All News Releases

(Lawrenceville, Ga., March 2, 2010) - The volunteers who serve on Engage Gwinnett will hold their  11^th full meeting on Wednesday, March 3 from 8 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at Gwinnett Center, 6400 Sugarloaf Parkway in Duluth. The meeting will not be held should Gwinnett County Public Schools close on Wednesday due to winter weather conditions.

(Lawrenceville, Ga., March 4, 2010) - The Gwinnett Coalition for Health and Human Services will be hosting a community town hall meeting on Friday, March 26, 2010 to engage the public and community agencies and their representatives in updating the County's comprehensive health and human services plan.

(Lawrenceville, Ga., March 5, 2010) The Gwinnett Tax Commissioner's office has mailed the final 2009 property tax bills that reflect the recently-approved increase in the County millage rate. This bill is due May 15.

(Lawrenceville, Ga., March 9, 2010) - Gwinnett County District 3 Commissioner Mike Beaudreau's next monthly meeting will be held on Saturday, March 13 at Fire Station 12, 2815 Lenora Church Road in Snellville. The commissioner will meet with constituents from 10 a.m. to noon.

(Lawrenceville, Ga., March 9, 2010) - Gwinnett County will reduce the number of voting precincts from 163 to 155 to save money and operate more efficiently. In about 15 precincts, poll locations will change for various reasons. "These changes will affect about ten percent of Gwinnett voters," said Elections Director Lynn Ledford, "so we want to notify people that they'll get an official postcard in the mail if they are affected."

(Lawrenceville, March 9, 2010) - Gwinnett residents are now saving 54 million gallons of water every year thanks to a rebate program that started two years ago. The rebates pay homeowners either $50 or $100 for replacing old, inefficient toilets. About 5,000 have been replaced so far.

(Lawrenceville, Ga., March 16, 2010) - The volunteers who serve on Engage Gwinnett will hold their  12^th full meeting on Wednesday, March 17 from 8 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at Gwinnett Center, 6400 Sugarloaf Parkway in Duluth. The six-month long initiative aims to involve and engage the community in county budget decision-making.

(Lawrenceville, Ga., March 17, 2010) - Gwinnett commissioners on Tuesday awarded a construction contract for $835,000 to install an artificial turf multi-purpose field at Duncan Creek Park in northeast Gwinnett County. The project includes renovating the existing multi-purpose field and warm-up area (approximately 140,000 square feet) with the installation of artificial turf, including permanent striping for football and soccer, with corners for lacrosse.

(Lawrenceville, Ga., March 30, 2010) - The volunteers who serve on Engage Gwinnett will hold their  13^th full meeting on Wednesday, March 31 from 8 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at Gwinnett Center, 6400 Sugarloaf Parkway in Duluth. The six-month long initiative aims to involve and engage the community in county budget decision-making.

(Lawrenceville, Ga., April 2, 2010) - When the flood last September collapsed corrugated metal drain pipes, a section of McDonough Drive collapsed with it. Now, after six months of complicated repairs, the road is open again.

(Lawrenceville, Ga., April 6, 2010) - County officials received notice last week that the state approved an area at Jimmy Carter Boulevard and I-85 as an Opportunity Zone. Any lawful business within the zone can now qualify for maximum state tax credits of $3,500 for each new job it creates.

(Lawrenceville, Ga., April 8, 2010) - Gwinnett County District 3 Commissioner Mike Beaudreau's next monthly meeting will be held on Saturday, April 10 at the Grayson Senior Community Center at 485 Grayson Parkway in Grayson. The commissioner will meet with constituents from noon to 1:30pm.

(Lawrenceville, Ga., April 9, 2010) - The Gwinnett County Board of Tax Assessors is mailing approximately 124,000 real property Notices of Change in Assessment today, the first of three mailings expected to reach a total of 150,000 notices. Approximately 140,000 of the notices are from value updates while the remaining 10,000 notices are the result of new construction or tax returns filed by property owners.

(Lawrenceville, Ga., April 13, 2010) - The public is invited to the final community meeting of the Engage Gwinnett citizens committee before the group presents its recommendations on future County services, service levels and revenue sources to the Board of Commissioners. The drop-in style meeting will be on Saturday, April 17, 2010, from 9 a.m. until noon at the Gwinnett Center, 6400 Sugarloaf Parkway in Duluth. Commissioners will get the committee's final recommendations on April 27.

(Lawrenceville, Ga., April 20, 2010) - Today commissioners approved a major renovation and expansion project for one of Gwinnett County's oldest and most centrally-located parks. Visitors to Rhodes Jordan Park will benefit from the addition of a one-mile paved multi-purpose trail and boardwalk around the perimeter of the existing lake, a new restroom building and new parking. In addition, the old picnic pavilions will be replaced and new soccer fields, outdoor basketball courts and horseshoe courts will be added to the park.

Gwinnett had the highest overall quality of life rating and surpassed the other four counties in eight other areas, including local schools, drainage and flood control, trash and litter control, and road maintenance.

Who: Engage Gwinnett Citizens Committee Co-Chair Mike Levengood will host a media briefing. The 42 member citizens committee was created last September to inform, educate and involve the citizens to assist county elected officials and staff to balance declining revenues with desired service levels.

(Lawrenceville, Ga., April 27, 2010) - The public is invited to tour one of Gwinnett County's two water plants on Saturday, May 1, to celebrate the 36^th anniversary of the Federal Safe Drinking Water Act.

(Lawrenceville, Ga., April 28, 2010) – After six months of study and debate, the 42-member Engage Gwinnett citizens committee presented its final recommendations to the Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners on April 27, 2010. The review process began at a public meeting conducted in September 2009.

Board Chairman Charles Bannister thanked everyone who participated and welcomed the final report. “Even in the midst of a recession, we still have to balance the need for basic government services against our ability to pay for them and this report provides guidance on how our constituents want us to meet that challenge,” said Bannister.

Engage Gwinnett began its work last year with the charge of answering some basic questions about Gwinnett County government and the services it provides, such as: In a time of scarcity, which government services are truly needed? Which should be provided by the County and which might better be provided by others? Which services could be eliminated or reduced? And how should the services that are truly needed and appropriately delivered by the County government be paid for?

“The lengthy process was well worth the effort because it gave local residents many opportunities to express their opinions,” said Engage Gwinnett Co-Chair Mike Levengood, an attorney with McKenna Long & Aldridge. “Gwinnett County has a strong tradition of involving the public in planning facilities and services. Inviting citizens to look at the budget and prioritize service levels and revenue sources was a bold, forward-thinking and proactive move.”
After six months of work – meeting twice a month in three-and-a-half-hour sessions, plus holding six sessions with citizens to get their ideas – the committee delivered the report with two sets of recommendations.

First, 73 recommendations for what committee members called the “status quo,” the possibility that economic conditions will remain pretty much the same in the next few years and further reductions in Gwinnett County government services or increases in revenues will not be needed. Many of these recommendations are detailed and indicate ways of improving service delivery while reducing costs. These are things the County should do simply because they make good sense.

(Lawrenceville, Ga., - April 30, 2010)  All Aboard! Gwinnett County Parks & Recreation is proud to celebrate National Train Day at a free event at Vines Gardens in Loganville on Saturday, May 8, 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.