creek is State's Wealthiest City

By RALPH ELLIS
The Atlanta Journal-Constituion
Tuesday, May 05, 2009

It’s not even 3 years old, but Johns Creek has been ranked the wealthiest city in Georgia and the 95th wealthiest city in the nation.

Using census data, the company Bizjournals compared income level, home size and value, number of cars owned, education and other factors to rank Georgia cities.

Johns Creek Mayor Mike Bodker said he was proud but not surprised by the ranking for the bedroom community of about 70,000 people. “It’s a nice acknowledgement of the great things we’ve got going in Johns Creek,” he said Monday.

The median household income in Johns Creek is $108,416 and the average home price is $335,900. Bizjournals said almost 40 percent of the homes have nine or more rooms and
5 percent of the city’s households have four or more cars.

Arlington, Va., was ranked the wealthiest city in the nation and Brownsville, Texas, the poorest.