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February 16, 2009 JOHNS CREEK - In keeping with the "green" spirit of St. Patrick's Day, the city of Johns Creek's first "Go Green-Be Green" 5k Fun/Run will be held Saturday, March 14 at 8 a.m.The race through Technology Park/Johns Creek – an award-winning, master-planned business park with lots of green space, hills and tranquil settings – kicks off with registration at 6:45 a.m. at Lifetime Fitness, 1480 Lakefield Drive in Johns Creek.
Presented by the Johns Creek Recreation & Parks Department, "Go Green-Be Green," features organic refreshments and environmentally conscious benefits for race participants, including organic cotton T-shirts and canvas race bags.
"Our Recreation and Parks Advisory Committee wanted a fun, community event that would create a fuller awareness of what a healthy environment looks like," said Recreation and Parks Manager Kirk Franz. "For example, we won't be using plastic water bottles. We'll have biodegradable cups and water coolers. We'll also have "Green Facts" along the route, sort of like digi-notes on environmental education."
Awards will be presented to the top overall male and female and to all first place age group finishers in increments of 10 years.Entry fee is $20 (until March 7); $25 after March 7 and on the day of the race.All proceeds benefit Johns Creek Beautification, a non-profit organization dedicated to the beautification of public spaces in Johns Creek.Visit www.rungeorgia.com or active.com for registration and information. Online registration is encouraged, to avoid unnecessary printing.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Johns Creek Council Gets Feedback On Signs
publication date: Jan 31, 2009
author/source: Tim Altork / STAFF / Beacon Media
By Tim Altork / STAFF Johns Creek Mayor Mike Bodker definitely got his wish. Two weeks after stopping just short of begging Johns Creek residents to voice their opinion on the council’s deliberation of the city’s sign ordinance, the council’s chamber was bustling with a near capacity crowd of interested observers. Fourteen people – mainly business owners in the community – filled the public comments portion of the meeting voicing their opinions on the proposed sign ordinance that was made public last week.“This is the first time that we’ve used the entire 30 minutes,” Bodker said, commending the turnout.
Council meetings have a total of 30 minutes allotted to public comment each week.The comments were civil, yet pointed. Business owners railed against the limitations in the proposed ordinance, saying that their businesses would suffer if they were unable to use signs to corral potential drive-by customers.
Marion Davidson, who is opening a business in the Johns Creek Walk development, said that she put up two of the two-foot by two-foot roadside signs permitted by the current ordinance.“They’re just not big enough,” she said. “I’m looking for them. I know where I put them, and I still struggled to see them because they just aren’t visible from the road.”
Geoff Berlin, who owns Abbott’s Bar and Grill on Medlock Bridge Road and is the president of the Johns Creek Chamber of Commerce, said that getting the sign ordinance correct was “critical” to businesses in the community. He said that signs must be permitted to be large enough to capture the attention of drivers who are increasingly distracted by things like cell phone conversations while they are in the car.“Diversions are so numerous that present signage is of diminishing value,” Berlin said.
The council also heard from the non-profit sector. Gene Ray, an administrator for Johns Creek United Methodist Church, implored the council to create verbage in the ordinance to allow for exemptions from fees for the use of banners beyond the number allowed by the ordinance. Ray said the church could use upwards of 50 banners throughout the year to promote their various ministry efforts, such as vacation Bible school. The current ordinance allows for three banners per calendar year.Johns Creek citizen Susan Miller addressed the aesthetic challenges that an overuse of signs presents.“I believe if you own a business you don’t win with signs, you win with good service,” she said.
The council was hoping to put the new ordinance to a vote at Monday’s meeting, but the large turnout forced them to table the item one more time in order to consider the new input. A vote on the ordinance is expected at the February 9 council meeting.
Muslims Welcomed
The council unanimously approved the construction of a Jamatkhana, a place of worship for the Ismaili sect of the Islam faith, in Technology Park. Since a final construction plan was not presented to the council, the approval was made on the condition that the city’s community development department will have a final pass at the building’s design before a final approval is made.In their presentation the Ismaili representatives showed pictures of other Jamatkhanas around the country to give council members an idea of what the one in Johns Creek would look like. Each facility is unique, however, in accordance with the faith’s guidelines. Some have a distinct middle-eastern look while others are more contemporary.
“I know it’s going to look nice,” said council member Randall Johnson, after seeing the presented images, “I’m just hesitant to move forward without seeing the final draft.”
“I want some reassurances of what it will look like,” Johnson added.
There are an estimated 600 Ismailis in the North Fulton area who currently have to drive to one of the four other Jamatkhanas in the metro Atlanta area in order to practice their faith. The sect has worship services seven days a week, but the primary service is on Friday evening.“I was initially hesitant about putting it in Tech. Park, but the designated times of primary traffic make it appealing,” said council member Ivan Figueroa. “I’m in support of it.”
author/source: Tim Altork / STAFF / Beacon Media
By Tim Altork / STAFF Johns Creek Mayor Mike Bodker definitely got his wish. Two weeks after stopping just short of begging Johns Creek residents to voice their opinion on the council’s deliberation of the city’s sign ordinance, the council’s chamber was bustling with a near capacity crowd of interested observers. Fourteen people – mainly business owners in the community – filled the public comments portion of the meeting voicing their opinions on the proposed sign ordinance that was made public last week.“This is the first time that we’ve used the entire 30 minutes,” Bodker said, commending the turnout.
Council meetings have a total of 30 minutes allotted to public comment each week.The comments were civil, yet pointed. Business owners railed against the limitations in the proposed ordinance, saying that their businesses would suffer if they were unable to use signs to corral potential drive-by customers.
Marion Davidson, who is opening a business in the Johns Creek Walk development, said that she put up two of the two-foot by two-foot roadside signs permitted by the current ordinance.“They’re just not big enough,” she said. “I’m looking for them. I know where I put them, and I still struggled to see them because they just aren’t visible from the road.”
Geoff Berlin, who owns Abbott’s Bar and Grill on Medlock Bridge Road and is the president of the Johns Creek Chamber of Commerce, said that getting the sign ordinance correct was “critical” to businesses in the community. He said that signs must be permitted to be large enough to capture the attention of drivers who are increasingly distracted by things like cell phone conversations while they are in the car.“Diversions are so numerous that present signage is of diminishing value,” Berlin said.
The council also heard from the non-profit sector. Gene Ray, an administrator for Johns Creek United Methodist Church, implored the council to create verbage in the ordinance to allow for exemptions from fees for the use of banners beyond the number allowed by the ordinance. Ray said the church could use upwards of 50 banners throughout the year to promote their various ministry efforts, such as vacation Bible school. The current ordinance allows for three banners per calendar year.Johns Creek citizen Susan Miller addressed the aesthetic challenges that an overuse of signs presents.“I believe if you own a business you don’t win with signs, you win with good service,” she said.
The council was hoping to put the new ordinance to a vote at Monday’s meeting, but the large turnout forced them to table the item one more time in order to consider the new input. A vote on the ordinance is expected at the February 9 council meeting.
Muslims Welcomed
The council unanimously approved the construction of a Jamatkhana, a place of worship for the Ismaili sect of the Islam faith, in Technology Park. Since a final construction plan was not presented to the council, the approval was made on the condition that the city’s community development department will have a final pass at the building’s design before a final approval is made.In their presentation the Ismaili representatives showed pictures of other Jamatkhanas around the country to give council members an idea of what the one in Johns Creek would look like. Each facility is unique, however, in accordance with the faith’s guidelines. Some have a distinct middle-eastern look while others are more contemporary.
“I know it’s going to look nice,” said council member Randall Johnson, after seeing the presented images, “I’m just hesitant to move forward without seeing the final draft.”
“I want some reassurances of what it will look like,” Johnson added.
There are an estimated 600 Ismailis in the North Fulton area who currently have to drive to one of the four other Jamatkhanas in the metro Atlanta area in order to practice their faith. The sect has worship services seven days a week, but the primary service is on Friday evening.“I was initially hesitant about putting it in Tech. Park, but the designated times of primary traffic make it appealing,” said council member Ivan Figueroa. “I’m in support of it.”
Any Road Will Get You There - Unless You're Stuck In Traffic
publication date: Jan 31, 2009
author/source: Liz Flowers / Beacon Media
By Liz Flowers / SPECIAL
If you’ve been thinking about adding to your I-Tunes music collection or expanding your books on tape library because of the increased amount of time spent on your daily commute, 2009 might be the perfect time. It’s not clear whether state leaders will be able to get their arms around the gigantic state budget shortfall, but it is clear that local governments are feeling the pinch and are becoming creative in solving transportation and infrastructure project delays.State lawmakers continued discussions this week about how to close the $2.6 billion state budget gap, which includes a $190 million hole in the Georgia’s Department of Transportation (GDOT).Georgia’s DOT local projects are already backed up 10 years, which comes as no surprise to anyone within commuting distance of North Fulton.City leaders have begun to shift transportation gears, as they prepare for another year of a weakened economy, decreased revenues, and a continental divide in how to fix the problem. “There is not a single transportation project in the City of Alpharetta, which includes state or federal dollars, that is not impacted directly by the shortfall at the state/federal levels,” said Alpharetta city councilman John Monson. “If the funding is available in the GDOT accounts, they are still holding them up in order to see how much of the trillion dollar federal O'bailout funds Georgia will receive,” Monson said.He said he completely understood the need to delay funding of any new local projects or projects that have not completed the milestone of right-of-way funding (the purchase of land associated with the project). However, Monson said to hold up projects promised in prior years' budgets, with those funds already in encumbered accounts, represents broken commitments to Georgia's taxpayers.Alpharetta is moving ahead with some projects. On its own dime they are working on the Mayfield-Canton Road intersection improvement ($1.8 million); Upper Hembree at Maxwell ($601,000), an Adaptive Traffic Control System ($810,000), the northern end of Big Creek Greenway ($2 million from hotel tax funds), and another $1 million in sidewalks. But other projects may have to wait.Roswell’s Director of Transportation, Steve Acenbrak was preparing to make a presentation to council members, and his passion for infrastructure improvements was untainted by the economy. He said his department would concentrate on taking care of what they already have, but Roswell’s GDOT experience isn’t much different from Alpharetta’s.Acenbrak said the city is finally underway with the Grimes Bridge project, which GDOT has had on their “to do” list since 1997. He said another 10-year-old project at Holcomb Bridge was still bogged down over matters related to excessive grading.Julie Breckbill, communications director for Roswell, said revenues are down, but she said the city is prepared for years like 2009.Mayor Jere Wood has promised not to lay-off or furlough any city workers, nor delay maintenance on infrastructure projects.Breckbill said Roswell has $31 million in its reserve fund; only $15 million in reserves is required under law. She said Roswell typically uses the reserves to fund one-time capital improvement projects.“Foreclosures are up, but not as severe as in some places,” said Breckbill. “Property values have remained stable. We are very lucky.”The newer North Fulton cities of Johns Creek and Milton may face tougher transportation decisions due to smaller commercial tax bases, limited cash reserves, self- imposed millage rate caps and an inability to bond (borrow) against future tax payments.In his State of the City address given this week, Johns Creek Mayor Mike Bodker essentially asked community leaders to help push forward bond efforts, saying city leaders know what the problems are, but might not have the money to fix them. He said it would cost $15 million during coming years just to stay even with current conditions. The Johns Creek annual budget can’t handle the transportation fixes necessary or wanted by the citizens.Leaning heavily on a survey the city commissioned in late 2008, Bodker said that one-third of the 300 respondents said traffic was their No. 1 concern – slightly more than half of those respondents cited traffic and congestion as a primary concern for the city.Managing Public ExpectationsGetting “below the road,” makes good sense in lean times, says Josh Rowan, an engineer with the national firm PBS&J. The company has worked on two of Roswell’s downtown beautification projects.Part of traffic and transportation improvement, says Rowan, is managing consumer expectation. He said that when many of us visualize a traffic fix, we think of what the world might be like driving at 95 MPH at 1 a.m. with four other cars on the road. Not going to happen he said.“Sewers and water are things you can control locally,” Rowan said. “Manage what you can and don’t resurface just to resurface. There are plenty of secondary issues you can work on before you build a six-lane road.”Rowan said without repairing what lies beneath, three days later a pothole fix can be peeling and that’s taxpayer money wasted. He said adding to capacity might not be feasible in this economy, but if you can afford it there is a whole construction community starving right now.“There’s not a lot of political glory in maintenance,” Rowan said.But maintenance is necessary and Acenbrak concurs. “Roswell is a bedroom community that is two-thirds residential. We don’t plan to spend a lot of time and effort and money to go 95 through our town. We want to make a safe system and look for ways to improve connectivity,” he said.The Road Less TraveledTwo distinctly different transportation/infrastructure fixes that could pump much-needed cash into cities have emerged at the state level. One plan allows for regional transportation coalitions and taxing. The other option would allow the state to tax an additional one cent for transportation and provide those funds to local governments. One of those measures is backed by the State Senate, the other by the State House leadership with Gov. Sonny Perdue as the wildcard.The trio has a track record of infighting.Convoluting the debate is a power struggle over who gets to control MARTA (Metropolitan Rapid Transit Authority), GRTA (Georgia Regional Transportation Authority), and how much money Georgia will receive from any federal programs as they become available.Perdue is reported to be developing a measure to realign Georgia’s transportation departments.Georgia Democrats have a dog in the fight, too. After all, they are ones with the Obama connection.“While it will take several significant steps to solve our transportation problem, the voter-approved local option sales tax concept has been successful in the past to provide meaningful funding to local regions and communities,” said Jaillene Hunter, communications director for Lt. Gov Casey Cagle.The Senate’s regional tax plan is expected to come up for debate early in the coming week.
author/source: Liz Flowers / Beacon Media
By Liz Flowers / SPECIAL
If you’ve been thinking about adding to your I-Tunes music collection or expanding your books on tape library because of the increased amount of time spent on your daily commute, 2009 might be the perfect time. It’s not clear whether state leaders will be able to get their arms around the gigantic state budget shortfall, but it is clear that local governments are feeling the pinch and are becoming creative in solving transportation and infrastructure project delays.State lawmakers continued discussions this week about how to close the $2.6 billion state budget gap, which includes a $190 million hole in the Georgia’s Department of Transportation (GDOT).Georgia’s DOT local projects are already backed up 10 years, which comes as no surprise to anyone within commuting distance of North Fulton.City leaders have begun to shift transportation gears, as they prepare for another year of a weakened economy, decreased revenues, and a continental divide in how to fix the problem. “There is not a single transportation project in the City of Alpharetta, which includes state or federal dollars, that is not impacted directly by the shortfall at the state/federal levels,” said Alpharetta city councilman John Monson. “If the funding is available in the GDOT accounts, they are still holding them up in order to see how much of the trillion dollar federal O'bailout funds Georgia will receive,” Monson said.He said he completely understood the need to delay funding of any new local projects or projects that have not completed the milestone of right-of-way funding (the purchase of land associated with the project). However, Monson said to hold up projects promised in prior years' budgets, with those funds already in encumbered accounts, represents broken commitments to Georgia's taxpayers.Alpharetta is moving ahead with some projects. On its own dime they are working on the Mayfield-Canton Road intersection improvement ($1.8 million); Upper Hembree at Maxwell ($601,000), an Adaptive Traffic Control System ($810,000), the northern end of Big Creek Greenway ($2 million from hotel tax funds), and another $1 million in sidewalks. But other projects may have to wait.Roswell’s Director of Transportation, Steve Acenbrak was preparing to make a presentation to council members, and his passion for infrastructure improvements was untainted by the economy. He said his department would concentrate on taking care of what they already have, but Roswell’s GDOT experience isn’t much different from Alpharetta’s.Acenbrak said the city is finally underway with the Grimes Bridge project, which GDOT has had on their “to do” list since 1997. He said another 10-year-old project at Holcomb Bridge was still bogged down over matters related to excessive grading.Julie Breckbill, communications director for Roswell, said revenues are down, but she said the city is prepared for years like 2009.Mayor Jere Wood has promised not to lay-off or furlough any city workers, nor delay maintenance on infrastructure projects.Breckbill said Roswell has $31 million in its reserve fund; only $15 million in reserves is required under law. She said Roswell typically uses the reserves to fund one-time capital improvement projects.“Foreclosures are up, but not as severe as in some places,” said Breckbill. “Property values have remained stable. We are very lucky.”The newer North Fulton cities of Johns Creek and Milton may face tougher transportation decisions due to smaller commercial tax bases, limited cash reserves, self- imposed millage rate caps and an inability to bond (borrow) against future tax payments.In his State of the City address given this week, Johns Creek Mayor Mike Bodker essentially asked community leaders to help push forward bond efforts, saying city leaders know what the problems are, but might not have the money to fix them. He said it would cost $15 million during coming years just to stay even with current conditions. The Johns Creek annual budget can’t handle the transportation fixes necessary or wanted by the citizens.Leaning heavily on a survey the city commissioned in late 2008, Bodker said that one-third of the 300 respondents said traffic was their No. 1 concern – slightly more than half of those respondents cited traffic and congestion as a primary concern for the city.Managing Public ExpectationsGetting “below the road,” makes good sense in lean times, says Josh Rowan, an engineer with the national firm PBS&J. The company has worked on two of Roswell’s downtown beautification projects.Part of traffic and transportation improvement, says Rowan, is managing consumer expectation. He said that when many of us visualize a traffic fix, we think of what the world might be like driving at 95 MPH at 1 a.m. with four other cars on the road. Not going to happen he said.“Sewers and water are things you can control locally,” Rowan said. “Manage what you can and don’t resurface just to resurface. There are plenty of secondary issues you can work on before you build a six-lane road.”Rowan said without repairing what lies beneath, three days later a pothole fix can be peeling and that’s taxpayer money wasted. He said adding to capacity might not be feasible in this economy, but if you can afford it there is a whole construction community starving right now.“There’s not a lot of political glory in maintenance,” Rowan said.But maintenance is necessary and Acenbrak concurs. “Roswell is a bedroom community that is two-thirds residential. We don’t plan to spend a lot of time and effort and money to go 95 through our town. We want to make a safe system and look for ways to improve connectivity,” he said.The Road Less TraveledTwo distinctly different transportation/infrastructure fixes that could pump much-needed cash into cities have emerged at the state level. One plan allows for regional transportation coalitions and taxing. The other option would allow the state to tax an additional one cent for transportation and provide those funds to local governments. One of those measures is backed by the State Senate, the other by the State House leadership with Gov. Sonny Perdue as the wildcard.The trio has a track record of infighting.Convoluting the debate is a power struggle over who gets to control MARTA (Metropolitan Rapid Transit Authority), GRTA (Georgia Regional Transportation Authority), and how much money Georgia will receive from any federal programs as they become available.Perdue is reported to be developing a measure to realign Georgia’s transportation departments.Georgia Democrats have a dog in the fight, too. After all, they are ones with the Obama connection.“While it will take several significant steps to solve our transportation problem, the voter-approved local option sales tax concept has been successful in the past to provide meaningful funding to local regions and communities,” said Jaillene Hunter, communications director for Lt. Gov Casey Cagle.The Senate’s regional tax plan is expected to come up for debate early in the coming week.
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