Staff Reports
July 15, 2019 – Commission Chairman Phillip Beard called the July meeting of the City of Buford Commission to order at 7 p.m. at City Hall. The first piece of business brought before the Commission was for a special use permit to allow an automatic carwash from Bhalvani Ent, Inc located at 4780 Lanier Islands Parkway. The request was approved. GMG Automotive located at 5352 Palmero Court requested a special use permit to allow for auto service and repair. The request was approved.
Darius and Alina Frant at 2204 Shoal Creek Road asked to be annexed into the city limits. The request was approved for the 1.050 acres with the zoning remaining R-100. Benjamin Shane and Cortney Dawkins wanted their 3.46 acres located at 5016 Blackberry Lane to be annexed into the city. Their request was approved with the zoning going from AR-III to RA-200. Nicole Lynn and Jalerie Peruchini applied to have their 0.805 acres located at 3659 Shoreland Drive to be annexed into the city. The request was approved with the zoning going from VC (Vacation Cottage) to R-100. Jeffrey S. Rolader located at 3456 Shoreland Drive wanted his 0.804 acres to be annexed. The request was approved with zoning going from VC to R-100. Mr. Rolader also requested that 0.840 acres located at 3456 Shoreland Drive be annexed. The request was approved with the zoning going from VC to R-100.
A zoning modification was requested by Dennis Gutierrez for 80 South Alexander Street in which condition #3 was amended allowing a reduction in the rear setback from 40 feet to 10.5 feet. The request was approved.
A public hearing on the FY 2020 operating budget was held. Chairman Beard briefly explained the budget and said the budget will be on next month’s agenda as well. A public hearing on the 2019 property tax millage rate rollback and proposed tax increase were held. Buford has decreased the millage rate for several years going from a rate of 12.95 in 2014 to the proposed rate for 2019 of 12.70. A tax increase is projected due to more homes and businesses to tax, as well as, property values have increased.
The Buford Mill Drive road dedication plot was approved. The dedication of the Thunder Road sewer easement was approved. The Chairman was authorized to enter into an Intergovernmental Agreement with the Georgia Department of Transportation for an interchange justification report at Thompson Mill Road and I-985. The City has asked for access ramps to I-985 on Thompson Mill Road in order to help ease traffic off of Hamilton Mill Road and other city streets. This is a three-year process and Buford is on the second year. The Commission voted to adopt restated plan documents for the Georgia Municipal Employees Benefit System as required by the IRS. A special event request was approved to allow the Antiques Holiday Market event to take place on the Buford Community Center lawn November 15, 2019 – November 17, 2019. The Commission voted to renew the 2019-2020 health insurance policy. Beard abstained from the vote that approved the release of pledged funds with Peoples Bank & Trust.
The City subsidizes the cost of the summer camp programs and the Buford City Schools budget was amended for this reason. Buford used to receive $1 per ton of trash that enters into the landfill per the state. Last year, the dump saw 800,000 tons of trash enter their gates. This rate has increased to $2.50 per ton but the state mandates that some of the money received must be used to maintain the roads that garbage and dump trucks use to get to the dump. Because of this mandate, South Richland Creek Road is due to be repaved and the low bid to do this was approved. The low bids were approved for the SR 324 at I-85 Interchange gas relocation project and for the SR 316 at Harbins Road gas relocation project. The Chairman has been authorized to sign the necessary documents to transfer City property on Railroad Avenue over to the City of Buford Downtown Development Authority. The DDA will sell the property that is not needed by the City. The Chairman has been authorized to enter into an agreement with Heraeus Quartz North America, LLC for the property that Heraeus maintains at 600 Heraeus Boulevard.
Payments for the Buford Parking deck project, the Southside Trunk Sewer project, and the Bona Road sidewalk project were approved. Change orders and payments were approved for the SR 324 at SR 124 gas relocation project and for the Hamilton Mill Road gas relocation project.
Amy with the Buford Community Center said their summer concert series was going well and they had the largest attendance ever for their summer series with the Gregg Allman’s Laid Back Legacy concert. Their next concert is on July 27 with Wet Willie featuring Jimmy Hall. City Manager Bryan Kerlin said that a crane has been brought in to help unload the first of several deliveries for the downtown parking deck. The parking deck construction should last about 60 days and has forced the closure of West Moreno Street in between Garnett and South Harris Streets until September 1. A backup generator is being installed at Buford Waterworks.
The new Buford High School will have an open house on July 27 & 28 from 1 – 5 p.m. that is open to the public. The ribbon-cutting ceremony will take place on July 28 at 4 p.m. in the Performing Arts Center. Crews are finishing up paving and striping the parking lots, the sound system for the practice football field is still being installed, and the traffic lights at Robert Bell Parkway and Buford Highway are soon to go up.
Various gas and sewer projects are being handled. The gas department has seen continuous growth and record sales. General maintenance and repairs are being taken care of for the water and stormwater departments. Parks and Recreation will still hold fall little league baseball and softball but a few fields will be closed for renovations. Alta tennis is still ongoing with various adult and youth programs taking place.
This concluded the July 2019 City of Buford Commission meeting. The next Commission meeting will be on August 5, 2019, in the Commission Chambers at City Hall.
