Hello Ball Ground:

Although street paving dates are often difficult to guarantee, we anticipate that work will begin to resurface Old Canton Road from Commerce Lane south to the Cul-de-sac within the next month.  This is 1.2 miles of paving that will greatly improve the condition of one of our most travelled streets.  Our priority over the next several years is to improve our roadways as much as possible.

We have accepted the proposal and are working on easements to relocate our water line out of A.W. Roberts Drive.  We hope to obtain easements by the end of September and have work completed by the end of November.  Georgia DOT is working on a plan to remove the asphalt and install concrete panels from the RR tracks downtown up Gilmer Ferry and A.W. Roberts Drive to the traffic lights.  This is in the early planning stages, but they are already committing to perform all work at night so the roadway will be open during the day to cause less business and travel disruption.

Work should begin this week on the installation of a ¼ mile walking track in Calvin Farmer Park.  This project is being completely funded with grant dollars and will provide a 6’ wide concrete surface (fairly level) for our community to exercise.  The walking track will be installed around the perimeter of the fields so that use of the fields themselves will not be impacted.  Work should be completed by October 15^th.

Work should begin next week on the installation of a sound system downtown.  Speakers will be mounted on the lamp posts between Church Street and the Railroad tracks downtown.  This will allow for the streaming of music in public spaces.  This is also being funded with grant dollars.  We are hopeful that adding music to our downtown will continue to add to the attraction and encourage visitors to remain longer and even attract new visitors.  Work should be completed by September 30^th.

Work is beginning with Georgia Power to convert all of the street lights in Ball Ground to LED.  So if you see Georgia Power or a Georgia Power Contractor in your neighborhood going from light to light – this is what they are doing.  Work is estimated to be completed by January 31^st, 2021.

As always, we continue to ask for community diligence in observing social distancing, and wearing a mask when a distance of 6 ft. can’t be maintained between parties who do not reside in the same household.

WWW
Wash your Hands
Watch your Distance
Wear your Mask

Have a great day.

#BallGroundRocks!

Eric

Hello Ball Ground.

As the City grows we enjoy many benefits, and also some challenges that we attempt to address and handle to the best of our ability and in the most cost-effective manner possible.

The challenge that has continued to provide difficulty has been that of property maintenance and building conditions (abandoned structures, debris, litter, junk vehicles, etc. etc.).  With such a small staff this is something that tends to fall through the cracks.

Recently, Mayor Roberts and the Ball Ground City Council adopted Chapter 14 of the Cherokee County Building Code, and entered an agreement, at no cost, with the Cherokee County Marshal’s office to begin code enforcement in the City of Ball Ground.    We have found the Marshal’s office to be a professional organization with a focus on achieving compliance as opposed to simply issuing fines.

During the month of August, the Marshal’s Office will be making contact with property owners as they notice violations, with an intent to begin enforcement of the code beginning September 1^st, 2020.

It is our hope that this will be the best and most cost-effective way to achieve compliance with property maintenance codes in the City of Ball Ground.

In order to review Chapter 14 of the code simply click on the link below.

Chapter 14 of the Cherokee County Building Code

Have a great week.

Eric

Good Morning Ball Ground:

The City of Ball Ground in partnership with Georgia Highlands Medical Services will be providing free drive-thru COVID-19 testing at the Ball Ground Senior Center on Friday, July 24^th from 8:00 AM until 11:00 AM.  The address is 388 Groover Street, Ball Ground, GA  30107.

To schedule an appointment please call 470-758-8415.  You MUST have an appointment to be tested, but anyone is eligible to be tested.

If you or someone you know should be tested please take advantage of this close to home opportunity.

Eric

Hello Ball Ground –

On Saturday, July 25^th between 8:00 AM and 2:00 PM we will have a large dumpster located in the Community Center Parking lot for use by the City of Ball Ground solid waste customers.  So if you have the City contract service through Advanced Disposal, and you are cleaning out your garage, closets, attic, whatever – you can bring your extra clean out items at no charge for disposal.

We will not be accepting the standard hazardous items for disposal (paint, fuel, tires, oils, batteries, etc.).

Again, this service will be for the City of Ball Ground Solid Waste customers through Advanced Disposal only.  The drop off will be staffed to verify eligibility, but unloading will be an individual responsibility.

Future Clean-Up Dates are scheduled for:
October 31, 2020
January 30, 2021
April 24, 2021

Have a great day Ball Ground.
Eric

Good afternoon Ball Ground.

I wanted to share some comments from Mayor Roberts, at his request, concerning the ongoing Covid-19 threat to our community and state.

Hello Ball Ground Friends.

Governor Kemp joined our weekly conference call with mayors across the State that we have with Dr Toomey, head of the Georgia Department of Health.  As our numbers continue to spike our leaders at the State level are beginning to push more heavily for strict enforcement of the Governor’s Executive Orders at the local level.   Most critical among these mandates are the social distancing, and the expectation that our food service professionals who come in contact with the public wear masks.  So as we understand the orders, a cook at the grill need not wear a mask (by mandate), a cashier behind a plexiglass shield need not wear a mask (by mandate), but the server taking your order or bringing your food/beverage must wear a mask by order of the Governor although the mask can be removed if the server is not waiting on a customer.  People who do not reside in the same household are mandated, by Executive Order, to maintain a distance of 6 feet from each other inside and outside.   So if you can reach out and physically touch someone you don’t live with, you are way too close.

Governor Kemp was emphatic that before implementing more mandates, that he concedes will end up in court with judges and lawyers intervening, that we all do everything in our power to increase awareness, promote the wearing of masks, and to begin more aggressive enforcement of his existing orders.

The issue is that as a local government, we really don’t want to be in the business of trying to enforce the Governor’s orders.  Local enforcement  of the Governor’s order is questionable except by the Georgia State Patrol. But for now, we are simply asking for and appreciate the cooperation of our city customers, our residents, our businesses and our visitors to do the right thing for the benefit of both yourself and others by following the 3 W’s.  Wash Your Hands, Wear your mask and Watch your distance.

The Governor in his comments noted that enforcement can be a political challenge at the local level, especially in small communities where we more likely know each other, and stated he would make the Georgia State Patrol (GSP) more available for local enforcement in these situations.  But we would much rather see our community follow the mandates currently in place…..pertaining to wearing masks, maintaining mandated social distancing both inside and outside, and frequent sanitizing….than to have the GSP involved in compliance within our city.

On behalf of the City, I wanted to share with you some highlights of the Governors discussion with city officials and to thank you for helping to comply with measures to slow the spread of the virus which still has no vaccine.

Mayor Rick

#MaskDistanceClean
#BallGroundSafe
#WearAMaskinPublic

At this time we have cancelled the remainder of our summer concert series as well as our “Music on Main” Saturday performances as we are not looking to consolidate any groups of people.  We are exploring the ability to place speakers on our downtown lamp posts and stream music that way to provide some background music and add to the already pleasant downtown atmosphere.  We are working to determine if we can accomplish this using the funds we had set aside for live performances/bands in City Park.

Eric