City Council - workshop

Time for convening has arrived, so we'll start this evening's meetings, starting an hour earlier, so we can hopefully get out for a national night out outside. We'll start with our work session, the design development pricing for the fire station by Dave Wells.

Council. Tonight we want to bring you the DD pricing, the design development pricing. I got Reeves Young here, Adam Scott, and he's going to go over the DD pricing real quick for you.

Good afternoon, everyone. So wrapping up our latest DD pricing effort on Fire Stations 1-4 in the logistics building, you'll see up here on the screen, broken out between the Fire Stations 1-4 logistics buildings, the sites, and then the value management efforts to date, as well as all of the indirect cost, brings our design development estimated total to 38.205074. So some of these high-value items throughout the value management process, what you'll see up here, some of these are pending to be taken into GMP for deductive alternates, but these are some of the high values, over $2.6 million of current accepted value management, some of the big-ticket items. Remove the Burke-Waynes Co. at the logistics building. reducing the generators back to the 250 kW that we had at SD, and then to shell out the training classroom facility at the logistics building. As well as the removal of the fire pump. Yes.

I notice you're changing out the copper for aluminum conductors. This is the fire department. I assume they know about the difference between aluminum and copper. Does that create any real safety issues for the building?

That is only where it's required or where it's allowable by code.

Okay. Thank you.

Nice one.

So the available budget we have in the budget is $38,477,305. Fire Station 4 right now with the building in the site amount comes in at $21,768,704. Fire Station 1 comes in at $16,436,369. And that leaves us with $272,232 for Fire Station 3's additions and renovations. LEAVES THE DELTA ON FIRE STATION THROUGH ABOUT $2.3 MILLION. WE BROUGHT YOU SCHEMATIC DESIGN PRICING BACK IN MAY. THIS IS THE DESIGN DEVELOPMENT PRICING. WE WILL BE BRINGING YOU THE 100% CONSTRUCTION DOCUMENT PRICING WHICH IS CALLED GUARANTEED MAXIMUM PRICE IN NOVEMBER, MID-NOVEMBER. AND WE PLAN TO BEGIN CONSTRUCTION ON THE TWO FIRE STATIONS IN JANUARY. In December, we will be finished with the temporary fire station up on Roswell Road. For fire station one, we're moving the crews out of that fire station into the new fire station. Any questions on the pricing?

Is that it? That is it. If I may, Mayor. So two questions. Removing the fueling station. It seems to me having a fueling station at the south end of town like we have at the north end of town is a good idea. So we're not eliminating the refueling station at the south end, are we?

That is actually a pending thing, and a city manager has given us guidance to go ahead and try to get that back into the project.

It's a good idea, it seems to me, rather than everybody driving up north just to fill their tank. Okay. And then right now the design development pricing we're talking about, what percent complete is this design? And here's why I'm asking. I'd love for you guys to find another couple million dollars here so that we don't have to go hunting for another $2 million somewhere else. So how far along are you in the design?

We're probably about 70%, 75% complete. But just because we're at DD or 75% doesn't mean when we get to GMP we're not going to continue working on the value management. So we're going to continue to utilize our submarkets, leveraging both projects to make sure we're getting the cost down and finding additional funding or additional value throughout the pricing process. Stay after it. Absolutely. Thank you. We do.

Any others? I'll echo Mr. Paulson. Let's see if we can drive some more cost out. So we've got that other station that needs to be renovated, and we need to make sure we find some resources to be able to get that done too. All right. Any further discussion? All right. Thank you. Thank you. Are there any council discussion items that we need to bring to the work session? All right. Hearing none. I'd like to call this meeting of the Sandy spring city council to order for Tuesday, August the 4th, 2026. Will the city clerk please make the announcements and call the roll.

Good evening, mayor and council first, uh, just a reminder to those in attendance to please continue to silence all cell phones and other electronic devices at this time. I'm in cards in advance of the meeting. Public common cards are always available online at the chamber entrance. As I call roll, please confirm your attendance. Mayor Rusty Paul.

Present.

Council Member John Paulson. Council Member Melody Kelly. Present. Council Member Melissa Mueller. Here. Council Member Frank Roberts.

Here.

Council Member Mary Ford. Here. Council Member Andrew Chensky.

Here. Join me for the Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Madam Clerk, have we received any public comment cards?

We have not this evening.

All right. So we'll close the public comment period. Is there a motion to approve the meeting agenda? Mayor Paul. Mr. Paulson.

I move approval of the meeting agenda for Tuesday, August 4th, 2026.

Motion by Mr. Paulson. Is there a second?

Second.

Motion by Mr. Paulson, seconded by Mr. Roberts for the meeting agenda. All in any discussion? Hearing none, we'll call the question. The question's on the meeting agenda. All in favor of the motion, say aye. Aye. Opposed, no. The agenda is approved. Moving to consent agenda, is there a motion to approve the consent agenda?

Here, Paul.

Ms. Mueller.

I move that we approve the consent agenda for Tuesday, August 4th, 2026.

We have a motion by Ms. Mueller. Is there a second?

Second.

We have a motion by Ms. Mueller, seconded by Ms. Ford, that we approve the consent agenda. Any discussion? Any discussion? Hearing none, we'll call the question. The question's on the consent agenda. All in favor of the motion, say aye. Aye. Opposed, no. The consent agenda is approved. Moving to the presentations. I guess I get to read this one, right, Rocky? Yes, sir. All right, I've got to, as we do every year, celebrate Purple Heart Day in Sandy Springs, and I have a proclamation. We have two Purple Heart recipients here tonight. One is an alumnus of this dais, Mr. Tibby DiGiulio, and the other is Mr. Ed Harmon. We welcome you to the council meeting tonight. I'll read the proclamation and then we'll come up here and I'll present it to you. Whereas the Purple Heart is the oldest military decoration in present use and was initially created as the badge of military merit by George Washington in 1782, and whereas in 1932, upon the 200th anniversary of George Washington's birth, the Purple Heart was revived as a medal recognizing service members wounded or killed in the line of duty, and was emblazoned with George Washington's profile and coat of arms. And whereas the mission of the Military Order of Purple Heart, chartered by an act of Congress, is to foster an environment of goodwill among the combat wounded veteran members and their families, promote patriotism, support legislative initiatives, and most importantly, make sure that we never forget And whereas veterans have paid a high price of freedom by leaving their families and communities, placing themselves in harm's way for the good of all, and whereas the contributions and sacrifices of the men and women from Sandy Springs who served in the armed forces have been vital in maintaining the freedoms and way of life enjoyed by all citizens, and whereas the city of Sandy Springs is a Purple Heart city and appreciates the sacrifices our Purple Heart recipients made in defending our freedom, and believes in it's important that we acknowledge them for their courage and show them the honor and support they have earned. Now therefore, I, Russell K. Paul, by virtue of the authority vested in me as Mayor of the City of Sandy Springs and on behalf of the City Council, proclaim August 7th, 2026, Purple Heart Day in Sandy Springs and a Purple Heart City given under my hand and the seal of Sandy Springs, Georgia on this the fourth day of August. You gentlemen will join me at the podium.

Mayor Paul. Would you ask if there's other per part vetting? There may be other ones here that I don't know about.

Do we have any others? All right. Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you. All right. Thank you. You got photographs?

Got a picture here?

Thanks, guys. Appreciate it. Moving to public hearings. Will the clerk please read the first item?

This is agenda item number 2026 at 200. That's ABL number 28699. Consideration of an alcoholic beverage license application for taste wine, City Springs, and that's at 6405 Bluestone Road, Suite 230, Sandy Springs, Georgia, 30328. The applicant is Benjamin Ferris for consumption of beer, distilled spirit, wine, and packaged package wine and malt beverages. This is presented by Revenue Supervisor Tammy Edwards. Ms. Edwards.

Hello. Good evening, Mayor Paul and City Council. This is a new application for consumption on the premises for distilled spirits, beer, wine, package wine, and malt beverages. Taste wine of City Springs. 6405 Bluestone Road, Suite 230, Sandy Springs. The applicant, Benji Ferris, has met all the requirements and the staff recommends approval. This is in District City Council 3 with Council Member Melissa Mueller.

All right, thank you. Do we have any public comments? All right, we'll close the public hearing. You've heard the report of the revenue supervisor. What's the desire of Council?

Mayor Powell.

Ms. Mueller.

I move that we approve Agenda Item 2026-200, ABL, Number 28699, the approval of an alcoholic beverage license application for Taste Wine City Springs at 6405 Bluestone Road, Suite 230, Sandy Springs, Georgia, 30Z328.

We have a motion by Ms. Mueller. Is there a second?

I'll second.

Motion by Ms. Mueller, seconded by Dr. Kelly, that we approve Agenda Item 2026-200, an alcoholic beverage license application for Taste Wine City Springs, 6405 Bluestone Road, Suite 230, Sandy Springs, Georgia. Any discussion? Hearing none, we'll call the question. The question's on agenda item 26-200, alcoholic beverage license application for taste wine. All in favor of the motion, say aye. Aye. Opposed, no. The item is approved. Clerk will please read the next item.

This is agenda item number 2026-201. That's ABL number 28-579. Consideration and approval of an alcoholic beverage license application for Takasusi and Passion And that's at 4600 Roswell Road, Building E, Sandy Springs, Georgia, 30342. The applicant is Sukum Kim for consumption on the premises of beer, distilled spirits, and wine. Also presented by Revenue Supervisor Tammy Edwards. Ms. Edwards.

Yes, this is a new application for alcohol consumption on the premises for distilled spirits, beer, and wine. Takisushi and Passion, 4600 Roswell Road, Building E, Sandy Springs, Georgia, 30342. The applicant, Sung Kim, has met all requirements and staff recommends approval. This application is for District, City Council District 6, Council Member Andrew Chinsky.

All right, you've heard the report. Any public comments? All right, we'll close public hearing. You've heard the report of the revenue supervisor.

What's the desire of council? Mayor Paul. Mr. Chinsky. I move approval of agenda item 2026-201 ABL number 28579 to approve an alcoholic beverage license for taco sushi and passion at 4600 Roswell Road, Building E, Sandy Springs, Georgia, 30342.

Motion by Mr. Chinsky. Is there a second?

Second.

Seconded by Ms. Ford. Any discussion? Hearing none, we'll call the question. The question is on agenda item 2026-201, the alcohol beverage license application for Takasushi. All in favor of the motion, say aye. Aye. Opposed, no. The item is approved. Moving to new business, the clerk will read the first item.

Excuse me. This is agenda item number 2026-202, consideration of a resolution to approve the donation of surplus Lark trailer to Wilcox County Sheriff's Office. This is presented by SSPD. Joe Simone.

So this is a request to surplus a 2009 Lark enclosed trailer. Pull the mic down to you.

Well, we've got to get it turned on. I think it's a problem. It's on.

Is it on? All right, put it down. Okay. All right. This is a request to surplus a 2009 Lark enclosed trailer previously used by the special weapons and tactics team. Um, currently we do not utilize this trailer anymore. It has termite damage. It's old, it's outdated, and it lacks the proper braking system for a trailer.

All right. You've heard the report of the police department. What's the desire of counsel? Mayor Paul. Mr. Roberts. On agenda item 2026-202, make a motion to approve the donation of a surplus Lark trailer to the Wilcox County Sheriff's Office. Motion by Mr. Roberts. Is there a second? Second. Motion by Mr. Roberts, seconded by Mr. Paulson. That we approve agenda item 2026-202, approve the donation of a surplus Lark trailer to Wilcox County. Any discussion?

Mr. Chinsky. Just a quick question. So if the trailer has limited use to us, do we know what they're going to do with it? They're a very poor county.

Their whole budget's about $900,000 a year. They'll find something to do with it. Fair enough. Thanks. Probably got somebody who can do the work to fix it up, too. Yes, sir.

Yeah, okay. Any other discussions? Hearing none, we'll call the question. The question's on agenda item 2026202, approving the donation of a surplus lark trailer to Wilcox County. All in favor of the motion, say aye. Aye. Opposed, no. The item is approved. The clerk will please read the next item.

This is agenda item number 2026203. Consideration of a resolution to approve a memorandum of understanding between the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia and the City of Sandy Springs to participate in the Georgia Gwinnett College Applied Learning Experience Program and to authorize the city manager to execute the MOU. This is presented by Captain James McNabb.

Captain McNabb. Good afternoon, Mayor and Council. Respectfully request your consideration of the resolution allowing for the city manager to execute an MOU between the city of Sandy Springs and Georgia Gwinnett College. This MOU will allow their students, generally criminal justice students, to participate in the Sandy Springs Police Intern Program The program benefits students, their students, by increasing their knowledge of policing profession and practices, while it gives the PD the benefit of connecting with potential applicants down the road. There is no extra money required that's not already allocated in this year's budget.

All right, you've heard the report of the police captain. What's the desire of counsel? Mayor Paul. Dr. Kelly.

I move approval of agenda item 2026-203, approval of a memorandum of understanding between the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia and the City of Sandy Springs to participate in the Georgia Gwinnett College Applied Learning Experience Program and to authorize the city manager to execute the memorandum of understanding.

Motion died. Dr. Kelly, is there a second? Second. Motion by Dr. Kelly, seconded by Mr. Paulson, that we approve Agenda Item 2026.203, an MOU between the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia and the City of Sandy Springs for the Georgia Gwinnett College Applied Learning Experience Program. Any discussion? Dr. Kelly.

All right. So this is a new program that our police department is engaging in?

No, ma'am. Generally, we have about six of these a year. roughly works out to like three per semester. This is the only university, and some of the ones that we currently work with are UNG, Georgia State, and Kennesaw State. This is just the first one that requires an MOU from the institution.

Because that was going to be my question. I don't feel like we've ever seen an MOU.

Yes, it's currently active, and Dan Nabel runs it and oversees it. Okay.

All right. Thank you.

Any other discussion?

I just have one question.

Yes, Ms. Ford.

This is a great program. Do we have anything that is targeted towards high school students or all of our internship program college students?

Usually college, usually juniors and above. And generally it's students that are picked by the college, generally in a CJ type of program, criminal justice type of program. Generally, that's where the interns come from at that age because they are out with every different command, whether it be patrol or street crimes, detectives, so generally more on the mature side.

Gotcha. Thank you.

Any other discussion?

Yeah, Dr. Kelly.

Just one more question, and it may be more for Madam City Manager. Is there an easy way we can get a sense of where the organization as a whole intersects or interfaces with Um, colleges, I know, you know, I think community development does some stuff and PD that just might be interesting. Sure. You know, we can work on that. Okay. Thanks.

Any other discussion hearing none. We'll call the question questions on agenda item 20, 26, two Oh three, a resolution approving memorandum of understanding between the board of Regents university of Georgia system and the Cindy of Sandy Springs to participate in the Georgia Gwinnett college applied learning experience program. All in favor of the motion say aye. Aye. Opposed. No. The item is approved. Clerk, please read the next item.

This is agenda item number 2026204, consideration of a resolution to approve a renewal term to the existing contract with White Oak Landscape Company, Inc., for landscaping services for recreation and parks properties. It's presented by Director of Recreation and Parks, Brent Walker.

Mr. Walker. Evening, Mayor and Council. City staff received 13 proposals for the parks landscape maintenance contract on December 9th of 2024. for RFP 25-020. White Oak Landscape Company was deemed the best value for the city and was awarded a contract at the January 21, 2025 City Council meeting in the amount of $445,000. The contract allowed for an initial term ending at the close of the city's fiscal year with four optional one-year renewal terms and included a maximum 5% increase with each renewal term. Costs for the contract for FY2026 was $472,410. The cost for FY2027 is $500,932.50. This amount also includes the additional change order of $10,000 for the maintenance of Burdette Park. Sufficient funds were included with an FY2027 budget for the renewal of this contract. At this time, I open to any questions you may have.

All right, you've heard the report of the Recreation and Parks Director. What's the desire of council?

Mayor Paul.

Mr. Paulson.

I move approval of agenda item 2026205, I'm sorry, 204, resolution to approve a renewal of existing contract with the White Oak Landscape Company, Inc., for landscaping services for recs and parks.

We have a motion by Mr. Paulson. Is there a second? Second. Second. Motion by Mr. Paulson, seconded by Mr. Roberts, that we approve agenda item 2026-204, the renewal term to the existing contract with White Oak Landscape Company. Any discussion? Hearing none, we'll call the question. The question is on agenda item 2026-204, the renewal term to the existing contract with White Oak Landscape Company. All in favor of the motion, say aye. Aye. Opposed, no. The item is approved. Thank you, Mayor. Clerk, will please read the next item.

This is agenda item number 2026-205. Consideration of resolution to approve a contract award to Smart Road Technology LLC to construct the ITS Ring A project and to authorize the city manager to execute the contract. Presented by Public Works Director Marty Martin.

Mr. Martin. Mayor and Council, good evening. Tonight I bring before you a contract award recommendation that a contract award be made to Smart Road Technology LLC. for the construction of the ITS Ring A project S2101 and request authorization for the city manager to execute the contract in the amount of $1,507,583.25. The city plans to construct new and upgrade existing fiber optic communication systems to support current and future communications needs throughout the city. The project includes the installation of new fiber trunk lines, as well as the replacement of some existing fiber trunk line along several corridors in the city, notably Roswell Road at Glenridge, Peachtree-Dunwoody Road, Abernathy, as well as portions of Hammond Drive. The project also includes, involves both aerial and underground fiber installations in both existing and new conduits installed by trenching and directional bore for a total of approximately 9.3 miles of fiber installation. The project was bid with one base bid and three bid alternatives to ensure that we could tailor our budget availability to the work that we could afford here. With that said, on February 25th of this year, the city issued an invitation to bid to identify a qualified contractor to perform the services outlined. A non-mandatory pre-bid was held. In March, the bid submission deadline was April 1st of this year. The city received bids from four contractors, A summary of those bids with SmartRoad Technology, the successful and apparent low bidder at $1,507,583.25. Following review of the bids, one of the bidders, apparent low bidder, WCG and Sons, was determined to be non-responsive because the city did have the requirement, especially with a solicitation to side the size that the contractor be GDOT pre-qualified as a part of the work. This contractor was not. As a result, the bid was disqualified for further consideration. After a review of the bids and contractor interviews, and since we had not used SmartRoad technology in a project here before, we conducted not only the reference check, but we also asked them to come in for an interview concerning their capabilities and capacities, which they did. provided very suitable responses, plus they gave us a list of their subcontractors who as well were identified as being very capable of performing the work. We move forward with the recommendation for this bid award in the amount of $1,507,583.25. All right, you've heard the report of the public works director.

What's the desire of council?

Mayor Paul. Mr. Paulson. Move approval of agenda item 2026.205, approve the contract award to Smart Road Technology, LLC, to construct the ITS Ring A project and to authorize City Manager to execute same. Motion by Mr. Paulson.

Is there a second?

No second.

Motion by Mr. Paulson, seconded by Mr. Roberts, that we approve Agenda Item 2026-205, a contract award to Smart Road Technology for the ITS Ring A project. Any discussion? Mayor Paulson. Mr. Paulson.

Marty, we just approved one of these last month by Northridge Road. Yes, sir. These different loops by different contractors, is there no concern about them all talking to each other?

In the case of Ring B, which we brought to you last time, that was a fiber optic system design package. So that was an award to a consultant to prepare the design documents to ultimately contract the work. In this case, design portion is completed. We put that out on the street. This is the physical construction of the work here. Thank you.

Any other discussion? They really need that quarter.

Say again, sir.

That quarter that's on the end, that $0.25, that's really important to this bill. We could save money if they'd do without it.

It could have made the difference between them and somebody else.

I got it. So I got it. We'll give them the quarter.

In the minds of an estimator, there you go, sir.

Any other discussion? Hearing none, we'll call the question. The question is on agenda item 2026.205. contract award to Smart Road Technology to construct the ITS Ring A project. All in favor of the motion, say aye. Aye. Opposed, no. The item is approved. The clerk will please read the next item.

This is agenda item number 2026206, consideration of a resolution to approve and accept an agreement to purchase fee simple required right of way and temporary construction easement from VA 91 Sovereign LLC properties located at 09 Roswell Road That's tax ID number 17-0093-0004-0669. And 4883 Roswell Road, tax ID 17-0093-0004-0636, both in Landlot 93 of the 17th City of Sandy Springs, Fulton County, Georgia, in relation to the Roswell Road Streetscape Improvement Projects, Project T19. This is presented by Public Works Director Marty Martin.

Mr. Martin, Mayor and Council. This recommendation for the acceptance of an agreement to purchase fee-simple right-of-way and temporary construction easement is at that parcel that faces, is on Roswell Road, immediately north of Franklin. So it's at that intersection of Roswell Road and Franklin. On the other side of the roadway, the intersection of Long Island Drive with Roswell Road there, very near to the established hawk pedestrian signal that's already present on Roswell Road. In this case, The project requires Project T-19, the Roswell Road streetscape improvements and access to transit, requires the acquisition of some 6,100, 6109.93 square feet of fee-simple right-of-way and another 7,397.3 feet of temporary construction easement plus driveway easements to build the project. That significantly improves a very deficient sidewalk system in this portion of Roswell Road here. The city and the property owners to that end have come to an amicable agreement in the amount of some $465,000. And the city's appraised fair market value was $413,900. That 51,100 difference amounting to approximately 12% increase in the settlement amount compared to the city's initial appraised fair market value. To that end, the property owners did submit to the city's real estate staff land sale comparables for consideration as a part of our consideration of property valuations associated with this property. And based on the ranges provided, the staff agreed and concurred that this was in the appropriate range and the land sale comps that they provided were appropriate to the needs and the properties being compared. With that, the city staff recommends that we accept this agreement at $465,000 for the right-of-way requirements for Project T19 at this address.

I've heard the report of the Public Works Director, what's the desire of council?

Mayor Paul.

Ms. Ford.

I move to approve agenda item 2026-206, a resolution to approve and accept an agreement to purchase fee-simple required right-of-way and temporary construction easement from VA91 Sovereign LLC on properties located at 0 Roswell Road and 4883 Roswell Road, both in Landlot 93 of the 17th District, City of Sandy Springs, Fulton County, Georgia, in relation to the Roswell Road Streetscape Improvements Project, Project T0019.

Motion by Ms. Ford. Is there a second? Second. Motion by Ms. Ford, seconded by Mr. Chinsky, that we approve Agenda Item 2026206, the agreement to purchase fee-simple right-of-way and temporary construction easements for project T10019. Any discussion?

One comment, question? So there are two items on the agenda for tonight. One was under the consent agenda, and then we have this one here. This one is because it's the larger dollar amount. Correct. Just for everyone's awareness, can you describe the funding sources for this? Because I believe that this has got federal funding behind it.

That's correct. So on Project T19, we have the good fortune to have a Federal Transit Authority funding here. MARTA is the local administrator and the local... funding recipient for the dollars, and we work closely with MARTA to execute the project. So in this case, an 80-20 match, 80% coming from the Federal Transit Authority, in this case with the remaining 20% city-local match for the project.

Thank you for clarifying that. And this is a significant stretch, so I agree.

This is substantial. This makes a significant difference in the overall project with this enhancement here.

Thank you.

Mr. Chensky, just a quick question. question for consideration perhaps at a future work session we could go over this project or maybe we could put a city web page up for it um it's a pretty major project and i'm assuming that councilwoman ford and i are going to continue to get a lot of questions and it may be helpful to have some absolutely materials so and it's impactful as well so yes sir thank you can absolutely do that any other discussion hearing none we'll call the question questions on agenda item 2026 206

Approving an agreement to purchase fee simple required right away and temporary construction easement from VA nine one sovereign LLC properties. Um, and, uh, the 17th district city of Sandy Springs in relation to the Roswell road streetscape and improvements project. I'll in favor of the motion say aye. Aye. Opposed. No, the item is approved. The clerk will please read the next item.

This is agenda. I'm number 20, 26, two Oh seven consideration of our, excuse me, of a resolution to adopt the transportation master plan. is presented by Transportation Unit Manager Kristen Westcott.

Ms. Westcott.

Good evening, Mayor and City Council. Since its inception in 2005, the City has adopted two Transportation Master Plans, the first in 2008, the second in 2021. Over the past nine months, we have worked to develop an update to the 2021 plan. The scope was limited. Since the 2021 plan, the city has completed major studies such as the Safety Action Plan and the Access Management Plan for Rossville Road, as well as many small area plans or safety studies such as for Powers Ferry, Crossroads, Medical District, and North End, to name a few. Each study or plan has resulted in a list of recommended projects. This plan, the Transportation Master Plan, brought together all of the prior project recommendations, over 200, under one umbrella, to evaluate with the same lens, using the same criteria. One of our primary motivations for this update was preparing for TSFLOS 2026. This plan provides a roadmap for 10 years divided into a short and mid-range list of projects totaling over $280 million, $118 million of investments in the first five years, and another $162 million of investments in the following five years. We considered all available funding sources to support the constrained project list with the understanding that the TSPLOS referendums in 2016 and 2021 have already supported an estimated $200 million of investments for the City of Sandy Springs. By its nature, the Transportation Master Plan just represents one point in time, looking back with the data we know and thinking into the future to address the needs we have identified. We also know that resources are not infinite And as transportation planners, we want to identify and prioritize the projects that aid the most travelers for safe and efficient travel with financial constraints in mind. However, the plan also recognizes that needs change and issues are identified that need to be addressed. Nothing in the 2026 transportation master plan update limits the city from acting on these concerns. For example, in 2025, My department, transportation, and traffic received over 800 requests for improvements, everything ranging from fixing a broken sign or checking on signal timing to more complex questions such as how to improve an intersection for safety and operations. Of course, we all want to fix everything and make the system optimal, but we also recognize that we need to prioritize projects for this time and place. The 2026 Transportation Master Plan update provides one guide forward to enhance multimodal accessibility for the city of Sandy Springs. Nevertheless, the city has the opportunity to establish and reestablish priorities every fiscal year in the city's annual budget and capital improvement program to ensure that the most pressing transportation needs are met. Staff requests your consideration and approval of the 2026 Transportation Master Plan update To provide a synopsis of changes since presenting the draft plan, I would like to introduce Dave Cox with Modern Mobility Partners who served as our project manager for the plan update. Dave.

Thank you. Well, good evening, Mayor and Council. It's a pleasure to be back before you this evening. I'll be brief with my remarks. I want to give a brief overview of the project schedule, talk about some of the updates since the last time I was here back at the work session in mid-June, cover some of the things that we talked about then, including some of the public outreach that was done since then, including getting the master plan advertised in addition of the scoop. Uh, today we have received no public feedback on that. And then also we have a few slides just to go over some of the comments and feedback we heard from the Marin council in June. And as Kristen said, we will ultimately pursue adoption. So here's just a brief recap of the schedule. We started back in October last year, and it's been continuing ever since we've had several touch points with the public, either through a pop-up events, work sessions with the Marin council. We presented at your, uh, city council retreat in February. But the marquee event were the three public meetings or listening sessions we had back in February where we had three different events at three different locations around the city. All of that was getting their feedback from the residents and help guiding the plan to prepare for this evening. Now, I promised you a couple slides based on the comments you had previously. One of them had to do with the overall TMP goals. One of those comments back in June was talking about the land use goal. We have slightly revised it to based on those comments we received in June. We've retitled it Existing and Future Land Use Integration. And the thing I want to point out there inside the little comment box is we did give a nod to housing. We added a little part about including new residential development. So that can be considered within the Transportation Master Plan. Some of the other policy document we had, we had a couple of different policies that were drafted at that time that will be in this TMP document. One of the comments we heard had to do with curb management. Originally, it focused mainly on autonomous vehicles and rideshare services. At the mayor and council's request, we broadened that policy to include more delivery vehicles and e-commerce vehicles to help make sure the traffic lanes weren't being blocked, as also just to protect the curb space for residential and commercial establishments along the street frontage. Also, we had some minor changes to the existing conditions report talking about some of the population growth in the city and some of those future growth projections within Sandy Springs. And then lastly, the other policy was to expand the congestion management based on some of the coordinations with the schools involving some of the congestion issues we've heard about at schools across the city. This is basically expanding that toolbox. Basically, the city of Sandy Springs has several off-duty officers that provide traffic control for a lot of the local schools within the city. We want to kind of expand that toolbox a little bit, come up with a consolidated website to publicize arrival and dismissal time so it's more common knowledge to most of the residents, those who attend the schools, have nothing to do with the schools, just to make sure that they're aware of the traffic in those areas. We always want to encourage other traffic or travel methods for not only students but parents, which include walking and biking to school. We also want to coordinate with those off-duty officers to make sure they're following best practices and coordinating in tandem with the transportation staff here at the city. And then we also want to expand those strategies, talking about stricter enforcement, so if and when a school comes in to do an expansion, or some kind of permitting process, the city explore all avenues if they can require them to do other improvements and look at these things before any kind of permit is issued. So there's some opportunity there. So with that, I'll yield for comments and questions at this time, and we'll ultimately, staff will be seeking adoption for the transportation master plan update. Thank you.

All right, you've heard the report of the transportation unit manager and our consultant. What's the desire of council?

Mayor Paul. Mr. Paulson. I move approval of agenda item 2026207, resolution to adopt a transportation master plan with two additions or suggestions or requests. One is, and I'll back up a little bit, one is that the comprehensive plan completion, if it includes transportation improvement recommendations, we incorporate them in this thing in case we... Because that's going to be a couple months out, and we're trying to finish this thing today. So any improvements from the comprehensive plan be added to this? And then the second, would you consider doing an executive summary? Because I got to tell you, 270 pages is a long haul for me. I got about 190 pages in there, and I thought, I think I read this somewhere else. So an executive summary of some kind that's not 270 pages would be great. So I move adoption of this with those two requests, an executive summary, and commitment that ComPlan recommendations for transportation be added to this document. Thanks.

Mr. Paulson, I got to do a parliamentary inquiry here because generally motions don't include suggestions and requests. They normally require action.

So, and I get it, this is a adoption of a plan right that is it's actually a living document so I'm just I want to make sure I bring attention to these two items I can make it part of the formal motion we had an add two items to this motion one providing an executive summary and second incorporating any transportation recommendations from the comprehensive plan to this plan that makes me feel a lot better good all right I want you to feel good we have a motion by mr. Paulson is there a second

Motion by Mr. Paulson, seconded by Dr. Kelly, that we approve agenda item 2026.207, a resolution adopting the Transportation Master Plan with two additions that the comp plan completion be included in the Transportation Master Plan and that an executive summary will be created, submitted to council for review and for the public's benefit. Perfect enough? All right. Any discussions?

Mayor Paul and staff, thank you very much for putting this together and thank you for considering my comments at the work session on this topic and for revising portions of the plan in response to the concerns that I raised. That being said, I am still a no on this vote and I'll try to briefly categorize my concerns into three categories of vision, policy, and timing. So first, as to vision, this plan should lay out our ideal transportation policy. And I would like our policy to be focused less on helping people drive through Sandy Springs and more on connecting our residents and neighborhoods. While we live in a state where GDOT is very focused on roads, our policy can still help move away from car-centric investment and focus on mobility without use of a car. If you don't need to use your car, you won't be sitting in traffic, you won't be getting in accidents, and we can have higher density residential development where appropriate per our zoning, which touches on so many of our goals all at once. Conversely, and as Councilman Paulson was kind of getting at. I'm having a hard time summarizing what is the vision in this plan. Yes, it relies on T-SPLOST, and I think that's a great start, but T-SPLOST should be a tool, not a vision in and of itself. Second, as to policy, the specific transportation challenges that I hear most about from constituents relate to promoting walkability, stopping speeding, and reducing congestion around school carpool times, which we've touched on. These issues are particularly felt in areas designated as protected neighborhoods. And I don't think that this plan adequately addresses those problems. Most of the spending in this plan, again, will go towards vehicle-oriented transportation. And I think it's been proven by now that adding one more lane to a road does not actually reduce traffic or stop speeding. And on school traffic, I acknowledge that staff added ideas to the plan about voluntary coordination with schools and hiring of off-duty police officers to manage traffic. And again, thank you for that. But I don't think our strategy should rely on off-duty officers working traffic at our schools. Third is the timing. We are in the middle of updating our comp plan and recreation and parks master plan. We're having unprecedented community engagement on these plans, plus a conjoint survey that will provide us with objective data about resident preferences. So even with the idea that we may be able to update this, I'd rather not adopt a plan that could be obsolete, depending on what the comp plan says. And agreeing with Councilman Paulson and sort of ending with an aspirational point, I'm an attorney, and my perspective is that courts require page limits on briefs, which require attorneys really to focus their arguments. And so I would like to do the same for our policy documents, including our upcoming comp plan, 20, 25 pages. Put extra data in appendices, but let the public be able to read this and digest it and understand what we're saying. So again, thank you very much for everyone's efforts. A lot of this started before I was even sworn into council. But those are my concerns. Thank you. Any other discussion? Ms. Ford.

Mayor Paul. Thank you for, if I were to just speak from the District 5 point of view, I did see that the TSPLOS list has a couple of projects that are specific to some of the intersections that my constituents have been giving feedback about, specifically Glenridge, Johnson Ferry up there. One of the areas that's not represented are the safety measures that are needed along High Point Road. And so I'll appreciate that you said that there's flexibility in the plan, and I did see that there's several sort of like buckets of things like mid-block crossings and some other projects that may come up. So as we're talking about walkability and transportation safety, High Point Road in general, both for cars and for people, people crossing from the west side of High Point over to get to the loop around Northland, Windsor, and High Point is especially important for people in District 5. So look forward to being able to advocate for some of those initiatives as part of this overall plan.

Ms. Mueller. So I just wanted to, I have a couple comments and then I have some questions. So just a comment, I appreciate the consolidation and inclusion of all the resident feedback. That was very helpful. Just doing some, a little analysis on that. It looks like in general, everything was picked up and categorized. I mean, obviously each individual comment cannot have a project on its own. So I think that was good news for me. Um, second, I really was, uh, pleased to see the change to the curb management. I know that several years ago I brought up about the need if we do city Springs phase two and with all the events that we have here that we have ride share and you've taken that and made it even larger with the autonomous and the delivery vehicles, et cetera. So I think that's really, um, fantastic. And then, um, Just a comment about the Hammond Corridor project. I know that's one of the larger ones. It's multi-district, and obviously it's going to have an impact on the city. The project, because of the traffic volume and the lack of pedestrian mobility there, really makes that project needed. It's too big to be done at once, so we have to phase it, and I want to make sure that... People realize that the benefits for the full project may not come until we get all of it done. So when we're done with the center, we're going to have to address the bar field to Glen Ridge and then from Boylston to Roswell Road. So I know the mobility is going to be fantastic. There's people that walk alongside that road every day. I even saw a woman a few months ago pushing a stroller, if you can imagine that, along the side where there's no sidewalk. So we'll be very relieved when we don't have to see that. THE QUESTIONS THEN STEM FROM, WHERE ARE WE? THE ROADWAY CLASSIFICATIONS. I KNOW IN THE PAST THERE WAS A SPREADSHEET THAT HAD, THAT COULD BE SHARED WITH COUNCIL OF THE CLASSIFICATION. OBVIOUSLY NOT THE LITTLE NEIGHBORHOOD STREETS BUT THINGS LIKE RIVER VALLEY ROAD AS AN EXAMPLE OR BARFIELD ROAD. AND THAT HAS BEEN HELPFUL TO ME AT LEAST TO HAVE IN MY TOOL KIT BECAUSE OFTEN WE RECEIVE REQUESTS FOR TRAFFIC CALMING ON ROADS THAT REALLY ARE NOT You can't do traffic calming on them because of the type of the roadway classification. So I know that there was the map in the big document, but is there, I would assume there's an associated list somewhere that we could have access to and be shared?

Absolutely. And I think we can check with our geographic information system department, but a lot of the information they have publicly available that people can pull up on the city maps. Sometimes you just have to go and find it. But it's sometimes called functional classification. Sometimes it's called roadway classification. If my memory serves me, I think 2010 was the last time the city adopted a whole classification system. Over time, both Federal Highway, then it trickles down through Georgia DOT and the Atlanta Regional Commission, there have been some changes to some of the definitions. So this Plan also points out that now what Georgia Department of Transportation has on file and the cities aren't exactly matched up. So that is one of our to-do lists is to bring that all back to you. But I think, but I can check with our geographic information system, but we can have both a list and a map. They can export that out. That's available to everybody.

I know I've had it in the past a while ago just to answer those questions. It's been very helpful. Absolutely. There's also a question that I have about once we adopt this plan, what are the thoughts on giving an update to council yearly on where we are with the plan, our progress against the plan?

I think that is a very useful endeavor. Planners never want to have a plan sit on a shelf, so we want to advance projects forward.

So, yes, and I've already got the staff looking at how we bring in more data points from the successful projects that we have completed so that we can start adding that to our reporting measures back to you.

Okay, thank you. And then on page 57 of the plan, I noticed that the Mount Vernon Highway side path wasn't there, so I didn't know if that's because of the cutoff because while the project's not 100% complete, it's mostly complete, and I didn't know if that was just a timing gap.

Yeah, we actually tried to come up with everything that's been funded and programmed and underway. We were starting after that. So some of the projects that are already funded in Teesblast.

This is almost done, though. Yeah, and it's almost done. I just noticed that, and I just wanted to raise that.

Thank you.

Anybody else?

Well, let me just kind of comment. This is an important document. No plan is ever 100% perfect. It's an important document, though, because this is what helps qualify us through ARC for federal funding and everything else that we've been very successful in being able to get. You need your transportation master plan. Secondly, it needs to align somewhat with ARC's TIP, Transportation Improvement Program. So that also helps us make sure. So you've got to align all these different pieces in the plan with the larger plan Because if you're sitting here in a silo, if your plan doesn't link to other districts and then the rest of the plan, then you cut yourself off from funding. Thirdly, when it comes to mass transit, the region has decided that heavy rail is too expensive. It's over a billion dollars a mile. Light rail is too expensive. It's approximating a billion dollars a mile. So all transit going forward is going to be rubber-tired. To be able to do that, you have to build lanes for them that can ultimately be transformed from general purpose lanes to bus-only lanes. So if you're concerned about increasing access to transit, it's going to be rubber-tired, and you've got to have the capacity for those rubber-tired vehicles to operate in bus express lanes. So building lanes while on the short term are going to be used for vehicular traffic, is setting you up so that when we get the revenue and we start expanding MARTA to include other areas besides just the heavy rail, and particularly when it engages the managed lanes on 285 and 400, those are going to be rubber-tired, and everything else that will connect to that will be rubber-tired, and you're going to have to have the capacity to be able to do that. So while it looks on the surface that some of these lanes may be adding to the capacity for typical vehicle traffic that we experience today, it also puts you in position to be ahead of the game when it comes to the expansion of transit that the region has. So your plan has to be able to connect to other jurisdictions, And it's also got to incorporate where we're going from a transit point of view to have the capacity to be able to add that while we still can afford it as opposed to waiting until we get the rubber tire transit and then have to go back and retrofit it in at a later date. So that's not to say that all vehicle lanes will be there, but by putting some lanes in that can be adaptable like some of the projects that we are building, It will make it easier. Atlanta has already done that. If you've been downtown around the capital, you've seen bus-only lanes already down there. They're preparing for the rubber tire transit that will be the next phase of transit expansion in there. And so just to give you a little bit of perspective of how the funding works and kind of what's going on on a regional basis and why this plan needs to fit within the context of the region, not just in Sandy Springs alone. With that, any other comment? All right, Dr. Kelly. Thank you.

All right, thank you guys for the document. I agree about the importance. I want to start from later in the document. Let's talk about the aspirational pieces of this. I noticed that for the aspirational intersection projects, And the aspirational mid-block crossings, for example, you guys kind of include a note about where one could possibly see what programs these may be associated with. But for the corridor improvement, the aspirational corridor access management project, there's not anything... stated there as a little, as a note. And so for someone like myself who might be interested in a few of these aspirational corridor access management projects, so I'm curious about where we might see, where there might be opportunity to pursue those, where they may fit into our programming. Would they be more of a T-splice kind of big funding?

So generally what staff does comprehensively is first the plan and then as projects get into delivery through design and evaluation and into right away in construction is thinking about what are those next things on the list and so Again, there is some there's a some flexibility in our built into the plan to be Looking at those next priorities and things we recognize as planners things are changing all the time, right? Something came up that we didn't anticipate And we want to make sure that we are looking at that, you know, on an annual basis too. The other part is, you know, since we've actually completed the safety action plan and setting a fairly aggressive target for lowering fatal and high-injury crashes is we need to periodically then go back and look at that data again. Our period for that was over COVID, which was kind of some unusual traffic conditions. And so... in that some of those crashes do not and thankfully on the decline for the most part, but also don't always happen in the same place that you need to kind of confirm and prioritize. So Dr. Kelly, I think that is the place we want to make sure as we look at additional data and as traffic volumes change that we have that flexibility to bring some of those projects up for project delivery.

Okay. When deciding, I kind of lost the page I was on, but when deciding on the projects that you do list, I can't find exactly where that is right now, but the projects that you actually list specifically as corridor projects. Right. How did you cap that? Like what, did you have a, is there like a best practice for the, you don't want to put too many projects in there or you want it to be realistic about funding or?

Well, and it, Anything on Roswell Road, for example, is a pretty costly endeavor. So again, there might be portions of projects too within those corridors because things like the access management plan had longer segments. But hey, we see a hot spot in this location. Is there something that we can advance sooner than that entire project? But we did try to balance out the project types and increased funding for projects you know, for bicycle and pedestrian accessibility and things like that, too. So there was a sort of a rebalancing based on the priorities that have been established by the prior comprehensive plan and the goals, right, and using the scoring and the safety, you know, thinking about all of those things, livability.

I noticed that in the policy recommendations, there was no recommendation for... like the neighborhood traffic calming, which is something that occasionally comes up, but at least it has come up in conversation. So any, any re did you think about it?

I mean, I think the, um, really where we're headed on that is that the city has already has an adopted policy. So the question would be, you know, is there a desire to change that and move forward in a different direction? I think.

And you guys didn't really have an opinion either way.

Not in this plan. Yeah. It's more of a traffic engineering evaluation. in conversation with, with y'all.

Okay. Yeah. Okay. So yeah, I found what I was referring to. So there are seven corridor projects and remind me of the time span of this plan. Is this like a 10, 10 years? Yeah. So we're, we're, I guess that is quite ambitious, huh? It is seven quarter. Okay. I'll let, I'll let that say, um, you mentioned, well, I don't know if you mentioned this, but I'm excited to see schools make, make it into, or school congestion, make it into consideration for policy. Um, let me ask what, cause I have a, and I think you may know this, but I, there's a specific question about a crosswalk. at Woodland Elementary School. Yes. How hard is currently, under current policy, how challenging is that to something like that to make?

So with every request that the city receives for traffic especially, we want to make sure we're following currently accepted practices for evaluation of an improvement. So if somebody brings us a need, we confirm that need, right? So somebody... And, you know, the city has, through its sidewalk program and other initiatives, started installing more of these mid-block crossings. And it is a little bit newer in our world. In fact, the Georgia Department of Transportation just added a whole evaluation section to their pedestrian streetscape guide specifically for how do you do that in our state and be eligible for funding. So I think... Our neighbors here have seen improvements in other adjacent communities, and we have received a lot more requests lately, and we have about 20 that we are doing the pre-planning on to consider for that TSPLOS program that was put in that list that you adopted a few months back. So by the time that rolls around. But honestly, you always look at things like line of sight, how many people are crossing, is there sidewalk on one side and the other, how far is it to the nearest controlled intersection, And that takes about how long? Well, each study is a few months for each study. And we collect traffic data in terms of how many people are actually crossing because you might have a request, say, in a half-mile segment where people are crossing here and here and here. But at the end of the day, just like you and me driving to the store or here, we're starting somewhere, we're ending somewhere. And we know especially for people walking, they want to make that, as short as possible. And so even a couple hundred feet one direction or the other could make it not, you know, like, hey, I need to put this crossing here because people can see it driving and they'll see somebody's crossing there, but the people still want to cross here. And so that's why you really have to think through all of the iterations of it because we're putting people out in the middle of the street with moving cars. So thank you.

So, COR-4, this is the one corridor improvement that I think is in the northern part of the city. It proposes a median just, I guess, south of Northridge. And this is one of those projects where we've been kind of asking for data because The median that is north of Northridge that already exists, I haven't seen any data on that and how effective it's been. So that's definitely a project where it'd be great to see some historical data just to justify the extension of that median, of all the medians in the north. Is that the one that we want to? Um, put him put effort into, um, so that's it. Thank you, man. Thank you. All right.

And thank you. All right. Hearing none. We will call the question. The question is on agenda item 20, 26, two Oh seven resolution adopting the transportation master plan. All in favor of the motion say aye. Opposed. No, no. All right. The item is approved. The clerk will please read the next item.

This is agenda. I'm number 20, 26, two Oh eight. Consideration ordinance to approve updated TSPLOS 2021 program funding presented by Public Works Director Marty Martin.

Mr. Martin. Mayor and Council, this item reaches back to an earlier item I presented to you on the construction contract award for Ring A Fiber. In this case, it's a consideration of an ordinance to approve an updated TSPLOS program funding specifically for the Ring A Fiber project, project S2101 under TSPLOS 2021 program. As you all are familiar, the TSPLOS program was approved by Fulton County voters in November of 2021. In June 2025, the City Council approved a 2026 program adjustment. One of the approved projects is Ring A Fiber, as we just discussed the contract award a few minutes ago. For Project 2101, The project to fully execute it does require an additional funding of $400,000 under TSPLOS 2021 to cover all anticipated costs. Sales taxes under TSPLOS 2021 will cease in March of 2027. The $400,000 proposed tonight would be reallocated from Tier 1 uncommitted funding, where it resides now, in the TSPLOS 2021 program to this project. There are adequate funds within the overall TSPLOS program to support this budget adjustment tonight.

You've heard the report of the public works director. What's the desire of council?

Mayor Paul.

Ms. Mueller.

I move that we approve agenda item 2026-208, the approval of an ordinance to approve updated TSPLOS 2021 program funding.

Motion by Ms. Mueller. Is there a second?

Second.

All right. Motion by Ms. Mueller, seconded by Dr. Kelly. that we approve agenda item 2026-208, an ordinance approving the updated T-SPLOS program funding. Any discussion? Hearing none, we'll call the question. The question's on the approval of the updated T-SPLOS program funding. All in favor of the motion, say aye. Aye. Opposed, no. The item is approved. Moving to mayor and council reports. I want to welcome back our city manager, from Boston, three weeks. She's now an Ivy-educated city manager. And so welcome. Glad you learned a lot while you were there. She and I attended a meeting yesterday at the Fulton County offices where we had the ceremonial signing of the TSPLOST agreements. We'd all signed them before, but we had a ceremonial signing while we were there. We double-checked the resolution to make sure all the aspects of it were correct and the numbers were there. We also had some conversations on SDS. SDS largely is done. The outstanding issues are really between the city of South Fulton and Fulton County and us and the city of Atlanta. So the SDS program, our project is coming down to the end. There'll be some mediations later in August to try and resolve those and maybe get to the point where we can submit the SDS documents to the Department of Community Affairs by their October 31st deadline. That's our hope and aspiration, and we'll see how that plays out. And then, of course, tonight is National Night Out. out on the lawn. I hope everybody will go out once we finish our work here and participate in this annual event. It's back to school and it allows our kids and those of us who are adults that think we're still kids to play with all the toys that the police and fire and first responders all have and get a better idea of the technology and the equipment they're using all to keep us safe. So that's it for me. Anybody else? Mr. Chinsky.

say, in the spirit of our students outside and some of the SSPD internship programs that we talked about. I had a chance last week to talk to some interns, both college and a couple grad school, with Attorney General Chris Carr. We sat with the American Jewish Committee's summer internship class down at their office and just discussed our careers in public service generally, and it was really a treat, but it also reminds us of the importance of giving back to our students and hopefully finding some ways for us to get some students into city hall from time to time. So looking forward to continuing those efforts.

Anybody else? All right. We do need a, an executive session tonight for the purposes of real estate and litigation. So I request a motion to move to suspend regular order and move into executive session.

Mayor Paul. Mr. Paulson. I move that we suspend regular order and move into executive session for the purposes of real estate and litigation.

Motion by Mr. Paulson. Is there a second? Second. Motion by Mr. Paulson, seconded by Mr. Roberts, that we suspend regular order and move into executive session for the purposes of real estate and litigation. Any discussion? Hearing none, we'll call the question. The question's on executive session. All in favor of the motion, say aye.

Aye.

Opposed, no. We are in executive session.