City offers free shuttle bus to Saturday concert

To assist concert-goers and ease congestion in the center of town, Woodstock will offer a free shuttle service from an outlying parking lot to the Northside Hospital-Cherokee Amphitheater downtown for the Saturday evening concert by Robert Randolph and the Family Band.

The shuttle will utilize four 24-passenger buses and will operate from 5 to 11:45 p.m. from the Northside Towne Lake Parking Deck, 900 Towne Lake Parkway, to the amphitheater at 101 Arnold Mill Road. The shuttle will drop off and pick up riders along East Main Street downtown. A staff member in communication with drivers will be at the pick-up site to keep riders updated on the schedule.

Additionally, the Woodstock trolley will be running. The free trolley ordinarily runs 6 to 10 p.m. Fridays and 4 to 10 p.m. Saturdays. It makes stops downtown and at the Outlet Shoppes at Atlanta. new space is available in a building acquired by the city earlier this year.

The police department occupies about 20,000 square feet on the top floor of the Johns Creek Parkway building. Eventually, it will move with other city operations to 11360 Lakefield Drive, but that’s not expected for at least a year due to needed renovations and the fact, that building has a tenant whose lease runs through June 2019, according to a staff report to the council.

The current police headquarters lease ends in November. A lease extension negotiated by city staff with property manager Realco GA 001 LLC has a base renewal period of one year, through Nov. 30, 2018; and four renewals through November 2020, with rent increases each succeeding year.

Annualized, the rent works out to $460,000 the first year of the lease extension, $470,000 the second year and $480,000 the third. security deposit for Milton residents) and the Deerfield Court Room ($50 and $100, respectively).

The conference room at Bell Memorial Park has been deleted as a rentable facility, according to a memo from Parks and Recreation Director Jim Cregge to the council. Nonresidents pay 50 percent more. There is no longer a 20 percent additional fee for rental to a Milton-based business.

Information: http://bit.ly/ 2rY8Qom

UPCOMING

■ “Today, Tomorrow and Forever: A Tribute to Patsy Cline” with Katie Deal. 8 p.m. Saturday. $30. Roswell Cultural Arts Center, 950 Forrest St., Roswell. This one-woman show includes a live band. RoswellCAC.com.

■ Public input meetings for the building renovation of various libraries by the Atlanta-Fulton Public Library System. 6-7:30 p.m. June 13. Roswell Library, 115 Norcross St., Roswell. 6-7:30 p.m. June 14. Sandy Springs Library, 395 Mount Vernon Highway, Sandy Springs. afpls.org.

■ Possum Trot 10K Race. 6 a.m. registration, 7 a.m. 10K, 7:05 a.m. 1 Mile Fun Run June 17. $15 to $30. Chattahoochee Nature Center, 9135 Willeo Road, Roswell. Free admission to the CNC included for participants. 770-992-2055, ChattNatureCenter.org.

Permit denied for residential mentor home

The Austell City Council denied on Monday a special land use permit for a residential mentor program at 5925 Mulberry St.

Applicant Thomas Matthews said the respite program would be for children from newborns to age 6 “who come through DFCS” (the Department of Family and Children Services) with seven fulltime staff, serving 24/7 on three shifts and including a nurse on site and another nurse on call.

Matthews said, “I’m working with six siblings right now, and this would be a perfect location for the mother to visit them. The older sibling is at Google doing an internship. This group is not riff-raff.”

Five residents spoke against the application, saying it was not a fit for a residential community where many senior citizens reside.

Councilwoman Valerie Anderson and Councilman Scott Thomas noted their application before the city’s planning and zoning commission said the home would serve only boys between the ages of 13 and 18.

“How do we know that you won’t change again?” Thomas said.

Both the planning and zoning commission and city staff recommended denial.

City approves additions for two parks

Additions to two parks were granted Monday by the Austell City Council.

New restrooms and a maintenance facility will be built in Louise Suggs Park for $90,000 from 2016 Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax funds.

Jim Graham, director of the city’s Parks and Community Development Departments, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution the city saved $20,000 since, as a former builder, he is providing the design and the work will be done by city employees.

This park includes a disc golf course and a walking trail. Provided by Gametime, a new spider-climbing structure will be added to Collar Park next to City Hall. The $10,000 project will be paid by Community Development Block Grant funds from the federal government that were left over from 2013 and 2015 and must be spent by the end of this year.

Information: gametime.com.