Thanks for a Wonderful Memorial Day 2011

To all the organizers, volunteers, participants, and observers who made the 2011 Dacula Memorial Day events possible, a great big thank you.!

Dacula remembers:

• The sacrifices of those who have given their lives for our freedom
• The sacrifices of the families
• The service of those currently serving in harms way
• The families of those men and women in military service today

From a resident's perspective, thanks you very much. From the mayor's view, you made Dacula proud in the way you celebrated this time of remembering.

Sunday Alcohol Sales

The City Council will be hearing about Sunday alcohol sales in Dacula. Two proposals will be considered for a vote by the people. One deals with retail sale of beer and wine in grocery/convenience stores from 12:30 PM to 11:30 PM on Sundays. The other will deal with by the drink sales on Sundays from 12:30 PM to 11:30 PM in restaurants and eating establishments.

Both proposals, if authorized, would be presented as referenda on the November 8, 2011 general municipal election.

What do you think? Please take just a second to respond to the attached survey.

Click here to take survey

18th Annual Memorial Day in Dacula

Memorial Day begins early next Monday in historic downtown Dacula . For us in 2011, this day is a time to remember those who have died in military service for us. We are reminded that freedom is not free. We remember!

Please join us all day in Dacula for our celebration of those who serve and those who died in military service. Admission is free. Eats are sweet. Visit with your neighbors. Show we remember and love our land.

· Fun run and 5K race- starts at 8 AM

· Memorial Day Parade – starts at 10 AM

· Dacula Festival: 9 AM to 5 PM

See the memorial day website for additional information from the promoters.

Dacula: A treasure in time...on track for tomorrow.

Memorial Day 2011

May 30, 2011 will be here before you know it. And so will Dacula’s Annual Memorial Day Celebration. During Memorial Day, we celebrate the lives of those Americans who have died in military service for our country. They have made the supreme sacrifice for us, and we take the time to honor their service and sacrifice.

Additionally, we remember all those who have served and who continue to serve the nation in war and peace. Memorial Day is a day of remembrance.

For 2011, we will have a 5K race, a parade, get a look at the Memorial Day pageant winners, and a festival. By the way, if you want to be sure to get a race tshirt you must register before May 16, 2011 with Carol Higgins at the Memorial Day web site.

The 5K race will commence about 8AM and conclude prior to 10AM. The parade will begin at Hebron Church parking lot at 10 AM and travel down Dacula Road to Second Avenue. It will end at Dacula High School. And the festival in Historic Downtown will continue from 9 AM to about 5 PM. The Memorial Day Pageant will be held on April 30, 2011 at the Hamilton Mill Lakeview Clubhouse, 1669 Hamilton Mill Parkway, Dacula, GA 30019.

Several things have changed in Dacula from the 2010 Memorial Day to 2011 Memorial Day. The events of the day have become larger and longer. Historic Downtown is under change. The area near where the parade starts has changed with the opening of the Kroger store, and changes are coming to Hebron’s Fence Road parking lot. The City is working with the promoters of the festivities in hopes of improving the flow of the parade and the attendance at the festival activities, while at the same time providing access for public safety vehicles during the festivities.

In order for the parade and other festivities to occur, several streets will be closed on an as needed basis, so you should take note of these for your traffic convenience and planning. Drivers should be aware that 5K entrants will be sharing the streets in Dacula from around 8 AM to about 10 AM. Please drive carefully.

During the parade the following streets will be closed to vehicular traffic from about 10 AM to about 11:15 AM:

Wilson Street at Dacula Road

Auburn Avenue at Dacula Road

Hinton Circle at Dacula Road

Dacula Road at Second Avenue and Winder Highway

Wilson Street at Second Avenue

Broad Street at Second Avenue and Winder Highway

Second Avenue from Dacula Road to Broad Street during the Festival (9 AM to 5 PM)

Please note the traffic control devices and police officers at these intersections. Drive carefully and respect business owner property.

Join with us in celebrating Memorial Day 2011. I hope you enjoy the day in Dacula.

Eminent Domain

A short while ago, the City contemplated taking a small piece of property in the historic downtown for public use as part of an urban downtown park.

In dealing with eminent domain matters, the City proceeds using the Landowners Notice of Rights as mandated in State Law. The Landowners Notice requires making reasonable efforts to negotiate the purchase of the property, thus avoiding the use of eminent domain. The City offered to accept a donation, to lease the property for 99 years or to have an easement for the property. The owner declined all offers. The Notice also lays out the legal methods and steps that need to be taken to protect the property owner’s rights, and when all else fails to take the property through the power of eminent domain.

No matter how carefully or diplomatically a government proceeds, no one likes to be told the government needs property, perhaps owned by the family for generations, for public use. It should be noted that there is no “critical need test” in the law before eminent domain can be used. The only test is that the taking is for a public use. Emotions and rhetoric often run high in such cases. Pejorative terms such as “stealing”, “taking without a real need”, “sinful” and “immoral” tend to pepper the discussions surrounding eminent domain. Those terms are used by opponents of the action, when they have no legal grounds to object, to tar the individuals and inflame the public against those who must make the decision. Using of the power of eminent domain will always be a distasteful action.

The actual words eminent domain came to us through English common law probably from the Dutch around the 1600’s. The idea has been around as long as governments have existed. It is from the term dominium emines which means supreme lordship in Latin. The term “condemnation” is used to describe the formal act of the exercise of the power of eminent domain to transfer title to property from its private owner to the government. The United States, the State of Georgia, Gwinnett County, Gwinnett Board of Education, and the City of Dacula are empowered to use eminent domain for certain purposes. Several quasi-governmental bodies may also use the power of eminent domain to acquire property title including railroads, utility companies, even individuals who need access to their land-locked property. Just compensation must be paid to the owner for the property so acquired.

American courts have held that the proper measure of “just compensation” is “fair market value”. The City of Dacula determines “fair market value” by having an independent, outside appraiser determine the value. In an eminent domain case, the property owner is given the opportunity of meeting with the appraiser to help determine “fair market value”. In our case, the owner declined to even discuss this issue.

Following the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Kelso v. City of New London, 545 U.S. 469(2005), Georgia refined the eminent domain law. The City of Dacula follows state law in eminent domain matters.(By the way, the U.S. Supreme Court found in favor of the City of New London in the matter and upheld the use of the power of eminent domain.)

Article VII, General Provisions of the City of Dacula Charter from the General Assembly empowers the City to use the power of eminent domain. In Section 7.10, the Council is empowered to acquire, construct, operate, and maintain public ways, parks, public grounds, … (and a lot of other items including correctional facilities and the like), and, for such purposes, property may be taken under the Georgia Code, as amended.

When no agreement on “fair market value” of private property can be reached between the City and a property owner, the Council must consider condemning the property in question. Following the official act of condemnation, the matter will be heard in court by a “Special Master”. The Special Master will determine what the fair market value is, that amount of money will be deposited with the court, and title to the property will pass to the City.

The power of eminent domain is ensconced in English common law, in the U. S. Constitution, the Georgia Constitution, state law, and the Dacula Charter.

In the recent matter before the Council, the resolution to use the power of eminent domain was defeated on a 3-2 decision with the Mayor casting the deciding vote. Because the Council was evenly divided on the exercise of the power, I thought it best to defeat it. In most cases, the City has been able to negotiate and most often reach a settlement for property that the city needs. And it should be noted that residents and even past and present Council member have themselves donated property for public purposes when needed.

Is there a place for the City’s use of the power of eminent domain? Is taking someone’s private property for public use immoral? It is perfectly legal. Without eminent domain, we might have higher priced electricity and telephone service or not be able to get from one place to another or transport goods on a railroad. Members of your family might have used eminent domain to clear a cloudy title to a piece of family property or to gain access to land-locked property you might own.

In debating eminent domain, one should consider that the Dacula property in question was probably obtained (though I don’t know for sure and I doubt that any records could be easily found) by the railroad’s power of eminent domain, as the City was originally laid out by the railroad. Much of Walton County (in what is now Gwinnett County) was obtained by treaty from the Indians shortly after the War of 1812 with part of the US Army on site to make sure the treaty was executed. And much of the territory in Georgia was obtained by the forced removal of the Indian tribes that occupied the land during the 1830s and 1840s. Remember, the property you live on and own might have been occupied by a people who had a different idea about property and its use.

While some may consider the use of eminent domain “sinful”, I consider it sometimes “needful.” When you flip you electric switch or turn up you heat, drive on our streets and roads or when you walk in a government owned park, ask yourself would I be able to do this if the power of eminent domain did not exist?

I leave you to determine what you think.

Transportation Investment Act of 2010

The Transportation Investment Act of 2010 was passed into state law in June of 2010. It places the transportation future of Georgia into the hands of the voters by providing for the establishment of 12 regional roundtables. Dacula and Gwinnett County fall into the Atlanta Regional Roundtable along with the other 10 metro Georgia Counties and their cities.

The law provides for a roundtable made up of the county commission chairman and a mayor from each of the counties located in the region. For the Atlanta roundtable the mayor of Atlanta is also included. The Atlanta Roundtable consists of 21 members. From an unconstrained list of projects that meet certain criteria, a final list for each of the 12 roundtables will be chosen. When the referendum which will be held in the summer of 2012 is held, the voters of each regional roundtable will be voting to approve the 1% sales tax which will fund the projects of each region.

Soon, you will be seeing the unconstrained (read all the projects that meet the criteria) project list for Gwinnett and her cities. As you can imagine, not all projects on the unconstrained list will make the cut to the final list.

The 1% sales tax over a ten year period is expected to keep about $7 billion dollars in the Atlanta region. Fifteen percent of the money is devoted directly to cities and counties in the Atlanta region, with the remainder to be used for projects with regional impact.

The law provides for an aggressive time line. The final project list is due to each roundtable by October 15, 2011.

For additional information please see the Atlanta Regional Commission’s website for the Transportation Investment Act.

Congratulations to our new Commission Chairman

Congratulations to Charlotte Nash, our new Chairman, Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners!