The much-debated new city hall building in Flowery Branch is starting to show progress, and city officials say they should be ready to move in by the end of the calendar year.
Flowery Branch City Manager Bill Andrew said the building is expected to be finished by this fall or winter, which would have it right at the city's expected opening. He said the only thing slowing down the construction at all has been 2017's wet weather.
"A lot of rain," Andrew said. "Seems like they've had 12 or 14 rain days every month. Almost half of (June) basically has been rain."
The work got started later than expected after dirt the city had planned to use to lay the building's foundation did not meet compaction standards and the city had to find dirt from a nearby quarry. Andrew said once construction got started, however, it has moved along smoothly.
Right now steel beams can be seen framing the work on the previously vacant lot along Railroad Avenue. Andrew said construction crews believe they'll be able to move quicker once the building has been framed and bricked on the outside. He said once the building is finished, city officials will begin moving in and holding public meetings in it as soon as possible.
"I don't know an exact percentage number (of how complete the construction is), but we're still aiming for late this fall or winter," Andrew said.
The new building was not approved unanimously or without lengthy debate. The more than $5 million construction was given final approval in 2016 by just a 3-2 vote with some city council members feeling the project was too expensive.
The 18,000 square-foot building will house both city offices and the Flowery Branch Police Department.
