The City of Roswell will pick up flood-damaged carpeting and related furnishings on special weekend pickups beginning Saturday, September 26. This service is available to current Roswell Sanitation customers only.

To ensure pick up, please read and understand the following guidelines:

This special pick up will not include any garbage or food-containing waste and will only involve carpeting and other items damaged by the recent rains and flooding.

These materials should be set out for pick up beginning this Saturday, September 26 and should be clearly separated from normal garbage, yard waste and recycling.

Flood damaged materials that are mingled with garbage will be picked up on standard garbage collection days, subject to normal quantity limitations.

Depending on conditions, this special pick up may continue on Sunday, September 27 and/or Monday, September 28, and into the following weekend, October 3-5.

The City of Roswell does not regulate and is not responsible for individual subdivision restrictive covenants regarding placement of garbage at the curb.

Residents who have already paid for “large item” pick up involving flood-damaged materials may submit their receipts for a credit to their account. Please contact Demitrius Brown at 770-641-3715 or Verona Parks at 770-641-3961 for details.

Beautification Grant Approved

On September 23rd, the Roswell City Council unanimously voted to spend $15,270 to clean up, mow and trim trees in the Ga 400 / Holcomb Bridge Road interchange, and to apply for a $50,000 GDOT Grant to plant trees along the 400 ramps.  Under consideration is allocation of $43,000 a year to regularly maintain this interchange.  GDOT’s practice is only to mow and maintain this area once a year.  The City has already removed the concrete collar which a tree was growing through and the old wire fence on Holcomb Bridge Road west of 400.

“I wish to publicly thank Al Nash for bringing the Gateway Beautification Project to the City’s attention and lobbying for its passage, Brandon Beach for help with GDOT and the $50,000 grant, all of the property owners and homeowners who came out in favor of improving the appearance of the Gateway to Roswell, the GA / 400 Holcomb Bridge Road interchange, and the City Council who approved this project,” said Roswell mayor Jere Wood.

“We are already hearing positive things.  I look forward in continuing to work with everyone on this project,” said Al Nash, who has spearheaded the project. “The work has only begun as we move forward to make Roswell an even better place to live, work and raise families.”

3rd Annual Jackson Healthcare/PAL 5K Run was a ‘Runaway’ Success

On August 20th, 2009 the Alpharetta Police Athletic/Activities League (AlphaPAL), in partnership with Title Sponsor Jackson Healthcare, held its 3rd Annual 5K challenge, raising nearly $50,000.

The event was clearly PAL’s most successful thus far, both in sponsorships and in participants, $40,500 and over 450 runners, respectively. Other sponsors included Jackson Healthcare, Bank of America, Total Wine & Spirits, DeVry University, Uncle Bob’s Storage, Childress Klein Properties, Dominium Benefits, Aramark, and the Varsity.

PAL CEO Officer Jason Cimino said, “This event was a huge success. We all worked very hard, but none of this could have been possible without the generous support of our sponsors and supporters.”

This event was not just your ordinary race though. There were several vendors on-site, a chiropractor & masseuse, a moonwalk, a DJ, and a full pasta dinner afterward catered by Aramark. We also had a “Touch-a-Truck” exhibit, complete with Police vehicles, Fire trucks & equipment, and the new PAL bus. Race participant Julio Jara said, “This is the most fun I’ve ever had a race...you almost forget about the run.” Another race participant raved about the commemorative technical T-shirts. Mike Taylor said, “...I’ve run 29 races this year - your T’s are the best so far - in both quality and design.” All in all, it was a ‘runaway’ success. After a successful fundraiser like this, it’s clear that there is a strong support from our community which shares our mission of “LEADERS BUILDING LEADERS.”

The PAL 5K is one of the organization’s primary fundraisers. Alpharetta PAL is a 501(c)3 nonprofit, community outreach organization created to provide a variety of services to Alpharetta’s youth while establishing a bond of mutual respect, understanding and trust with the Alpharetta Police. The City of Alpharetta Police Athletic/Activities League is a nationally affiliated non-profit organization formed in Alpharetta in 1996.

Roswell to Kickoff Midtown Streetscape Project

The City of Roswell has received approval from the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) to begin the Midtown Streetscape Project. The project includes sidewalk improvements, a textured center turn lane, drainage improvements and beautification of Highway 9 from Norcross Street to Mansell Place through enhanced landscaping.

The streetscape project will also include three short raised landscaped medians near Norcross Street, Woodstock Road and over Hog Waller Creek to aid pedestrians in crossing the street. Decorative pedestrian lighting fixtures and an enhancement to the Hog Waller Creek crossing to replicate a rustic stone bridge are also part of the project.

The City has received $2.2 million through an Atlanta Regional Commission Livable Centers Initiative (LCI) grant to assist in paying for the project. The total cost of the project is estimated at $3 million. The City has budgeted $750,000 in local matching funds. This is the first LCI project to be constructed in Roswell.

The City estimates that bidding the project to prospective contractors will take approximately 8 to 10 weeks. Construction is anticipated to begin the first part of 2010 and will take approximately one year to complete. More detailed scheduling and information will be released once a contractor has been selected and issued a Notice to Proceed with the project.

For more information on this and other transportation projects, please contact the Roswell Department of Transportation at 770-594-6420 or visit our website at www.roswellgov.com.

102 Fulton students named semifinalists in 2010 National Merit scholarship program

The Fulton County School System announces that 102 students – the highest number in Fulton history – are semifinalists in the 55th annual National Merit Scholarship Program. These scholastically-talented high school seniors now continue in the national competition for 8,200 Merit Scholarship awards, a value of approximately $36 million.

This is the first round of competition for students seeking the distinction of being named a National Merit Scholar and receiving the scholarship money associated with it. Finalists will be named in the winter and the scholarship winners will be announced in the spring.

The students were identified through exceptionally high scores on the PSAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test, which they took as juniors. As semifinalists, the students now must fulfill several requirements in order to advance to the finalist round. They must have a record of high academic performance, be endorsed and recommended by their school leadership, and earn SAT scores that confirm their earlier qualifying test performance.

A detailed scholarship application, which includes the student’s self-descriptive essay and information about his or her participation and leadership in school and community activities, also must be submitted.

Semifinalists for the 2010 National Achievement Scholarship Program, a similar program for academically gifted African-American high school students, will be named later this month.

The National Merit Scholarship Corporation conducts the annual National Merit Scholarship and National Achievement Scholarship programs. Scholarships awarded through the programs are underwritten by business organizations and higher education institutions, as well as by the organization’s own funds.

No More Media Bias!

Another rally is to be held by the 9/12 group next month only this time it’s not a rally – it’s a peaceful protest. Instead of against government expenditures, October 17 will see the protestors gathering outside the CNN building in Atlanta to protest the perceived left-wing bias displayed in the media. Titled “Operation Can You Hear Us Now,” this is a national campaign against not only television media, but also print. The Atlanta event is being organized by the North Georgia 9/12 group, and protestors will meet outside CNN at 10:30 a.m. and begin the protest at noon. For more information, visit www.northgeorgia912.com.