About Sandy Springs reporter. (Sandy Springs, GA) 2007-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 15, 2013)
COMMUNITY Amnesty period for those with alarm fines CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 “The most common reason given if they’re not registered is they didn’t know about the ordinance,” DeSimone said. DeSimone said the department has offered to waive the $100 registration fee if the owner complied within 14 days. He said some people simply paid the fine, about 60 peo ple total. “The goal is compliance with the ordinance,” DeSimone said. “It’s not about fining people. It’s about reducing the false alarm calls.” City Council told the police department to refund the money to people who paid the fine without taking advan tage of the 14-day amnesty period, provided they have reg istered their alarms. DeSimone told City Council the amnesty period will be available until Feb. 1, 2014. City Council was on board with that idea, saying there’s been adequate notification by the city and the media. “I don’t care if they know or not after Feb. 1,” City Councilwoman Dianne Fries said. City Attorney Wendell Willard said the city notified ev ery alarm company doing business in the city about the new regulations. He said there were many that the city wasn’t previously aware of. Some of the City Council members said they’ve already received calls about the fines. “I had a constituent call me,” City Councilman John Paulson said. “The alarm company set up the alarm so there wasn’t a delay before it called police. This thing kept trig gering.” To learn how to register your alarm, visit https://www. crywolf.us/oss / sandyspringsga/. Other council actions • The council agreed to accept a response to a request for qualifications that was submitted three minutes late. City Council had issued a request for qualifications from companies interested in being the city’s “master developer” to help the city with its downtown revitalization project. Responses were due Oct. 25 at 2 p.m., but one of the inter ested companies was running behind schedule. An employee with Carter and Associates arrived three minutes after 2 p.m., late because of an accident on Ga. 400. The company did call ahead of time and the employ ee later filed an affidavit confirming the reason for missing the deadline. City staff would not accept the company’s re sponse, citing the 2 p.m. deadline. City Council voted on Nov. 12 to accept the proposal, reasoning that an RFQis a request for responses from com panies qualified to bid on a project, not a request for bids. “This protects the public because we’re adding another qualified bidder to the process,” City Councilwoman Kar en Meinzen McEnerny said. City Council members were sympathetic to the employ ee’s plight. “Traffic is one of the things we’ve learned to live with here in the metro area,” City Councilman Tibby Dejulio said. • The council postponed accepting a donation of 4.1 acres of land along Abernathy Road from Georgia Veteri nary Specialists. The land, if accepted, will be used as a public park. The park is adjacent to the veterinary clinic. City Council want ed to ensure that people will be allowed to park their cars at the clinic so they can access the park. Businesses plan tribute for outgoing mayor Mayor Eva Galam- bos is doing her fare well tour after serv ing two terms as Sandy Springs mayor. Galambos is also the city’s first mayor, and worked for years to cre ate the city, which of- incorporated in 2005. The Sandy Springs/ Perimeter Chamber, the Perimeter Community Improvement Dis tricts and the Perimeter Business Alliance will honor Galambos at a breakfast on Nov. 18, according to a press release. “We want to show our appreciation for Mayor Galambos and her outstanding ser vice to our community,” said Sandy Springs/ Perimeter Chamber President/CEO Tom Ma- haffey in the press release. “Without her ef forts for more than 30 years, Sandy Springs would not be the economic engine it is today.” “It is our privilege to participate in this toast to Mayor Galambos, who has shown what an individual can do when they have a vision and can bring partners to the table,” said PCIDs President/CEO Yvonne Williams in the press release. -Dan Whisenhunt Attend a FREE seminar on Medicare coverage. 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