Update from the City Manager
Hello Ball Ground:
Feels like fall is in the air – so a great time to get outside and enjoy our parks, trails, and of course our Ball Ground businesses.
Given our lack of a large gathering space for City Council meetings, we will still be conducting our meeting this week as a combination meeting with some elected officials and staff present at City Hall and some dialing in from remote locations in order to comply with social distancing guidelines. We have a lengthy agenda for this meeting. Probably the most exciting item on the agenda is to consider the second reading and final approval of the alcohol license for “Rock Solid Brewing” that will be opening downtown later this year.
Mayor and Council will also consider 4 applications for annexation into the City – with one of the four parcels being a piece of property owned by the City that was purchased as part of the Roberts Lake Trail project. Another one of the parcels is a “split” parcel with half already being in the City – so this just cleans up City boundary lines. Additionally Mayor and Council with consider allocating the funds for resurfacing 1.1 miles of Old Canton Road, as well as for guard rail installation at the intersection of Old Canton Road and Commerce Lane. Finally, Mayor and Council will consider approving the Service Delivery Strategy (SDS) with Cherokee County, One Zoning Application, Purchasing a police patrol vehicle, installation of an Electric Vehicle Charging Station downtown, and a Small Business Grant program. We invite you to join us on Facebook for the meeting or dial into the number that will be provided later this week.
The walking path in Calvin Farmer Park is functional but not yet technically open for use. Later this week the handrails will be installed on the bridges and we will get started with the backfilling and sod installation as well.
We are about two weeks away from having background music playing in the downtown area from the new street sounds system that we have installed. A big thank-you to the folks at Barrel House Coffee for providing space for our equipment and internet connection to be able to provide this new addition to downtown.
The Ball Ground Police Department is planning a drive-thru “Trick-or-Treat” event for Halloween this year. Please “like” and following the Ball Ground Police Department as well as Ball Ground Main Street on Facebook for more information to come on this event.
Have a great week Ball Ground!
Eric
Update from the City Manager
Hello Ball Ground:
Our time is running out to achieve a complete census count for the City of Ball Ground. A great deal of our funding is based on population. How much gas tax we receive from the State of Georgia (what will help pay for resurfacing of Old Canton Road), and which recently paid for the resurfacing of Chestnut St, Billy Lane, and Dixie Drive, is based on population. Our grant success and failures are largely tied to the population. Transportation projects such as the 372 Spur/Truck Route are impacted by the population. Right now we are still lagging too far behind. Only 63% of our known addresses have responded. Please take the time now to respond – just click the link below. Ten minutes tops.
https://2020census.gov/en/ways-to-respond.html?cid=23756:2020%20census%20online:sem.ga:p:dm:en:&utm_source=sem.ga&utm_medium=p&utm_campaign=dm:en&utm_content=23756&utm_term=2020%20census%20online
If anyone needs assistance please let us know at City Hall and we will be glad to get your questions answered or get you access to a computer if needed.
Also, with school back in session next week – we know that a good many of our students are still attending virtually. If you or someone you know in the Ball Ground area has poor internet access presenting challenges, we have partnered with ETC to provide two hotspots in the City where students can come to download/upload assignments. The first location is the Ball Ground Senior Center parking lot. The network is named “Ball Ground Hotspot” and is open access. The second spot is the ETC switch building located at the corner of Old Canton Road and Coy M. Holcomb St (near the school bus entrance to Ball Ground STEM Academy). This network is called “ETC Internet” and requires a password which is etc12345
Hopefully, the bridges will be poured on the new walking pathway in Calvin Farmer on Friday. Backfilling and sod should be installed next Tuesday. We’ve received a lot of positive feedback on this project already and are hopeful it will receive a great deal of use.
We have received the results back from EPD on the Lead and Copper testing in our system. Again our system tests extremely well and given our position we won’t be required to collect lead/copper samples for another 3 years, as opposed to the traditional annual monitoring. Our system continues to test extremely well in all areas.
We have submitted a request to Georgia DOT to reduce the speed limit on Canton Highway/Ball Ground Highway between the SR 372/Cartersville St and Howell Bridge Road from 45 mph to 35 mph. If approved, this would create the ability for a pedestrian crosswalk to be installed between Lantern Walk Drive and Coy M. Holcomb Street. Since this section of the roadway belongs to the State of Georgia, we cannot alter speed limits or install crosswalks without obtaining consent from the State.
Take Care.
Eric
Update from the City Manager
Hello Ball Ground:
After very difficult conversations with the Parade Committee and Santa himself, we have made the decision to cancel the annual March of the Toys for Tots Parade hosted by Tim and Pam Cavender. With the great crowds we draw, and the very limited spaces that we have for spectators to view the parade it simply wasn’t possible to host the parade and our guests, while following the social distancing mandates we are required to follow. Typically we have 5-6,000 guests observing the parade, all shoulder to shoulder and the atmosphere is wonderful. Santa Tim has promised a 2021 return that is bigger and better than ever.
We had a hiccup in the paving schedule, and we are now hopeful that crews will be on-site by late October to pave Old Canton Road from Commerce Lane south to the cul-de-sac near Ball Ground STEM Academy. If not by the end of October the project will likely delay until early spring depending on temperatures.
Work is progressing well on the new walking loop in Calvin Farmer Park and we are hopeful that the footbridges will be placed next week allowing them to finish the concrete work and then start backfilling and have the area open for the many Ball Ground walkers. It is great to see the amazing number of residents walking in Ball Ground.
Typically we don’t share too much about businesses in our City email updates, but because there have been so many inquiries we just wanted to confirm that yes….a brewery is in fact renovating a downtown building, work is underway now, so we should soon be adding a brewery to the list of already outstanding Ball Ground businesses.
Speakers have been mounted in a portion of the downtown area and we hope the master controls will be set next week. Once that is accomplished we will have a company rep from “streetsounds” that will come in, bring everything live, do the programming, and get street music playing downtown.
Have a great week.
Eric
Update from the City Manager
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 15th.
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 30th.
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 31st, 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
Addition to County Building Code
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 1st, 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
