Planning and Development:
Planning. Fifteen single-family home permits were issued in June with an average square footage of 3,180. Three deck permits and four permits for covered porches were issued as well. Housing starts are down by 46% while the number of completed housing units is up 137% from last year.
Commercial building permits were issued for a new Regions Bank at Suwanee Dam Road and Highway 20, Neptune Pools’ new location on Bamford Drive and a paint booth in Classic Collision’s new location near Tench Road and Peachtree Industrial Boulevard.
Residential Certificates of Occupancy Issued by Month (New Housing Units Completed)
Residential Permits Issued by Month (New Housing Units Started)
Inspections. 351 building inspections were accomplished which is a 30% decrease from the 485 performed the previous June. The numbers are not surprising given we had permitted nearly twice as many new homes by this time last year. New permits have slowed through the first two quarters of 2018; however, we are issuing an average of 18 new home permits per month.
There were 455 zoning and property maintenance code inspections were carried out in June. Year-to-date we have increased property maintenance and zoning inspections by about 20 percent in the same period from 2017.
Parks and Recreation:
Parks. Weekly maintenance was completed throughout Gary Pirkle Park. It was a very active month with eight pavilion rentals and several private summer camps being held. Permits were submitted to the Army Corps of Engineers, and public notice was posted for the enhancements to the grass fields. Regular maintenance was completed to the Community Garden, and repairs were performed on the deer fence.
Downtown and City Hall. Weekly maintenance throughout downtown was completed to include City Hall, The Bowl, the Town Green, the Community Plaza and the Buice Center. The cemetery was mowed and cleaned as well. Discovery Point Summer Camp participants planted flowers in the planters at City Hall as part of a community service project. The Recreation team assisted the Special
Events staff with concerts and events.
Splash Park. Several minor maintenance items were repaired, and the UV filter was cleaned to increase the flow rate. Brick work around the pad was completed as well.
Golf. This past month has been extremely busy due to the warm temperatures and nice weather. The annual greens care program continues as fertilizer, fungicide, and herbicides are applied weekly. The new well has been ordered and is scheduled to be installed the first week of July. The Sugar Hill Golf Association Memorial was held this past month, and their next tournament is scheduled for July 21st. There was also a private tournament held at the course.
Economic Development and Community Connections:
E Center. Two more leases for the E Center are in progress, and several more are expected to be signed this month.
Suite Spot. Two new tenants toured the Suite Spot and signed up for memberships in June. The design for improvements to the façade of the Suite Spot was presented at the June DDA meeting. Some security improvements were also made to the building last month.
Community Connections. The Communications staff has begun sending a monthly e-blast about the events in Sugar Hill. This e-blast began in June and will continue on the first of each month through Sugar Rush. The email currently reaches over 1,000 subscribers and has an open rate of 53.95%.
The Sugar Hill Area Women’s Club hosted their June meeting at the Community Center on June 28th. The group had guest speakers from all community groups sharing updates on what each organization is doing and how people can get involved. Mayor Steve Edwards along with Council Members Marc Cohen, Brandon Hembree, and Susie Gajewski were also in attendance, sharing information about what is happening in Sugar Hill.
The city is still running a photo contest. Photographers can enter photographs in four different categories: Environment, Community, Architecture and “Sweet Life.” Information can be found on the city’s website.
The Arts Commission will be hosting an art show opening on Thursday, July 12 at 6:00 PM. The artwork of Vivian Antonini is on display in City Hall until July 26th.
Events:
Concert Series. Fastball and Vertical Horizon will be performing at The Bowl on Saturday, July 14th. The Spinners are next in the exciting line-up, scheduled to perform on August 4th. Tickets are still available and can be purchased through www.thebowlatsugarhill.com.
Splash Night was a success this past month. The next one is scheduled for July 27th. The city if encouraging people to donate school supplies at City Hall before Splash Night or at the event. These supplies will be donated to the North Gwinnett Co-Op.
Public Works and Utilities:
Gas Department. The Gas Department staff has now installed over 1,929 transmitters in the automated meter reading system to date. The installation completed thus far represents close to 90% of our annual goal of 2,200 since the project started in October. Our staff completed utility-locate services on 609 sites for the month. Regulatory compliance inspections, new service installations, and 75 other service requests were also completed to round out the workload in June.
Street & Stormwater Department. Yard debris collection, mowing, and storm drain maintenance continues to keep the department staff busy. New street signs were installed on Hidden Meadows, and staff also adjusted the tree grates downtown for new growth. Several sections of sidewalk on Bellingham Drive and Big Bend Trail were removed for repairs along with curb sections in other locations in the city for replacement. Stormwater and development inspections continue to keep pace with the building and development industry for our area as well.
Construction Update:
E Center. The marquee sign and ‘Eagle’ blade for the theatre were installed this past weekend. These iconic symbols really set-off the architectural style of the building. The theatre seats should be installed next week. Crews are working to complete installation of the tile floors, wood panels on the wall and the wall painting. The installation of the wood floor in the gymnasium is scheduled to be completed by the end of next week. On the mixed-use side, the concrete floors are being sealed, final paint is being applied in the Park & Recreation offices/corridors, and all glass and trim work is near completion. The final overhead inspections will be early this week, and the Gwinnett County Fire Marshal inspection is scheduled for Friday to obtain temporary certificates of occupancy. The two driveways will get the final compaction for the base, with asphalt (binder and topping) to be laid towards the end of next week. Brick veneer is being added to the planters, and the contractor is running irrigation lines for all the landscaping in front of the brick pavers. Crews are working to complete the rear podium deck and plan to work on the West Broad streetscape next week. The waterfall pools are being poured, with tiles and concrete caps to follow. Piping for the waterfalls has been completed, and the pumps have been installed. The final landscaping and outside work is about two weeks behind the buildings. Leasing has been strong with several tenants ready for build-out.
Sidewalks Projects – Whitehead and Suwanee Dam Roads. Design work is complete on two SPLOST-funded sidewalk projects in the area, and these are currently in the review and permitting phase. These projects are expected to begin construction later this summer with both together adding some 5.5 miles of new sidewalk to our network of pedestrian facilities.
Suwanee Dam Road at Riverside Intersection Improvement Project. The City/County project to construct lane improvements and signalize the intersection of Suwanee Dam Road and Riverside is currently underway. Please allow the contractor time and your attention as you travel the area during the construction schedule.
Sugar Hill Greenway. The final design is in review before we ramp up the permitting phase while right-of-way acquisition continues. There are some 26 parcels required in Phase 1 of the project and discussions are ongoing with the owners to provide clearance for the proposed trail. The first phase of the greenway project will connect downtown with the two parks on Level Creek and further to Whitehead Road, via Georgia DOT property in the area, a distance of nearly five miles.
