City Hall reopened to the public on May 4 and resumed in-person public meetings in June. I’d like to thank each of you for your patience with City administrative and municipal court staff while we worked to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 not only to staff, but also to our community.
On June 15, City Council approved a change order from Georgia Development Partners, which included asphalt repairs near the railroad tracks on Hickory Road, the replacement of a broken curb and gutter, and the resurfacing of Hickory Road from Holly Springs Parkway to the railroad tracks. By the time you read this, this work should be complete as well as the top coating of the roundabout.
The City posted a request for proposals for the Holly Springs Mixed-Use Site Work and Infrastructure Project, which includes site development for the new City Hall, the residential-over-retail component, as well as the city homes and townhome components of the Town Center Project. The notice to proceed is scheduled to be given to the chosen contractor this fall. This project is scheduled to take 15 months to complete once the notice to proceed is delivered. At that point, the Town Center Project site will be ready to go vertical.
As part of the 2020 Local Maintenance Improvement Grant (LMIG), the City repaired and repaved Hickory Springs Industrial Drive in April and, after receiving additional LMIG funds in May, also began paving Morgan Road in June.
I’d like to congratulate City Manager Robert H. Logan and the Finance Department staff for once again receiving the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting for the 2018 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR). The City has received this award from the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) each year since 2012. All past years’ CAFRs are on the City’s website, and you can view the 2018 CAFR at HollySpringsGa.us/fy18audit. The City’s CAFR for the year ending 2019 was completed in June and submitted to the GFOA for review.
During the peak of Gov. Brian Kemp’s shelter-in-place order, City Council took action to temporarily allow restaurants that held a retail consumption on premises alcohol license to sell beer and wine by the package for to-go orders. During the May 21 meeting, the Council voted to make that a permanent change to the City’s alcohol ordinance.
Congratulations to Chief Michael Carswell and the men and women of the Holly Springs Police Department for Holly Springs’ inclusion (again) in SafeWise.com’s annual listing of safest cities in Georgia. Jumping eight spots from 2019, Holly Springs was named the 6th Safest City in the state. SafeWise.com ranks cities based on population thresholds and data from the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting Program. When you see our police officers out and about, please join me in thanking them for their service to our community.
to your business!