Speaker numbers apply only to this recording. Names come from transcript evidence. “Possibly” marks uncertain attribution.
The Sandy Springs City Council held its regular meeting on Tuesday, January 20, 2026, starting at 6:14 p.m. and adjourning at 7:46 p.m. Mayor Rusty Paul presided over the meeting, which included public comments, the unanimous approval of multiple resolutions, and a significant weather preparedness briefing. Key actions included the approval of several transportation grant applications and directing staff to conduct a second round of funding for nonprofit arts and recreation programs.
I would like to call this meeting of the Sandy Springs City Council to order for Tuesday, January the 20th, 2026. Will the clerk please make the general announcements and call the roll? Good evening, Mayor and Council. Just a reminder to those in attendance to continue to silence all cell phones or other electronic devices at this time. Um also note individuals who would like to provide public comment at city council meeting are required to complete the and submit those public comment cards in advance in the meeting. Cards are always available online at the chamber entrance. Um those providing public comment may be allotted up to three minutes to speak on their single chosen topic. As I call roll, please confirm your attendance. Mayor Rusty Paul. Present. Councilmember John Paul Sand. Councilmember Melody Kelly. Councilmember Melissa Mueller. Here, Councilmember Frank Roberts. Councilmember Mary Ford. Here, Councilmember Andrew Chensky. Here, please join me for the Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. To the Republic for which it stands one nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Madam Clerk, do we have any public comment cards? Yes, we've received two public comment cards this evening. The first is from Manuel Fialco, who will be followed by Don Huffner. Mr. Fialco. Good evening. I'm Emmanuel Fialco, my address. 880 North Island Drive, and I'm the chair of the Sandy Springs Police Foundation. And I want to give you a quick update on how our uh calendar year 2025 ended. Um and where we are right now. First off, as of this week, we have added two new board members. One, the CEO of a local real estate firm who's been a resident in the area for 50 years, and the other is um uh head of security for one of our largest corporations in Sandy Springs. Um we are hosting a thank you event reception on February 22nd for everybody who donated either uh regular donation or through the Less Crime Act, and uh no agenda other than just a thank you and those people be getting invitations. Uh we are happy to announce our first large-scale event will be April 19th surrounding Sandy Springs, City Springs here. We're gonna have a car show, and um it's gonna be a very, very large event. We've hired a professional company that specializes this, and they're pretty much going to run everything and the funds raised, we'll go to the Sandy Springs Police Foundation. Ideal scenario. Uh what we've learned from the previous year is that people view the Sandy Springs Police Foundation as a tax credit uh entity, meaning they wait until the last minute to pay their taxes, and so December was a big rush for us. So to alleviate that, we are reframing our ask starting this week in terms of this is a 501c3 charity that utilizes the money throughout the year, and as of this week, you can donate appreciated stock from your portfolio directly to our account. We've set one up at Morgan Stanley, and that way you don't have to pay the capital gains tax and you get credit for a donation.