a monthly publication of gwinnett county, georgia

www.gwinnettcounty.com

Officials and residents cut a cere-monial ribbon on the new George Pierce Community Center and Prime Timers Pointe Senior Activity Cen-ter on December 15. A grand open-ing celebration for the community was held the following day that in-cluded children’s activities and musi-cal entertainment. The new facility is located at George Pierce Park in Suwanee.

The 16,000-square-foot community center, the fourth community center operated by Gwinnett County Parks and Recreation, features a commu- nity room, catering kitchen, three classrooms, a dance/aerobic studio, game room, and outdoor basket-ball courts.

The Prime Timers Pointe Senior Ac- tivity Center’s nearly 10,000 square feet of space boasts a large meeting room with a catering kitchen, two classrooms, a billiards room, lounge area, a covered patio with shuffle-

board courts, and the SeniorNet Computer Room.

The George Pierce Community Center and Prime Timers Pointe Senior Activity Center has offerings for all ages ranging from young children to senior citizens.

january 2007 v15, n1

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Advice from Tax Commissioner

Homestead Exemptions

Radon Testing

Pet Corner

Check it out!

AroundGwinnett

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New community center, senior activity building enhance George Pierce Park

Officials broke ground on a new park near Peachtree Ridge High School in Suwanee. The first phase of con- struction will cover 65 of the park’s nearly 155 acres. Facilities will include a football field with a lighted track and four baseball/softball fields, one of which will be designed for special-needs children. There will also be a small soccer overlay on the outfield, according to the County’s Community Services Director Phil Hoskins.

During the ceremony on November 15, Resurgens Orthopaedics pledged $75,000 to help build the spe- cial-needs ball field that features a rubberized surface

Construction begins on County’s second special-needs ball field

Resurgens Orthopaedics pledged $75,000 toward building the County’s second special-needs ball field at Peachtree Ridge Park.… continued on page 4

www.gwinnettcounty.comcountyline

It’s important to remember that all motor vehicles registered in Georgia must have continuous liability insurance coverage. Insurance companies are required to electronically transmit your insurance in- formation to the Georgia Electronic Insurance Compliance System (GEICS).

Tax Commissioner tag offices must check the GEICS database to verify insurance coverage before registering vehicles or renewing tags. Acceptable forms of insurance include:

• Valid liability insurance in the GEICS database. If it is not in this system, you will need to contact your insurance company; only your insurance company can add or modify information in this database

• A valid insurance declaration page issued by an insurer; for re-cently purchased vehicles, a bill of sale dated within 30 days

• A valid fleet insurance policy information card (fleet-insured vehicles) • A valid self-insured insurance information card and a certificate

of self-insurance issued by the Georgia Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner’s office (self-insured vehicles)

Your insurer must also issue you an insurance information card for each vehicle. Even though this card is not an acceptable proof of in-surance coverage, you must have this card with you whenever you drive the insured vehicle. You may need the insurance policy informa- tion if you travel in another state or to easily exchange insurance in- formation if you are involved in an accident.

You can check the status of your insurance online, using your vehicle identification number and your vehicle’s Georgia title number. These numbers are located on Georgia registration receipts. Visit the state’s Department of Revenue website at www.motor.etax.dor.ga.gov, and click on Insurance to use the Insurance Status Inquiry feature.

If you have questions about your insurance status, contact your in-surance company. Visit www.gwinnetttaxcommissioner.com, e-mail the Motor Vehicles Department at tag@gwinnettcounty.com, or call 770.822.8818 for more information.

Mobile Home Taxes

For those who own a mobile home, the mobile home tax pay-ment deadline is May 1, 2007. For additional information on homestead exemptions or mobile home taxes, call the Tax Com- missioner’s 24-hour customer service line at 770.822.8800 or send an e-mail to tax@gwinnettcounty.com.

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Property owners may file for a 2007 homestead exemption from now through March 1, 2007. Homestead exemptions can offer tax savings to property owners who own and occupy a property as of January 1 of the tax year for which the exemption is filed.

Property owners who already receive an exemption and had no ownership changes to their deed do not need to reapply. They will continue to receive their current exemption on property taxes.

The Gwinnett County Tax Commissioner collects property taxes for the cities of Berkeley Lake, Dacula, Grayson, Lawrenceville, Lilburn, Snellville, and Sugar Hill. Property owners residing in these cities’ limits and who apply for a county exemption will also receive applicable city exemptions to which they may be entitled.

For more information regarding available exemptions, contact the Department of Property Tax. Office hours are 8:30am – 5:00pm, Monday through Friday. For 24-hour service, customers are encour- aged to utilize TaxTalk24, the Tax Commissioner’s automated cus-tomer service telephone system, at 770.822.8800. Customers can also send an e-mail to propertytax@gwinnettcounty.com or visit www.gwinnett-tax.com.

Advice from the Tax Commissioner: Vehicle insurance in Georgia

2007 property tax homestead filing period

The Fourth of July Gwinnett Glows event is an annual celebration of the many things that make Gwinnett County great. Now you can adopt a firework to salute someone who has made our community a better place or friends and family who make your life glow year-round.

The cost is $100 each and the name of the person you are honoring will be printed in the Gwinnett Glows event tabloid and listed on the Gwinnett Glows website.

Gwinnett Glows: Adopt-a-firework

For more information, call Tammy Gibson at 770.822.7135 or Heather Sawyer at 770.822.7035.

gwinnett county, georgia 770.822.8000 countyline 3

Check it out!

If you didn’t make it to the theater to catch some of the new movies, check out these books that are based on recent movie releases.

Casino Royale, by Ian Fleming

The Last King of Scotland, by Giles Foden

Flags of Our Fathers, by James Bradley

The Good German, by Joseph Kanon Eragon, by Christopher Paolini

Little Children, by Tom Perrotta

Invincible: My Journey from Fan to NFL Team Captain, by Vince Papale

Ask the Dust, by John Fante

The Black Dahlia, by James Ellroy

Perfume, by Patrick Suskind

This list is provided by the Gwinnett County Public Library. Call or visit your local branch for additional selection as- sistance, or check out the GCPL web- site at www.gwinnettpl.org.

You can find lots of adorable cats, dogs, puppies, and kittens at the Gwinnett County Animal Shelter at Highway 316 and Hi-Hope Road in Lawrenceville.

To see pictures of cats and dogs currently up for adoption, visit www.gwinnettanimalcontrol.com. For more information, stop by the shelter, or call 770.339.3200.

By Ines Beltran

Think radon isn’t a problem in north Georgia? Think again. One in four to five north Geor- gia homes tested through the University of Georgia College of Family and Consumer Science’s Radon Program have radon levels above the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) action level of 4 pCi/L. An additional one in four had levels between 2 and 3.9 pCi/L. This invisible, odorless, and tasteless radioactive gas comes from the natural decay of uranium in rock and soil and is unsafe at any level. Radon causes irrever-sible damage to lungs that can lead to lung cancer.

U.S. Surgeon General Richard H. Carmona warned the American public about the risks of breathing indoor radon by issuing a na-tional health advisory in January 2005. The advisory urges Americans to prevent this dangerous radioactive gas from seeping into their homes. In his press release, Dr. Car-mona stated that exposure to indoor radon is the second-leading cause of lung cancer in the United States and breathing it over prolonged periods poses a significant health risk to families all over the country.

Often called a silent killer, breathing radon-contaminated air causes no immediate health symptoms. Radon breaks down into a pro-

fusion of highly-charged alpha particles. Breathing these alpha particles permanently damages lung cells and can lead to lung can- cer. More than 22,000 Americans die of ra- don-related lung cancer every year. If you smoke, your risk of lung cancer is much higher.

Every home has some radon in it. The only way to know how much radon is seeping in- to your home is to test. Simple test kits can reveal the amount of radon in any building. Buildings with high levels can be fixed with well-established, affordable venting tech-niques. And if you are considering building a new home, you can effectively build radon out as the foundation is being prepared. If you have a radon level of 4 pCi/L or more, take steps to remedy the problem as soon as possible.

You should test your home for radon every two to three years, and retest any time you move, make structural changes to your home, or occupy a previously unused level of the house.

Visit the Gwinnett County Extension office at 750 S. Perry Street, Suite 400, in Lawren-ceville to pick up a kit to test your home.

For more information, call 678.377.4010 or e-mail Ines Beltran, Extension Radon Edu-cator, at inesb@uga.edu.

North Georgia homes can have high radon levels

January Holiday Schedule

All offices, with the exception of those op-erations required for the comfort and safety of the citizens of Gwinnett County, will be closed on the following dates:

Monday, January 1, 2007New Years Day

All offices will resume regular hours on Tuesday, January 2.

Monday, January 15, 2007Martin Luther King, Jr. DayAll offices will resume regular hours on Tuesday, January 16.

www.gwinnettcounty.comcountyline

Prior to the new center’s opening, the Gwin-nett Senior Center in Lawrenceville was the only location operated by Parks and Recre-ation that offered SeniorNet classes. Taught by senior citizens and geared toward teaching seniors how to use a computer and operate computer programs, classes range from be-ginners to the more experienced user.

“Residents in the northern part of Gwinnett have anxiously awaited this opening and are excited to have a community center nearby that offers a variety of recreational classes and pro- grams,” said Sharon Plunkett, Division Dir-ector of Parks and Recreation Operations. “Prime Timers Pointe is now home to the Su-wanee Goodtimers Senior Club, a great place for seniors living throughout Gwinnett to gather.”

The 204-acre George Pierce Park, primarily known for its many recreation and athletic facilities, also offers a playground, five soccer fields, a football field, seven youth baseball/softball fields, two adult softball fields, conces- sion/restroom building, three pavilions, a paved, 0.6-mile walking trail, and a 1.2-mile mulch footpath.

The Suwanee Goodtimers meet at 11:00am on the second Tuesday of each month. George Pierce Park is located at 55 Buford Highway in Suwanee.

For more information, call 770.822.8840.

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Gwinnett County75 Langley Drive

Lawrenceville, GA 30045770.822.7035

www.gwinnettcounty.com

The County Line is published monthly by the Gwinnett County Communications Division to inform residents about County services and items of interest. For more information or to submit newsletter suggestions, call 770.822.7135 or e-mail tammy.gibson@gwinnettcounty.com. The County Line is also available on the County’s website, www.gwinnettcounty.com.

George Pierce Park … continued from page 1

A Winter Bridal Show will be held on Janu- ary 14 from 1:00pm – 5:00pm at the Gwinnett Historic Courthouse in downtown Lawrence- ville. View a bridal and formal wear fashion show, gather wedding ideas, visit with meet- ing planners, and register for gift giveaways. The cost is $1 per person. Call 770.822.5450 for more information.

Science author Tony Frederick will visit the Gwinnett Environmental and Heritage Cen- ter in Buford on January 13 from 1:00pm – 3:00pm to share his insight into the natural world. The program will last 45 minutes and

includes a signed copy of his latest book, On One Flower, targeted to young readers aged 4 – 10. The cost is $10 per person. Pre-reg- ister at 770.904.3500 or send an e-mail to environmentalheritage@gwinnettcounty.com. Registration for spring programs and classes offered by Gwinnett County Parks and Rec-reation begins January 16. Online registra-tion is now available. Check out Gwinnett LIFE magazine at www.gwinnettparks.com for a complete listing, or pick up a brochure at your local library, park facilities, the Gwin-nett Convention and Visitors Bureau, or

the Gwinnett Justice and Administration Center. Call 770.822.8840.

The Gwinnett Environmental and Heritage Center will host the first Spine Crackers Book Club on January 25 from 7:00pm – 9:00pm. The book for January is Thirteen Moons, by Charles Frazier, an intriguing story of life in the Great Smoky Mountains. The cost is $7 per person and free for GEHC members. Books will be available for pur-chase. To register call 770.904.3500, e-mail environmentalheritage@gwinnettcounty.com, or fee can be paid at the door.

The Pinckneyville Community Center spon- sors art exhibits at the following locations:

• Art by Laurette Reeves will be on dis-play at Pinckneyville Community Center in Norcross through January 25.

• Anita Lentz Group Show, Studio 13 will be on display at the Gwinnett Historic Courthouse in Lawrenceville through March 1.

Exhibits are free and open to the public. Call 770.417.2200 for more information.

and includes larger dugouts to accommodate wheelchairs and walkers. In September, the Peachtree Ridge Youth Athletic Association began the INSPIRE program (Intramural Sports that Promote Inclusion, Respect, and Excellence) to provide athletics for individ-uals with special needs.

Commissioner Lorraine Green expressed her appreciation to area residents who “rec- ognized the need and helped raise money to support the County’s second special-needs rec- reation facility. By applying universal design con-

cepts, these facilities will be accessible to many more people.”

A special-needs playground, similar to the County’s award-winning Unity Place play-ground at Bay Creek Park, will offer easy access and use by all children and include swings and slides. Amenities will include an open play area and a paved multi-purpose trail almost two miles long. The site will also be graded for the future addition of two soc-cer fields.

Special needs field … continued from page 1