Danny Reymond is without a doubt one of the leaders of Buford’s lacrosse team. Reymond plays the attack position for the Wolves and was instrumental in helping the team advance to the playoffs last year.
He announced on Thursday via Twitter that he has decided to commit to playing lacrosse for the University of Alabama at Huntsville next year.
Look for Reymond to once again be a leader for Buford lacrosse this spring.
Congratulations Danny!
— Staff Reports
November 11, 2019 — Chairman Phillip Beard called the November meeting for the Buford Board of Education to order at 7 p.m. at the Buford City Schools Central Office. Following the Pledge of Allegiance, the agenda and minutes from the October 21, 2019 meeting were approved.
The Board approved payments for the new BHS to Charles Black Construction in the amounts of $923,789 and $194,920.
Up next, the Board approved 12 field trip requests, four fundraiser requests, three community service projects, and a new club request. The new club request is for a BHS Book Club.
Books from the BMS Media Center were put into surplus. Some of these were books that lost relevancy with readers and were no longer being checked out. The CCRPI (College and Career Readiness Performance Index) scores were released and Buford performs well above the state average. Buford City Schools are once again rated #1 by Niche.com receiving A and A+ rankings in all areas.
Principals from each school gave updates on their school. BES has an enrollment of 375 and 72 in daycare. Last month was Wolftober and they celebrated Red Ribbon Week. Their theme for November is “Wolves are thankful in November.” Recently sweatshirts and New Balance shoes were donated to the students that could not afford to buy those on their own. BA has an enrollment of 1,183 students. They had a great PTO Soup and Salad lunch for their teachers, the BHS baseball team visited to spread goodwill during car rider line, and they also had new shoes for those students in need. The current enrollment for BSA is 807 students. Fourth graders recently participated in a restaurant day to showcase their math skills. BSA just hosted another All Pro Dads and they have their school-level spelling bee coming up.
Buford Middle’s enrollment number is 1,226 students. The school is seeing good numbers utilize their Overtime sessions. Eighth grade has an upcoming field trip to the College Hall of Fame and the World of Coke. Benchmark results are being analyzed. BMS Comp Cheer placed 1st at state. Miss BMS pageant is coming up.
BHS has a current enrollment of 1,523 students. ACT scores are in and are above average. “A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder” won the State One Act competition. Chorus All-State auditions recently took place and the band received all superior ratings at a recent competition. Football playoffs begin Friday, November 15 at home, basketball and swim recently started, Comp Cheer will be competing at sectionals, and college letter signings on Thursday.
This concluded the November Board of Education meeting. The next meeting will be at 12 p.m. on Monday, December 9, 2019, at the Buford City Schools Central Office on Sawnee Avenue.
— Staff Reports
November 4, 2019 – Chairman Phillip Beard called the November meeting for the Buford Commission to order at 7 p.m. at Buford City Hall. Following the pledge, the agenda and minutes from the October 2019 meeting were approved. City employee Levon Thomas was recognized for his twenty years of service to the citizens of Buford and given a plaque and watch for a job well done.
The first piece of business was a rezoning request for North Harbor Storage, LLC located at 6673 McEver Rd. They requested rezoning from M-1 to C-2 with a special use permit to allow a boat and RV storage facility. The request was approved with conditions. A special use permit was requested to allow a cheerleading tumbling facility for Allstar Titans, LLC/Laura Pruitt at 5115 Poplar St. The request was approved.
The Commission approved the final plat for the Chestnut Park subdivision and approved wastewater allocation for Lanier Islands car wash at 4915 Lanier Islands Pkwy. The voluntary termination of SUP-19-12 at 245 W. Moreno St. for Complete Andy Electric LLC was accepted.
Dedication of sewer easements west of I-985 at Palmero Court and east of I-985 at The Reserve at Bogan Lakes subdivision was approved. The Commission also approved a one-year extension of the annual contract for construction and maintenance of water lines and gravity sewers with John D. Stephens, Inc.
The Commission accepted a land donation to the City by William and Maxine Drake and authorized the City Manager to issue a land donation letter.
The City Manager and City Attorney were authorized to purchase 6.18 acres on South Street and Elliott Street from Buford Church of God. The City is looking at options with the Buford Housing Authority to relocate some existing housing units to newly constructed units.
The Commission approved the ratification of action requiring 23.7 acres known as N.E. Pugh Street, City of Buford, Georgia, Gwinnett County Tax Parcel No. R7293 097 for the sum of $300,000 and authorized transfer to the Downtown Development Authority. This will allow the DDA to find bidders for the land intended for industrial use.
The Chairman and City Manager were authorized to enter into an agreement on behalf of the City with the Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Company, LLC for purchase of gas from the Southeastern Trail Expansion Project. The pledged funds with Peoples Bank & Trust were authorized to be released. The City Manager and City Attorney were authorized to acquire property for a Jones Alley street widening project at the new city parking deck so that people may better access the parking deck.
The Commission authorized payments for the Southside Trunk sewer project, SR 316 at Harbins Road gas relocation project, SR 324 at SR 124 gas relocation project, Buford parking deck project, Bona Road Gym renovation project, Legion field improvements, and the Bona Road sidewalk project.
Amy Brown from the Buford Community Center gave a brief update on what has been going on there. Christmas decor is being installed and a Frank Sinatra concert will take place in mid-November. The Christmas Traditions event on November 30 is sold out and A Christmas Carol play by Theatre Buford will run November 30 – December 16.
City Manager Bryan Kerlin gave his report which included updates on various projects. The parking deck project is progressing well and the contractor is working hard to wrap up the project as soon as issues with street widening are resolved. The Commonwealth Industrial Park traffic signal warrant study at the intersection of Roy Carlson Boulevard and Buford Highway did not find the justification for a traffic signal. There are various gas and electric projects in different stages of completion. The renovations to the ball fields are coming along nicely which includes the high school baseball field and the softball field. Tennis had several players in the playoffs and the city will be resurfacing some of the courts as routine maintenance.
This concluded the November 2019 Buford Commission Meeting. The next meeting will be on December 2, 2019, at 7 p.m. at Buford City Hall in the Commission Chambers.
— Staff Reports
BUFORD — Buford High School and the Buford Athletic Department hosted a ceremony for 12 senior athletes who signed their National Letter of Intent (NLI) on the first day of the early signing period for the NCAA. Family, friends, school faculty, and staff filled the theater at the Buford High School Performing Arts Center on Wednesday night to cheer for this group of talented students as they officially signed their binding NLI.
Only 4% of high school athletes go on to play a sport in college and the following Wolves are now part of that elite number.
Anabel Adams – University of North Georgia – Softball
Blaine Bergey – Princeton – Wrestling
Charlie Darracott – Stanford – Wrestling
Kimberly Harris – University of Southern California – Track
Braden Hartman – Chattahoochee Valley Community College – Baseball
Ansleigh Hollifield – University of Minnesota – Softball
Kaitlyn Pickens – Emmanuel College – Softball
Joseph Salvo – Samford University – Baseball
Nick Stonecheck – Old Dominion – Wrestling
Kara Taylor – Piedmont College – Softball
Tate Walters – Furman University – Basketball
Cyrena Whalen – Temple University – Gymnastics
— Staff Reports
— All photos credit Cathy Moore.