Community News for January 2008
From SummertownWiki
Sent via email from Mary Koponen to neighborhood residents 11-JAN-2008:
Many things going on in our area newsworthy - perhaps some of you can add to this list:
Garbage pickup has been revamped by the Co. Commissioners, but won't take effect until 2009. In the mean time, some of the smaller operators (not BFI or Robertsons) are quitting operations in Gwinnett already. I am not sure how the new program will work other than the idea is to create zones where either one company has a monopoly or only two compete. Mike Beaudreau says , no more having 4-6 different trucks in the neighborhood 4 days a week. Garbage pickup will become mandatory for every address (almost 40,000 households do not have it now). Recycling will become mandatory.
Utilities are to be buried along Hwy 78, along with the traffic-light-coordinating fiber-optic cables - that is what is going on with Hwy 78 right now. They are moving the light poles & burying the lines all the way to Snellville. The new traffic lights will have attractive mast arm extensions with the Evermore leaf logo. The 78 stretch has been divided into 4 zones for construction purposes - soon a lane will close as the median is constructed, in eastbound 78 at Park Place during non-rush hour times. The contractor must be done with the entire project by Nov. 2009 or face heavy fines. Emory Morseberger and others are trying to rezone land near Highpoint to create more mixed-use development. I do not have any details.
Please patronize restaurants and all the businesses along 78 during this difficult time for them -during road construction. Some expect up a 50% drop in business during these 2 years.
Deshong Park opened Aug. 11 and has a 1 mile circular hiking trail, a teen skate park/playground, a young children's playground, half-court basketball courts and horseshoes. They also have built a nice picnic pavilion. On weekends and weeknights the park has lots of patrons. The park is located at N. Deshong and Rockbridge Rd. near the Dekalb Co. line.
Mike Beaudreau also reports that the dedication of officers to enforce code violations - property maintenance, animal control, or vehicles - has had the unexpected added benefit of netting the county several thousand arrests for misdemeanors and felonies. They had to arm the officers due to the nature of the arrests being made. They have found that many of the violators have other criminal activity going on in the house, or elsewhere in the neighborhood, unrelated to the house with the code violator, the officers are finding criminal activity and making arrests. If you have a code violation in your neighborhood call 678-518-6032. Reports can be made anonymously or with your address. To see what the codes actually are, go to www.municode.com and click on the state of GA, then Gwinnett County. A bar on the left lists chapters in the codes. If any seem to be unavailable, it is usually because the Commissioners have updated them recently and they are taken off line for the ch anges.
The Park Pl. study project is complete, and you can visit www.78cid.org to see the results. A committee of homeowners and business leaders continues to meet regarding re-development. A major internet gaming company is relocating to Park Place soon, bringing about 70 and later 140 well-paying jobs. The CID has garnered $260,000 in SPLOST funds set aside for the construction of pedestrian sidewalks along W and E Park Pl., Bermuda Road and Rockbridge Rd. The construction will begin by Feb. and be complete by April 2008. The purpose is to make it possible to safely walk around the area and connect shopping centers and residential areas.
The power grid near Cherokee Woods/ Mossy Creek (N. Deshong) is going to be connected to the one near Walmart soon. The surveying has been done. It will extend along the Voices of Faith side of Rockbridge Rd. This project is in the hands of the state government- it is not dictated by the Gwinnett County Commissioners. The company rep explained to me that more power is necessary in order to reach the new subdivisions along Annistown and perhaps near 124.
CRIME: There have been several car thefts and dozens of thefts from unlocked vehicle thefts in the neighborhoods along Rockbridge Road and Stone Drive recently - mostly in the past 3 months. The thieves have been targeting neighborhoods sometimes over a 3-6 day period, with mostly unlocked cars targeted, but also a few locked cars broken into. Also, several vacant homes have had the copper pipes torn out - this appears to be organized and planned. The thieves are brazen, going into homes being remodeled during daylight hours. The reason - copper prices have skyrocketed. Please watch out for your neighbors and record tag numbers or community watch people can take photos of any suspicious vehicles (without being obvious), and call police at the non-emergency number 770-513-5100 to report any suspicious/criminal activity.
The trees along East Park PLace near Best Buy had to be removed due to burying of utilities. The area around the Cub Foods vacant buidling has been cleared and is being used as a staging area to store, load and haul away construction debris. I have been reassured the landscaping will be redone in that corridor.
