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Students and residents urge Johns Creek to complete GPR survey and seek historic designation for Macedonia Cemetery
Summary
Students and longtime volunteers told the council the city has set aside funds for Macedonia Cemetery but has not used them; they asked the council to file for state historic preservation designation and to complete a ground-penetrating-radar survey and deliver a full data report before further construction nearby.
Members of Student Leadership Johns Creek and local volunteers pressed the Johns Creek City Council to move forward on preservation steps for the Macedonia Cemetery, saying allocated funds remain unused and urging a ground-penetrating-radar (GPR) survey and state historic designation.
Kobi Trnusian, speaking on behalf of Student Leadership Johns Creek, told the council the students produced four documentary films that highlighted the cemetery’s cultural and historical importance and asked the council to “file with the state of Georgia for historical preservation designation” and to “complete the ground penetrating radar with a complete data report.” He said those actions are “vital not only for honoring their memory, but also for maintaining the integrity of this historic site.”
Another student leader, Shiv Garg, said the cemetery is the final resting place for “over 105 former slaves and their descendants” and urged the council to use the previously allocated funds to secure legal protection and to complete a comprehensive GPR survey so historians and restoration teams can locate unmarked graves.
Local resident Brian Weaver and longtime volunteer Kurt Canaday amplified the request. Weaver said the city owns the property and asked the council to approve GPR and pursue a historical marker. Canaday, who described years spent restoring headstones and the cemetery sign, asked the city to complete GPR first and to relocate interior fencing to the site perimeter so markers, signage and other improvements can proceed once graves are identified.
Council members did not take formal action at the meeting on the cemetery requests; the public-comment speakers said funds previously set aside for preservation remain unused. The city manager and staff were not recorded taking a specific step during the meeting; the speakers asked for a clear timeline and for the city to file the state historic-preservation paperwork and to commission the GPR survey with a written data report.
The next procedural step would be for the council or city staff to place any formal direction, contract approval or funding request on a future agenda for decision.
