Team Efforts Pay off for Flowery Branch

Published:  11-09-2007

There are two teams in Flowery Branch - the team that plays on Sundays in the Georgia Dome and the team that works every day in city hall. The city hall team, though, appears to be having a better season than the Falcons, who practice in this north Georgia city.

Mayor Diane Hirling, who first worked as city clerk before running for mayor two years ago, said the team Flowery Branch now has in place is making a big difference for this growing city.

According to the last Census, the city was home to 1,802 residents. Since then, the population has grown to approximately 4,500 and, based on building permits issued, it's estimated that the city will be at 10,000 by 2010.

"That's a big jump," said Hirling. "We got the rooftops in and now businesses are coming. I truly believe it's the turn of the council that did it; we went from no-growth to planned growth. I think council had a lot to do with it."

As city clerk, Hirling was often frustrated by a council that didn't want to accept or accommodate the growth coming to north Georgia. Now, though, a new council has ushered in a new era for the city.

"It's really a team that's working together to make it successful," she said. The team includes a new city administrator and city planner who can help the council make planning decisions.

Among the city's successes are adding a 500,000-square-foot retail center, voter approval of a Tax Allocation District (TAD), receiving a streetscape grant from the Department of Community Affairs (DCA) and another grant to benefit community housing.

The boundaries for the new TAD have not yet been determined, but the mayor said she anticipates that the downtown will be included in the TAD. The city's streetscape for downtown includes new brick sidewalks, underground utilities and historic lighting. The renovated historic depot is a focal point of the downtown.

In addition, a developer has bought several blocks of downtown and is planning on renovating the area into a mixed use area, with shops, offices and downtown living spaces.

"That's going to change downtown completely," Hirling said. She noted that downtown living has become a popular option. "It used to be that everyone wanted to live out in the country, but now more and more people want to live downtown. They want to be in the middle of everything."

The downtown is not the only area of the city that's changing. With the growth of the area comes the need to expand sewer capacity, and Hirling said the TAD will help with that project.

Flowery Branch doesn't have to go too far to see what they want the future to be: Suwanee, home of the Falcons training camp until the team moved to Flowery Branch, serves as an inspiration to Flowery Branch's leaders. "We look to Suwannee as example," said Hirling. "We're taking their lead."

With all the changes in Flowery Branch, the mayor said the city takes great care to provide basic services to residents and to be careful stewards of taxpayer dollars. "I think people are starting to see the benefits of the growth," she said. "They're seeing that what we're doing for the city is good for the city as a whole. We also focus on making sure we get the little things right." She pointed to new trash cans the city recently issued to residents at no additional cost. "Things are getting done that people had been complaining about."

Seeing the changes and progress the city is making is heartening for the former city clerk. "This is why I ran," she said. "I'm loving it. I always said I wanted to volunteer for a good cause, and I guess this is it."

Source: http://www.gmanet.com/event_detail/default.asp?eventid=50542&menuid=GeorgiaCitiesNewspaperID