The Sandy Springs City Council cheered news from its fire department that the city has one of the best fire insurance ratings in Georgia.
The city also approved a zoning application that will allow an expansion of the local Ronald McDonald House to move forward.
Fire Chief Jack McElfish informed the council at its Dec. 6 meeting that Sandy Springs now has a Class 3 Insurance Services Office rating.
“The bottom line is we came out really well,” McElfish told the council on Dec. 6. “We’re in the top 5 percent with a class 3 rating.”
ISO, an analytics firm based in New Jersey, rates municipal fire protection and ranks fire protection on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being the best and 10 being the worst. McElfish reported only 56 departments out of 1,038 in the state of Georgia have a Class 2 or 3 ISO rating.
“The last time the city was rated was in October of 1988, (23 years ago), at which time the population of the city was less than half today’s population,” McElfish wrote in his report to the council.
McElfish said every resident purchasing insurance will save money due to the city’s high rating, but said there is no way to accurately determine how much residents would save.
“Many departments in our area have lost their current class ratings when recent evaluations were conducted,” McElfish wrote in his report. “This Class 3 rating will result in enormous savings for our businesses and residents.”
Councilman Tibby DeJulio said the city believes its police and fire services are the best in the state.
“The mayor and I constantly … mention how we probably have one of the best police and fire departments in the state of Georgia, and one of the things that makes them the best is we have the best leadership,” DeJulio said.
DeJulio led the Dec. 6 meeting, because Mayor Eva Galambos is on vacation.
The council also unanimously approved zoning changes to allow the Atlanta Ronald McDonald House to move forward with an expansion of its facility at Peachtree Dunwoody Road. Several Sandy Springs residents showed up in support of the application.
“I think this is the first time we’ve had a rezoning application that received a round of applause,” DeJulio said.
The current house at 5420 Peachtree Dunwoody can hold 11 families. Atlanta Ronald McDonald House Charities (ARMH) wants to demolish the current structure and replace it with housing for 31 families.
The project has been talked about since before Sandy Springs became a city. Fulton County approved the plans in 2005, but neighbors opposed to the project sued. ARMH ultimately won.
Families staying at the Ronald McDonald House pay $20 per night while their children receive treatment at nearby hospitals.
The proposed renovation is expected to cost ARMH more than $10 million; fundraising is expected to start by the end of 2012, and the project could be finished in 2013 or 2014.
ARMH attorney Ellen Smith told the council that the charity would work to ensure the development looks “as residential as possible” to address concerns of residents that the building would not have an “institutional” appearance.
