Th
e Year 2016 was full of challenges and success stories for the City of Fayetteville, and 2017 is already shaping up to be an important one in the history of our community.
Mayor Ed Johnson will highlight those accomplishments and share Fayetteville's future goals in his first-ever State of the City address, which will be delivered at the Thursday, Jan. 19 Fayetteville City Council meeting in the City Hall council chambers. The address will be part of the regular city council business meeting, which is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m.
If you are unable to attend, be sure to visit
www.fayetteville-ga.gov afterwards to watch a video of the mayor's address.
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SPLOST vote set for March 21
Fayette County voters will vote March 21 on a one-cent SPLOST (special purpose local option sales tax), the proceeds of which will be invested in capital projects throughout the county. The City of Fayetteville's portion of SPLOST funds, estimated at about $25 million over six years, will be designated toward a dozen projects, which are outlined here.
Click here to see complete details on all of Fayetteville's SPLOST projects.
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Enjoy The Ridge Nature Area in Fayetteville
The Ridge Nature Area, located at the end of Burch Road on the west side of Fayetteville, is officially open, and the city is excited about this wonderful nature park. The Ridge is a City of Fayetteville public greenspace project that has been a number of years in the making. The city engaged Southern Conservation Trust (SCT) to develop and manage the area through a park management agreement.
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Easterbrook Way to open Jan. 10
The Hood Avenue and Hwy. 92 realignment project has been a huge success, and on Tuesday, Jan. 10, the City of Fayetteville will officially open Easterbrook Way, which connects the new highway intersection to the new North Jeff Davis intersection. Easterbrook Way was named in honor of the late City Engineer Don Easterbrook, who was instrumental in getting the realignment project under way many years ago. The ceremony is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. at Easterbrook Way between Michael's and the newly re-opened Dairy Queen.
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Fayetteville's Comprehensive Plan gets a makeover
The City of Fayetteville is updating its Comprehensive Plan. A Comprehensive Plan is a high-level policy guide for the physical growth, development and redevelopment of the city over the next 20 years. The overall goal of the plan is to accommodate growth in a timely, orderly, and efficient arrangement of land uses, public facilities, infrastructure, and services that meet the needs of the present and future residents and businesses.
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New and improved city website in the works
A new City of Fayetteville website is the centerpiece of a branding project aimed at better serving residents and doubling as an economic development tool.
After locally-based Garner Economics, LLC performed an economic development program assessment in early 2016, the city's mayor and council members were urged to consider several new economic development strategies, not least being the overhaul of the city's website and improved use of social media platforms. Garner Economics founder Jay Garner noted that many surrounding municipalities are doing well in serving and promoting their communities online, and he urged Fayetteville to put more effort toward doing the same.
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Growth predicted by Downtown Market Analysis
As part of the ongoing downtown master planning process, the City engaged the services of Noell Consulting Group to conduct an independent assessment of the greater Fayetteville area market, with a specific focus on the downtown and its immediate surroundings. From this assessment, the study seeks to identify the most appropriate development program for downtown Fayetteville; one that maximizes potential market appeal and creates long-term value.
The results of the study are now completed and published for citizen review.
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City implements new financial software
The City of Fayetteville purchased new financial software in Dec. 2015 with the lofty goal of going live with it in just eight short months. A normal timeframe would have been a year to 18 months. That goal was based on a fiscal year beginning every Aug. 1.
Mission accomplished. The city went live with the software Aug. 1, first with the financial module and the occupational tax (or "business license") modules.
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Plenty of parking in Downtown Fayetteville
Whether you're craving a calzone from Oz Pizza, hankerin' for half-pound fajitas at Twisted Taco or even if you're longing for a locket from Town Square Jewelers, we're glad you're thinking about Fayetteville's Historic Courthouse Square, and there will be plenty of available parking when you get here.
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This Is It! and Dairy Queen open and reopen in Fayetteville
Many locals were relieved after the Fayetteville Dairy Queen was demolished to see it being rebuilt in its original location along Hwy. 85 at the corner of the newly-built Easterbrook Way. The new building took on the form of Dairy Queen's new Grill & Chill model, which has been successfully rolled out in other towns across the country. The new store opened Monday morning, Jan. 2.
Just next door, This Is It! Barbecue and Seafood opened its brand-new store on the former Mrs. Winner's Chicken & Biscuits site. This Is It! opened Wednesday, Dec. 28.
Both restaurants are expected to have grand opening ceremonies in the near future.
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City leaders gain insights from Strategic Leadership road trip
Fayetteville's Mayor Ed Johnson and City Manager Ray Gibson joined 44 other community leaders Oct. 22-25 on a Fayette County Chamber of Commerce strategic leadership road trip, which took them to Greenville and York County in South Carolina and back in state to Gwinnett County to learn new ideas and best practices in economic and community development.
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Fayette Chamber celebrates 50th Anniversary
The City of Fayetteville joins a chorus of others in wishing the Fayette County Chamber of Commerce well on its 50th anniversary, which will be officially celebrated on Saturday, Jan. 14, at a black tie-optional gala.
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