Officials from Hall County and a number of cities met Monday in Flowery Branch to give updates on projects and developments in a joint municipality meeting.
The meeting began with an update on Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax VII, which county Financial Assets Manager Tim Sims said has been drawing in more money than expected over the last three years. He said the tax has brought in 6.2 percent more funds so far in 2018 than projected, and 4.41 percent more than projected since it began in 2015.
Hall County Administrator Jock Connell spoke after the presentation, thanking the cities for their support of the SPLOST.
"One of the things that we want to make sure that we do is to...is that we as the county work with all the cities in the county to make sure we do everything we possibly can to set the stage for SPLOST VIII," Connell said.
After the SPLOST presentation, representatives from each city took turns talking about new developments happening in their areas.
Braselton Town Councilman Tony Funari said the town is working on three roundabouts, including one on State Route 211 at the entrance to Chateau Elan. He also said the town is also looking to build a new parking garage and is expecting three or more hotels to move in soon.
Flowery Branch City Councilman Joe Anglin said the city is grappling with heavy residential growth, saying that officials are expecting as many as 500 new homes to be built in the coming year within five miles of the downtown area.
Both Flowery Branch and Gainesville said they are working to build new trails, with Gainesville Mayor Danny Dunigan saying that officials are looking to build trails that will connect with existing trails along Atlanta Highway that were built by Hall County. Dunigan also said officials are planning to shut down Main Street for over a month starting on September 24 for work on the downtown parking deck.
The municipalities will meet again on October 24 for their final meeting of the year. It was the first such meeting held in the new Flowery Branch City Hall. Anglin said that he was excited by the work going on across the area.
"It sounds like Hall County is just, all over the county from the north end to the south end, just seems like a place that people want to be," Anglin said.
