PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT
Permits/Inspections. A permit was issued for one 3,100 square foot single-family residence in the Links subdivision.
P&D Team. Nicole Klein was promoted to GIS Planner and Julie Hamilton was transferred from the Customer Service Department to Planning and Development and promoted to Permit Technician. Nicole will serve in a leadership role on a variety of geospatial data projects for all departments within the city and provide technical assistance with planning and development related grant administration. Julie is leading the department’s customer service and permitting initiatives. Congratulations to both Nicole and Julie.
PUBLIC SAFETY
Community Engagement. Staff attended the August 26th Sugar Hill Splash Night and National Night Out on the 2nd of August. This event was held at the Lilburn Police Department and supports anti-crime efforts, strengthens community spirit, and builds relationships with other local law enforcement agencies.
Parking. One vehicle was towed and several tagged in the parking decks and E Center parking area. Marshals continue to monitor and place warnings on illegally parked vehicles. Parking regulation signs are posted in areas where parking is time-restricted.
Patrols & Other Business. Many patrols were completed throughout the city in both residential and commercial areas. Beginning the first week of school, Marshals patrolled each school within the city limits and will continue those patrols throughout the school year. Marshals assisted the Morgan County Sheriff’s Department with a hit and run investigation and responded to several calls within the city. Paradigm Security Services continues to perform patrols of the city between the hours of 11:00 PM – 7:00 AM. Chief King completed her last class of the Professional Management Program through Columbus State University. Deputy Chief Smith attended the region Chiefs Meeting and the Gwinnett County Chiefs Meeting during the month of August.
PARKS AND RECREATION
Parks. Georgia Force High School Football began their season at Gary Pirkle Park. All-In Futbol Club and i9 Sports wrapped up their summer camp season. Picnic tables were delivered to the new pavilion at the Community Garden.
E Center. Gym memberships are now at 17,135. Public and private rentals continue to fill the Waterfall Rooms and classrooms. If you are interested in renting one of these areas, contact an E Center representative and they can assist you with your reservation.
39th Street Station. The new space located just off the lower parking deck at the E Center is the city’s new meeting and event space. This space will soon be available for both public and private rentals. Contact an E Center representative today for more information on rental of this space.
Golf. Activity at the golf course during the month of August remained busy with the beautiful weather over the last several weeks. A total of 36 players participated in the 2022 Member/Guest tournament held at the course on Saturday, August 20th. A beautiful day of competition was enjoyed by all, and members had the opportunity to show the course off to their guests. For information on becoming a Sugar Hill Golf Association (SHGA) member or course information, contact our pro shop staff at the Golf Course by calling 770-271-0519.
Splash Park. The park is still open for the season and Splash Night was held on August 26th. The event, held from 5:00-9:00 PM during the months of May through September, takes place on the Plaza behind City Hall and at the Splash Park. The event includes live entertainment, local food trucks, inflatables, games, and much more. Don’t miss the last Splash Night of the season planned for Friday, September 30th and be sure to enjoy dinner at one of the food trucks or at one of our delicious local restaurants. The daily hours of operation for the park are from 10:00 AM – 9:00 PM (weather permitting – guests are encouraged to check the website and social media for closure information prior to making the trip).
COMMUNITY & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Events. In August, our monthly Splash Night had over 200 attendees, Backroad to Brooklyn performed and several community groups were in attendance. The Sugar Hill Arts Commission in conjunction with the City of Sugar Hill and the City of Suwanee held its inaugural Art Crawl, bringing in some 60 attendees.
We hosted two Sugar Hill Live On Stage concerts, Tommy DeCarlo, singer of the band Boston at The Eagle Theatre and Michael Franti & Spearhead at The Bowl. Diamond Rio also played at The Bowl at the beginning of September. All concerts had a great turnout, and we look forward to the rest of our upcoming concert season which includes The Robert Cray Band on September 24th at The Bowl, and our recently announced concerts: Bret Michaels at The Bowl on October 21st, Lit & Hoobastank at The Eagle on October 22nd, and Lonestar at The Eagle on December 15th.
Coming up in September, On the Stage Children’s Theatre will be hosting performances of The Addams Family and Aristocats at The Eagle Theatre and our last Splash Night of the season will take place on September 30th. Looking ahead, we have our 8th Annual Sugar Rush Arts Festival on October 15th & 16th as well as Trick or Treat on West Broad Street with Movie Under the Stars – The Haunted Mansion on October 28th.
For tickets and information about upcoming shows please visit The Bowl and The Eagle websites.
PUBLIC WORKS AND UTILITIES
Gas Department. We have added another five transmitters to our AMR system during August and now have 7,758 accounts that can be read automatically through our radio-based system. The gas department staff also focused on other regulatory compliance and project support tasks during the month. The utility locating technician completed services on 661 sites, an increase of over a hundred sites from July. The staff continues to coordinate with construction contractors on various sites around the city to protect our underground utilities. Staff has been working through regulatory compliance tasks, new service installations, and 98 other service requests to round out the workload last month.
Street & Stormwater Department. Yard debris operations delivered 4 loads of mulch and had 121 truckloads of bagged clippings collected. This resulted in 12 loads of debris to the disposal site, all significantly higher than July. We did not have any open-top dumpster rentals during the month unfortunately. Our right-of-way maintenance crews continue to tackle grass, weeds, and litter along our major roadways and our high level of service is one of the reasons we continue to get noticed by state and county transportation officials. Litter pick-up is a big part of that process and one of the reasons we are proud of our staff’s work keeping the roads clean. Stormwater staff remained focused on inspections, regulatory compliance, and new public/private project coordination.
CONSTRUCTION UPDATES
Sugar Hill Greenway Trail. The city’s contractor, Tri Scapes has installed both bridges and most of the boardwalk in the segment from Whitehead to Level Creek Roads, the most natural of the greenway segments to date. Weather has hampered completion of the paving activity and the county’s sewer project is nearing the finish line allowing a final gap to be finished in the next 60 days. The pedestrian crossing signal proposed for the Level Creek Road crossing near the back entrance to Gwinnett Church (just south/west of Markim Forest subdivision) will be activated in September with the county’s approval of the installation. The Bethany Church parking area and trail section under Whitehead Road are nearing completion and should be ready to open soon. Wayfaring signs are complete and ready for installation.
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.
Gold Mine Park. TriScapes, the city’s general contractor is nearing the final stages of construction for this small (2.4 acre with 7 acres of greenspace), but important park. The final touches for this trail head and passive park project are taking shape with the gold mine approach trail, parking lot striping, dumpster enclosure, and signage. A team of city staff is working on a viewing platform to showcase the mine’s entrance and provide access to what, once was a key part of Sugar Hill’s history.
E Center Event Space (39th Street Station). Construction is complete on these spaces that can be rented by HOAs, businesses or individuals. The space consists of two areas that can be used for classes, meetings, or events.
Ridge Lake Park. Reeves Young, the city’s contractor for the first phase of construction has prepared a guaranteed maximum price for the work that will be presented for approval by city council at the September meeting.
Park Restroom Building. Design is well underway on a restroom building to serve the new fields on the South side of Gary Pirkle Park. They will incorporate 7 unisex stalls and a water bottle filling station. We will advertise for a construction partner when the design is finished.
CUSTOMER SERVICE
In the month of August, 166 new gas service applications and 142 disconnects were processed. A total of 30 new meters and 5 Automated Meter Readers were installed. There were 11,850 active meters billed in the month of August. A total of 11 new business licenses were issued. Passport totals reached 165 with 146 photos processed this past month. Sydney Landers will be moving from the Facilities Department into her new role as a Customer Service Representative. Congratulations to Sydney.
