Planning and Development:
Permits. Twenty-eight single family home permits were issued for the month of April with an average square footage of 3,131 and six multi-family home permits were issued with an average of 2,460 square feet. Year to date, there has been a 19% overall increase in residential permits issued as compared to 2016.
Number of Residential Permits Issued Year to Date
Inspections. In the month of April, 326 building inspections were accomplished; an increase from the 309 completed in April of 2016. Year to date, there has been a 44% increase in building inspections (1,477) over the same time period in 2016 (976). There were 265 zoning and property maintenance code inspections completed in April which was an increase from the 239 performed in the same month last year. Year to date, there has been an increase in these inspections as well, with 1,073 being completed in 2017 compared to the 773 completed in 2016.
Parks and Recreation:
Parks: The Easter Egg hunt at E.E. Robinson Park was held on April 8th with a very large crowd attending the annual event. Interest in our downtown recreation facilities continues to grow with Pickleball and Cornhole leagues and the Splash Park start up in April. We have growing demand at Gary Pirkle Park for field time with the soccer programs in full swing. The two school clusters have time reserved at the park along with All-In Futbol and i9 taking up much of the remaining usable times. Our pavilions at the park also have seen more use as the weather has been unseasonably pleasant during the last month.
Golf. The golf course has had a successful start to 2017 with the majority of the business metrics above average for the year. Food, beverage, and merchandise sales are on pace to meet budget expectations for the year as well. A new menu was introduced recently at the clubhouse and includes a streamlined, yet, wide array of choices. New investment in the course on the greens is helping with the golf experience, while our staff continues to keep the aging equipment in good, working order. The staff has met with an interior designer to begin putting a scope of improvements together for the clubhouse to cost-effectively freshen up the look of the building.
Marketing, Events and Economic Development:
2017 Concert Series. Tickets for the Quantum National Bank concert series are available at www.thebowlatsugarhill.com. The exciting lineup includes Collective Soul on May 26th, Boz Scaggs on June 10th, KC and the Sunshine Band on July 15th, Josh Turner on August 12th, Ben Folds on September 2nd and Atlanta Rhythm Section on November 11th.
Events. Sparks in the Park will be held on July 3rd at E.E. Robinson Park North. The event will begin with music by Electric Avenue and immediately following guests will enjoy the largest fireworks display in Gwinnett County. This is one of the city’s largest events attracting over 10,000 people. Thursdays @ The Hill will be moved to the community plaza behind city hall and will be held on the third Thursday of each month beginning in May and going through September. The event will feature live music and food trucks for everyone to enjoy. Latin Night will be held on the last Friday of each month beginning in June and continuing through September.
The Bowl Website. The site has a new look thanks to the collaborative efforts of our Information Technology and Economic Development staff. The new layout meshes well with the new Bowl logo. The site is also more mobile responsive and ties in well with The Bowl’s new Facebook page.
Gwinnett Young Professionals. City Hall will host the Gwinnett Chamber’s: “Gwinnett Young Professionals After Hours” event on May 9th from 5:30 PM to 7:30 PM.
User Group Meeting. On the evening of May 18th, City Hall will host the board members from all of the city’s affiliated user groups. The goal of the meeting is to increase awareness and collaboration between user groups and city staff. The meeting will take place at 7:00 PM in the Council Chambers.
Distinguished Gentlemen Banquet. Lanier High School will host their second annual Distinguished Gentlemen Banquet at City Hall on May 11th from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM. This mentoring based group is spearheaded by Lanier Counselor Bobby Gueh.
Marketing. Staff met with Cumulus Radio about advertising on their platforms as well as a potential future event in The Bowl. The meeting went well and staff is waiting for an advertisement proposal from the company to move forward. Meetings with BrightCity, a company that develops phone apps for cities was also held this month where staff learned about some interesting opportunities for the city. Research is being performed to obtain feedback from other cities that use this company and application.
Public Works and Utilities:
Street/Stormwater. Our street department staff is currently working with our paving contractor coordinating completion of the resurfacing program and will be assisting with a number of the ancillary tasks to keep costs down. Also, with the Highway 20 construction winding down and growth taking off along the newly expanded road, our staff has mowed along the sidewalks to keep the grass at a manageable level. Once the highway contract is complete, the medians will be added to the workload for the department. Our stormwater staff concluded the regulatory permit cycle at the end of April with regular maintenance, stormwater sampling, and inspections for the annual report.
Gas. The Gas Department is busy again with utility location and adjustments for new construction in our area as progress continues picking up in 2017. Our staff is continuing preparations for implementation of the new meter reading system we will begin rolling out later this year. Older meters will be replaced that are incompatible with the new equipment and our billing system requires some updated data associated with equipment serial numbers. Gas department staff completed 45 work orders, 4 new service installations and 605 locates for the month.
Construction Update:
2017 Resurfacing Program. The repairs and repaving of our 2017 resurfacing list is nearing completion. Work was authorized to begin late last month and looks to be wrapping up in the next few weeks with two of the collector roads already completed. Hillcrest Drive, Whitehead Road, Arbor View Lane, and Craig Drive were all repaired during the week of April 24 with the other ten roads on schedule to be completed soon. The list of roads in the 2017 program is on the city’s website under public works/city streets and sidewalks.
E Center. Construction has almost made its way fully out the ground with the middle of the site being the focus of structural and concrete work in April. This last third of the site is where much of the underground utilities and infrastructure comes together and has taken some time to place everything in such a small space. The steel bar joists for the theater are being set to complete the roof and elevated slabs along with the remainder of the foundation at the back of the facility. The supports for the theater marquee have also been installed on the front of the building, shaping the West Broad elevation. Construction will begin on the load-in ramp for The Bowl at the northeast corner of the project site in preparation for the big concert at the end of the month. Staff continues working through the interior design decisions, exterior finishes, and lease-up work as we make our way through the construction phase.
Sugar Hill Greenway Project, Phase I. The first phase of this project connecting the city’s downtown with the two parks on Level Creek and Peachtree Industrial Boulevard along with some new stops on Level Creek Road and Whitehead Road is in the surveying stage as we have been coordinating access with a large number of land owners, state, and local agencies. The Friends of the Greenway group held a site walk on April 11 which allowed them to get acquainted with the design considerations, challenges, and participate in the layout process. While we make progress on the design, the goal is to have the first phase under construction later this summer.
Gateway Sign at Peachtree Industrial Boulevard. The permanent sign has been delivered and is installed with the permanent power, lighting and final site work to be completed. The contractor believes that the sign can be ready by the end of the month with the site work concluding in June.
Highway 20 Widening. The highway construction is winding down with a number of smaller associated tasks remaining. State and county staff will be working through a punch list of outstanding items over the next couple of months until final acceptance later this summer.
