In June 2005, after struggling for more than three decades to become a city, 94 percent of the voters in the unincorporated area of Sandy Springs approved a referendum in favor of cityhood. On December 1, 2005, this community of nearly 90,000 residents north of the adjacent to Atlanta became Georgia's seventh largest city and Georgia's first new city in more than 50 years.

Striving to create the most efficient, responsive, and cost-effective city possible, the Governor's Commission for the City of Sandy Springs opted to outsource all city services except police, fire and 911. The Commission issued requests for proposals for two distinct areas: an administrative side to handle duties such as customer service, human resources, accounting, and information technology; and a hands-on side to provide public services such as public works, transportation, parks and recreation, and planning and zoning. Through an intensive proposal and interview process, CH2M HILL was selected unanimously for both in September 2005.

When the new city of Sandy Springs opened its doors December 1, one of its first orders of business was to approve the contract with CH2M HILL. The company had been tasked with starting a new city in less than 90 days and had to invest its own resources to establish office space, recruit and train staff, lease equipment, and put in place all of the systems, processes and tools necessary to run a complete city.

The landmark contract between the new city of Sandy Springs and CH2M HILL is the nation's most comprehensive and innovative public-private partnership for the delivery of municipal services.

CH2M HILL's scope of services includes all major functions needed to run a city:

• Administration
• Finance
• Tax and revenue collections
• Personnel and human resources, including benefits and payroll for company and city staff
• Community development, including planning, zoning, and permitting
• Municipal court support services
• Computer systems, information technology, and telecommunications
• Public information and community relations, including newsletter and Web site (www.sandyspringsga.org)
• Business licensing and permitting
• Purchasing
• Parks and recreation
• Civil engineering
• Traffic engineering; streets, roads, and right-of-way maintenance
• Customer service, including citizen call center management
• Contract management for water supply, sewage collection and disposal, and garbage collection
• Police and fire support

CH2M HILL's strategy to deliver services is based upon combing the extensive resources and experience within the company, complemented with using the experience and capabilities of industry-leading companies that deliver services as subcontractors. This approach minimized the need for investment in specialty staff and capital outlay for vehicles and equipment.

The services provided by CH2M HILL have resulted in a total savings of $20 million per year as compared to traditional municipal management. As a result, citizens of Sandy Springs have been rewarded with dramatically lower operating costs, a significantly higher level of customer service, and a focus on quality and responsiveness to their needs.

There has never been anything in the U.S. quite like the public-private partnership between the City of Sandy Springs and CH2M HILL. When voters overwhelmingly approved a referendum for cityhood, the Governor's Commission on Sandy Springs decided on a bold approach: run the city as a business, not like the bureaucracy of which residents had grown tired. And what better way to run the city like a business than to retain a business to run a city. In this groundbreaking partnership, the City of Sandy Springs has only a handful of its own staff and contracts all of major services except police, fire and emergency 911 to CH2M HILL. From filling potholes to managing information technology to performing administrative services for the municipal court - and just about everything in between - all public works, parks and recreation, community development, and administrative functions are CH2M HILL's responsibility. The new city opened for business in December 2005 and since then has attracted the attention of the New York Times, FOX News, CNBC, USA Today, American City & County and GOVERNING. Today it's serving as a model for the neighboring communities of Johns Creek and Milton, which were set to open their doors December 2006.