Staff Reports
April 2, 2019 – Commission Chairman Phillip Beard called the April Buford Commission meeting to order at 7 p.m. in the Commission Chambers at Buford City Hall. Boy Scout Troop 542 led the meeting attendees in the Pledge of Allegiance. The agenda and meeting minutes from March were approved. Beard presented City of Buford employee Gary King with a gift recognizing his 20 years of service to the citizens of Buford. King has done an outstanding job working at the schools doing maintenance.
The first planning and zoning request was from Sergey Kiosak for 4244 Sudderth Road to allow auto sales and repair. The Commission approved the request with conditions. A zoning modification for Alex Roshan for a convenience store with gas pumps located at 2823 Brown Road asked for a reduction to the undisturbed buffer from 75 feet to 20 feet. A neighbor located at 2360 Brown Road spoke against the reduction. The Commission settled on a compromise of 55 feet with a berm.
The Commission authorized the City Manager to accept a quitclaim deed for 0.204 acres on Espy Street and authorized the Chairman to sign a quitclaim deed for 0.093 acres on Espy Street and Sudderth Street. An exemption plat was approved for Espy Street. The property exchange will allow the developer to proceed with road improvements on Espy Street. A second road improvement project on Espy Street at Church Street is planned to begin on April 8 with the project projected to last 30 days. Wastewater allocation appeals for the Harris Street and Alexander Street projects were approved. The City Manager was authorized to acquire property on Moreno Street for the parking deck project.
The Commission authorized the City Manager and Commission Chairman to sign 2018 Year End Settlement with MEAG Power. The City Manager was authorized to reimburse General Obligation Bonds 2015 and 2017 using Gwinnett SPLOST 2013 for construction of the road connecting Hamilton Mill Road to Buford Highway adjacent to the new Buford High School campus. Chairman Beard stated that the road would be named High School Drive. The Commission approved the voting delegates for the 2019 Municipal Gas Authority of Georgia Annual Election. A permit for the North Gwinnett Co-Op for their building expansion project was approved by Weeks and Burge. Beard abstained due to being on the board for the Co-Op. The Commission approved the City of Buford 2019 paving project utilizing the Gwinnett County contract pricing. Weeks and Burge authorized the release of pledged funds with Peoples Bank & Trust. Beard abstained due to being on the bank board.
The Commission approved change order #1 for the SR 324 at SR 124 gas relocation project and pressure improvement project in the amount of $370,631.00. Payment #4 for the Jackson Street CDBG Stormwater project was authorized. Payment #6 was approved for the City of Buford Parking Deck project.
Amy from the Buford Community Center said that things were busy at the BCC. Three performances in March were a huge success. Ticket sales for the upcoming Theatre Buford production of Footloose were brisk with 1,800 tickets sold already. City Manager Bryan Kerlin gave his Manager’s report. He stated that the Parking Deck project was going well with foundation work being done. June is the estimated delivery date of the actual parking deck structure and the tentative completion date for this project is the end of August. The Thompson Mill Road at I-985 project received approval from GDOT and that a meeting to go over this project is scheduled for April 11. Buford Waterworks filter testing results have been submitted to the EPD and he estimates that bidding for the expansion will begin later this year.
Construction of the new Buford High School is going well. Landscaping, interior work, and exterior lighting were being done. The high school has started receiving furniture and the second turf field installation will begin soon. The widening of Buford Highway by the new high school was progressing on schedule. The surplus city property located at Buford Highway and Sawnee was sold to Siegfried Industrial to put a warehouse there. Softball and baseball were well underway and tennis is having a very active time for the Buford Parks and Recreation Department.
This ended the regular business session. Chairman Beard went around the room to ask for any new business from the audience. A resident of Spring Lake asked the City to fix the “Spring Lake Island” that has been damaged from the lane being too narrow and people driving over it. The Commission stated that they would have it fixed. Ms. Johnson of Forest Street asked the Commission to have the hill near her property where the old trailer park was to be cleaned up. The Commission agreed to have it taken care of. With nothing further, Beard called an end to the April meeting.
Meeting adjourned.
