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SNELLVILLE – City officials welcomed new City Planner Genevieve Bigner earlier this month.

Bigner, who graduated with a Bachelor's degree in landscape architecture and a Master's degree in environmental planning and design from the University of Georgia, fills a void in the city's Department and Planning and Development after Jason Thompson was promoted to department director earlier this year.

"We are excited to welcome Genevieve to the City of Snellville team," Thompson said. "Her background will have her well prepared to help forge the city forward in its planning endeavors, more specifically the implementation and construction of the city's Towne Center Masterplan."

The New Orleans native worked with Archway Partnership and the Center for Community Design and Preservation during her time at UGA on various planning and design projects throughout the state. Through these organizations, she said she's had the opportunity to collaborate directly with community members to create spaces and facilitate positive change within their neighborhoods by providing high quality design work produced by faculty, staff and outside professionals.

Bigner's passion for city planning came at UGA during hearings for a proposed Walmart in Athens. She said it was fascinating to hear different points of view and how they could affect the city, positively or negatively.

"After that, I decided to pursue planning for my master's degree so I would have the skill to contribute valuable input at all stages of the design and development process by not only being able to identify issues and areas of potential growth at the larger scale but also provide viable and appropriate solutions at the smaller scale," she said. "I greatly look forward to becoming a part of the City of Snellville and doing my part to help the community grow and evolve in a way that further promotes the city's goals as a whole. In my short time here, I've heard nothing but great things and I'm excited to see everything Snellville has to offer."

SNELLVILLE – The basketball courts at T.W. Briscoe Park are now named after Amanda Riley, the 17-year old Brookwood High School teen who succumbed to cancer in April of 2010.

Riley, an avid basketball player and fan, captured the hearts of locals during her battle with the disease.

A dedication ceremony took place Monday at the courts off of Lenora Church Road, officially naming them, the Amanda Riley Basketball Courts.

"We will never be able to express how very much this means to us as there is no greater gift than one that helps keep our girl's memory alive. It is a great feeling knowing that long after we are gone, Amanda and her love of basketball will always be remembered," her mother Barbara Riley said in a Facebook post.

A monument surrounded with flowers reads, "She was only among us for a few years but left an everlasting impact on our lives. Basketball was her passion and some of her happiest times was when she was on the court playing the game she loved. Dedicated by the City of Snellville Mayor and Council November 14, 2016."

The Amanda Riley Foundation, a Snellville non-profit, was founded by Amanda's parents in her honor. The foundation has helped countless children with cancer.

Sept. 12 was named "Amanda Riley Day in Snellville."

For more information about the Amanda Riley Foundation, visit amandarileyfoundation.org.

SNELLVILLE – The city will honor those who served our country during a Veterans Day celebration Friday.

The event will take place from 6 to 8 p.m. on Oak Road in front of City Hall.

The Gwinnett Community Band will start playing at 6:15 p.m. Food trucks Mac the Cheese and Atlanta Burger will be on site selling food and beverages.

Mayor Tom Witts, a U.S. Navy Vietnam combat veteran, will be the master of ceremonies for the program.

The Button Gwinnett Militia will present and retire the colors and later fire muskets during a 21-gun salute. Witts will recite the "Gettysburg Address" and there will be a candlelight vigil during a performance of "Taps" by a Gwinnett Community Band bugler. Forever In Ministry will take the stage and sing "America the Beautiful" and the Gwinnett Community Band will play the "Armed Forces Salute."

Lighted balloons will be released during the grand finale balloon launch and will be for sale from 5 to 7 p.m. near the Veterans Memorial in front of City Hall. Car flags and United We Stand paper weights to benefit the Veterans Memorial will also be on sale.

The Button Gwinnett Chapter Militia will have a tent set up with a colonial display and information for children on how to make corn husk dolls and corn cob darts. The Veterans of Foreign Wars, Blue Rose Media, Army Navy Outfitters, Brookwood High School DECA selling Wounded Warrior Shirts will all be on site.

Upcoming Senior Center Events

Upcoming Parks and Recreation Events

SNELLVILLE – A standing room only crowd heard operational plans for the state's highway 78/124 intersection project and about a library and city market proposal for the Towne Center Wednesday.

Residents left the meeting with a better understanding of the future of the Georgia Department of Transportation intersection project. While right of way issues came up, city officials made clear it is the state, not the city, which is responsible for all property acquisition and the construction of the planned Divergent Left Turn intersection. Scott Shelton of Gresham, Smith and Partners, the lead engineer for the project, said actual construction could take two years to complete. Currently the state and landowners are in land acquisition talks and construction is slated to begin next summer.

Shelton's presentation, which concentrated on explaining how traffic would flow in the new design and the history of the project, can be found at http://www.snellville.org/Forums/Thread.aspx?pageid=95&t=7~1

Also at the meeting, city leaders announced their desire to move the Elizabeth H. Williams Library to a new facility in the city's planned Towne Center. The new library would be located in a more centralized and convenient location on Wisteria Drive near the Police Department and City Hall and be a real driver for the Towne Center.

The city has invested wisely in property for future development on Wisteria Drive, and Mayor Tom Witts, fellow councilmembers and city officials stated that they had begun a conversation with county officials regarding the potential of funding for the construction of the new library in the county's 2017 Special Local Option Sales Tax renewal if it is passed.

Plans for the library would be developed in a partnership with Gwinnett County much like the new Lilburn library. The city's vision also includes a connected City Market that would be home to retail market space, restaurants, bistros, outside dining and pedestrian space and patterned after ultra-successful market developments such as Krog Street Market and Sweet Auburn Curb Market which have revitalized their adjacent neighborhoods.

City officials also believe new construction should include open building space that would be available for uses from education to civic events.

City leaders hailed the proposals for the library and City Market as vital catalysts for moving Snellville's Towne Center Plan forward. The projects will serve as big steps and major anchors for the future Towne Center. The crowd in attendance agreed wholeheartedly through their positive comments and input.

Please see the Bid Page for more information.

SNELLVILLE – Residents will have a chance to learn more about the upcoming intersection improvements at highways 78 and 124 and the results of a survey regarding the Towne Center at a Town Hall Meeting Oct. 19.

The meeting will take place from 7-8:30 p.m. at Snellville United Methodist Church, 2428 East Main St.

Scott Shelton of Gresham, Smith and Partners, the design team tapped by the Georgia Department Transportation for the project, will be on hand to discuss how the intersection – known as a Displaced Left Turn – will function and why and how the change will improve traffic flow. Construction is expected to begin next year.

Attendees will also hear the results of a survey which asked residents and city officials to identify the architectural features and use guidelines in the new Towne Center that appeal to them most. The survey was compiled from input at visioning sessions led by the city Urban Redevelopment Agency, resident input collected at a May Town Hall meeting regarding the Towne Center and an online query.

The city is currently in the midst of a revamp of its downtown building regulations in preparation for the creation of a city center with walkable residential and commercial properties.

SNELLVILLE – The Mayor and Council approved funds to improve area streets and stormwater infrastructure Monday.

Ten city streets will get facelifts after the council approved $709,459.55 in Special Local Option Sales Tax and Local Maintenance and Improvement Grant monies for the annual streetscape improvement project.

The city streets that will be repaved are:

• Tree Brooke Court
• Tree Brooke Lane
• Savannah Bay Court
• Little Forest Court
• Flintrock Way
• Splitwood Drive
• Eastwood Drive
• Eastgate Drive
• Timber Lane
• Industrial Way

Through the Stormwater Management Program, the city's Public Works Department addresses stormwater maintenance needs in right of ways, ditches, detention ponds and easements which are vital to stormwater management.

Management of stormwater runoff has become an increasingly important responsibility for local governments. Recently enacted stormwater regulations, combined with aging drainage infrastructure, has resulted in local governments like Snellville developing and implementing more comprehensive stormwater management programs to achieve regulatory compliance and address recurring drainage problems.

More than $553,000 in city Stormwater Funds will take care of stormwater infrastructure maintenance near the following addresses:

• 1359-1367 Summit Chase Drive
• Summit Chase at bridge
• 1963 Masthaven Court
• 2275 Springdale Drive
• 2311-2322 Junes Court
• 2760 Holly Springs Drive - 1602 Stonegate Way

Both projects will be completed by the end of June 2017.

SNELLVILLE – The city's police department is hosting a drug take back event Oct. 22.

In recent years, the event has netted nearly a ton of unwanted or expired prescription drugs.

This year's event will take place from 10 a.m.to 2 p.m., Oct. 22 at the Snellville Police Department, 2315 Wisteria Drive.

Residents can pull up to a tent and have medical students and police take the drugs.

More than 430 pounds of prescription medication was dropped off at the last drug take back event in May, a record for the program.

The event is a partnership between the SPD and the Drug Enforcement Agency National Take Back Initiative and ensures that powerful pain medications and other prescriptions are properly disposed of. Disposing of this medication properly thwarts the opportunity of abuse and improper disposal.