Permits/Inspections. During the month of April, two single family home permits were issued for the Northmark Subdivision on Buford Highway near Woodward Mill Road, each averaging 2,900 square feet. Five townhome permits were also issued in Northmark, with an average of 2,300 square feet each.
A rezoning request is scheduled for a public hearing during the May Planning Commission Meeting. The applicant has requested medium density mixed residential (R36) zoning from highway service business (HSB) for a 37-home attached single-family residential subdivision on 4.7 acres at 467 Buford Highway. More information can be found by going to the city’s interactive development map.
PUBLIC SAFETY
Chief King attended the district Chief’s Meeting in Winder, Georgia on April 20th. Staff attended State Accreditation training this past month as well. This training will assist the department in becoming State Accredited. Deputy Chief Smith completed his final class to obtain his Critical Infrastructure Protection certificate from Texas A&M University.
The team recently attended the Community Outreach training at Gwinnett County Police Department. This training allowed the team to see what programs are working in neighboring jurisdictions. New programs, policies, and practices are being implemented in the city by the department with the full complement of staff in place and as new facilities and locations are incorporated into our service area.
There has been a delay in the upfitting of the patrol vehicles. We are now expecting them to be completed within four weeks.
PARKS AND RECREATION
Parks. All-In Futbol Club and i9 Sports are nearing the end of their spring season. Georgia Force Football is currently holding their spring football camp which will end early this month. The new signage for the park is in production and will be installed next month. A total of 99 garden plots in the Community Garden renewed for the 2022 season.
Downtown and City Hall. Weekly maintenance and landscaping service were performed at city hall and throughout the downtown area.
Splash Park. The Splash Park is being prepared for the upcoming season and is expected to officially open on May 11th. The hours of operation will be from 10:00 AM – 9:00 PM daily (weather permitting).
E Center. Gym memberships have now surpassed 16,159. The Waterfall Room and classrooms now have rentals during every week and weekend through the end of the year.
Golf. April was another successful month at the Sugar Hill Golf Club. The new driving range tee boxes opened at the end of the month and with the pleasant weather, it has been a very popular activity so far. The Triple 6 Sugar Hill Golf Association Tournament was held on Saturday, April 23rd with another two-person team tournament later in the month. The Net Championship Tournament is scheduled for the 21st of May. For more information on becoming a SHGA member or course information, contact our pro shop staff at the Golf Course by calling 770-271-0519.
COMMUNITY & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Events. Tickets are on sale now at www.thebowlatsugarhill.com for The Mavericks (6/10), Michael Franti & Spearhead (8/27) and The Robert Cray Band (9/24). The Eagle Theatre will have thousands of visitors this month with end-of-the-year productions from various local groups like Artios, Suwanee Performing Arts, Turning Pointe School of Dance and many more.
For the Month of May, the City will host several events outside including Sugar Hill Live on the Promenade (5/4 and 5/18), Free Movie Under The Stars in The Bowl (5/13), Splash Night on the Plaza (5/27) and Memorial Day at the Veterans Memorial (5/30). There will be several rentals in The Bowl throughout the month as well.
Community. Be sure to follow us on social media and subscribe to our e-blasts for all the details.
PUBLIC WORKS AND UTILITIES
Gas Department. We are holding at 7,865 transmitters installed in our system to date, having to delay installation on the next round due to supply limits. Our utility locating staff completed services on 592 sites up slightly from March and worked with our construction contractors on various sites around the city to protect our underground utilities. We continued work on West Price Road to replace older pipe along that road as a part of our infrastructure upgrade program. Staff has been working through regulatory compliance tasks, new service installations, and 60 other service requests to round out the workload last month.
Street & Stormwater Department. Yard debris operations delivered 14 loads of mulch and had 108 truckloads of bagged clippings collected. This resulted in 14 loads of debris to the disposal site. The stormwater staff kept busy with our regulatory compliance program inspections along with pre- and post-storm event drain cleaning. The right-of-way maintenance crews assisted with cemetery work and preparation for the next phase of construction in the Historic Downtown Cemetery.
CONSTRUCTION UPDATES
Sugar Hill Greenway Trail. Paving along the segment between Peachtree Industrial Boulevard (PIB) and Level Creek Road has been completed, while TriScapes, the city’s contractor, works to grade the shoulders and get any remaining disturbed areas stabilized with mulch. The concrete connections from the asphalt sections to PIB and to Level Creek Road have just been completed and will need signage, bollards and other features before final completion can be confirmed. The contractor is prepared to open the segment between PIB and Level Creek Road in the next week or two.
Project Highlights
- The trail was envisioned in 2014, with the first trail segment completed in 2018 along Peachtree Industrial Boulevard.
- The greenway is comprised of 11.5- linear miles of greenspace and will be connected by nearly 16 miles of walking and biking trail sewing together key destinations/nodes in the city.
- The trail will be 10 to 12 feet in width and be paved with concrete along roadways and asphalt in natural areas.
- The first phase connects downtown with (3) three parks and (2) trail head parking lots clockwise from downtown to Gwinnett Church and westward to Whitehead Road.
- Most of the first phase is constructed with SPLOST funds.
Greenway Trail between PIB and Level Creek Road
Bridges and boardwalks make up a majority of the remaining segments of construction from Level Creek Road west to Whitehead Road. These segments are the most challenging, having to avoid and minimize impacts to environmentally sensitive areas.
Many of the project’s natural segments follow the old Georgia DOT right-of-way for the outer perimeter, taking visitors through many of the most scenic places in the city that could have been a six-lane highway through the city. A pedestrian crossing signal has been installed on Level Creek Road near the back entrance to Gwinnett Church where the trail will cross (just south/west of Markim Forest subdivision). The signal, at the entrance to the city’s newest park, Gold Mine Park, will be activated once the trail is closer to completion and the county approves the signal installation.
Gold Mine Park. TriScapes is the city’s general contractor on this small (2.4 acre with 7 acres of greenspace), but important park. The restroom building has been delivered and set with utility connections made to service the building. The pad-mounted transformer has been installed along with the sewer lift station. Site utilities have been run throughout the site as well. The park will have close to 50 parking spaces, a restroom, bicycle racks, and information about the cultural and historical significance of the area.
E Center Event Space. The city’s contractor on the E Center Event Space & Conference Room, Barnsley Construction has installed and primed the drywall, connected the electricity, begun ceiling installation, started lighting installation and finished the plumbing rough in for the small meeting space proposed to be located in the northeast corner of the parking level at the E Center. The next milestones will be the delivery and installation of the glass assemblies and the iron work for the exterior patio. These should arrive in the next two weeks and should have an appearance similar to the promenade area. The space will consist of two areas that can be used for classes, meetings, or events. These areas can be rented by public or private parties. Delivery date of the space is anticipated to be this July.
Interior drywall for the circular conference room.
CUSTOMER SERVICE
In the month of April, 115 new gas service applications and 119 disconnects were processed. A total of 18 new meters were installed. There were 11,879 meters billed in the month of April. A total of 10 new businesses applied for their business license. Passport totals reached 172 with 164 photos processed this past month.
