12/14: New solar farm; Bicentennial celebration; House district problem

DIRT FORMS A BIG MOUND in the background at what was once the parking lot of the Infinite Energy Center in Duluth, as the Revel Center construction project is now underway. Concrete is being poured at this $900 million project, which is expected to become the center of Gwinnett’s entertainment activities. There will be 750,000 square feet of office space, and 400,000 square feet of restaurants and entertainment venues. The center is expected to open in 2020, and is being put up by North American Properties.

TODAY’S FOCUS: Facebook Chooses Walton EMC To Build State’s Largest Solar Project

EEB PERSPECTIVE: Gwinnett’s Bicentennial Gets Lots of People Involved; Ends Saturday

ANOTHER VIEW: Peachtree Corners’ House District 95 Has Contiguity Problem

SPOTLIGHT: Comet National Shipping

UPCOMING: Record 10,000 Wreaths Headed for Andersonville National Cemetery

NOTABLE: Dianne Monroe Is Snellville Senior Center Volunteer of Year for 2018

RECOMMENDED: Night of Camp David by Fletcher Knebel

GEORGIA TIDBIT: Businessman Joel Hurt Involved In Many Early Activities in Georgia

MYSTERY PHOTO: A Shadow Is a Clue in This Issue’s Mystery Photo

LAGNIAPPE: It’s a Live Oak Tree Providing the Background for this Winter Scene

CALENDAR: Two Dedications on Tuesday in Gwinnett County

Facebook chooses Walton EMC to build state’s largest solar project

By Greg Brooks

MONROE, Ga.  |  Walton Electric Membership Corporation (EMC), a consumer-owned utility with a reputation for energy innovation, has executed contracts with two solar developers for three new solar projects as part of its agreement to supply 100 percent renewable energy for Facebook’s data center in Newton County, Georgia. The collaboration is the largest solar development project in Georgia and will be located in three Southwest Georgia counties, Early, Calhoun and Colquitt. The project is expected to be complete in 2019.

Facebook chose Walton EMC as the power supplier for the Newton Data Center when it announced the 970,000 square foot facility in March.

Silicon Ranch of Nashville, Tenn. and Strata Solar of Chapel Hill, N.C. will construct world-class solar power plants that will support the new data center.

Walton EMC CEO Ronnie Lee says: “We are happy to welcome Silicon Ranch and Strata Solar to the quality partnership of Facebook, Walton EMC and Morgan Stanley to complete the groundbreaking energy supply arrangement for Facebook’s Newton Data Center. Our unique agreements will serve as models for similar projects all across the country and bring noteworthy economic rewards locally.”

Rachel Peterson, vice president of data center strategy for Facebook, says: “We are thrilled to be working with Walton EMC, Silicon Ranch and Strata Solar to bring more than 200 megawatts (mW) of new solar resources to Georgia. We are committed to supporting all of Facebook’s operations with 100 percent renewable energy. These new solar facilities will help us meet that goal for our Newton Data Center. Developing these resources within the same electric grid that supports our data center will bring even more investment to the region.”

The Newton Data Center is Facebook’s ninth such state-of-the-art facility in the country. The centers are among the most advanced, energy-efficient facilities in the world. They use 38 percent less electricity than the average data center.

The solar power plants will economically benefit local communities, with ripple effects felt all across the state. Every facility will add substantial revenue to each county’s tax income which will benefit local school systems.

Construction will create more than 800 jobs, with additional employment for ongoing operation and maintenance. Local labor and local contractors will fill most of these positions.

The total investment of Silicon Ranch and Strata Solar will reach more than $230 million. Collectively, this is the largest solar development in Georgia, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association.

The Early County facility will deploy the first locally-produced solar modules from Hanwha Q CELLS’s new manufacturing facility in Georgia, which is also the largest in the United States.

The Strata Solar Projects are located in Calhoun and Colquitt Counties, Georgia.

Facebook’s emphasis on siting renewable resources within the same electric grid as its data centers created an opportunity to bring additional investment in solar generation to Georgia.

Matt Kisber, CEO of Silicon Ranch says: “Partnering on the project with a customer-focused, consumer-owned electric cooperative helped to inspire the collaboration. He adds: “Facebook and Walton EMC are driven by a ‘concern for community’ and a commitment to the customers they serve. These principles have made them global and national leaders in their respective markets. As the long-term owner of every solar project we develop, Silicon Ranch shares these values, and we are proud to support the renewable energy goals of Facebook’s Newton Data Center while bringing an economic shot in the arm to rural Georgia.”

“Innovative companies like Facebook, partnered with customer-focused utilities like Walton EMC, are driving renewable energy growth across the country,” said Markus Wilhelm, CEO of Strata Solar.

• Have a comment?  Send to:  elliott@brack.net

Gwinnett’s Bicentennial gets lots of people involved; Ends Saturday

By Elliott Brack
Editor and publisher

DEC. 14, 2018  |  Gwinnett’s Bicentennial year will be over Saturday. It’s been a time of celebration with much more happening around this theme than was anticipated.

Saturday will feature the last two big planned events.  Starting at 10 a.m., and continuing until 2 p.m. at the Hudgens Center for Art and Learning at 6400 Sugarloaf Parkway in Duluth will the 200^th birthday celebration.  That will include diverse cultural performances, crafts, storytelling, birthday cupcakes and food trucks. The event is free and will allow visitors to “travel the globe to see what makes Gwinnett a vibrant community.” There is no cost to attend.

The concluding big event will be Saturday at 6 p.m. at the Infinite Energy Center, the 200^th birthday party gala. Over 1,100 persons are anticipated attending.  (Tickets as of Friday are  still available, at $125 person.)  It begins with a cocktail party in the Grand Ballroom, featuring an international food tasting of Asian, Indian and Latin American foods, plus pop-up entertainment, including dancers.

After an hour, participants will move to the Exhibit Hall for dinner.  Entertainment will consist of line dancers performing and other entertainment, while gifts will be presented to the county.

Then about 9 p.m. will be the after-party on the Lake Gallery outside the ballroom, with a DJ, dancing and fireworks.  It’ll be a night to remember, as Gwinnett concludes its 200th year celebration.

First leg of Gwinnett Torch Runs leaves Historic Courthouse

Early on, planners had hoped that the county would put on a year-long celebration consisting of at least 200 events. But people got excited about the Bicentennial, and many organizations joined in the planning, with a total of 365 sanctioned events taking place!

Tammy Gibson, who was Gwinnett’s Bicentennial coordinator, says that when an advisory committee was originally doing the planning, “People starting coming up with ideas, first one then another, and the more they got involved, the more ideas they had. It grew even more. It was beautiful to watch.”  Many of the organizations rolled their planned activities into themed Bicentennial events, allowing the original events to expand.  All this came from communities throughout the county.

Among the key events during the year:

• A frontier fair kickoff at the Historic Courthouse.
• Bus tours, visiting natural and historic sites and cemeteries.
• A traveling history exhibit, comprised of mounted displays.
• A Torch Run.
• Story Vault.
• 366 Fact book.

The Torch Run idea came from an idea by Lawrenceville Mayor Judy Johnson. There were a total of 36 runs throughout the year, covering 236 miles, visiting every city in Gwinnett.  The runners were primarily high school students, with a total of 300 cross country and track members participating. The first run was on December 15, 2017, from the Historic Courthouse. The last will culminate at the Infinite Energy Center Saturday night.

Gwinnett took the Bicentennial theme and invited citizens to record on video their memories of the county at the Story Vault. These videos are available at the county web site, with so far more than 170 individual recordings capturing stories from major players over the last 50 years, or from individuals recently moving into the county, all telling their own stories. They are fun to hear. Go here. Click on the photos, which are stored alphabetically by participant to hear each one.

It’s been an intense year for the Gwinnett Bicentennial, enriching the county and bringing its citizens closer together.

• Have a comment? Send to:  elliott@brack.net

Peachtree Corners’ House District 95 has contiguity problem

(Editor’s Note: the following is written by a 30 year resident of Peachtree Corners. He grew up in New York in the Bronx, is a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, with a master’s from Michigan State. He has worked in New York City in the City Planning Computer Center, and with the Census Bureau, and came south to work in Huntsville, Ala. He moved to Atlanta with Electronic Data System, and retired working on the Atlanta Gas Light account. He contributes historical articles for the American Creation blog and lately has been interested in promoting enforceable fair redistricting standards.—eeb)

By Ray Soller

PEACHTREE CORNERS, Ga.  |  On Feb. 6, 2018, I was invited to speak at a special session of the Georgia House Legislative and Congressional Reapportionment Committee and explain that House District (HD) 95 has a contiguity problem.  What follows is the substance of my presentation.

Soller

According to the Georgia State Constitution, under the sub-heading, “Apportionment of General Assembly,” it says, “The General Assembly shall apportion the Senate and House Districts.  Such districts shall be composed of contiguous territory.”

This wording first appeared in 1983. When I read it a problem pops out, because there’s no clear meaning of “contiguous territory.”

In 1983 it was generally understood that a district is contiguous if it is possible to travel from one point in the district to any other point in the district without leaving the district. Those districts divided by water are still contiguous if there exists something like a ferry, or a bridge, that connects the two different pieces. However, this definition has become less clear, because the courts have more recently, so to speak, jumped into the water. This has happened in states where islands exist, or situations involving irregular coast lines.

HD 95 has a contiguity problem, because it is cut into two pieces by the Chattahoochee River where there is no connecting bridge. The largest portion, which contains Peachtree Corner, is south of the river, and a single voting precinct, Johns Creek 13A is on the other side.

During my research, I exchanged several emails with Bryan Sells, an Atlanta lawyer.  When we looked at cases where the courts had jumped into the water, he came back with this comment, “It sure seems like a gap in the law, tailor made for litigation.” He then followed up with the question, “Is there an accepted definition of contiguity that would permit coastal districts but not something like HD 95?”

I found an answer to that question by sifting through the 2004 lawsuit, “Larios v. Cox.” As a result of this lawsuit, the 2001 Georgia legislative and congressional maps were scrapped. Nathan Persily, a Stanford University professor, drew a new set of Georgia maps. (Professor Persily has several other court-ordered state redistricting credits to his name. His latest effort redrew the Pennsylvania district maps.)

In Persily’s final report, he says that the revised Georgia district plans are “fully contiguous, except where contiguity is impossible.” He provided several examples where anomalies exist as part of maintaining county or municipal boundary lines, where contiguity is impossible.

The boundary lines for HD 95 do not create an exceptional situation like the ones Persily indicated.  If the Persily procedure had been followed when the HD 95 boundary lines were last drawn, HD 95 would be fully contiguous since there are several other possibilities that do not include wading across the river.

I have focused on HD 95, but there are at least ten other legislative districts in Georgia that are not “fully contiguous.”  All of these districts should be adjusted to meet the “fully contiguous” definition, but that won’t happen on its own. The current wording in the Georgia Constitution is not adequate.  Our state constitution should be amended to say, “Such districts shall be composed of fully contiguous territory, except where contiguity is impossible.”

We await the next legislative session to see if they will act on this together with establishing a transparent process using a comprehensive package of enforceable redistricting guidelines.

• Have a comment? Send to:  elliott@brack.net

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We encourage you to send us your letters and thoughts on issues raised in GwinnettForum.  Please limit comments to 300 words.  We reserve the right to edit for clarity and length.  Send feedback and letters to:    elliott@brack.net

Record 10,000 wreaths headed for Andersonville National Cemetery

Today (Friday), a convoy of trucks, police, fire, Patriot Guards, and a Huey helicopter will leave McDonough, Ga. on a mission to bring 10,000 wreaths to Andersonville National Historic Site. The wreaths will be placed on the graves of fallen veterans buried in Andersonville National Cemetery at noon on Saturday, December 15.

The cargo of 10,000 wreaths shatters the previous record of 3,654 brought last year and means that almost half of the national cemetery will be graced with wreaths this year. “It will be an incredible sight,” said Andersonville National Historic Site Superintendent Charles Sellars.

The procession will leave McDonough on Friday morning at 9:45 a.m. and travel south on Georgia Highway 19. They will traverse the portion of that highway named for SFC Victor A. Anderson, who was killed in action in Iraq and who is buried in Andersonville National Cemetery. One of the wreaths they will carry is destined for Sergeant Anderson’s grave.

The procession will arrive in Americus at approximately 11:30 a.m.

The incredible number of wreaths sponsored this year is thanks to the efforts of Bennett International, the Taylor Foundation, the Civil Air Patrol, and Wreaths Across America. Bennett International transported wreaths to Andersonville National Cemetery last year. When they learned of the park’s goal to place a wreath on each of the over 20,000 graves in the cemetery, they pledged to help increase the number of wreaths brought in 2018. The Taylor Foundation joined the effort as well, and it has been extraordinarily successful, almost tripling the number of wreaths sponsored.

At 12:00 pm the Civil Air Patrol will conduct a brief ceremony to honor America’s armed forces. Afterward, everyone will be invited to help place wreaths on gravesites as a special way to remember our fallen military who are no longer here for the holidays. Attendees may also bring a wreath to place on a specific grave or on one of thousands of unvisited graves.

Wreaths Across America is a national program that encourages individuals, community groups, and families to sponsor wreaths for placement in national cemeteries throughout the United States. Andersonville National Historic Site is seeking for each of the more than 20,000 gravesites in the cemetery to be decorated with a wreath at least once. To accomplish this, undesignated wreaths are placed sequentially and rotated from one cemetery section to the next each year. For 2018, undesignated wreaths will be placed in Sections F, K, Q, J, I, and the Memorial Section.

Andersonville National Cemetery includes over 20,000 graves and will continue to grow as additional veterans are buried. We want every veteran buried in the cemetery to be honored and remembered for their service and sacrifice.

Suwanee’s “Treecycling” event will begin on Dec. 26

Ah, the magic of December 26 – wrapping paper is still strewn across the living room, batteries have finally been found for all the new toys,…and the Christmas tree has dropped nearly all of its needles on the floor.

When your cut tree is past its fragrant, sparkly prime, give it a new sense of purpose through the City of Suwanee’s “treecycling” campaign, which is part of Keep Georgia Beautiful’s annual ‘Bring One for the Chipper’ program.

Area residents may drop off their former living Christmas trees at Sims Lake Park, located at 4600 Suwanee Dam Road, from December 26 through January 5. Decorations, lights, and stands should be removed from all trees prior to donating. Last year, mulch from nearly 1,200 former Christmas trees was spread in Suwanee parks.

Volunteers will be available to assist with unloading, as well as handing out seedlings (while supplies last) from 9 am-4 pm Saturday, January 5, 2019. Adult and teen volunteers are needed to assist January 5. To volunteer, contact Nicole Schnepper at nschnepper@suwanee.com or 770-945-8996.

Monroe is Snellville Senior Center Volunteer of Year for 2018

From left are Senior Program Supervisor Kathi Gargiulo, Parks and Recreation Director Lisa Platt, Dianne Monroe, Mayor Pro Tem Barbara Bender and Monroe’s grandson, Joe Farmer.

Dianne Monroe has been named the Snellville Senior Center Volunteer of the Year for 2018. When a request comes that the Senior Center is in need of more candy for its front desk, Monroe is usually quick to donate some. She often picks up and drops off several of the Senior Center’s members who no longer are able to drive back and forth to the facility. Monroe regularly helps with getting the bi-monthly newsletters prepared to be mailed out. In addition, she’s a familiar face at the monthly Bingo program and is always available to help with whatever needs to be done. Monroe is also a member of the Keenager Club and continues to be a great benefit to the group.

A native Atlantan who graduated from Grady High School, Monroe was married for 32 years to a soldier who was stationed at Fort Benning. They had two boys and one girl. That led her to become a Cub Scout leader, den mother and Brownie leader as well. Monroe is now a proud grandmother of six and a great-grandmother of four. Her favorite activity is bowling and she enjoys visiting friends.

Night of Camp David by Fletcher Knebel

Though published in 1965 by a respected Washington newspaper correspondent, this book has gained new popularity in recent months essentially by asking: what would happen to our nation if the president of the United States was deemed physically or mentally incompetent?  You may know that the subject was considered and written into law in 1965, then ratified by the states in 1967 as part of the 25th Amendment. It specifically states that if  ‘…for whatever reason, the vice president and a majority of sitting Cabinet secretaries decide that the president is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, they can simply put that down in writing and send it to two people — the speaker of the House and the Senate’s president pro tempore.’ Then the vice president would immediately become acting president. This is a deeply chilling book, which shows how difficult such a decision could be.–eeb

An invitation: what books, restaurants, movies or web sites have you enjoyed recently? Send us your recent selection, along with a short paragraph (100 words) as to why you liked this, plus what you plan to visit or read next.  Send to:  elliott@brack.net

Businessman Hurt involved in many early activities in Georgia

Atlanta businessman Joel Hurt was involved in real estate, insurance, and streetcars. He was born on July 31, 1850, in Hurtsboro, Ala., to Lucy Apperson Long and Joel Hurt. After attending Auburn Methodist College in Auburn, Ala., for one year, he left and enrolled at the University of Georgia in Athens, graduating in 1871 with a degree in civil engineering. He married Annie Bright Woodruff, and they had six children.

In 1871 Hurt secured his first job, with the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad, surveying a line from St. Louis, Mo., to San Francisco, Calif. After finishing that assignment, he worked for the Northeastern Railroad, surveying a line in Georgia from Lula to Athens.

Hurt moved to Atlanta in 1875. With his brother, Elisha Fletcher Hurt, he formed E. F. and Joel Hurt, a real estate and insurance firm. The company’s name was changed to Hurt and Low when Elisha left for New York, and James H. Low became Joel’s partner.

After selling Hurt and Low, Hurt organized and managed the Atlanta Building and Loan Association. In 1882 Hurt established the Atlanta Home Insurance Company, acting as its secretary, and in 1889 he organized the United Underwriters Insurance Company, acting as its president. He later merged the two companies and served as president of the new business (which took the name Atlanta Home Insurance Company) from 1906 until 1914, when he sold it to the Fireman’s Fund Insurance Company of San Francisco.

In1886 Hurt established the East Atlanta Land Company to acquire and develop more than 130 acres east of the city for Atlanta’s first planned suburb. He named the new suburb Inman Park for his friend and business partner Samuel M. Inman. Later that same year Hurt formed the Atlanta and Edgewood Street Railway Company, which was financed through the East Atlanta Land Company.

In 1889 Hurt’s railway company initiated the first streetcar line, which ran from downtown along Edgewood Avenue to Inman Park. In 1891 Hurt electrified and consolidated the six streetcar lines in Atlanta, forming the Atlanta Consolidated Street Railway Company.

Ernest Woodruff, father of Coca-Cola magnate Robert Woodruff, was vice president and general manager of the company, and Hurt served as president until he sold his interest in 1902 to Henry Atkinson, of Georgia Electric Light Company of Atlanta. Atkinson then formed the Georgia Railway and Electric Company, a precursor to the Georgia Power Company. That same year Hurt organized the Kirkwood Land Company, which bought the northeast section of Atlanta and developed another suburb, Druid Hills.

Hurt was responsible for the construction of three buildings in Atlanta. The Equitable Building (1892, razed), designed by architect John Wellborn Root, was the first fireproof office building in the South. In 1911 he built the Atlanta Theater, the first fireproof theater building in the South. The Hurt Building, completed in 1926, was the 17th-largest office building in the world, and it remains a distinctive Atlanta landmark.

Hurt was one of the incorporators of the Commercial Travelers Savings Bank, which he reorganized in 1893 to form the Trust Company Bank of Georgia. He also owned and was the president of the Pratt Engineering and Machine Company, which built the Cotton States Fertilizer Company in Macon.

Conscious of his civic duty as well, Hurt was elected as water commissioner in 1886, 1888, and 1889 and served on the first legal planning commission. He also donated Springvale Park, the centerpiece of Inman Park, to the city. Hurt died on January 9, 1926, in Atlanta and is buried in Oakland Cemetery.

• To view the Georgia Encyclopedia online, go to http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org

A shadow is a clue in this issue’s Mystery Photo

The Mystery Photo for this issue might be difficult for some, but just might be duck soup for others. Take a crack at telling us where this photograph was made, and of what.  Send answers to elliott@brack.net and include your hometown.

Bob Foreman of Grayson was first in with the correct answer to the most recent Mystery Photo. He writes; “The bison sculpture is in downtown Boulder, Colo., in the Pearl Street Mall area.  At first, I was pretty sure this was in Cartersville, Ga. and was somehow related to the Booth Museum of Western Art. A Google search turned up no such thing.  Then I recalled seeing similar animal sculptures in several western towns, including Flagstaff, Sedona, and some of the artsy towns around Phoenix.  But the great buffalo herds were located in the great plains area, not so much Arizona. I don’t usually spend a lot of time searching for the location of your mystery photos. I usually only respond if it looks familiar. But once I started down the path with the incorrect guess of Cartersville, I had to keep going until I found it.”

Others recognizing it include Jim Savedelis, Duluth; Virginia Klaer, Duluth; and Susan McBrayer of Sugar Hill.

Allan Peel, San Antonio, Tex. says: “Today’s mystery photo is of an exact replica of a 1995 buffalo sculpture ‘Monarch of the Plains’ created by New Mexico’s artist Stephen LeBlanc. The statue in the photo was purchased by Stephen Tebo and is on loan to the city of Boulder, Colo. It is located at the Pearl Street Mall, on the corner of Pearl and 11th Streets. However, the original 1995 version of this sculpture sits just southwest of Folsom Field on the University of Colorado campus. Before every home game, many Colorado Buffaloes fans gather around the bronze buffalo sculpture and take turns rubbing the horns for good luck. The metal is polished by the hands of an untold number of ‘Forever Buffs’ fans. Notice how the horns in the mystery photo are also shiny and buffed, presumably by fans who are unable to attend the game at Folsom Field!”

George Graf, Palmyra, Va. adds: “The City of Boulder Parks and Recreation Department maintains the Pearl Street Mall. Staff plants thousands of flowers on the Pearl Street Mall every spring and summer, importing 15,000 tulip bulbs from Holland and planting more than 6,000 annuals for a varied mix throughout the season. There are 58 ground flower beds, seven raised beds, 98 hanging pots and 52 containers. The Boulder City Council approved an ordinance banning smoking on the Pearl Street Mall, and on the lawn of the Boulder County Courthouse. The maximum penalty for a first or second offense within two years is a fine of $500.”

WHAT’S THIS?  It a decorated live oak tree in Brookgreen Gardens, Murrell’s Inlet, S.C., during their Night of a Thousand Candles celebration during the holidays. Mystery Photo Contributor Ross Lenhart sent it in as a mystery photo, but we thought there were so few clues that it wouldn’t work for that category, yet was a great photo, so here it is!  Thanks, Ross!

WRITERS’ WORKSHOP: Join Gwinnett Public Library, in partnership with the Atlanta Writers Club, for this workshop with author Phillippe Diederich where he will discuss the value of multi-cultural writing. Diederich is the author of Sofrito and Playing for the Devil’s Fire, which was named the 2017 Best Young Adult novel by the Texas Institute of Letters and the 2017 Young Adult Library Services Best Fiction for Young Adults. This workshop takes place on Saturday, December 15 at 1:30 pm at the Lilburn Branch, 4817 Church Street, Lilburn.  It is free and open to the public. For more information, visit www.gwinnettpl.org or call 770-978-5154.

BICENTENNIAL EVENT: GWINNETT’S 200^th BIRTHDAY GALA. This will be December 15 at 6 p.m. at the Infinite Energy Center, 6400 Sugarloaf Parkway, Duluth.  Celebrate the county’s rich history and pay tribute to its vibrant community and diverse cultures at a festive gala. The cock­tail party begins at 6 p.m., and dinner begins at 7 p.m. Cost: $125 per person. Cocktail attire is appropriate. To buy tickets or to learn more about the gala, visit www.gwinnett200birthday.com.

DEDICATION of the Gwinnett Bicentennial Trail and Plaza will be Tuesday, December 18, at 11 a.m. at the Plaza, which fronts Luckie Street in Lawrenceville between South Perry and South Clayton Street. This is the area where a fire station was previously located. Parking is available at the Lawrenceville Lawn east of the Plaza.

ANOTHER DEDICATION: An outdoor sculpture dedication honoring former County Commission Chairman Wayne Hill will take place at 3:30 on Tuesday, December 18 at the Environmental Heritage Center. It was funded by the private, non-profit Environmental and Heritage Center Foundation. The sculpture honors Mr. Hill, who as county commission chairman, was the main force behind establishment of the Center.

NORTH ATLANTA Metro Area Realtors (NAMAR) is holding its annual EXPO on January 17, 2019, at the Infinite Energy Center, from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m. Nearly 150 exhibitor booths will be in attendance.

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