PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT
Five single-family home permits were issued in the month of December with an average square footage of 3,670 and six multi-family permits were issued with an average of 1,834 square feet. The number of starts fell about 46% off the pace set in 2017. The market in 2018 was slow, but steady with an average of 16 starts and 22 completions per month.
Two commercial remodel permits were issued this month, one for Northpointe Hospitality, an office to be located in the E Center and the other, a future tenant finish in the Publix Shopping Center. The Pizza Hut located in the Publix Shopping Center has received their Certificate of Occupancy.
A variance application was submitted this month requesting a gravel parking area for tractor trailer parking off Brogdon Road.
Year-to-date, the department has experienced a decrease in overall building inspections, with about 27 percent fewer inspections being performed.
There were 89 zoning and property maintenance code inspections carried out this December, less than the 157 performed December of last year. This year has seen an overall increase in code inspections, with about 12 percent more being performed year-to-date.
Residential CO Issuance by Date (Completions) Residential Permit Issuance by Date (Starts)
PARKS AND RECREATION
Parks. Weekly maintenance occurred throughout the park to include tree trimming and clearing of the walking paths. Slate was added to the paths in the Community Garden. New mulch was added in the islands throughout the parking lot to freshen up the landscaping.
Downtown and City Hall. Regular maintenance was performed throughout the downtown area to include City Hall, the Community Plaza and the remainder of the downtown area. Staff took down all holiday decorations and placed into storage.
The Bowl/The Ice Rink. Regular maintenance to The Bowl was completed, and support was provided for the Ice Rink as needed.
E Center. Daily tours have been provided to show instructors and residents the new space for classes. A variety of fitness classes are now being offered, and a schedule can be found on the website. The Pickleball Club is now playing on Wednesday evenings and Friday afternoons. Final punch list work is wrapping up on furniture and equipment. A few meetings and small events have already been held and ran very smoothly.
Golf. Attendance was slow this past month due to extremely wet conditions. Jim Dickson, the new Golf Maintenance Superintendent, started on January 7th, and we wish him a warm welcome to the Sugar Hill team. Winter maintenance was performed on all equipment. The pond at the number 11 tee box was drained while repairs to the storm drainage over flow pipe and transfer valves continue. The Sugar Hill Golf Association held their Santa Charity Tournament last month and raised $280 along with many toys for donation to the North Gwinnett Co-Op. The money and toys were distributed to those less fortunate in the local area.
The Eagle Theatre. Several events were held at the theatre last month. The All Stars Performing Arts had four sell-out shows of their rendition of The Nutcracker and Suwanee Performing Arts did three performances of their rendition of The Nutcracker as well. Four holiday movies were shown throughout the month of December and were a huge success. Beginning in February Two-Dollar Tuesday movies will be played at the theatre and will run throughout the year.
The Players Guild at Sugar Hill performed their first set of shows for The Odd Couple this weekend. Around four hundred people were in attendance. Tickets are still available for the remaining shows at www.eagleatsugarhill.com.
The next Gwinnett Young Professionals gathering is planned for January 22nd at The Eagle and will be a morning networking mixer. Rushing Trading Company is catering breakfast and coffee for the group. At least thirty Young Professional members are expected to attend the event. Tickets are available online or at the door that morning.
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT/COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS
E Center. Rushing Trading Company, the first restaurant to open in the E Center, celebrated their first day of business this month opening on January 11th. A grand opening celebration is planned for January 24th. Crazy Doughs Pizza and Indio Brewing plan to open for business early in the year, while Central City Tavern, Northpointe Hospitality, and Sweet City Smiles dental practice are beginning the build-out phase. Leasing continues for the few remaining spaces.
Community Connections. The next community roundtable will be held at 6:00 PM on Monday, January 28th. Sugar Hill’s Youth Council will attend the GMA Mayors’ Day Conference in Atlanta on Sunday, January 27th and plans to meet with Senator Renee Unterman to follow-up on their earlier discussion with her at the beginning of the year.
Department News. Joel Hoffman joined the Economic Development team as the Creative Content Coordinator just before the new year and has already been a great asset to ongoing and new projects. The department has a current opening for a Marketing and Communications Coordinator. All interested applicants should visit the employment page of the website https://cityofsugarhill.com/employment/ to view a full job description and submittal instructions.
PUBLIC WORKS AND UTILITIES
Gas Department. The Gas Department staff is closing in on 2,750 transmitters installed as part of the project to automate the meter reading process. Our team also completed utility-locate services on 435 sites for the month and worked with our construction contractors in various sites around the city to protect our underground utilities. The staff has been working through regulatory compliance tasks, new service installations, and 162 other service requests to round out the workload last month.
Street & Stormwater Department. Street Department staff has been assisting with downtown development at the Broadstone and E Center projects as well as preparing for the demolition of a few recent property acquisitions. Several additional houses on Hillcrest, which the city acquired in 2018, are on the schedule for demolition as the staff has recently obtained regulatory approvals. Stormwater and development inspections, yard debris collection, storm debris removal, leaf clearing, and storm drain clearing continues to keep the department staff busy.
CONSTRUCTION UPDATE
E Center. Two of our tenant spaces are under construction with two nearing completion and opening for business soon.
New South Construction is down to the final 10% of remaining punch list items prior to achieving final completion on the project. The water features, access controls, heating, ventilation and air conditioning controls, and audio-visual equipment are some of the last items to be installed. As each system is turned over to us, they are being put through their paces prior to final acceptance.
Sidewalks Projects – Whitehead and Suwanee Dam Roads. This SPLOST-funded sidewalk project is now underway with the contractor working on several segments along Suwanee Dam Road. The new Suwanee Reserve neighborhood entrance is posing a few minor adjustments to the scope of our project as we accommodate the new turn lanes. Traffic impacts, unfortunately, are severe as we are forced to close lanes for safe construction of the sidewalks and exacerbated by the high volumes of vehicles on Suwanee Dam Road in this section. The phasing plan for the project will allow the contractor to start at the south end of Suwanee Dam Road, working north then back. Whitehead Road will follow in similar fashion working north as well. This work is jointly-funded with the county and will link key destinations in and around the city.
LMIG Annual Resurfacing Program. The two-year cycle of road repairs and repaving is slated to get started in early 2nd quarter of 2019 and has a contract completion date in June. The contract has been awarded and a pre-construction meeting is being scheduled. Work is expected to begin later this spring. The project includes repairs and resurfacing to nearly 6 miles of city streets. The roads included in this contract are:
Brogdon Park Court Wetherby View Spring Hill Drive
Brogdon Place Cove Railroad Avenue Old Suwanee Road
Brogdon Exchange Hillcrest Drive Pine Acre Drive
Creek Park Hidden Meadow Way Sadie Court
Cook Drive Simmons Mine Circle Tallant Drive
Mendi Court Frontier Drive Richland Creek Court
Edinborough Place Forest Green Drive
Sugar Hill Greenway. Right-of-way and easement acquisition are still in progress, but we are nearing completion of a handful of properties, paving the way to get the project out for bid. Permit status is still pending with GDOT, but we expect to have the project advertised in February and construction underway later this spring.
Veterans Memorial Relocation. The project to relocate the current obelisk-shaped monument as well as commemorative bricks will also involve the installation of a new grand water feature, captivating eternal flame, and additional memorial features and sculptures. The project is expected to get underway in early 2019 and a portion will be open and available for Memorial Day activities. Plans for this project have been finalized and we are looking to advertise the construction contract later this month.
Oaks at Lanier Storm Water System Modifications. The project to construct stormwater improvements in the Oaks at Lanier neighborhood is nearing the starting line with a couple of construction easements required in order to give the green light to the contractor. The project involves the installation of about 100-feet of additional pipe to safely convey stormwater at a lower speed to the natural discharge point in the area.
Stormwater Pipe Repairs. Repairs to a number of pipe culverts in key neighborhoods are also ready to get underway. The pipes under the following roads are scheduled to be lined to extend their service life: Secret Cove Drive, Eagle Close Lane, and Deep Creek Drive. The cured-in-place liner solution will allow the roads to be repaired without impacting traffic or access to these neighborhoods.
2019 Bowl Improvements. A design kick-off meeting for a series of improvements to The Bowl was held yesterday initiating the design phase for a two-year program of customer-focused improvements to the venue. Lighting, sound, customer experience and visual enhancements will be the aim of this iteration of upgrades.
Gary Pirkle Park Field Improvements. The wetland permitting is complete with the Corps of Engineers (USACE) having issued their individual permit for the project. For 2019, we will be completing design work with construction to follow in later years.
Gold Mine Park. The city’s newest park will get under construction in 2019 as the design has been completed and will be timed to coordinate with the Greenway construction (the greenway runs through this new park on Level Creek Road). The project involves an enhanced trailhead and features access to the old gold mine entrance.
