LNA Meets with Lawrenceville City Council-Work Session—April 15 

Our purpose was to

1. ask for an update on the City Council priorities for 2009 and 2010 as well as showing support for these goals.

2. ask for the city's support in furthering LNA's goals of improving the quality of life in neighborhoods and in commercial areas by having the city distribute a Property Maintenance Brochure to all households and businesses in the city of Lawrenceville .

The following is an update from various members of the city council and administrative staff:

-- Complete construction and relocation of police station.

Update: A ground breaking ceremony was held on Friday, April 17. Work is moving forward and as of Friday, April 17, bulldozers were out clearing the land at the corner of Highway 124 and Jackson Street.

-- Examine potential sites for a relocated utilities department and plan future use of a city park property.

Update: No action has been taken on finding relocation sites for utilities department and no planning for a city park once utilities are relocated. Several years ago a design firm made a preliminary sketch of what this park might look like. Since then, it has been discussed at DDA meetings, but no further action has been taken.

-- Develop and proceed with the college corridor overlay .

Update: The LCI grant was denied by the ARC. This grant was to study the college avenue corridor (areas between the depot and Georgia Gwinnett College ) to determine the best possible use of this overlay district. The council indicated that they would have to wait one year and resubmit the plan. The grant was for $150,000, with Lawrenceville putting in $30,000. This delays this project for at least one year. The city clerk, Bob Baroni suggested that perhaps the city could use 2005 and 2008 SPLOST funds to further this project along.

-- Adopt a plan where TAD's will be used in Lawrenceville.

Update: No study has been done and no plan has been developed by the mayor and council on locating where Tax Allocation Districts can be used. Remember that the residents of Lawrenceville approved TAX Allocation Districts overwhelmingly in the November 2008 election, 1,360 for and 592 against creating TADs.

-- Update the city's computer system to avoid website and other software crashing.

Update: Website is being designed and the contract is with Rock, Paper, Scissors. The website will be developed in three phases and will be different and provide more information. Rock, Paper, Scissors is to develop a budget proposal for the council.

-- Develop a plan and design appearance (branded look) for how gateways, streets, signage and walkways could be made to look uniform and uniquely “Lawrenceville”.

Update: This project is under the auspices of the DDA. The DDA Board has contracted with Sky Design to design a Master Plan for signage downtown and for major entrances to Lawrenceville. The DDA is paying $27,000 for Sky Design to do the whole design, from downtown to the major corridors leading into the city. After the design is approved, construction can begin. Construction costs will need to be approved first. Sky Design will start with downtown first. A sub-committee has been set up made up of Marie Beiser, Council member, Jim Steadman, Utilities/Streets Director, Bob Baroni, City Clerk, and Mike Reedy, chairman of the DDA. The first report to the DDA will be held on May 18 th. This project is very important to our city!

LNA Goal: Property Maintenance Brochure

David Mellard asked the council if a Property Maintenance Brochure could be sent to residents and businesses in the city.

Captain Jeff Smith stated that a brochure has been developed. You can see it on the Police website: www.lawrencevillpd.com As yet, it has not been sent to households and businesses. Please take a look at it and tell us what you think. dmellard@bellsouth.net ; kerdry@bellsouth.net

20/30 PLAN

David also asked about how changes that the city makes in zoning and rezoning correlate with the 20/30 plan. It was noted by the council and others that they were not sure if the 20/30 plan was used when making these decisions.