Rep. Brett Harrell to seek reelection to District 106 seat

First term state representative Brett Harrell of Snellville will seek reelection to the Georgia General Assembly in the redrawn House District 106.  The new district "is comprised of the vast majority of Snellville and smaller portions of Lawrenceville, Grayson, and Loganville."  Harrell is a former mayor of Snellville as well former executive director of the Evermore CID.  

As part of his campaign announcement, Harrell released endorsements from the corners of District 106, including Snellville Mayor Pro Tem Tom Witts, Lawrenceville Councilman Tony Powell, Loganville Councilman Dan Curry and Grayson Councilwoman Allison Wilkerson.

The full text of Harrell's press release is shown below.

Brett Harrell will seek reelection to State House District 106

SNELLVILLE – Representative Brett Harrell, conservative member of the Georgia General Assembly, officially announced his campaign for re-election to State House District 106.

The new State House District 106 is comprised of the vast majority of Snellville and smaller portions of Lawrenceville, Grayson, and Loganville.

“I am grateful to represent the citizens and businesses in District 106 at the State House and I look forward to expanding that representation to include those newly added portions of Lawrenceville, Grayson, and Loganville beginning next session,” said Harrell.

Harrell is the former mayor of Snellville where he cut property taxes by 38% over five successive years. He successfully advanced over $130 million in projects, including vital transportation safety enhancements like the Hwy. 78 improvements as the former Executive Director of the Evermore Community Improvement District.

At the State House, Harrell serves on the Information and Audits, Regulated Industries, and Transportation Committees. He is the author of HB 291, a truth in taxation and property protection statute to prohibit billing non-tax fees such as sanitation and stormwater on citizens’ property tax bills. He has also authored legislation to reduce costs for county government, strengthen our courts, secure patient physician decision-making, and reserve our publicly funded universities for those in our country legally.

In addition, Harrell supported efforts to cut government spending and balance the state's budget without raising taxes, preserve HOPE Scholarships and make Georgia more competitive for new jobs. 

Harrell is especially looking forward to serving citizens in the newest portions of District 106 and appreciates the early support of many friends in Lawrenceville, Loganville, and Grayson in addition to his home city of Snellville.

Lawrenceville Council Member Tony Powell says, “For democratic government to work well, we have to convince smart, committed, honest, public servants to run for office.  Brett has demonstrated that he is all of those things and worthy to be trusted and re-elected.    Lawrenceville will be well served with the addition of Brett Harrell as one of our state Representatives.”

Dan Curry, Loganville Council Member says, “I have worked with Brett previously as a member of the Centerville Business Association and I know he will represent us well at the State House.”

Grayson Council Member Allison Wilkerson says, “I have known and worked with Brett for well over a decade. He consistently delivers for those he serves. Welcome to Grayson Representative Harrell.”

Mayor Pro Tem Tom Witts of Snellville says, “Representative Brett Harrell has an outstanding record of honest public service and has delivered on his promises to the citizens and businesses of Snellville. I am proud to support him in his re-election as our Representative for District 106.”

Over his career, Harrell has started and developed several successful small businesses. For 20 years, he owned and operated an American Speedy Printing franchise that grew from a start-up in a strip center to three locations. And prior to opening his own company, Harrell was an area sales manager for a $30 billion international corporation. Today, he is a garbageman (sales) with Advanced Disposal Services.

A 39-year resident of Snellville, Brett is a graduate of South Gwinnett High School and of the University of Georgia where he earned a BBA in marketing and finance.

http://www.voteharrell.com

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Commission citizens' forum Monday night in Lawrenceville

As posted on the Gwinnett County web site:

The Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners wants to hear from you! Please come out to the last in a series of Citizens' Forums with the Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners on Monday, March 7 at 7:00pm. The forum will take place at the Gwinnett Historic Courthouse located at 185 Crogan Street in Lawrenceville.

Come meet your district commissioners and share your thoughts on how to meet the needs of Gwinnett County's residents and businesses. A brief presentation about the County's financial outlook will be made and the floor will be open for your thoughts and ideas. Your commissioners want to hear your input.

Sugarloaf Parkway now open to Martins Chapel

This morning, as I came down onto Sugarloaf Parkway from New Hope Road headed west toward Grayson Highway, I noticed that the barriers that had been just beyond the eastbound exit onto New Hope were gone.  It appeared that the next phase of the Sugarloaf extension was open!  Sure enough, after I picked up my cleaning (a quick recommendation of Pristine Cleaners on Grayson Highway just south of Sugarloaf - they do great work at a very good price!), I came back down Sugarloaf and found that the parkway is now open all the way to Martins Chapel Road.  Apparently, the ribbon cutting was held yesterday.  Though I am not a civil engineer, it appears that this will be the last extension for a while.  Beyond Martins Chapel, there is still much construction left to be done and no visible roadway as could be seen when Sugarloaf was extended to New Hope last winter.

Good work by Gwinnett County's DOT.  With all the abuse of our tax dollars by the Gwinnett County Commission, local highway infrastructure projects continue to be a bright spot for our community.

Here is a short video of the new piece of road.

Fairgrounds puts on Christmas light show

Perhaps you have driven by the Gwinnett County Fairgrounds recently and wondered what all those lights were.  That would be an expected sight in September when the Gwinnett County Fair is underway.   But, this year, for the first time, the fairgrounds is decorated with an array of Christmas lights.  The light show, the term used to describe the attraction by Mike Scalf, the head of the company that setup and operates the display, features a computer controlling hundreds of thousands of lights in synchronization with a musical "soundtrack of six Christmas classics."  In addition to the lights, kids can visit with Santa and have fun at the Christmas Carnival. From what I can see when I drive by on Sugarloaf Parkway, the display is beautiful. If you want to go, be advised that the entrance fee is a bit steep at $25 per car.  At that price, I think I will just enjoy the lights when I happen to be driving down Sugarloaf!

Check out Oyster Bay in Lawrenceville!

The AJC has reviewed my current favorite Lawrenceville restaurant.  Oyster Bay is on the square directly across the street from the historic Gwinnett courthouse.  I cannot recommend this place enough and the AJC seems to like it as well.  We stumbled across it back in February and I have taken others there a couple of times since.  I am glad to see that Lawrenceville has a quality seafood option aside from the big, national chains.

Sugarloaf extension to open Tuesday

The first phase of the Sugarloaf Parkway extension will open tomorrow with a 3 p.m. ribbon cutting.  Living near this area, I have watched the construction progress over the last couple of years and I am exciting to try out the new road!  I cannot imagine it will do anything but help traffic in the GA Highway 20/Sugarloaf Parkway area.  For all the missteps our county commissioners make, they do seem to have it together when it comes to managing our highway infrastructure.

Commercial flights at Briscoe Field?

Last week, the AJC published an article about the possible privatization of Gwinnett County Briscoe Field in Lawrenceville.  The proposal by Propeller Investments would include expanding the airport's runway and beginning commercial airline service from ten gates in a new terminal.

On the surface, I love the idea.  I was encouraged by some of the initial indications of support from local leaders.  (I was pleasantly surprised to see Gwinnett Commissioner Mike Beaudreau speak favorably of the possibility!)  I favor getting government out of the airport business, especially if the proposal appears to be able to generate much needed revenue for the county government while allowing a private owner the opportunity to generate a profit while providing a very valuable service and economic boost to Gwinnett County.  However, the likely opposition of nearby residents, a response that most assuredly is in the offing, cannot be simply dismissed.

If you have read the Buzz for any period of time, you know I am a strong advocate for private property rights while being a fan of high quality development.  Thus, you might assume that I would be squarely on the side of Propeller Investments.  However, as college football commentator Lee Corso would say, “Not so fast, my friend!” As I have discussed extensively on the Buzz, I view property rights issues between neighboring landowners as boiling down to material impact.  In other words, does one owner's use of his or her property pose a material negative impact to a neighboring landowner's ability to use and enjoy his or her property.  It is really a simple perspective.  You can use your property as you see fit so long as it does not keep me from reasonably using and enjoying my property.  As to how we define "material" and "reasonably", well, I will leave that up to the lawyers.  What you do not have to be a lawyer to see is that the commencement of commercial airline service from a previously general aviation only facility could very well pose a negative material impact to nearby residents.

Commercial aviation is going to generate noise.  That cannot be avoided.  Noise abatement procedures can be put in place to mitigate the impact of the noise, but there will be noise.  If a Boeing 737 is taking off over your house, you're going to hear it.  What must be determined in the consideration of this proposal is how much more noise will be generated than that from the private jets that currently use Briscoe Field?  What total amount of time will neighboring property owners experience elevated noise levels?  What hours of the day will such elevated noise levels occur?  These and other questions will have to be carefully considered to determine if neighbors' inevitable arguments about noise levels will have merit.  If they do, these concerns cannot be dismissed as mere NIMBYism.  Other potentially legitimate factors would include traffic, pollution levels and continued access to the airport by operators of general aviation aircraft.

This promises to be an interesting situation to watch.  I definitely like the idea of easier access to commercial flights for Gwinnett residents.  I am excited at the possibility for commercial development in the airport vicinity and along the GA 316 corridor.  However, we must ensure that the property rights of existing landowners who bought and developed property with the expectation of being near a general aviation airport rather than a commercial aviation airport are considered and protected.

Photos of inside of new GMC tower

Gwinnett Medical has tweeted a link to interior photos of its new hospital tower in Lawrenceville.  If you are on Facebook, check them out here.

Progress on GA 20 widening south of Ozora Rd.

John R. Conley reports in his blog that Gwinnett County has agreed to pay for "an estimated $2.5 MM of sewer and water relocation" costs along GA Highway 20 between Ozora and Brand Roads.  Work on widening the road to four lanes with a raised center median between Plantation Blvd. in Lawrenceville and Ozora Rd/Cooper Rd. south of Grayson is nearing completion.  This is good news as the expanded highway been needed for many years and should improve the commute for those traveling between Lawrenceville and Loganville.

Another waste transfer station proposal on the horizon

Right after one waste transfer station zoning case reached a climax (though more drama is possible if the neighboring church sues), another proposed facility appears on the horizon.  

A Norcross development company will seek approval to build a waste transfer station next to Gwinnett County’s planned recycling complex on Cedars Road near Lawrenceville.

A subsidiary of the Inland Group wants to build the center on 3.8 acres of land that’s currently occupied in part by Southern Flooring & Interiors, a flooring showroom and warehouse, said Inland owner Eric Johansen.

I am not sure of the exact location of the property in question, but Cedars Rd. east of the Briscoe Field is not heavily developed and I am not aware of any residences in the area.  Near an airport should be a good location for a business that is not going to very desirable in most locations.  However, we will have to see what opposition may arise.