C I T Y   O F   F O R E S T   P A R K

 

TO:                          Mayor and Council

 

FROM:                    John Parker,  City Manager

 

DATE:                    April 16, 2007

 

SUBJECT:               INFORMATION BULLETIN  - MARCH, 2007

 

The following is a department by department status report of priority activities, projects and initiatives for the month of March,  2007.

 

DEPARTMENT OF POLICE SERVICES

 

TRIAD

Fifty-eight senior citizens attended the March Triad meeting which featured John Chafin from Christian’s Pharmacy. Mr. Chafin discussed prescription drugs and the possible interactions between them. Triad members had the opportunity to ask questions about their prescriptions and medications.

 

Apartment Managers Coalition

The regular meeting was held on March 22nd. Detective Kelvin Jackson discussed criminal activities in apartment complexes. Fire Marshall David Holcombe also attended and met with the managers.

 

COPS

Neighborhood Watch meetings were held for:

o       Burks Road, Burks Place, Tanglewood neighborhood.

o       Shortleaf Drive neighborhood

o       Dearing Street

o       Wingate Apartments

 

COPS Officers distributed flyers and met with citizens and business people in support of the March 8th Town Hall meeting. Officer Derell Whitehead attended the Town Hall session and discussed crime prevention. COPS Officers distributed crime prevention materials at the Easter Egg Hunt at Starr Park.

 

Citizens Police Academy

 

The twentieth session of the Citizens Police Academy began on Tuesday, March 20th with a tour of the police building and a welcome from Chief Hobbs. On March 27th the members of the class learned about the Community Oriented Policing Program, the School Resource Officer Program, and the department’s crime prevention efforts.

 

The tenth session of the Hispanic Citizens Police Academy will begin class on Thursday, April 5th. For information contact Officer Mayra Ambris at (404) 366-2232.

 

Administration

 

Lisa Presley was hired on March 14th as the Department’s Training Officer. Officer Presley is a certified law enforcement instructor with previous experience with the Morrow Police Department, and is a former United States Marine.

 

 

 

                                                                        Chief Dwayne Hobbs

                                                                        (404) 366-7280

 

 

DEPARTMENT OF RECREATION AND LEISURE SERVICES

WHAT’S HAPPENING

 

*          Youth Basketball – The season finished March 10, 2007.  A total of 24 games were played in March 2007. 

 

*          Adult Softball Registration – We have signed up a total of 24 adult teams for the Spring Softball season set to begin April 9, 2007.

 

*          Men Basketball Registration – We have a total of six (6) teams for our Spring basketball league.  The league is set to begin on April 11, 2007.     

 

*          T-Ball/Pee Wee – We have a total of eight (8) teams participating in this program with 96 children.  Season starts in April.

 

*          Spring Youth Soccer – We have a total of twenty (20) teams 242 children in our youth soccer program ages 4-12 years old.  Practices have started with the season set to open on April 14, 2007. 

 

*          Easter Egg Hunt/Safety Fest – Was held on Saturday, March 31, 2007 at Baker Field from 10am to 2pm.  We had approximately 100 kids to participate in the events which consisted of the Forest Park Fire/EMS Department’s safety house and the Police Department giving out safety information.  Also we had a coloring contest.  The Easter bunny made an appearance at the Egg Hunt.  Each participant was awarded a participation bag of candy.  There were 20 special awards given to the winner of the different contests.  Everyone had a great time.

 

*          Certified Pool Operator Course – This course was held in Macon on March 19, 29, 2007.  Tim Phelps, our Recreation Supervisor attended the two day course.  The CPO course is the standard that the Health Department and State required in order to maintain a public pool.  This course is sanctioned through the National Swimming Pool Foundation and the National Spa and Pool Institute.  The course is 16 hours.  The CPO program is an advanced state of the art educational training program for those persons managing and operating an aquatic facility.  We would like to congratulate Tim for successfully completing and passing the course.  Certification is good for five (5) years.

 

*          Gym/Weight Room/Exercise Room – The gym is open to the public 12noon-5:30pm Monday-Friday for basketball.  The weight room/exercise room is open Monday-Friday 9am-8pm, and Saturday 10am-4pm.  For the month of March we had 1,253 members use these facilities.

 

*          Wellness Programs

Water Aerobics – Monday & Wednesday 7pm-8pm

Yoga – Wednesday evenings 6:30pm-8pm

Water Exercise – Monday & Wednesday 1pm-2pm

Teen Weight Lifting – Tuesday & Thursday 5pm-6pm

Swim For Fun – Tuesday & Thursday 1:30-2:30pm – 55 & up

                                    Exercise/Weight Room – Monday-Friday 9am-8pm and

                                                                                    Saturday 10am-4pm

 

SENIOR ACTIVITIES

 

*          March was a busy month starting with the Red Hatters trip to the Nursing Home for Bingo then to lunch and with the seniors getting ready for the yard sale.

 

            We have stayed busy with these programs:

 

*          The Food Show was a great trip full of good food and samples for everyone to take home.  There were about 40 seniors that went to the two day show.  It is an annual show we look forward to.

 

*          The St. Patty’s Day Dinner was a surprise that so many come out.  We expected about 60 and 70 showed up.  Good thing we cooked extra.        

 

*          Our Soup and Cornbread Lunch was a busy day, but it was successful.  We did about 275 bowls of soup and I don’t know how many cakes were cut and sold.  We all enjoyed having it.

 

*          Bingo & Lunch, Breakfast is always a big day.  Everyone seems to enjoy those events.  Lunch is always a surprise and I think they enjoyed it being that way.

 

*          Our programs like knitting, exercise and shuffleboard, cards and the new dominoes are staying busy and growing all the time.

 

*          So March was a full month and the seniors are enjoying the center and everything we do here.   

 

UPCOMING EVENTS

 

*          April 5, 2007 – Easter Dinner @ Senior Center @ 5:30pm

 

*          April 7, 2007 – Community Wide Yard Sale 9am-2pm @ Recreation Center Parking Lot – Rain Date: April 14, 2007

 

            *          April 9, 2007 – Spring Adult Softball League Starts

 

            *          April 11, 2007 – Men Spring Basketball League Starts

 

*          April 14, 2007 – Opening Day Youth Soccer, T-Ball/Pee Wee

                                                Baseball

 

*          April 20, 2007 – TRIAD Meeting @ Senior Center @ 10am

 

 

Elaine Corley, Director

404-363-2908

DEPARTMENT OF PLANNING, BUILDING AND ZONING

BUILDING PLANS SUBMITTED

1.         4930 Governors Dr. Ste. 406                     Governors Terrace; Int. Finish

2.         4415 Jonesboro Rd.                                                Roadway Inn; New motel

3.         4568 Old Dixie Hwy.                                   Liberty Junction; Retail shop

4.         107 Forest Pkwy. Ste. 300             Pilkington;

Warehouse/Sprinkler system/Racking system

 

BUILDING PERMITS ISSUED

1.         4930 Governors Dr. Ste. 406         Int. finish; 1,521 sq. ft. JC $20,000

2.         4933 Jonesboro Rd.                                    Krystal; Handicap bathroom; 96 sq.

ft. JC $9,000

3.         107 Forest Pkwy. Ste. 300 Tenant finish; 9,000 sq. ft.; JC

$138.400

4.         4758 Puckett St.                              Swimming pool; 450 sq. ft. JC

$4,000

5.         4701 Jonesboro Rd.                                    Demo interior; JC $7,500

6.         4803 Tuong Yen Ct.                       New house; 1,337 sq. ft. JC $65,000

7.         4059 Jonesboro Rd.                                    Demo/remodel interior; 800 sq. ft.

JC $1,000

8.         513 Granade Dr.                              Storage bldg.; 96 sq. ft. JC $2,000

9.         5955 Spruce Ave.                            Carport enclosure; 252 sq. ft. JC

$3,000

10.       257 Forest Pkwy.                             Toyota South; Paint booths; 398 sq.

ft. JC $98,000

11.       132 Royal Dr. Ste. B                       New England Marine; Int. Remodel;

6,845 sq. ft. JC $2,000

 

 

CERTIFICATE OF OCCUPANCIES ISSUED

1.         All Tune & Lube                 4894 Jonesboro Rd. Ste. B            03/01/07

2.         NV Performance                 4660 Jonesboro Rd.                                    03/01/07

3.         Marjorie’s Beauty               908 Main St.                                     03/01/07

4.         Saigon Fast Food                4454 Jonesboro Rd.                                    03/05/07

5.         Rods Moving Service          519 Forest Pkwy. Ste. 200 03/08/07

6.         King’s Inter. Services         87 Royal Dr.                                     03/08/07

7.         Prophetical Word Church 713 A/B Forest Pkwy.                    03/08/07

8.         Barclay Coin Laundry       424 Forest Pkwy.                             03/09/07

9.         Pacific Atlantic Lines         29 Royal Dr. Ste. B                         03/14/07

10.       Amal Tires                            4340 Jonesboro Rd.                                    03/15/07

11.       Pkwy. Medical Clinic          406 Forest Pkwy. Ste. A                 03/19/07

12.       Welcome Pantry #3            4700 Jonesboro Rd. Ste. A            03/20/07

13.       Holcomb Realty of Ga.       530 Forest Pkwy. Ste. D                 03/20/07

14.       Centromex Grocery            977 Forest Pkwy.                             03/26/07

15.       V&P Oriental Market        5951-5957 Ash St.                           03/29/07

16.       Xcel Transportation           4953 Springdale Rd.                       03/29/07

 

AFFILIATE BOARD ACTIVITY

 

Architectural Design Review Board

The ADRB held a meeting on March 13th, 2007 at 7:30 p.m. in the conference room located in the Agnes B. Bateman Community Development Building, 785 Forest Pkwy., Forest Park, Ga. 30297.  At issue was a site plan review for the proposed Roadway Inn Motel located on Jonesboro Road at Alpine Way. After a review of the plans, Arnett Gray, Sr. made a motion to approve the plans once the letter for the tree donation had been received from the owner to the City. Charles Toombs seconded the motion. Voting on the motion was unanimous.  On March 15th, 2007 the City received the letter from Sam Patel, Rajashi, LLC.  The letter states [in part]:

 

“According to the City of Forest Park regulations the following landscape requirements are to be met: based on 18,314 sq. ft. of impervious surface area:

 

  • Specimen Trees (1 per every 2,000 sq. ft. impervious surface) = 9 specimen trees

 

  • Understory Trees (1 per every 2,000 sq. ft. impervious surface) = 9 specimen trees

 

  • Shrubs (1 per every 500 sq. ft. impervious surface) = 32 shrubs

 

Any trees and shrubs that cannot be planted on site due to site constraints will be donated to the city to plant elsewhere.”

 

 

                                                                        Steve Pearson, Director

                                                                        (404) 608-2300

 

 

 

DEPARTMENT OF ADMINISTRATION / FINANCE

 

Expenditures (preliminary totals) for the General Fund for the month of March are $1,590,162 or 9.73% of the budget.  Year-to-date preliminary expenditures for the General Fund are $11,520,444 or 70.47% of the budget (fiscal year July 2006 – June 2007). For comparison purposes, the period of July through March represents 75.00% of the budget year. Total expenditures for the General Fund remain under budget for the nine month period of July through March.

 

Local Option Sales Tax revenue received in March is $369,990 compared to $441,151 for March of the prior year. The monthly trend for the fiscal year has been increases over the prior year. This trend is expected to continue in April. The fiscal year-to-date total received is $4,011,089 or 78.65% of the budget. The percentage of the budget year through March is 75.00% of the year; therefore, revenue from Local Option Sales Tax remains slightly ahead of budget through March, even with the decrease for the month.

 

Business license payments for 2007 licenses were due by February 28. As of the end of March, $643,878 (101% of budget) of collections had been posted to the accounting system. Therefore, as of the end of March, the City has exceeded the budget amount for Business License revenue for the fiscal year.

 

Licenses for New Business for the month of March 2007:

 

            Name                                                             Description

 

N V Performance                                        Automotive Repair

All Tune and Lube                                     Automotive Repair

Marjorie’s Beauty Studio                          Beauty Salon

Saigon Fast Food                                        Vietnamese Fast Food

Rod’s Moving Service                                 Moving Household Goods

Xpressions of U                                            Hair Salon and Barber Shop

King’s Intermodal Service                        Trucking; Containers; Hauling

N.O.C Construction                                    Construction and Renovation

Atlanta RV                                                   Recreational Vehicle Sales and Service

Barclay Coin Laundry                               Coin Laundromat

Amal Tires                                                    New and Used Tires Sales and Service

Pacific Atlantic Lines                                 Freight Forwarding – Vehicles and other

Holcombe Realty of Georgia                     Real Estate Brokerage

North Georgia Produce                              Wholesale Produce

Centromex Grocery                                    Grocery Store

Chapman’s Garage                                     Automotive repair and tire changes

Stovall T-Shirts                                           Customized Printing on Apparel

 

 

Mike Blandenburg, Director

(404) 366-4720

 

 

DEPARTMENT OF FIRE/EMS

  • We are pleased to announce and welcome one new employee – FF/EMT Tony Sailors – who has begun his career with the Fire Department. FF/EMT Sailors has recently completed Paramedic class and is expected to be certified as such shortly.

 

  • Nine personnel from the Fire Department attended Georgia-Indiana State Weekend at the National Fire Academy in Emmitsburg, Maryland, home of the National Fallen Firefighters Memorial. Each participant attended a 16-hour class and enjoyed the opportunity of experiencing life at the National Academy – an excellent, first-class training facility. Those attending were: FF/EMT Richard Mahoney, FF/EMT Britt Holloway, Lt. Elan Elliott, Lt. Michelle Lemacks, Lt. Joel Turner, Capt. Barry Hopper, Capt. Major Oliver, Capt. Sam Batten and Chief Eddie Buckholts.

 

  • Four personnel from the Fire Department attended the Georgia Firefighter Weekend at the Georgia Fire Academy which concluded with the State Firefighters Memorial Service honoring the two line-of-duty deaths in Georgia for the previous year. 16 to 24 hour classes were held for participants over the weekend. Those in attendance were: Sgt. Tim Willey, FF/EMT Gene Harvey, FF/EMT Britt Holloway and Chief Eddie Buckholts. Forest Park also was assigned the Medical Sector utilizing our reserve Rescue Unit for this event.

 

  • 7 personnel from the Fire Department attended the class entitled “Life in the Fast Lane” at Henry County Fire Department sponsored by  Metro Association of Fire Chiefs. This was one in-depth class on protecting First Responder personnel when working on highway or other hazardous environment scenes. Those attending were: Lt. Chip Tyson, Lt. Elan Elliott, Capt. Sam Batten, Capt. Robert Brackett, Capt. Major Oliver, Major Matt Jackson and Major David Halcome.

 

  • Captain Batten and Major Jackson attended a CERT Train the Trainer Class. This will allow expansion of our current CERT Program.

 

  • The Fire Marshals Office attended a tenant meeting with Wingate Apartments on Fire Safety March 29th.

 

  • Forest Park Fire Department operated the Fire Safety House for the Easter Safety Festival in the park. Attending were: FF/EMT Jody Thompson, FAO  Mike Earles, Sgt. David Flagg, Lt. Chip Tyson and Capt. Sam Batten, with approximately 30 children going through the Fire Safety House.

 

  • Major Jackson and Sgt. Flagg attended the EMS Changes Conference in Augusta, Georgia to discuss upcoming changes to Georgia EMS.

 

Calls

  • 1 Industrial/ Utility           
  • 1 Highway Vehicle             
  • 2 Brush
  • 3 Dumpster

7 Total Fires             94 EMS (Engine)               

 

  • 12 False Alarms
  • 4 Mutual Aid Given
  • 4 HazMat Responses
  • 10 Hazardous Conditions
  • 22 Other
  • 286 EMS Calls

 

Total Calls - 439

 

                                                                  Chief Eddie Buckholts

                                                                  (404) 608-2382        

 

 

 

OFFICE OF THE CITY MANAGER

Sidewalks to Schools, Phase III and Transit Oriented Pedestrian Improvements Projects

The Right-of-Way plans have been submitted to GDOT for review and comment.

 

Livable Centers Initiative (LCI)-Main Street Streetscape Project

M. H. Biggers and Associates have completed work required for right-of-way cost estimates.  The cost estimates were submitted to GDOT for approval in February.  The City cannot move forward with this project until the approval of the cost estimates.

 

State Farmers Market Project

EDAW is coordinating with the City to final all plans for this project.

 

Community Development Block Grant Projects (CDBG)

Starr Park Improvements

The City received $71,600 for the construction of a new concession and restroom building.  The project is underway.

 

Fort Gillem

A public meeting was held March 29th to kick-off the second phase of the Fort Gillem project.  Additional public meetings planned are:  Draft Plan Presentation Thursday, April 26th from 3pm-6pm and 7pm-9pm at the Recreation Center.  The Final Plan Presentation will be held on Wednesday, May 23rd from 6pm-7pm in the City Council Chambers.

 

 

 

                                                                        John Parker, City Manager

                                                                        Angela Redding, Mgt. Analyst

                                                                        (404) 366-4720

 

 

 

DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS

 

Street Division:

          Street crews had a busy month with right-of-way clean-ups of debris in ditches, cutting bushes, and opening blocked storm drains.  Crews also filled a sinkhole and put in 10 feet of 48 inch piping at 1170 North Parkwood Drive.  A sinkhole was also filled at 512 Whitley Drive and a new catch basin was build.  The backhoe was used to clean the ditch line on Burks Road, West Street, Ernest Drive, Agnew Drive, and North Avenue.  The Recycling Center was cleaned up and preparations were made for the upcoming Clean Sweep.

 

Building Maintenance:

          Major projects for the Maintenance crews along with Street and Park crews have been the building of the concession stand in Starr Park.  The land was cleared of a large tree, water, sewer, and drain lines were ran.  Inner and outer slabs were framed and poured.  Building was framed with block walls, rafter was installed and metal beams casing was began. Other projects completed by Building Maintenance crews included work orders for all buildings and departments.

 

 

Parks Division:

          Parks crews were maintaining park areas and right-of ways along with their regular daily duties of Recreation and Leisure set-ups revolving around the recreation facilities and Senior Building activities.  Park crews removed all football equipment from ball fields and lines off and prepared fields for the upcoming baseball season. All city building flower bed areas were weeded and sprayed. Setup was done for the City-wide Yard Sale. 

                                               

 

                                                                        Mike Gippert, Director

                                                                        (404) 608-2310