Money magazine has let the whole country in on theCity of Suwanee’s not-so-well-kept secret: Suwanee isa great place to call home! With the magazine’sAugust 2007 ranking of Suwanee as the 10th bestsmall city in America in which to live, our communityhas received affirmation for many of the things thatwe do right.

At the City of Suwanee, we’re proud of this nationalrecognition and of the many other accolades theCity has obtained over the past several years. Butmostly we’re gratified to serve a citizenry that isitself progressive, involved, and committed to continually enhancing the quality of life in Suwanee.

It is with respect that we report to that citizenry theCity’s accomplishments from our past fiscal year, July 1, 2006-June 30, 2007.

One of America’s best places to live!

“I wouldn't live anywhere else in the greaterAtlanta area. We don't get caught in trafficgoing to the grocery store, our kids have aton of parks and greenspace to play in, wehave one of the largest recreational soccerleagues in the country, and the whole townturns up all summer long to celebrate at TownCenter concerts and fund-raising events. Weare a community that is family-oriented, con-nected to our neighbors, and proud of wherewe live, work, and play.”

—Terri Hintz, 13-year Suwanee resident

City of Suwanee22000066--0077 AAnnnnuuaall RReeppoorrttCity of Suwanee

Here We Grow Again…A future Suwanee iconDesign of Suwanee’s new City Hall is nearly complete. BRPHof Marietta was selected through a design competition lastAugust to create the two-story, 23,600-square-foot facility.The new City Hall is being designed to meet LEED(Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) stan-dards. Construction is expected to begin later this year.

Restaurants added to Town Center menuThe first full-service restaurants opened at Suwanee TownCenter in January. The addition of Five Guys, Ippolito’s, andOlde Towne Tavern & Grille as well as the new businessesthat have opened their doors, has quickly made the areaaround Town Center Park a hub of activity that rivals thepopularity of Big Splash, the park’s interactive fountainthat has been operational for a little more than a year.

A great place to live, tooBusinesses weren’t the only ones to put out new welcomemats at Town Center. The first residents at Madison Park at Town Center set up house in February.

A lot more mixed use in Suwanee’s futureOpus South Corporation received approval to create a largemulti-use project on a 148-acre tract along Lawrenceville-Suwanee Road from near Satellite Boulevard to I-85. Theproject will include approximately 1 million square feet inhotel, office, and commercial space as well as 480 residen-tial units.

What are others saying about Suwanee Town Center?

The buzz about Suwanee TownCenter isn’t just local. Sure, areacommunities working to create orre-create their downtowns fre-quently hold up Town Center astheir model. But communitiesaround the state and theSoutheast also are taken withSuwanee’s “front yard.”

Houston (County) Peach editor J.Randolph Murray wrote in arecent column: “…the developersof Suwanee Town Center Parkhave created an ideal gatheringplace for shoppers, diners, andwalkers. They also have created asense of community in what wasotherwise just another strip ofroadway that motorists passed byobliviously on their way to some-where else.”

In May, KnoxNews, the online sitefor the Knoxville News Sentinel,quoted Farragut CommissionerRon Honken as saying thatSuwanee’s Town Center is “as closeto [a] Shangri-La of a communityas I’ve ever seen.”

The City of Suwanee issued 299 new business licenses this year.

With 1,472 people moving into the City limits between 2005 and2006, according to U.S.Census estimates,Suwanee is the fastest-growing community inGwinnett County.

Fiscal FitnessSaving moneyIn December, Suwanee refinanced its voter-approvedgeneral obligation open space bonds, originally bor-rowed in 2002. This move will save the City more than$1 million over the next 24 years.

Making dollars & cents make senseSuwanee’s budget documentation for this year wasawarded the Government Finance Officers Association’sDistinguished Budget Presentation Award. In order toreceive this award, a government agency must satisfynationally recognized guidelines for effective budgetpresentation. In addition, Suwanee’s ComprehensiveAnnual Financial Report for 2005-06 received theCertificate of Achievement for Excellence in FinancialReporting from the Government Finance OfficersAssociation, an honor Suwanee has earned for thefourth consecutive year.

Keeping costs lowThe City obtained a $6.6 million low-cost loan late in2006 for construction of the new City Hall. Because theCity was able to keep loan costs down by issuing thebonds through its Urban Redevelopment Agency, noadditional taxes will be necessary to fund City Hall con-struction.

Changing of the GuardAlan Landers stepped down from his City Council post inMarch in order to move to another metro Atlanta county.Kevin McOmber was elected to fill the unexpired term in aJune special election.

In March, James Burnette, who served on City Council from1964-95, passed away at age 84.

Suwanee’s first city manager, Hardin Watkins, left in April totake the town manager position in Garner, North Carolina,home of his beloved Tarheels. Watkins guided the day-to-dayoperations of the City for nearly 10 years. A search forSuwanee’s new city manager is underway.

Mayor Nick Masino’s new “real” job as vice president for economic development with the GwinnettChamber of Commerce means that he will not run for re-election. Masino’s term expires at the end of2007.

New City Councilmember Kevin McOmberand his family.

“I just discovered your budgetdocument and I’m ‘blownaway!’ Incredible job!”

—Brett HarrellExecutive Director, Evermore CommunityImprovement District

Park PerksThree in a rowFor the third consecutive year, the Georgia MunicipalAssociation and Georgia Trend magazine recognized theCity of Suwanee with their prestigious Trendsetter Award,this time for our outstanding parks. Suwanee is the only cityto have won the statewide award in each of the years it hasbeen presented.

City puts designs on new parkAlpharetta-based landscape architect Cerulea, Inc. is finaliz-ing design of Suwanee’s newest park. Sims Lake Park, at

4600 Suwanee DamRoad, will include a fig-ure-8 walking trail thatwill loop throughwoods and meadowareas as well as a 4-acreparkstead area foropen play. The park,for which constructionis anticipated to beginlate in 2007, is located

on 62 acres that comprise what was previously one of themost sought-after properties in Suwanee. It was purchasedby the City in 2003 through the Open Space Initiative.

Making the right connectionsWork began in June on a pedestrian bridge that will con-nect Town Center to the Suwanee Creek Greenway. Thisproject is one of several planned to enhance interconnectiv-ity between Town Center and the greenway as well as his-toric Old Town.

“For the size communitythat Suwanee is [the OpenSpace Initiative] is clearly avery ambitious program.Probably the most uniqueaspect of the whole effortwas the financial commit-ment made by the peoplewho live in the communi-ty. There are not many[small] towns that wouldput that much financialbacking into parks andrecreation programs.”

—Bryan Shuler, GainesvilleCity Manager and 2007Trendsetter Award judge

photo by M. Michael Farrphoto by M. Michael Farr

Law & OrderSuwanee CARESThe six-week Suwanee CARES traffic enforcement pro-gram proved effective in reducing the number of acci-dents and injuries along one of Suwanee’s most heavilytraveled roadways. The enhanced enforcement along theLawrenceville-Suwanee corridor from December 13,2006-January 31, 2007 resulted in more citations for driv-ers, but also eight fewer accidents and six fewer injuriesthan in the previous year.

How fast are you going?In March, the police department rolled out a new tool toenhance driver awareness and improve roadway safety: amobile, radar-controlled speed trailer. The trailer’s digitaldisplay makes drivers aware of the speed at whichthey’re traveling.

Three for threeThe bad news is that the City of Suwanee experiencedthree armed bank robberies in the past year. The goodnews is that in each instance, sometimes with the assis-tance of other law enforcement agencies, the SuwaneePD apprehended each of the alleged robbers.

Moving on upA 22-year law enforcement professional, Janet Moon waspromoted to deputy chief of the Suwanee PoliceDepartment in July, becoming one of the highest-rank-ing female police managers in Gwinnett County. Asdeputy chief, Moon is second-in-command and responsi-ble for the day-to-day operations of the department.

Badge of honorSuwanee police officers are sporting new silver- andgold-plated custom-designed badges, the first new

badges for the depart-ment in about 25 years.“Suwanee is a communi-ty of pride,” said ChiefMike Jones. “We wantour badges to reflectthat as well.”

Order in the courtSuwanee’s friendly andefficient court clerksprocessed an average of925 traffic citations eachmonth and an additional712 red light camera-generated citations.

Policing by the Numbers

22,844Calls for service

This number is down 10% from the previous year

1,012Neighborhood residents attending

65 PACT meetings

1,247Traffic accidents

296Injuries due to traffic accidents

3Deaths due to traffic accidents

59New teen drivers and their parents

who participated in 5 PRIDE programs

10,326Citations issued

This number is down 2.4% from the previous year

36Graduates of two

Citizens Police Academy sessions

"Thank you for having an officer in ourneighborhood in the mornings to slow cars

down....[M]y dad says he feels that I amsafer. [T]hanks a bunch!"

—Emily Pitman, age 12, Suwanee resident

At Your ServiceService at your fingertipsOn September 7, the City of Suwanee took customer serviceto a whole new (technological) level. Through a link atwww.suwanee.com, Suwanee citizens have 24/7 access tothe City’s citizen/customer service request management sys-tem, S.E.E. Online. Some 378 requests were receivedthrough the new system.

We’ve been working on the railroadOn behalf of citizens and motorists, the City of Suwaneespearheaded and contributed financially to the cooperativeeffort to repair the rough railroad crossing on SuwaneeDam Road. Thanks to the work of Norfolk-SouthernRailroad and Gwinnett County, crossing the railroad track isnow a much more pleasant experience.

Roadmap to Suwanee’s futureWork has begun on Suwanee’s 2030 Town Master Plan. Cityofficials, planning consultants, and citizens began discussingin May what the Suwanee of the future might look like. Themaster plan is expected to be completed sometime in 2008.

Making a better first impressionSuwanee staff members took initial steps in the City’s plan to enhance the appearance, functionality,and economic health of the Suwanee Gateway/I-85 area. Staff members identified and addressed amultitude of aesthetic and code-related issues. In addition, Suwanee contracted with Street Smarts tolandscape the I-85 entry/exit areas; landscaping will be installed this fall. The City also began work withredpepper inc. to develop a branding campaign for the area.

Smooth sailing drivingThanks to the availability of SPLOST funds, Suwanee’s public works and inspections department was ableto fund and coordinate street resurfacing and safety improvements on, or portions of, 18 neighborhoodroads, totaling approximately 3 miles of roadway.

Green is our favorite colorMost City of Suwanee vehicles are white, but at leastone has an engine of green. Early in the calendaryear, Suwanee acquired a hybrid 2006 ChevroletSilverado 1500 extended cab pick-up truck. “The Cityof Suwanee wants to do what it can to conserveenergy,” said Public Works Supervisor Rodney Beck,to whom the vehicle is assigned. “I guess if we all dida little something, it could make a big difference.”

Above-board governmentThe Georgia Municipal Association recognizedSuwanee as a Georgia Certified City of Ethics at its annualconvention June 23-26. Over the past year, Suwanee adopted an ethics ordinance that establishes pro-cedures for dealing with ethics complaints and outlines prohibited conduct by City officials and staff.

Service by the Numbers

788People who receive water service

from the City of Suwanee

0Findings or management comments

in annual audit

31Rezonings and variances considered

418Certificates of occupancy issued

3,420Work orders completed

by the public works department

“I can’t tell you how much I appreci-ate your efforts in this matter.You’ve certainly gone way aboveand beyond my expectations….Thanks very much for your time andexpertise! It’s people like you thatgive ‘customer service’ a greatname.”—Jeffrey Kitchens, Suwanee resident

We Like toHave Fun,TooArt on a LimbSuwanee’s 2006 Art on a Limb program won multipleawards, including a national Savvy Award from the City-County Communications and Marketing Association forMost Creative Activity with Least Dollars Spent. The2006 arts and nature awareness program featuredSuwanee-themed paintings by Melody Orr on a “can-vas” made from pieces of the City’s old water tower,which was dismantled in 2005.

Bringing Beethoven to the ’burbsThanks to the financial support of Peoples Bank & Trustand other community-minded businesses, the AtlantaSymphony Orchestra performed at Town Center Parkon the last day of the fiscal year. This was the first timethat the full ASO had performed outdoors in GwinnettCounty in more than 20 years. The ASO concert was oneof 20 City-sponsored or co-sponsored community eventsthis year, and the 9,000 in attendance at Town CenterPark were among the estimated 93,000 that showed upfor a City of Suwanee event over the past year.

Holy cow!Four colorful creatureshave moved into PlayTownSuwanee. The painted,life-size fiberglass cowsadd another dimension offun and interest toSuwanee’s super play-ground. The cows includeChattamoochee, a 2003CowParade Atlanta cowpurchased for the City bythe Suwanee Day Committee; Blue Bell the ButterflyCow and Dottie, designed by local artists and paintedby the community last year as a fundraiser for LongBeach, Mississippi; and Matilda, who was donated tothe City.

Old sweet songA mural created for and donated to the City ofSuwanee by a group of professional sign artists wasunveiled at an April 28 Georgia Music Hall of Fame con-cert at Town Center Park. The mural, which depicts anight-time concert with members of the Georgia MusicHall of Fame in the audience, now graces the back ofthe Town Center stage. Sign artist Sonny Franks ofLilburn coordinated creation of the mural and the gold-leaf sign that now adorns Pierce’s Corner.

The 2007 Art on a Limb programfeatured leaf-themed tiles cre-ated by local artist SandraNissen. Each May, commissionedpieces of artwork are hiddenalong the Suwanee CreekGreenway for finders to keep asa means of celebrating andbringing attention to the arts aswell as the four-mile trail.

“I was the lucky person todaythat discovered the beautifulclay tile by Sandra Nissen…. Iwork just down the street fromthe park and spend many lunchbreaks walking the trails andenjoying the wildlife. It was asheer delight to find this beau-tiful tile.”

—Teresa Corso

“Wow, what an amazing event. The ASO was great!”

—Sheila Crumrine

Expenditures

RevenuesSuwanee City Council

Nick Masino, Mayor770/945-4607, ext. 555masino@suwanee.com

Jimmy Burnette, Mayor Pro Tem770/945-3492jburnette@suwanee.com

Jace Brooks770/831-0499jbrooks@suwanee.com

Dan Foster770/614-5750dfoster@suwanee.com

Kevin McOmber770/271-5427kmcomber@suwanee.com

Jeannine Rispin404/375-6095jrispin@suwanee.com

2006-07 General Fund

$11,156,002

$10,399,651

General Property Taxes 50%Business Taxes 13%

Regulatory Fe

es 8%

Sele

ctiv

e Sa

les

&U

se T

axes

9%

Fines &Forfeitures

12%

Misc. 4%

Investment Income 2%

Licenses & Permits 2%

Public Safety32%

Culture & Recreation 3%

General

Government17%

Housing &

Development

10%

Other Financing Uses

26%

Publ

ic W

orks

9%Judici

al 3%

Among the revenue sources included in the“Miscellaneous” category are intergovernmentalgrants, charges for services, penalties and interest on taxes, and contributions.

“Other Financing Uses” includes funding for:• Open Space Bond Repayment

(12% of total expenditures)• City Hall at Town Center (7%)• Public Works Yard Expansion (6.5%)• Other (0.5%)

Financial data accurate as of July 24, 2007.May not represent exact year-end figures.