GwinnettCounty, GA

Stimulus Funds Transit Operations

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 21:48:42 GMT

(Lawrenceville, Ga., Nov. 20, 2009) - Federal stimulus funds will help subsidize Gwinnett Transit operating costs to the tune of $970,512 under provisions of a bill President Obama signed into law last June. The law now allows using up to 10 percent of transportation-related American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds for operating expenses. Gwinnett commissioners voted Tuesday to take advantage of the new provision by shifting previous allocations from other categories.

The total ARRA grant for Gwinnett Transit was $9.4 million. Tuesday's action shifts $970,515 from funds previously allotted for bus stop shelters and building bus stop access sidewalks with $1,313,000 remaining for these projects. It also includes $3.3 million for bus technology and security projects, $3.7 million to rehabilitate 28 30-foot and 40-foot compressed natural gas powered local service buses and approximately $161,500 to replace two paratransit service buses.

Board Chairman Charles Bannister said, "We're grateful for these stimulus funds at a time when we're cutting expenses. This money allows us to continue meeting the needs of our citizens in our community who need public transportation to get around."

Congress passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) last winter to jump start the national economy after the recession hit last fall.

Road Projects To Be Built With SPLOST and CID funds

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 21:30:35 GMT

(Lawrenceville, Ga., Nov. 20, 2009) - Five road improvement projects got the green light from Gwinnett commissioners Tuesday, two funded entirely by sales tax revenues plus three to be completed in partnership with Gwinnett's three Community Improvement Districts (CIDs).

An upgrade of the intersection of North Road and Pinehurst Road will add left and right turn lanes to all approaches, a new traffic signal and pedestrian facilities. This project is expected to take approximately nine months to complete. A section of Ridgedale Drive west of Pinehurst Road will also be improved, providing a better curvature to the roadway, new roadside shoulders and left and right turn lanes at its intersection with Little Lisa Lane. This work will take approximately six months to complete. The construction contract for both projects was awarded to Urey Company Constructors, the lowest of 13 bidders. The $1,269,000 cost will come from the 2005 SPLOST program.

A project to improve the intersection of Jimmy Carter Boulevard and Singleton Road will? receive an additional $962,500 in 2009 SPLOST revenues from the County, matching federal money provided by the Georgia Department of Transportation and an earlier County commitment of $100,000 in seed funding. The Gwinnett Village CID will manage design and construction and acquire necessary right-of-way for the project, which will improve pedestrian access and provide additional turn lanes.

The County also agreed to provide $962,500 in 2009 SPLOST funds for improvements to Venture Drive. The Gwinnett Place CID project will relocate Venture Drive's intersection with Pleasant Hill Road and will widen Venture Drive from Pleasant Hill Road to Steve Reynolds Boulevard.

Evermore CID agreed to provide $290,745 to help build a pedestrian bridge over the Yellow River and realign sidewalks from just east of the river to Lake Lucerne Road along the north side of U.S. Highway 78. The CID will handle all preconstruction activities and the federal government will provide an additional $359,960 for construction. There will be no cost to the County for this project.

Gwinnett Transportation Director Brian Allen said, "We're glad that SPLOST and federal funds are allowing us to keep making road improvements despite these tough economic times, and we're pleased to partner with all three CIDs to move their projects forward."

More Traffic Cures Coming

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:49:00 GMT

(Lawrenceville, Ga., Nov. 19, 2009) - Gwinnett commissioners approved two agreements with the Georgia Department of Transportation to start planning automated traffic management systems (ATMS) for sections of State Route 20 and Pleasant Hill Road. The cameras and remote controls will give Gwinnett's new Traffic Management Center real-time control of traffic signals along the busy arterials.

The County allocated $296,000 in funds from the 2001 SPLOST program to cover its share of the two projects. SR-20 will be wired from Peachtree Industrial Boulevard to I-985 near Sugar Hill. Pleasant Hill Road will get ATMS equipment from Lawrenceville Highway to Buford Highway between Lilburn and Duluth.

Gwinnett Transportation Director Brian Allen said, "Under the agreements, the County will be responsible for the preliminary design and engineering. By being proactive, we're moving these much-needed projects forward using our available SPLOST funds."

Residents Encouraged To Register For Assistance Before Deadline

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:08:39 GMT

(Lawrenceville, Ga., Nov. 19, 2009) - The last day for residents who were affected by the September floods to apply for federal assistance is Nov. 23. Emergency officials urge residents to register for assistance online at www.DisasterAssistance.gov or by calling (800) 621-FEMA (3362) or TTY (800) 462-7585. The toll-free numbers are staffed seven days a week, 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Help is available in all languages.

Residents can visit the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Disaster Loan Outreach Center to apply for low-interest disaster loan program for homeowners, renters and businesses of all sizes to repair or replace real estate and personal property. The outreach center is located at Mountain Park Depot, 5050 Five Forks Trickum Road in Lilburn and is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Residents can also call the SBA Customer Service Center at (800) 659-2955 between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday, visit the SBA website at www.sba.gov/services/disasterassistance or send an e-mail to disastercustomerservice@sba.gov for information and assistance. Applicants may apply for disaster loans from SBA's secure website at http://disasterloan.sba.gov/ela/.

County Offices Closed For Thanksgiving

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 19:20:44 GMT

(Lawrenceville, Ga., Nov. 18, 2009) All Gwinnett County government offices, with the exception of those operations required for the comfort and safety of the citizens of the County, will be closed Nov. 26 and 27 for the Thanksgiving holiday. All offices will resume regular working hours on Nov. 30.

A Magistrate Court judge will be available at the Gwinnett County Detention Center.

New Trail Access, Playgrounds Coming Soon

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 20:08:33 GMT

(Lawrenceville, Ga., Nov. 17, 2009) - There will soon be a new Ivy Creek Greenway access trail from Buford Drive/State Route 20 near the Mall of Georgia. The existing 2.7-mile long greenway trail starts at the Gwinnett Environmental and Heritage Center and ends near Gravel Springs Road. The 12-foot wide asphalt multi-purpose trail will be 960 feet long, running roughly parallel to the I-85 southbound exit ramp.

JHC Corporation was the lowest of five bidders at $221,600. The construction will include a retaining wall, paving, landscaping and guardrail. A small directional kiosk will be built where the trail intersects the existing sidewalk on Buford Drive.

Community Services Director Phil Hoskins said, "This new spur trail, funded by the 2005 SPLOST program, is part of a planned network of greenway trails throughout the county." Work is expected to begin soon once the contract is signed.

The Board of Commissioners also approved new playgrounds for Bethesda Park and Rhodes Jordan Park. The playgrounds are located within the baseball complexes at both sites. The funding for these park improvements also comes from 2005 SPLOST revenues. Hasley Recreation and Design, Inc., received the $175,000 contract to remove and replace the two existing playgrounds.

County Receives Heart Device

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 20:10:10 GMT

(Lawrenceville, Ga., Nov. 17, 2009) - Gwinnett commissioners Tuesday night accepted the donation of an automatic external defibrillator, known as an AED, from the Southern Cardiac Arrest Association of Greater Atlanta.

Fire and Emergency Services' spokesman Capt. Tommy Rutledge said he worked with Lisa Williams, a registered nurse at the VA Hospital in Atlanta, who called him offering the donation. He said, "Sudden cardiac arrest kills a quarter million people a year in the United States. Survival chances increase by more than 50 percent if the victim gets debrillation treatment within five minutes."

The $1,327 device will be given to the Fire Explorer Cadets who help provide first aid stations at various public events under the direction of County paramedics. The Cadets are students, ages 14 to 19, with an interest in pursuing careers in fire and emergency services.?

Gwinnett Fire Chief Bill Myers said, "We appreciate this generous donation of lifesaving equipment and will put it to good use both in our training and as we serve residents and visitors in Gwinnett."

More information on the SCAA of Greater Atlanta is at www.suddencardiacarrest.org while information on AED training and the Fire Explorer program can be found at the County's website, www.gwinnettcounty.com.

Engage Gwinnett To Meet Thursday

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 15:30:37 GMT

(Lawrenceville, Ga., Nov. 17, 2009) - The volunteers who serve on Engage Gwinnett, the citizens committee on the future of Gwinnett County, will meet again on Thursday from 8 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at Gwinnett Center in Duluth. The initiative aims to involve and engage the community in county budget decision-making.

The 40-member citizens committee created last September has formed smaller work groups to study specific service areas. The full committee meets every two weeks to hear from elected officials, County staff and local residents during a six-month process. All meetings are open to the public.

In April 2010, the groupwill make recommendations to the Board of Commissioners on desired services, service levels and revenues for the next five years. The initiative is a partnership between county government and the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce. Volunteer leaders Mike Levengood of McKenna Long & Aldridge and Bill McCargo, formerly with CISCO Systems, co-chair the committee. Engage Gwinnett seeks common ground, workable solutions and compromises as necessary for the greater good of the community to help guide the County government through the recession and its aftermath.

The process will include at least 12 full committee meetings and three public forums. Video coverage, meeting materials and more information are available online at www.engagegwinnett.com and at www.gwinnettcounty.com and on TVgwinnett, cable channel 23. Engage Gwinnett also has Facebook and Twitter links.

Roads Are Opening After Flood Damage

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 13:21:53 GMT

(Lawrenceville, Ga., Nov. 17, 2009) - Gwinnett County's Water Resources staff and five on-demand contractors have nearly completed repairs to 25 roads washed out by record flooding in late September. Gwinnett's Stormwater Manager Steve Leo said 20 roads have been reopened and two more will be completed this week. The remaining three road repairs will take a few more weeks. Most recently, North River Drive and Hillcrest Road were reopened last Thursday.

In addition to road, shoulder and utility repairs, the work involves replacing large drainage pipes, most of which were made of corrugated galvanized metal. Many of these pipes failed because the capacity did not exist to handle the extremely high flows of water during the flood. Other contributing factors included both saturated soils that increased runoff and aging infrastructure. Leo said the 25 flood-related repairs are currently estimated at about $6 million and are eligible for reimbursement by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

Acting Water Resources Director Lynn Smarr said, "We're actively working to replace many miles of rusty old drainage pipes with new concrete pipes but much of this work remains to be done and was not finished when the flood that experts have called an epic storm arrived." The County is tackling the corroding pipes in order of severity with available funding.

Board Chairman Charles Bannister said, "I am proud of the stormwater utility staff and all emergency crews for their hard work, prompt response and diligent service to Gwinnett residents."

Board of Commissioners Seeks Property Tax Increase

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 13:25:08 GMT

(Lawrenceville, Ga., Nov. 13, 2009) - The Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners today announced its intention to raise the property tax rate by 2.28 mills, which includes an increase of 2.06 mills for countywide general purposes, .21 mills for countywide recreation and .01 mills for debt service. This is an 18.4 percent increase over the rollback rate; broken down, it increases by 18.89 percent for countywide general purposes and goes up by 24.22 percent for countywide recreation.

When the total digest of taxable property is prepared, Georgia law requires that a rollback millage rate be computed that will produce the same total revenue on the current year's digest that last year's millage rate would have produced had no reassessments occurred.

The increase in county property tax would restore some of the spending reductions made earlier this year. "We understand the importance of the services provided by our elected and constitutional officials - including the District Attorney and the courts," said County Administrator Glenn Stephens. "The plan will also restore funding in the area of public safety, which is critical to the health and welfare of our residents." Additional appropriations are proposed in the areas of parks and recreation and social service programs. The millage rate increase does not provide any additional resources for the County's internal support functions, which eliminated $6.8 million from their budgets earlier this year. More importantly, it does not fund the 2030 Unified Plan, which was approved, pursuant to state law, by the Board of Commissioners in February of this year after several years' worth of visioning and work by citizens of Gwinnett County. The plan has as its stated purpose to guide and enhance Gwinnett County's growth, public safety functions, overall quality of life and economic development as we move quickly toward 2030.

The Board of Commissioners has been able to roll back the property tax rate by a total of 3.98 mills over the past 12 years. The rollbacks were made possible in part because the county's rapid growth generated sufficient tax revenues to cover the cost of expanding service needs. In recent years, however, the county's growth rate has begun to slow.

The millage increase to be decided on Dec. 1 applies only to the county government's portion of the property tax bill, which is slightly less than one-third of the total amount of a property owner's tax bill. The proposed increase does not affect the remaining portions of Gwinnett tax bills that fund the Gwinnett County Public Schools, state taxes as well as city taxes if you live within one of the county's 15 municipalities that have an ad valorem property tax.

Before the Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners may set a final millage rate, Georgia law requires three public hearings to be held to allow the public an opportunity to express their opinions on the increase. All interested citizens are invited to the public hearings on this tax increase that will be held at the Gwinnett Justice and Administration Center, 75 Langley Drive, Lawrenceville, Ga., on Nov. 23 at 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. and on Dec. 1 at 7 p.m. Each of these public hearings will be held during a special called meeting of the Board of Commissioners. The public hearing on Dec. 1 will be followed by a vote.

Details about what would be funded by the proposal - and what would not be funded - are available online at www.gwinnettcounty.com.