Storm Water Pollution Project Gets Grant

By MICHELLE E. SHAW / www.ajc.com / Published on: 07/30/08

A storm water pollution project at Chattahoochee High is getting overflowing support from a county commissioner.

A $75,000 grant check was presented to the Chattahoochee Cougar Foundation Inc., a nonprofit organization affiliated with the high school, Wednesday by Fulton County Commissioner Lynne Riley.

The grant will be used for the construction of the ARCH project, an effort to remedy a growing community problem of storm water pollution, to be housed at Chattahoochee High.
The proposed project incorporates a constructed wetland detention pond for storm water runoff, amphitheater and environmental education stations, officials say. The wetland detention pond will retain and clean storm water through a bioremediation filtration process before it enters Johns Creek. Drainpipes entering the ARCH will be fitted with engineering devices for the removal of macro-pollutants and sediments.

Chattahoochee's grant is one of three presented to environmental nonprofits in North Fulton County. Earlier this month, Riley presented the Mountain Park Watershed Preservation Society Inc. a $91,700 grant to purchase approximately 20 lots on the shore of Lake Garrett for environmental green space in the city of Mountain Park. She also presented Keep Roswell Beautiful Inc. with a $68,000 grant to fund tree replacement and education markers in Roswell Area Park and intersection beautification.

Gadget Showcase Comes To Johns Creek

July 24, 2008 Gwinnett Herald

JOHNS CREEK – The Greater North Fulton Chamber of Commerce will present the 2008 Gadget Showcase Thursday, July 24 at Emory Johns Creek Hospital.The showcase will be held from 5 to 7 p.m., and will feature technology innovators, manufacturers and distributers who will exhibit the latest products.

"As business brokers we have the opportunity to talk with a lot of individuals with great ideas and products that struggle to make it to market. I am looking forward to being a participant in the Chamber's 2008 Gadget Festival and to presenting an innovative, award winning golf tool, The MarkMender," said Carol Yurick of AccuBrokers Inc."The purpose of the showcase is to allow local technology innovators, manufacturers and distributors the opportunity to exhibit and showcase their latest and greatest products," said Sarah Christenson, event coordinator.Emory Johns Creek Hospital offers more space for the event, she said.
The exhibitors's list misses only a couple from last year, but many other vendors have been added."Beyond the expected new telephones and new banking services, we will have tables on elevators, patent law and email control. Our title sponsor, Intelligels, is showcasing a new gel wrist pad for laptops, once only for table top computers," she said.

Sponsorships are available for $500 to $1,000. Exhibitors can purchase booth space for $50 that will include one table with the company name and electricity.This event also will include the monthly Business After Hours for the chamber, with food provided by Glorious Events Catering.The cost to attend is $10 for GNFCC members and $20 for non-members. For more information, contact Sarah Christenson at 678-397-0532 or e-mail schristenson@gnfcc.com.Emory Johns Creek is at 6235 Hospital Parkway in Johns Creek.

Johns Creek Has Heart: Defibrillators In Every Police Car

By DOUG NURSE www.ajc.com

According to the American Heart Association, a person dies of heart attack every minute nationwide. Officials of Johns Creek are taking steps to improve victims' chances of survival.
A program to put defibrillators in each of the city's 29 patrol cars has prompted the AHA to name the Johns Creek as Georgia's First "Heart Ready City." The city also is placing the lifesaving devices in municipal buildings, and city parks. Firetrucks also come equipped with heart resuscitation device.Defibrillators send an electrical shock to the heart to restore the heart rhythm to a normal pace.

"This designation is due to the hard work and dedication of the city's leaders in their commitment to training governmental employees in CPR, hosting community CPR events, the proliferation of automated external defibrillators for public access in the community, and providing life saving public services at the highest level," AHA Senior Director of EMS Mike Willingham said in a prepared statement.

Public Safety Communications Manager Rosemary Taylor said that last year a life was saved by a defibrillator owned by Newtown Park Athletic Association. Later this year, interested citizens also may learn how to use it through a community-wide defibrillator-CPR training program through the Johns Creek Fire Department, the American Heart Association and Emory Johns Creek Hospital.

Emory Johns Creek Hospital donated $10,000 to the program. Georgia Power Corp., Rural Metro EMS, Ciba Vision and Olde Taylor Farms also helped raise $34,800 to outfit every police patrol car. The American Heart Association contributed $11,400 to provide six defibrillators to other city facilities.

An awards ceremony is scheduled for 10 a.m. Saturday at Emory Johns Creek Hospital.

Three Teens Rescued After Getting Stranded On A Rock In River

By MARCUS K. GARNER www.ajc.com

Fulton and Gwinnett county emergency teams rescued a group of teens Tuesday night trapped on a rock in the Chattahoochee River.Rescuers were called about 9:30 p.m.
The three youth, ages 17, 16 and 15, had been swimming near Medlock Bridge Road in Johns Creek, when one of the river pumping stations began raising the water level, Fulton County officials said.
"The water got a little too high for them," Fulton County Fire Department Lt. Gregory Chambers said. "They were stuck on a rock, screaming for help."
Residents at a nearby apartment complex heard the teens and called the fire department. Fulton County rescuers called Gwinnett to assist.
"They had a boat," Chambers said of the Gwinnett County swift water rescue team.
The teens were brought ashore after telling rescuers they had been on the river "for hours," Chambers said. They were treated on the scene for minor injuries and released, he said.

Roberts Realty Investors close $60M Deal

July 10, 2008 09:21 AM
Appen Newspapers

JOHNS CREEK – Roberts Realty Investors closed the sale of its 403-unit AddisonPlace apartment community for $60 million. Though shareholders and unitholders will receive 66 cents per share/unit, that's a far cry from the $2.50 announced in January and April press releases. The company blames the weakness in the U.S. economy and the continued stress in the banking system."Despite the aggressive actions taken by the Federal Reserve during the past year, the economy continues to struggle and credit is still difficult to obtain," said Charles R. Elliott, company CFO. "In this weak and uncertain economy with no improvement in sight, our priority is to prudently manage our balance sheet for maximum liquidity."

The distribution will be paid Aug. 5 to shareholders and unitholders of record on July 10.The sales price is equal to $148,883 per apartment unit or $102 per square foot and resulted in net cash proceeds of approximately $29.3 million to the company. The buyer was not disclosed.Addison Place is in Johns Creek and consists of 118 townhomes and 285 garden apartments. The first phase of Addison Place consisting of 118 townhomes was completed in 1999 and the second phase of 285 garden apartments was completed in 2001.

Addison Place was designed, developed, and constructed by Roberts Properties Inc., a non-owned affiliate of the company.Charles S. Roberts, the company's founder and CEO, said: "Since 1994, our investment strategy has been to buy well-located land in high-growth neighborhoods and then develop, construct, and manage these high-quality apartment communities."

Elliott said they believe the best way to create shareholder value is to periodically sell its apartment communities to make distributions to shareholders from the proceeds.The company has paid dividends and distributions totaling $8.84 per share/unit since 1996. In 2003, Roberts Realty Investors sold its Highland Park apartment community and paid a distribution of ¢55 cents per share/unit. In 2004, the company sold a portfolio of five apartment communities and paid a distribution of $4.50 per share/unit.With Addison Place distribution payments, the company will have paid dividends and distributions totaling $9.50 per share/unit since 1996, which is equal to an average of 73 cents per share/unit per year for each of the past 13 years.

The company moves forward with development and construction of apartment communities in Forsyth County and in Sandy Springs totaling 374 residential units.Sawmill Village is a 22-acre site that is zoned for 154 residential units. The property is located at the intersection of Ga. 9 and Old Atlanta Road in Forsyth County, an area that is experiencing rapid growth. This community will be similar in size to Rosewood Plantation and Ivey Brook, two other 150-unit communities the company previously developed and sold for a substantial return.The company's Northridge property is an 11-acre site located in Sandy Springs, and is adjacent to its Northridge office building.This property is zoned for mixed-use and will include 220 residential units consisting of one- and two-bedroom homes along with covered parking for the residents.

Officer Poses As Patient, Fake Dentist Arrested

By MARCUS K. GARNER http://www.ajc.com/

A Johns Creek woman was arrested last week for operating an illegal dental clinic out of her home, police said. Claudinette Varon-Castro, 45, was charged with five felony charges on July 2, including three counts of practicing dentistry without a license. She was also charged for illegally having several medical drugs, including antibiotics, anesthetics and muscle relaxers."This was very unexpected," said Johns Creek police detective Capt. Brian Weaver. "This was a regular subdivision."

Police said Varon-Castro had certificates from her home country of Colombia saying she was a dentist, but was not licensed to practice in the United States or in Georgia, a felony.
She was taking cash only to see patients, police said.

Authorities were tipped off about Varon-Castro in May, and began a month-long sting.
Undercover officers set up appointments at Varon-Castro's home at 4790 Ogeechee Drive.
She examined one officer's mouth and suggested taking X-rays and applying local anesthesia before a procedure.

Varon-Castro told the officer she would charge $180 for her service. When the officer declined and asked only for pain medicine, Varon-Castro offered 22 Amoxicillin pills and charged the officer $60 cash."I'm delighted that this hit the public eye," said Dr. Peter Trager, former president of the Georgia Board of Dentistry, the agency that regulates dentists. "Hopefully, it will put the fear of God in some of these other people that police and the board don't know about."

Trager said many underground dentists like Varon-Castro prey on undocumented immigrants who either can't afford or are afraid to go to a conventional dentist."Most of the time, they get hurt, and they don't report it because of their illegal status," the Marietta dentist said. "Fortunately, the state Legislature made it a felony" in 2005.

Varon-Castro was released from the Fulton County Jail last week on $25,000 bond, according to jail records.

Weaver, the lead detective in this ongoing investigation, said more charges could be pending, "once we determine what was taken out of there."

He said police are trying to determine how she got Amoxicillin, antibiotics, the muscle relaxant Flexoral and three different anesthetics, including Lidocaine. "She could've gotten them online, or she could've gotten them through a regular dealer, since she has some medical connections," Weaver said.

Incorporating Cities: Tired Of Services Not Matching Tax Burden

By Jeffrey H. Dorfman www.ajc.com

Georgia has more than 500 cities. It would seem that we don't need more local governments, yet that is just what we are getting. Fulton County has added four cities (Sandy Springs, Johns Creek, Milton and Chattahoochee Hill Country) in the past few years. There has been talk of a new city in DeKalb. There is even talk of splitting Fulton County in two (by bringing Milton County back). Additionally, there was recent discussion of the Buckhead area of Atlanta becoming a city.When these new cities are proposed, there is much discussion about the economic consequences. Some effort is spent to answer the question "Will the new city be economically viable?" However, much more effort is usually spent on the horrible economic damage that will be done to an existing local government.When a county or city advances the argument that the formation of a new city will cause economic hardship to the existing government, resulting in service cutbacks or tax increases, it is admitting to overcharging the area considering forming a new city.

Atlanta doesn't want Buckhead to leave because Buckhead residents pay far more in taxes and fees than the value of city services received. Sandy Springs, Milton and Johns Creek were all similar cases.Citizens pushing for new cities sometimes talk about local control, different zoning policies or other customer-service-type issues, but these are window dressing. Cities are forming because their would-be residents are being overcharged by their current service provider(s).There is no single definition of "fair taxation." However, the national consensus is that the federal government should be funded by a progressive tax system based on one's ability to pay. State government funding is generally less progressive, but still somewhat weighted in that direction.

We do not appear to have a similar consensus that city and county governments should be funded based on "ability to pay," with many people favoring paying based on services received.Cities and counties in Georgia typically get 30 percent to 50 percent of their revenues from property taxes, and that means the owners of more expensive houses are paying more taxes.Since it is rarely more expensive to provide services to those more expensive houses, local government collects a surplus from them and uses it to offset the shortfall from owners of less expensive properties. (Businesses also generate a surplus for local governments.)Some will feel that city and county governments should be trying to charge their citizens an amount equaling services received, which they generally do for some services, such as trash, water and sewer. Others will think the current system is fair, with wealthier citizens bearing a heavier burden. Who is right doesn't matter (it's both, since these are opinions).

What counts is that there are large numbers of people and neighborhoods that can have lower taxes by forming their own city.We might try solutions such as a property tax cap, more reliance on sales taxes or more reliance on user fees and charges for services.In the meantime, as long as we have a system where taxes are not tied to services received in a manner that people deem fair, new cities will continue to become reality.

> Jeffrey H. Dorfman is a professor of agricultural and applied economics at the University of Georgia.

Roberts Realty Divests Suburban ATL Community for $60M

From The Atlanta Business Chronicle

Roberts Realty Investors Inc. has sold the 403-unit Addison Place apartment community in Johns Creek, Ga., for $60 million.

The buyer was not disclosed.

Addison Place was designed and built by Roberts Properties Inc., a non-owned affiliate of Atlanta-based Roberts Realty Investors (AMEX: RPI). The development has 118 townhouses and 285 apartments.

Roberts Realty Investors also said Tuesday it will give a dividend of 66 cents a share to shareholders and 66 cents per unit to unitholders. The distribution will be paid on Aug. 5 to shareholders and unitholders of record on July 10.

The company had planned on a distribution of $2.50 a share/unit, but given the weakness in the U.S. economy and continued stress in the banking system, the company said it believes the safest course of action is to distribute only 66 cents a share/unit.

"Despite the aggressive actions taken by the Federal Reserve during the past year, the economy continues to struggle and credit is still difficult to obtain," said Charles R. Elliott, Roberts Realty chief financial officer. "In this weak and uncertain economy with no improvement in sight, our priority is to prudently manage our balance sheet for maximum liquidity."

Johns Creek Mayor Elected As GMA Chairman

Appen Newspapers

JOHNS CREEK - The Metro Atlanta Mayors Association elected Johns Creek Mayor Mike Bodker as its 2008-09 chairman during the Georgia Municipal Association's 75th Annual Conference June 23 in Savannah.

Bodker replaces Douglasville Mayor Mickey Thompson, who rotated off after serving a one-year term as chairman of the Association."Mike's enthusiasm and commitment to not only his citizens but also to the residents of the entire metro area make him the perfect choice as tnext MAMA chairman." Thompson said.MAMA, formed in 2003 to increase communications between cities in the metro Atlanta region, consists of mayors from the 66 cities in 10 counties in the metro area. The association supports policy decisions that are beneficial to local governments, organizes activities among the cities that are beneficial to the region and relates needs to federal, state and regional agencies and citizens.Bodker recently completed a term as the chairman of the newly formed North Fulton Municipal Association, which brings together the six cities of North Fulton County.

Additionally, he led both the North East Fulton Study Committee and the Committee for Johns Creek, which ultimately led to the creation of the City of Johns Creek."The first thing I'm planning on doing as chairman is to develop a plan to address the highest level items that we can truly affect change on within this year," Bodker said. "If we are to continue to enjoy success as a region, MAMA must continue to work cooperatively, communicate broadly and think creatively. I look forward to working with the other 65 member mayors, as well as our partner organizations, to address these common issues facing us."

Many Johns Creek Businesses To Pay More In Taxes

By DOUG NURSE www.ajc.com

The Johns Creek City Council voted 5-0 Monday to keep the same property tax rate as last year, but many businesses are still going to pay more in taxes.
The council kept the millage at $4.614 per $1,000 in taxable property, which is the same rate residents paid to Fulton County before the community incorporated into a city Dec. 1.

For many, the city portion of the taxes will remain steady. But those who had their property reassessed by the county which will see their taxes change, mostly upward because property tends to be more valuable. Most of the land in Johns Creek re-assessed was commercial property. Only 14 percent of the residential property was reassessed countywide, according to the Tax Assessor's Office.

Major Thompson, a Johns Creek resident, asked the City Council to cap the tax increase at 3 percent for seniors and poor people.

The reassessments make up most of the city's $875,000 growth in the budget. About 49 percent of the increase in the tax digest – the log of total property values citywide – came from reassessments. The rest comes from new development since last year.

In 2007, the city collected $15.25 million in property taxes. The total budget is about $44 million for general government services.