A WORD FROM THE PRESIDENT:

Happy New Year to all of Corinth Hills. It has already proven to be an eventful 2008. News and updates are below. First, welcome to our very first online newsletter. Our plan is to have new information and updates with this online version of the newsletter around every 6 to 8 weeks. Please keep checking back to see what is going on in and around Corinth Hills. Also, please let your friends and neighbors know about our website and online newsletters. Our website is now new and improved. Everyone can visit our website at www.corinthhills.org. I sincerely hope you find this online version and our website informative and helpful. If you have any comments, suggestions, or questions please do not hesitate to contact myself or one of your CHHA board members. Board member contact information is as follows:

President - Frances D. Smith - franal@usa.com
1st VP - Jim Kwater - jimkwater@bellsouth.net
2nd VP - Marty Weingarten - mweingarten@earthlink.net
Secretary - Jane Wright - newfolk@bellsouth.net
Treasurer - Vacant

Last but definitely not least, I am honored more than any of you can ever know that you have allowed me to serve you for 10 years. I have said many times and it is very true. The closest thing to my heart is my daughter but Corinth Hills is a very close second. Thank you again for the honor and the trust you have placed in myself and this board. I never take that for granted. Your board is here to serve you, please do not hesitate to contact us anytime. Sincerely,

Frances D. Smith
President

We separated the newsletter into several categories, starting close to home and working outward. Some if the information you may already know, some may clarify what you have heard, and some may be new to you. In any case, our intent is to keep you up to date regarding the happenings in and around Corinth Hills. If you have any questions, just send us an email and we will address your question as quickly and efficiently as possible or in the next newsletter.

News From Around the Neighborhood

· Congratulations to Mac and Sandy Quillian of 5224 Corinth Drive for being selected CHHA’s Holiday Yard of the Month in December. As customary, the Quillian family received a $25.00 gift card from Wal-Mart. For the rest of us, there is plenty of time to get ready for next year.

· Regarding 1722 Pounds Road, please look for a future e-mail on this incident and updates we may have at that time.

· Brian Allen, Director of Gwinnett County Department of Transportation, and his staff recently completed the study of the Pounds Road corridor requested by the CHHA Board. Immediate improvements include the installation of two new caution lights, placement of larger stop signs, and new street markings. These changes will be monitored, and other traffic “calming” alternatives will be investigated in the near future. Watch for updates on this one.

· Closely related - Debbie Allred, principal of Mountain Park Elementary School, spoke with Commissioner Mike Beaudreau about the Pounds Road study. Mrs. Allred shares many of our concerns, hers specifically relate to the intersection of Brownlee and Pounds. Commissioner Beaudreau asked Brian Allen to include this intersection in his studies.

· The CHHA Board has one vacancy - Treasurer. This is a good opportunity for someone to step in and participate, first hand, in the development of our community. Do not let the title fool you - an accounting background is not needed. If you can balance a checkbook, you can do this job. Please contact any of the current Board members if you are interested.

· On a sad note, Mr. Perry Underwood of 5273 Corinth Drive passed away in December. Mr. Underwood was a long time resident of Corinth Hills and a faithful supporter of CHHA. Mr. Underwood also served two tours of duty in World War II. He will be greatly missed.

News From Around the Park Place Community

· Park Place Community Association (PPCA) is growing. PPCA is a non-profit organization whose purpose is to bring the community together, and to represent the best interests of businesses, residents, churches, homeowner associations and other institutions in our corner of Gwinnett County. PPCA strives to promote a “sense of place” where we can live, work, and play, and enjoy a high quality of life. If you have not registered, please visit www.parkplaceca.org and do so. This website is not yet ready for prime time, but registrations give the Board a sense of interest and when it is ready, you will be the first to know.

· Evermore, the Hwy 78 CID, recently informed the PPCA that decorative mast arms and illuminated street signs will be installed at the intersection of Rockbridge Road and East Park

· Frances Smith, President of PPCA, is working closely with Commissioner Mike Beaudreau to identify other issues and concerns for future study. Please contact Frances if you have any suggestions, questions or ideas.

· Emory Morseberger and others are trying to rezone land near Highpoint to create a more mixed-use development.

· Watch for landscaping on Hwy 78 at the Gwinnett and Dekalb County line early in the first quarter of 2008.

· The owner of the old Cub Foods property is still searching for the right development opportunity.

· Kroger continues to hold the lease on the building they left at East Park Place, and now uses the building for storage. PPCA has meetings scheduled with key people to talk about their long-term intentions and revitalization of this area.

· The building next to Applebee’s on Hwy78 is now an O’Reilly’s Auto Supply.

· Fred’s Department Store is now open for business in the space next to Dollar Tree. Pedal Power, the bicycle shop, previously occupied that space.

· A major internet gaming company, White Wolf Publishing, has relocated to Park Place, bringing about 70 and later 140 well paying jobs.

· Please patronize the restaurants and all the businesses along Hwy 78. Because of the construction, some businesses expect a significant drop in business - up to 50%. Our patience and continued patronage will help everyone in the long run.

News From Evermore (Hwy 78 CID)

· The CID garnered $260,000 in SPLOST funds set aside for the construction of pedestrian sidewalks along West Park Place, East Park Place, Bermuda Road and Rockbridge Road. The construction will begin in February with completion set for April of 2008. The purpose is to make it possible to walk safely around the area, and connect shopping centers with residential areas.

· Installation of underground utilities along East Park Place, near Best Buy, required removing some of the trees; this area will be re-landscaped when construction is complete. The cleared area around the Cub Foods vacant building is being used as a staging area to store, load, and haul away construction debris.

· Construction along Hwy 78 from East Park Place to Hwy 124 focuses on replacing all overhead utilities with underground services. Attractive mast arm extensions displaying the Evermore leaf logo will suspend the new traffic signals. The construction critical path divides construction into four zones over the seven-mile stretch, and construction must be complete by November of 2009. Otherwise, the contractor faces significant penalties.

From Around the County

· The Gwinnet County Board of Commissioners approved the PPCA study, conducted early this year, for use in the re-development of the area. This study will now go to the Atlanta Regional Commission’s Livable Centers Initiative. This will help financially with re-development of the area.

· Frances is working closely with Commissioner Beaudreau and the Gwinnett Delegation of the Georgia legislature on a Rental Property Plan. This plan will require all owners of rental property to register with the county, and make it easier to identify property owners to resolve code violation issues.

· The county commissioners are affecting garbage pickup that should be in place in 2009. Major changes include creating pickup zones and restricting competition in each zone, requiring mandatory pickup service for every address, and making recycling mandatory. Fewer operators will reduce the number of trucks on the roads, reduce the number of days that garbage sits on the streets, and create efficiencies in pickup and recycling. Currently there are 40,000 addresses without pickup service.

· Commissioner Beaudreau reports that the dedication of officers to enforce code violations, property maintenance, animal control, or vehicles has had the unexpected added benefit of netting the county several thousand arrests for misdemeanors and felonies. They had to arm the officers due to the nature of the arrests being made. They have found that many of the violators have other criminal activity going on in the house, or elsewhere in the neighborhood, unrelated to the house with the code violator or violation. The officers are finding criminal activity and making arrests. If you see a code violation please call 678-518-6032. Reports can now be made anonymously or with your address. To see what the codes actually are, go to www.municode.com and click on the state of GA, then Gwinnett County. A bar on the left lists the chapters in the codes. If any seem unavailable, it is usually because the Commissioners have updated them recently and they are taken off line for the changes. Or you can simply visit our website at: www.corinthhills.org.

· Debbie Allred, long time principal at Mountain Park Elementary, will retire on May 31, 2008. She has been an excellent community supporter and a great principal. This will be a definite loss for our school and our community. We hope her replacement will work with the community as well. We wish Mrs. Allred the best, congratulations for a job well done, and thank her for many years of faithful service to this community and to our children.

· Marty Weingarten asked the county to consider a safety issue at the intersection of Pounds and Rockbridge. Specifically, his suggestion was to place a sign on the Wal-Mart side that informs drivers leaving the Wal-Mart parking lot that oncoming traffic from Pounds has a left turn arrow. Marty was told that it wasn’t necessary and that they didn’t have an appropriate sign. Expect to re-visit this with future traffic studies.

· The county also did not entertain Marty’s suggestion to place a “Welcome to Gwinnett County” sign at the county line on Pounds Road - similar to the one that used to be there. Marty was told they did not have such a sign.

· Notice the new shrubs planted around the drainage pond across from the library.

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