The High Point Civic Association held its first annual meeting since its former president, Mary Ford, was elected to the District 5 seat on the Sandy Springs City Council.
Matt Payne, newly elected president of the civic association, invited local public school principals, Sandy Springs officials, Mayor Rusty Paul, Fulton County Chair Robb Pitts, and a host of candidates running in the May 19 primary.
The High Point neighborhood is in the southwest corner of Sandy Springs, east of Roswell Road and south of I-285. The civic association was formed in the early 1980s and now includes more than 4,000 homes in Fulton County Schools’ Riverwood cluster.
Schools and fire stations
In January, the civic association named its two annual college scholarship awards after outgoing Council Member Tibby DeJulio, a five-term city official and longtime resident of the High Point neighborhood.
Riverwood Principal Kindra Smith said the long-running neighborhood support of seniors and its scholarship fund makes a difference for her students.
“They get to go and experience things that they would have never been able to because of you,” Smith said. “It’s one of the most beautiful things about Sandy Springs, you all care about every single kid, and then you go do something about it.”
High Point Elementary Principal Danielle Miller and a grade-level principal from Ridgeview Middle School also spoke to neighbors about ongoing initiatives at their schools.
Last year, the council approved a $50.5 million bond issuance to fund the construction of two new fire stations and additions to a third. Fire Station 4 currently sits inside the city of Atlanta and is moving two miles north up Roswell Road to High Point.
The adjacent parcels are on Roswell Road between Green Hill Road and Beachland Drive, about one mile south of I-285. Some residents have expressed concerns about its proximity to homes, but the relocation is moving forward.
Sandy Springs Fire Chief Keith Sanders said there is an upcoming meeting on May 7 for surrounding residents to see site renderings and learn more about the project.
“The greatest part about it is, with a new location, we will improve our response time into this community up to seven minutes, which is a significant improvement,” Sanders said.
Ongoing city projects
Council Member Mary Ford said community members can find her posts about Sandy Springs on social media and gave a forecast of some upcoming projects.
Sandy Springs residents can expect construction along Mount Vernon Highway and Johnson Ferry Road to wrap up before summer, which will be followed by the three-year Hammond Drive widening project.
The city will continue construction of sidewalks south of I-285 along Roswell Road and finish bathrooms at Ridgeview Park by the end of the year. All three segments of PATH400 through the High Point neighborhood are expected to be completed by summer 2029.
“The number one question I’ve been getting over the past 10 weeks is what’s happening at the Belle Isle and Roswell Road,” Ford said. “We’ve gotten an update that GDOT is going to start work to repair the sewer problem in the second half of April.”
City officials later said the ongoing lane closure and utility work will conclude before July.
Mayor talks about city’s water system
Mayor Rusty Paul said the three new members of the Sandy Springs City Council are working well together during an important year for service delivery negotiations with the City of Atlanta.
Sandy Springs appealed a ruling that upheld Atlanta’s 21% surcharge on water sold to its residents. It’s unclear how the court will rule.
Paul said he’s asked for a couple of meetings with Atlanta officials but hasn’t heard back. Because of state law, the county and its cities’ failure to reach an agreement incurs a cost.
“If you don’t have a service delivery strategy by Dec. 31 of this year, then you lose all ability to get state grants [and pass-throughs from the federal government],” Paul said. “We believe that’s going to hurt them a lot worse than it’s going to hurt us.”
Paul said service delivery negotiations with Fulton County and its cities begin this week, and his goal is to secure investment in the water system.
“[Atlanta] has put absolutely nothing into the system; it is literally deteriorating underground … and we can’t get them to focus on it,” Paul said. “[State funding] will get cut off if we don’t get an agreement, but we have to do something about our water system.”
