celebrating our past, present and future inPublished by the tuckerCity of Tucker, GA JANUARY 2018 FROM the mayor Dates to know January 1 They say that time flies when you’re having fun. I would add that it also flies when you’re working hard. New Year’s Day It’s hard to believe that 2017 is already over. The strides we’ve made this year as a City have surpassed all (City Hall closed) expectations of myself and my colleagues on the City Council. While we put in countless hours studying development plans, exploring economic development opportunities and communicating on important January 8 issues with our constituents, our staff at City Hall supported us and guided us through some really City Council Meeting & crucial issues that will have long-term impacts on Tucker. Consider that in 2017: Swearing-In Ceremony • we worked through the bulk of our Comprehensive Plan process January 15 • our voters passed a SPLOST to provide $5-6 million per year for much-needed infrastructure Martin Luther King, Jr. improvements around Tucker Day • we collaborated with DeKalb County on numerous intergovernmental agreements (IGAs) (City Hall closed) • our Community Development staff saw a 22 percent increase in the number of land use applications they processed year-over-year January 22 • we licensed nearly 300 new businesses to operate in the City of Tucker, meaning there are now City Council close to 1,800 businesses operating in the City, providing jobs for more than 20,000 people • we hired our very first Director of Parks and Recreation and brought on an eight-person staff to provide a superior level of service to students and program participants at Tucker Recreation In an effort to connect Center (read more on Page 7) with as many Tucker residents as possible, we That doesn’t even begin to include the accomplishments of our volunteer and civic groups. Whether are sending January’s it’s a redesigned trail system at Henderson Park, beautification efforts by our Community Improvement InTucker home with each student (pre-K-12th Districts or our street festivals, which shattered attendance records, Tucker residents rolled up their grade) in the City. We are sleeves and selflessly made our community a better place in 2017. also distributing these at senior living facilities And there’s so much more to come. around the City to reach I’m looking forward to big things for Tucker in 2018. It will take a team effort from the entire community, our elderly citizens. but we are poised to make some major strides. If you would like to receive InTucker each month, you can sign up on our website – tuckerga.gov. TUCKER COMPANY ‘REELING IN’ BIG BUSINESS Tucker is a lot of things. A beachfront community is not one of them. In fact, you would have to gas up the car and drive about four hours if you wanted to reach the ocean. city council update So, it’s ironic that one of the biggest employers in the Tucker’s Mayor and City Council held one, very busy meeting in the City of Tucker is also the premiere distributor of seafood in the southeastern United States. month of December. The meeting featured a packed agenda, including three issues requiring public hearings. The headquarters of Inland Seafood is located on Montreal Circle, barely visible from I-285. Inside, around The first of the public hearings was an expected second read and vote 600 workers prepare and package premium fish, on a rezoning for a 19-unit single family development on Saren Court. lobster and other high-end food products for delivery The developer asked for a deferral in order to evaluate the stream buffer to supermarkets and restaurants across the country. impact of the project. Council decided, instead of granting the deferral, Inland President Chris Rosenberger says the company, to table the matter on a 6-0 vote, meaning the issue could come back up which was founded in 1977, is right at home in Tucker. at the City Council meeting on January 8. “Inland is proud of The next public hearing was for a first read on a proposed 19-unit urban the participation we single family detached development at the intersection of Montreal Road have always had in the communities we serve,” East and Alcan Way. The development, planned for property adjacent Rosenberger explains. to Montreal Park, is expected to go back before the City Council for a “We are only as good second read and vote on January 8. as the people in our buildings and we are The last public hearing dealt with adoption of Tucker’s Comprehensive proud to have built our Plan. The Plan, a document that lays out long-term planning and zoning business with the locals standards and is required by state law, came before Council on a first we have been serving read. They voted to send the Plan for required review to the Atlanta in Tucker for so many Regional Commission and the state Department of Community Affairs. years.” It will come back before the City Council early in the new year for final approval. From a City perspective, having a company as successful as Inland right in your backyard is a huge asset. Earlier in the meeting, Council voted 6-0 to approve an annexation request “While they may not be a household name among by five commercial properties off East Ponce de Leon Avenue. These consumers, other companies that are looking to relocate properties are all within the Stone Mountain Community Improvement within Metro Atlanta are impressed that Tucker is District (CID), which covers Tucker’s industrial corridor. home to an industry leader like Inland Seafood,” says Tucker’s Economic Development Director John McHenry. Council also voted 6-0 to approve a series of amendments to the City’s “This company is focused on community engagement, contract with services provider CH2M. The vote will create eight new sustainability and has really gone the extra mile to do positions in the Parks and Recreation Department, three new positions business the right way. We work closely on ensuring that for court services, as well as a Citizen Responder to be added to the they continue to grow and thrive here. Their win is a City Communications Department. The Citizen Responder will coordinate of Tucker win.” with residents, answering questions and connecting them to resources, as well as improving engagement with DeKalb County on roads and Next time you head to the supermarket to buy seafood, read the fine print: that exotic fish you’re buying may (continued on page 4) have been packaged right here in Tucker, Georgia. 02 in tucker |JANUARY 2018 on the beat with lt. schoeppner The holidays are a time for happiness and celebration and I hope that is true for all of you. The holidays are also a time for reflection and remembrance. I have seen quite a bit in my time with DeKalb P.D. I want to take a minute to tell you about a particular incident that I can’t help but think about whenever this time of year comes around. On December 31, 2010 I was working the late shift in the major felony unit. I don’t remember it being particularly busy and the new year came and went without too much trouble. However, that all changed at 12:40 a.m. Officers at Center Precinct had responded to a call at a small church on Covington Drive where a five-year-old boy had been injured. Marquel Peters was with his mother celebrating the new year at a church service, when a bullet came down through the ceiling and struck him on the top of the head. When we responded the young boy had been taken to the hospital and was still alive. All the witnesses could say was that the boy started crying out of the blue. The following morning, I was notified that Marquel had died from his injuries. The autopsy revealed that the projectile was from a handgun. We had people provide us with tips and we even had an engineer analyze the trajectory to find out what direction the shot came from. None of it panned out. Being that it was New Year’s Eve, there were so many people shooting into the air that we would never be able to identify them all. To make matters worse, the person who actually fired the shot probably didn’t even know that they had killed someone. I have been involved with hundreds of homicide investigations and very rarely did it ever bother me. This case is one of the few that I still think about regularly. It’s usually about this time of year when I wonder about what Marquel would be up to had this tragedy not happened. This New Year’s he would have been 12 years old. I hope this story doesn’t dampen anyone’s holidays. It’s certainly not my intention to bring anyone down. But Marquel Peters deserves to be remembered. And in his memory, I hope you’ll spread the word about how dangerous so-called “celebratory gunfire” can be. POLICE BLOTTER “SEE SOMETHING, SAY SOMETHING” An alert neighbor contacted DeKalb Police to complain about criminal activity they had witnessed on Oak Avenue. On December 7, Sgt. Parker and his Field Investigative Team responded to the complaint and made contact with a male and a female occupying a vehicle in the driveway of a dwelling. The result of this contact was two narcotics-related arrests, the seizure of crystal meth and other drug related items and one neighbor who made the right call to turn to us for help.