That's the first I've heard about all that, but sounds like the same guy.

Is it even verifiable - 100 residents you speak about? It seems like a waste of time to focus on this topic when there're more critical issues you could address - like how to find other way to create Alpharetta's tax base without harrassing motorists vis-a-vis absolutely ridiculous traffic ticket charges in Alpharetta!!! Extorting the public motorists in lieu of not getting a traffic record. The 100 Alpharetta residents you cited could easily enroll their kids in other facilities such as: East Roswell Park (near Newtown Park), YMCA Alpharetta/Wills Park (near 400), Webb Bridge Park (close to Ocee & Newtown), along with Alpharetta Recreation Center (west of 400) and many other "ALPHARETTA" facilities all offer a plethora of diverse programs that even JC doesn't have??? What's the big deal? If Alpharetta Municipal system [ie. Judges, Solicitor General, et al.] wasn't so biased, prejudiced and greedy to innocent motorists, maybe it would attract more residents that otherwise would have easily crossed over to your fence. I will continue to warn people about your city's rampant distortion of traffic laws to collect LOT$ of money from the public under Alpharetta jurisdiction. If your Municipal Court employees' conduct is symbolic of Alpharetta's political ecosystem, it seems there's a long way to go before Alpharetta can garner the kind of "best places to live" recognition at a national level that JC is already receiving < than 5 years of existence. Just sayin'.

Unless there is an Official Survey conducted by a neutral 3rd-party that indicates that there is an "EQUAL DEMAND" from Johns Creek residents for Alpharetta recreational services as there is from Alpharetta residents, it is TOTALLY UNNECESSARY to change the fee policies. Why? Because the BENEFIT ratio would be lop-sided! If this whole thing is to appease the Alpharetta residents but not that many JC residents, then JC community loses out because the BENEFITS for the JC residents is minimal while the BENEFITS for the Alpharetta residents are greater. Meanwhile, JC tax division will be collecting a LOT LESS fees from "Non-Residents" surcharge that otherwise it would have had the opportunity to....... before all this time-wasting debate! So, if MANY, MANY Alpharetta residents cry out for the removal of the surcharge, MANY, MANY Johns Creek residents would be opposing it because JC residents will somehow will need to pick-up the differential in the tabs somehow, somewhere.... and, that somehow, somewhere will be reflected as an increase in the Johns Creek Municipal Tax line during tax filing season. So, your perfect count of "100" residents on both sides of the fence is not only interesting because it's such a poi-fect number but also because it makes a HUGE difference if it was incorrect.

Your reference to "talent" infer highly competitive situations which aren't really healthy for young people. Perhpas the recent Penn State/NCAA debacle should be enough proof how SPORTS has really gotten out of hand from teaching young people about good sportsmanship and comraderie ... to full throttle "WIN, WIN!" culture in this country. It's this type of innuendo of recruiting top "talents" around the area to make up a team which is totally against the whole notion of having organized recreational leagues which is about being OPEN TO ALL SKILL LEVELS!!! NOT sectionalizing to "tremendous talent" from everywhere and anywhere where only a finite number of tax payers are funding for the facilities. Anyway, nobody's ever restricting anyone over your so-called "petty boundary issues", it's just that there's a different fee structure whether you're in or out. If you don't want to pay extra because you're not a contributor to the upkeep of these facilities, why should anyone else who's in that tax district have to pay? With your logic, nobody should pay for these facilities!!! If so, then where will JC government find the funds for the upkeep? At the end, somebody has to pay. And, you're saying JC residents should pay for the upkeep while everyone else who don't get the same privileges.??? Wow, is that really fair???

@Smartie: I don't appreciate your tone and assumptions at all. You're the reason why I will no longer comment on these issues moving forward in this forum. You have no idea where I stand on this issue and yet you compare my stance with the problems at Penn State? Ridiculous. You gather from my comments that JC residents should shoulder the burden? Wow.

I don't have all the answers. Never said I did. Just wish we would look at issues differently. That's what it means to have a dialogue. But if you like your approach better, keep using your multiple exclamation points and all caps, hurl your insults and make your assumptions. You're not helping. You're just a part of the problem.

Thanks for the response. BTW, I really appreciate your participation on this forum. I rarely (never) comment and it's refreshing to know someone's listening.

I'm sure you and all the city officials have many important issues that you focus on in your roles -- things that we ordinary citizens probably haven't a clue about. However, I can't think of any issue that impacts our sense of connection and community more than the way we manage our parks (this includes the current approach to team residency requirements). If you stop and think about it, the parks are the backdrop for so many families and life lessons. For many families like mine, we spend nearly every weekend at our parks teaching/learning huge life lessons - hard work, fair play, teamwork, dedication, excellence. We form bonds with other families. We represent our communities and contribute to the positive quality of life that increases property values.

The focus on Johns Creek vs. Alpharetta vs. Milton (protecting what's mine) represents old thinking. If you look at innovative approaches like TED and Kahn Academy for knowledge sharing, and schools like Duke/UNC that allow students to take classes at either university and share resources that the other might not offer is a good model that better reflects our local JC/A/M community. I'd love to see changes in our approach that builds our broader community up. Just my 2 cents.

Agree with Dance&SoccerMOM...

When I was growing up, we ALL played baseball at Wills Park, it was owned by Fulton County at that time.

My dad ran the baseball program for a few years, and he and others worked their tails off since Fulton County wasn't putting in much of an effort to maintain anything, including them not even mowing the fields.

The people that put so much into that park in the 70's, 80's and 90's, most of them from outside the official city limits of Alpharetta shouldn't be forgotten.

Thanks for sharing @Travis Allen. That's how I remember Alpharetta, too. -- People coming together to support their community. Not a focus on boundary lines.

I wasn't on council when all that happened. Maybe it's just time to look at the whole issue again and see if there is something that works for everyone.

Agree...just remember that it wasn't his decision alone and there was quite a bit going during the first year or two of incorporation for both Johns Creek and Milton.

I'm sure Mayor Bodker was a little busy dealing with the adult book store.

There were definitely lots of things going on - this all happened before Johns Creek officially became a city. Ocee was gerrymandered into Johns Creek (check out their boundary line) so they wouldn't end up with just two parks (or one, if Roswell had been sucessfull in grabbing the Newtown area away from Johns Creek).

I just think Mike Bodker should be a gentleman and remain true to his gentleman's agreement. No, it isn't just up to him, but he wields great power over there, and for that matter most of the people on the council were also around when that agreement was made.

Alpha Dude is correct. There was an agreement made and it should be honored. But once again the lack of gentlemen's honor is lacking in politicians. Alpharetta agreed to help John's Creek. The city lines would not have Ocee Park in JC. So after the fact amnesia sets in. Politicians should be held accountable for their promises/agreements.

...Typo on 2nd sentence... meant to say: 'it is denitely NOT about Milton as a sister community.'

Agreed, I've lived here over 30 years, prior to incorporation of the new cities, the areas now within the boundaries of Milton and Johns Creek were referred to as Alpharetta.

To ** SUSAN**:

20 years ago, Milton was a subset of Alpharetta while JC was not even an entity as it just celebrated 5 years of birth! Also, you may want to get your facts straight before you make comments about Duluth. Duluth has existed in 2 counties - Fulton and Gwinnett with 2 zip codes - 30097 and 30096, respectively. The 30097 was annexed to become a JC commnunity while a sliver of 30096 also became a JC community. The notable schools within 30097 Duluth such as Northview and River Trail are now all part of a JC portfolio of schools but were carrying Duluth address prior to JC incorporation. I never said Norcross is or was ever a part of JC but that JC bordered around Norcross on the southside as it borders Alpharetta on the west side only to point out that 'Alpharetta' is not the only bordering neighbor of JC but that JC has many other neighbors such as Norcross [Gwinnett County] and Suwanee [Forsyth County].

While I empathize your WB Park scenario, maybe to Alpharetta's defense they were trying to 'make up' for their budget los$ due to declining home values (real estate tax decline) and decreasing sale$ tax revenue... latter is probably due to their own abuse of excessive traffic tickets in various commercial areas where very wise drivers have been trained to avoid as they are well-known speed traps. We all know where they are... hmm,mm, which in effect make drivers/people not frequent those commercial establishments and go elsewhere to spend their $.

Smartie, aside from being a total ass, you're incorrect.

"20 years ago, Milton was a subset of Alpharetta"...what does that even mean? Nobody referred to what is now the CIty of Milton as "Milton" until it was nearing incorporation. Many areas of Johns Creek however were referred to as "Johns Creek"

Milton and Johns Creek were incorporated on the same date, so they are both nearing 6 years in age. Milton as an entity hasn't existed for 20 years...

Duluth never existed officially in two counties, just like Alpharetta doesn't really exist officially in Forsyth and Cherokee counties, although residents in Forsyth and Cherokee use an Alpharetta mailing address. It's a matter of post office location.

The schools you mentioned might have used a Duluth address, but they are FULTON COUNTY SCHOOLS as are all other public schools within the borders of Johns Creek, Milton, Alpharetta, Roswell and other cities in FULTON COUNTY, not including the City of Atlanta.

Never said Milton and JC were ever a part of Alpharetta but that Milton's (geographical) area was a subset of Alpharetta until it became of its own. Again, it's besides the point in this discussion board. Milton's not even on the radar of this topic so don't bring it up over and over as if it had some significant contribution to the discussion because it ain't.