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BRINGINGGOVERNMENT PEOPLE
SPLOST approved road projects on schedule
Revenue from the Special
Purpose Local Option Sales
Tax approved by Forsyth
County voters on March 18,
2003 is running slightly below
projections, but the Engineer
ing Department hasn’t allowed
that to slow them down.
Director of Engineering
John Cunard said Wednesday
that SPLOST-approved road
projects are continuing right
on schedule.
"They're all on schedule
and we should be able to stay
on schedule or get a little bit
ahead so long as the SPLOST
revenue is available when we
need it." Cunard said
Wednesday.
Although SPLOST V was
approved in the first quarter of
2003, revenue didn't begin to
reach the county until last
September.
Through January, the
county had received only
$8.95 million of the $9.63
President Bush honorary chair of Great American Cleanup
Get active ... get
involved. That's the charge
this spring to create a clean
sweep of Forsyth County.
The local effort is part of
Keep America Beautiful's
Great American Cleanup™,
the nation's largest annual
community improvement
program.
For the second year,
President George W. Bush
will serve as national hon
orary chairman for the event.
Locally, Keep Forsyth
County Beautiful volunteers
will complete various proj
ects through May 1, rallying
together with more than 2
million volunteers from
coast to coast.
Events planned for
Forsyth County this year
Taste of Forsyth set for
Cumming Fairgrounds
Great food, live entertain
ment, arts and crafts and good
of fashioned family fun are on
tap later this month when
Forsyth County Family Haven
hosts its second annual Taste
of Forsyth event at the
Cumming Fairgrounds Amphi
theater on Sunday, April 18
from noon until 5 p.m.
The highlight of the day
will be the opportunity to taste
an array of select menu items
from many of the local restau
rants in Forsyth County.
"Tasting tickets" will be sold
at the door.
All proceeds from the
April is prevent child
abuse awareness month
The Forsyth County Child Advocacy
Center's Prevent Committee is challenging
business owners to place the HELPLINE 1-
800-CHILDREN, (1-800-244-5373) onto
their road sign or "marque" sign for the
month of April.
Businesses that wish to register can call
the Child Advocacy Center at 678-208-
1908, they will be entered into a prize draw
ing on April 30th.
To close the month of April's PREVENT
Child Abuse activities, a ‘Photo Op’ will
take place as 12:15pm in the jury assembly
A weekly feature page of the Forsyth County News with material provided by the Forsyth County public information office.
million that had been project
ed.
Three major road-widen
ing projects are already under
construction and should be
completed by this time next
year.
"The McFarland Inter
change, Marketplace
Parkway, and Hutchinson
Road are the most important
ones," Cunard said. McFar
land Interchange at Ga. 400 is
one of the most heavily con
gested roads in Forsyth
County.
Marketplace Parkway from
SR 20 to south of Pendley is
also under construction and
could be completed as early
as this year. W'ork has also
begun on Hutchinson Road
from Castleberry to SR9, but
it’s not expected to be ready
until March 2005.
Eight intersection
improvement projects are also
on tap that should make driv-
include Earth Day Expo on
on April 17, the Liberty
Gardens Ceremony on April
22 and the first Earth Fest on
April 24. For more informa
tion on any of these events,
contact KFCB at 770-205-
4573.
Since 1985, national non
profit Keep America
Beautiful® has been leading
the program through its affil
iate network and other par
ticipating organizations.
Every spring, volunteers
are mobilized to tackle eye
sores and build a sense of
pride and ownership of their
local community environ
ments.
In 2003, Keep America
Beautiful's Great American
Cleanup™ volunteers elimi-
event will be donated to
Family Haven to help it con
tinue to operate a Forsyth and
North Fulton counties only
emergency shelter for battered
women and children to aid in
its effort to assist victims of
domestic violence.
The Taste of Forsyth also
includes:
• Entertainment - provided
by various talented communi
ty groups
• Auction -a live and silent
auction will be held with lots
of great items from businesses
in the county
• Moonwalk -for the kids
room.
The Prevent Child Abuse Committee will
provide blue ribbon pins and a bag lunch to
our local dignitaries in recognition of the
Blue Ribbon Campaign.
The Prevent Child Abuse Sign Challenge
prize drawing will also take place at this
time and the winner will be notified by
phone.
During 2003, Forsyth County had 811
investigations into alleged child abuse.
Please put 1-800-CHILDREN on your sign
for the month of April, THANK YOU.
ing a little less hectic when
they are completed later this
year. Design is complete and
right-of-way-acquisition is
just beginning on these proj
ects. Construction should be
complete on all intersection
improvement projects this
year.
The Engineering Depart
ment has also been busy plan
ning four new bike/pedestrian
path projects that are expected
to be completed this year.
One such project already
under construction is at
Market Place Parkway from
State Road 20 to State Road
141.
Similar projects will begin
later this year at Samples
Road, (from State Road 20 to
Mashburn Elementary
School), Old Atlanta Road
(from Sharon Road to the
Sharon Forks Library), and
Laurel Springs Parkway
/Westminster Lane.
nated 3,500 illegal dump
sites nationwide, picked up
148 million pounds of litter
and debris, restored 4,000
play
grounds
and recre
ation areas,
and planted
more than
1 million
trees, flow
ers and
bulbs in
just three
Every spring,
volunteers are
mobilized to
tackle eyesores
and build a
sense of pride...
months.
These volunteer efforts
added up to 7 million work
hours, reducing the need for
spending tax dollars on
cleanups.
A recent poll of Keep
America Beautiful communi-
I ■ " 1 i
—' | r ;
______________—
• Raffle -for a 2004 Nissan
Sentra
This will be a fun, family
oriented event for the entire
community.
For more information,
please call Event Coordinator
Among those projects currently
under way are:
• Hill at Shiloh Road
• Spot Road at Gravitt Road/Mountain Road
• Spot Road at Bettis Tribble Gap
Road/McCoy Circle
• Old Atlanta at Daves Creek
• James Burgess at Settles Road
• Friendship Road at Hurt Bridge Road
• Jot 'em Down Road at Crossroads
• McGinnis Ferry Road at Windward Parkway
ty improvement leaders cites
a lack of personal responsi
bility and America's "on-the
go" lifestyle as top concerns
in community
blight and neg
lect. Leaders
and volunteers
will use the
Great American
Cleanup™ pro
gram activities
to address these
concerns - and
transform their
local areas into cleaner, safer
and healthier communities.
To showcase exceptional
stewardship around the coun
try, this year's Great
American Cleanup™ is
introducing the "Family
Hometown Makeover."
Youngsters
wait in line to
have faces
painted at
the 2003
Taste of
Forsyth
event at
Cumming
Fairgrounds.
Photo/Submitted
Janice Fanning at 770-889-
9431. You can purchase tickets
for the car raffle for $5 each at
Family Haven's Admini
strative office, 103. Pilgrim
Village Drive, Suite 400,
Cumming.
Ask county
government
QUESTION: How do I
get on the Forsyth County
Bidder's List?
ANSWER: There is a copy
of the Forsyth County Bidder's
Application on the county’s
web site www.forsythco.com .
Go to the Home Page and click
on "Departments" then
Purchasing and "Vendor
Handbook".
If you have a problem
downloading it, call (770) 888-
8872 and a copy will be faxed
or mailed to you.
FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS -Thur»day, April 1,2004- I
America Beautiful will
recognize on its Web site dis
tinctive community improve
ment projects submitted
from across the country.
Here's how it works:
• Select a project that will
help green up, fix up, clean
up. sustain or beautify a part
of your community as part of
the Great American
Cleanup™.
• Contact your local Great
American Cleanup™ partici-
, paling organization by log
ging onto www.kab.org and
find out how you can get
involved. If there isn't a par
ticipating organization near
by, you can still rally your
family and friends together,
roll up your sleeves and
tackle your project until
On the calendar
• April 12: Regional Transportation Plan and FY 2005-2010
Transportation Improvement Plan Meeting. 10am, Sawnee
Cultural Arts Center, Tribble Gap Road. Cumming
• April 12: Water and Sewer Committee Meeting. 12pm,
County Administration Building, 110 E. main St., Cumming
• April 12: Board of Commissioners Regular Meeting, spm
County Administration Building. HOE. Main St.. Suite 220,
Cumming.
• April 19: Board of Commissioners Public Hearings, spm
County Administration Building, 110 E. Main St.. Suite 220.
Cumming.
• May 3: Water and Sewer Committee Meeting. 12pm,
County Administration Building. 110 E. main St., Cumming
• May 3: Board of Commissioners Regular Meeting, spm
County Administration Building, 110 E Main St., Suite
Cumming. .
• May 4: Regional Transportation Plan/Transportatipn
Improvement Plan Public Meeting. spm. Sawnee Cultural Arts
Center, Tribble Gap Road. Cumming.
Give us your thoughts
“Inside Forsyth a minute to let us know. •
County” is a weekly look You may contact the
at your county government Office of Public
provided by the Forsyth Information:
County Office of Public
Information and the St Suite 210 Cumming.
Forsyth County News. The GA 30040
goal of this page is to help
inform and educate resi-
dents about what’s going
on with county govern- By fax
ment. (770)781-2199
If you’ve got an opinion By cmail
about our page, please take bijohnson @ forsythco.ccu4 ■
you've accomplished what
you've set out to do.
Educational materials and
community action tips to
support your project are
available at www.kab.org.
• Submit a description of
your project and your com
munity improvement results
in 100 words or less, along
with before, during and after
photos, to Keep America
Beautiful.
Instructions for mailing
or emailing your project are
available online.
• Keep America Beautiful
will post exceptional submis
sions and issue national
recognition awards for the
top five projects.
The final deadline for
submission is May 31, 2004.
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