Flowery Branch city officials are getting set to move into the new city hall that is wrapping up construction in the city's downtown.
City Manager Bill Andrew said at the city council's Thursday meeting that officials are hoping to hold a municipal court on February 13 and normal city operations will start being held in the building from that point on.
"And we'll be having a council retreat on February 17, so we're putting the building right to work," Andrew said.
The more-than $5 million project was approved in a split vote in April of 2016. The building sits one block north of the current city hall between Railroad Avenue and Chestnut Street.
Andrew said he was happy with how the construction process went.
"Construction projects, really, of this magnitude in the sense that we're doing both a stormwater project, a city hall and actually construction of a road, are very complicated. It's gone very well," Andrew said.
The project required a stormwater overhaul of the surrounding area and major work on West Chestnut Street. Andrew said he's excited about what the building could offer the city.
"It's certainly an improvement over the facilities we have now in the sense that the building we have now doesn't really accommodate the public very well," Andrew said. "So we're really excited about being able to accommodate the needs of the public."
Andrew told the city council that officials are hoping to hold an open-house-style event sometime before the first official council meeting in the building.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2018/1/627389/new-flowery-branch-city-hall-ready-for-opening