PROPOSED BOUNDARIES: Here are the anticipated boundaries of the city of Peachtree Corners if a vote passes November 8 creating the city. These same boundaries were earlier known as the Peachtree Corners Overlook District. For more on this vote, see the following two articles, both Today's Focus and EEB Perspective.

Issue 11.63 | Friday, Nov. 4, 2011

TODAY'S FOCUS
:: Peachtree Corners needs clear vision

ELLIOTT BRACK'S PERSPECTIVE
:: 2 groups want friends to vote

FEEDBACK
:: Medical diagnostics, cityhood

UPCOMING
:: Alive! Festival; Gingerbread houses

NOTABLE
:: Purafil wins awards; Suwanee trail

ALSO INSIDE

IN THE SPOTLIGHT
:: Mingledorff's

GEORGIA TIDBIT
:: Marine Gen. Raymond Davis

LAGNIAPPE
:: Duluth leadership grads

GWINNETT CALENDAR
:: Lots of activities on tap

TODAY'S QUOTE
:: Written words can confuse

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TODAY'S FOCUS
Peachtree Corners needs only a vision, not to be a city
By JOSE R. PEREZ and JIM NELEMS
Special to GwinnettForum

NORCROSS, Ga., Nov. 4, 2011 -- Peachtree Corners' future remains bright and vibrant. However, like many other areas of our country, the community finds itself at crossroads facing political challenges imposed by an influential few attempting to create a city much larger than its community, and to increase taxes in a constrained economy.

Perez

Nelems

Peachtree Corners is the community within more or less three miles from the Forum on Peachtree Parkway, so why does the proposed city include Mechanicsville, parts of Doraville with boundaries extending from Buford Highway to the Chattahoochee River and Winters Chapel Road, and all the way to the Duluth and Berkeley Lake city limits?

Nobody asked them (or us) if they wanted to be in the city before attempting to annex them. UPCCA has mounted a two minute drill offense pushing us into a decision, as if there is no tomorrow. But be very aware that come November 8, voting YES establishes a city for perpetuity; then there is no tomorrow to undo that.

To move forward, the "real" Peachtree Corners (PC) needs a vision, not a city. A vision of what the future holds, enabling the possibilities and allowing markets to determine what's best for us, not government: then and only then can our destiny become the "shining city on the hill". But, voting yes for an irreversible solution that creates a full-fledged city to address perceived zoning issues is not a plausible decision, even if a powerful legislator claims personal comfort with it. At the end of the day on November 8, each of us must live with that decision, regardless what politician endorses it, because it's our future, our kids' future.

By 2030 Metro Atlanta population is expected to reach 8.4 million, roughly the size of London and Chicago today, and PC is strategically positioned to benefit from that economic growth. To envision that future, a focus on Metro Atlanta is important, because Gwinnett becomes the most populous county in Georgia. Together with Fulton, DeKalb, and Cobb, it makes up more than 50 percent of the Metro population.

For a century, the fundamentals of work have remained the same. What's different about the information age of personal computers, mobile phones and Internet is its ability to reshape the social organization of office settings and empower workers with tools to actively participate without being physically there. In 2030 offices may not be rooms and business complexes may have a residential mix directly impacting the tax digest, thus local government funding.

So, the real "Work, Live and Play" as Paul Duke envisioned when creating Peachtree Corners, will exist, but we won't need a city to manage it. Gwinnett County already has zoning ordinances, and the economies of scale, to cover it.

The bottom line is that Peachtree Corners needs a community vision with strategies for business creation and job growth, not parochial government solutions limiting investment, and impeding progress. The Peachtree Corners Ballot Committee seeks market solutions facilitating commerce crossing county lines, creating wealth and jobs.

Let's not circle the wagons. Let's be bold, let's welcome progress and position our community to benefit. Vote NO on November 8.

EEB PERSPECTIVE
Getting friends to vote could carry 2 big Nov. 8 elections
By ELLIOTT BRACK
Editor and publisher

NOV. 4, 2011 -- Two Gwinnett groups seem to be hoping that their passion and that of their friends and acquaintances will be the force that will gain an election in their favor next week.

Brack

Both the committee favoring the continuation of the E-SPLOST sales tax, and those favoring cityhood for the Peachtree Corners area, want their friends who also favor these measures, to get out and vote. With this not being a general election, many times all it takes to win victory in low turnout times, is for you to get out passionate voters on your side.

For the E-SPLOST, people wanting the best for their children, and who want the Gwinnett schools to continue to prosper, have passed the penny sales tax for education three times before. The committee of business people favoring this vote is concentrating on getting out the positive vote. In its three previous votes, E-SPLOSTs have passed by margins of an average of 72 percent.

The prime mover on the question of cityhood for Peachtree Corners has been the United Peachtree Corners Civic Association (UPCCA).

The new wrinkle this time is that the area where this cityhood vote will take place includes vast areas of unincorporated Gwinnett not thought of as Peachtree Corners.

Why were these areas brought into the Peachtree Corners vote? Simply because of a slick move years ago, by UPCCA, which got a vast area to be known as the "Peachtree Corners Overlook District," which no one understood or thought much of at the time. Yet the Overlook District was the basis that has been selected to be the boundaries for the incorporation vote, even though many of these areas do not consider themselves Peachtree Corners. It was a long-range major maneuver by the UPCCA, since these boundaries would bring major revenue primarily from businesses in these areas into the contemplated city coffers.

Included within the voting area is the land between Buford Highway and Peachtree Industrial Boulevard (Mechanicsville); between Peachtree Industrial Boulevard and the Chattahoochee River (Lynwood Forest); areas north of Medlock Bridge Road to Berkeley Lake; and portions of the area between Buford Highway and Peachtree Industrial Boulevard north of Medlock Bridge Road (Northwoods Business Park, and Blue Ridge Business Park, et al.) Another land mass, the original triangle of Technology Park/Atlanta, is also a choice plum, not previously in a city, and an area which makes potential cityhood officials' mouths water when they think of the tax revenue this business park will generate. Yet with few housing units in this area, the businesses in this park are shut out of voting on cityhood.

What the UPCCA obviously hopes will happen is that residents in the fringe areas of Peachtree Corners will not turn out heavily and vote in the election, though many are opposed, but in many cases, not even registered.

So, like the supporters of the E-SPLOST, members of UPCCA members and friends, in a block positive vote, could carry the day if those unopposed in the fringe areas of Peachtree Corners turn out in small numbers to voice their opposition.

As for the E-SPLOST vote, there should be enough mothers, fathers, grandparents and forward-thinking people voting for this plan, who recognize that the highly-regarded Gwinnett County schools earned their present high standings since Gwinnett voters have continually provided additional E-SPLOST revenue for their continued progress. Continuation of this one cent sales tax goes a long way toward insuring that the Gwinnett schools can continue to be among the very best in the nation.

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FEEDBACK
Medical diagnostics are important when it's happening to you

Editor, the Forum:

Your article on medical diagnostics resonated with me as I have had a couple of personal situations where having what was thought to be routine tests have sometimes had positive results, but at others has created questions.

After an ultrasound a few year ago, I was told that a mass on my kidney had grown, based on an earlier test, which specialists said likely (95 percent chance) meant cancer. I was fortunate that a novel procedure, at least not one I was aware of, took care of the tumor and a follow up test have shown no recurrence.

In another, unrelated instance, a CT scan for heart calcium revealed a lung nodule. Protocol suggested follow up for a couple of years, but after a year with no change, I am now faced with the question of whether to spend a reasonably large sum for another scan.

My primary care physician, who relies heavily on testing in his "practice" methodology, suggests the follow up exam. All this said, we are continually faced with the question of when to say when---that enough testing is good enough for us.

The procedure happened when I was 59. They did a radio frequency ablation. I have had four or five MRI's subsequent to that. They found nothing. Altogether, how much it cost is a good question, but it was probably in the $ 15-20,000 range.

The medical community on one hand is saying that the masses do not need all the tests, but as had been said, minor surgery becomes major when it is you being cut on! Several friends are facing similar decisions about PSA results, which as you noted, now has come into question.

Medical decisions require relying both on medical advice and on personal insight into what is best for an individual. In any given case, we may make either a wise or foolish choice. Certainly time will reveal the right answer.

-- Regular Local Reader (Name withheld so not to embarrass the M.D.)

Looking at cityhood debate, and why some like term limits

Editor, the Forum:

I don't have a dog in the Peachtree Corners city-hood fight, but it seems that the anti's are more organized with prefab editorials than the pro's are.

On term limits: we already have term limits. They're called "elections."

It seems that almost everyone who is for term limits is for them in everyone else's congressional district, especially those in other states that are not of that writer's political persuasion. Their own Congressman Joe Blow should be able to stay in office as long as he likes. For example, Texans used to rail at (Democrat) Ted Kennedy as a poster boy for term limits, never mind that their own (Republican) Phil Gramm and South Carolina's (Republican) Strom Thurmond had been in office since Moses came off the mountain.

These examples are dated and time has imposed the ultimate term limit on two of these men, but you get the idea. It is still very much alive.

-- Bob Hanson, Loganville

• Send us your letters. Our policy: We encourage readers to submit feedback (or letters to the editor). Send your thoughts to the editor at elliott@brack.net. We will edit for length and clarity. Make sure to include your name and the city where you live. Submission of a comment grants permission for us to reprint. Please keep your comments to 300 words or less. However, we will consider longer articles (no more than 500 words) for featuring in Today's Focus as space allows.

UPCOMING
Duluth to hold Alive! Festival on Green this weekend

The City of Duluth welcomes its first Alive! Festival on Saturday from noon to 7 p.m. and on Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on the Town Green in downtown Duluth. This will be an outdoor event whose goal is to educate attendees on how to integrate health and wellness, natural products, and green and eco products into environmentally responsible everyday lifestyle and to create a positive impact on the world.

The festival anticipates its first years' attendance to draw 5,000 consumers for the weekend. The Festival is designed to promote "All Things Natural, Green and Healthy" and to bring to the forefront companies in the health and wellness industry to the residents of Duluth and neighboring areas.

The Alive! Festival is a sister event to Alive! Expo, Atlanta's first, largest and longest-running natural products and green living event.

The Alive! Festival will benefit Project Green, a new 501c3 non-profit in Atlanta, whose mission is to invest in "A Green Tomorrow." Project Green will invest in and protect green space initially within the southeastern United States. Additionally, Project Green will develop, launch and run an annual "Back to Basics" Summer Camp for underprivileged children and teenagers. Back to Basics will teach kids and young people how to interact with one another focusing on building self-esteem and awareness of the environment by incorporating challenging and fun activities.

The Alive! Festival is a free community and will feature over 50 natural and organic vendors, a sustainable locally grown Farmers Market.

Enviro Center plans 2nd Gingerbread House competition

Green Gingerbread Houses -- are there such things? Who doesn't love making adorable gingerbread houses with the family or looking at the intricate works of professional gingerbread house architects?

As part of its December Green Holiday Program, the Gwinnett Environmental and Heritage Center (GEHC) will host its second annual Sustainable Gingerbread House Contest and Exhibit. Designers will create environmentally friendly houses out of edible materials that highlight sustainability and green building design.

Jason West, director of development at the GEHC, suggests: "Imagine building your dream house with all the sustainable features possible. Only, instead of standard building materials, it would be made out of gingerbread!"

At least three sustainable building elements must be included in the design of the gingerbread house, such as solar panels, rain barrels, green roof, windmills, etc. Participants may use a traditional gingerbread recipe, a recipe for dog biscuits, bird seed cakes, or any other edible product. The structure can also include birdseed, pinecones, leaves, twigs… anything from nature.

There are multiple competition categories, each with group and individual entries, planned: Pre K - Second Grade; Third through Sixth Grade; and Teen, Adult Family and Professional. The overall winning entry will receive a $75 gift card from the Gwinnett Environmental and Heritage Center Foundation.

Entry forms are due November 30, 2011. Forms can be accessed online at www.gwinnettEHC.org or in person at the GEHC. Contestants are asked to deliver gingerbread houses to the GEHC between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. on one of the following dates: November 30, December 1, or December 2, 2011, or between 2 and 4 p.m. on December 4. Judging will take place the week of December 5, and the awards will be presented during the GEHC's Green Holiday event on December 10, at 11 a.m..

Entries will be available for viewing at the GEHC during the remainder of December.

NOTABLE
Purafil cops 3 awards at European summit

Purafil, Inc., a Doraville-based global gas-phase filtration manufacturer, won three awards at the fifth Annual Strategic Manufacturing Awards (SMA) held at the conclusion of the European Manufacturing Strategies Summit in Düsseldorf, Germany on Oct. 18, hosted by the World Trade Group. Purafil was among 14 corporations vying for one or more of the seven awards in which they were finalists.

Purafil was recognized in these categories:

• INNOVATION: "(Purafil is) a great example of how innovation can drive improvement in manufacturing!" proclaimed the presenter as he handed the Innovation Award to René van Dijke, Purafil's business unit director for Europe. The Innovation Award criterion was based on how businesses have maintained their competitive edge with innovative products while meeting the market demands as an innovative gas-phase filtration leader.
  
  
• GLOBAL OPERATIONS: The Distinction in Global Operations Award recognized the ability to successfully apply best practices throughout worldwide remote manufacturing locations. Purafil's success in global operations is centered on quality control initiatives, including remote manufacturing selection process, personal and video conferencing quality control inspections, online production meetings as well as controlling key performance components.
  
  
• e-F@ctory Hall of Fame Award. This recognition is only bestowed to the ceremony's "winner of winners" that demonstrated exceptional leadership in manufacturing innovation and best practices.

During the same time as the award ceremony, Purafil was rolling out its latest technological innovation at the annual WEFTEC show in Los Angeles, Calif. When news of the awards reached Purafil President, James Mash, he stated, "Purafil is honored to be the recipient of these three distinguished awards. Our global team is devoted to providing innovative clean air solutions and this recognition symbolizes our hard work and inspires the entire team to continue to strive for excellence in everything we do."

For over 40 years, Purafil has been the world leader in designing, engineering, and manufacturing gas-phase air filtration systems, corrosion monitoring instrumentation, and UL classified granular media. Purafil maintains nearly 30,000 installations in cleanroom, commercial, industrial, archival, and water-wastewater treatment settings worldwide.

Suwanee Creek Greenway to get partial rehabilitation

The oldest section of the Suwanee Creek Greenway, from Martin Farm Road to Suwanee Elementary School, will be closed in two phases over a seven-month or more period so that the City of Suwanee, through its contractor Georgia Development Partners, can rehabilitate and upgrade the approximately one-mile section of multiuse trail.

The first phase, from the Town Center connector at Lawrenceville-Suwanee Road to Martin Farm Road, was closed this week. Work on this phase will require three to four months, depending on weather conditions. When work on the first section is complete, rehabilitation will begin on the second phase, from the Town Center connector/ Lawrenceville-Suwanee Road to Suwanee Elementary, and that section also will be closed for three to four months, again depending on the weather.

With the possible exception of a few days between phases, the City plans to keep access to the Greenway open from the Town Center connector in one direction or the other.

This older section of Suwanee's popular, four-mile multiuse path was installed in the 1990s. Existing asphalt and boardwalk will be demolished, and new concrete and boardwalk will be installed at widths that match the newer sections of the Greenway. In addition, changes are being made to minimize as much as possible the impact of flooding along this section. For example, where possible, the trail will be moved to higher ground (6-18 inches higher) so that floodwaters will recede from the trail surface first.

The total project budget is approximately $1.2 million. Monies will come from SPLOST and remaining City of Suwanee open space bond funds.

RECOMMENDED

• An invitation: What Web sites, books or restaurants have you enjoyed? Send us your best recent visit to a restaurant or most recent book you have read along with a short paragraph as to why you liked it, plus what book you plan to read next. --eeb

GEORGIA ENCYCLOPEDIA
Davis develops plan to save trapped Marines

(From previous edition)

Thus Raymond Davis's unit saw little conflict until MacArthur ordered the invasion of North Korea. The Fifth and Seventh regiments were to go north through the Toktong Pass to secure the Chosin Reservoir and then proceed farther north to the Yalu River, the border with China. In bitterly cold weather, the regiments fought their way up existing roads until they reached the Chosin Reservoir, where in late November they were surrounded by more than 125,000 Chinese soldiers in a counterinvasion.

For several days they were pinned down in fierce fighting with the Chinese. Fox Company, a small force that had been left behind at the Toktong Pass, was also surrounded and under heavy fire. As the crisis escalated, Davis came up with a plan: he proposed to leave everything his marines could not carry, break through the enemy lines, and journey east all night through the high mountains to come around behind the enemy soldiers surrounding the unit at the Toktong Pass. The two regiments, meanwhile, would break out and take the main route up which they had come.

Davis's First Battalion left their jeeps and loaded mortars and rounds on stretchers. They packed food close to their bodies to keep it from freezing in temperatures around 30 degrees below zero. Then they broke through the Chinese lines to the east of the camp and headed through the mountains, 800 men trudging in single file through knee-deep snow. Chinese soldiers were firing blindly into the night, and as the battalion got closer to Fox Company, Davis ordered them not to return fire when fired upon so that they could keep their location secret.

When his battalion got close enough to the surrounded Marines to be in danger of friendly fire, he gave the order to stop, take cover, and rest. At dawn Davis's battalion took the Chinese by surprise and fought their way in to the stranded company. Then they proceeded to take the Toktong Pass away from enemy forces, opening it for the Fifth and Seventh regiments to get through. After the battle the regiments made their way southward to safety. For his role in rescuing thousands of men, U.S. President Harry Truman presented Davis with the Congressional Medal of Honor in 1952.

Davis returned to conflict during the war in Vietnam (1964-73), where as major general he served as deputy commander and then commander of the Third Marine Division. Then he returned to the United States, earning his third and fourth stars and serving as assistant commandant of the Marine Corps.

Upon retirement from the military in 1972, Davis became the executive vice president of the Georgia Chamber of Commerce. Three years later he retired to Conyers, where he became a land developer. Davis served on the board for the construction of the Korean War Veterans Memorial, which was dedicated in July 1995 in Washington, D.C.

Davis died on September 3, 2003, at the age of 88. He was buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Gardens in College Park.

• Click here to access the Georgia Encyclopedia

LAGNIAPPE
New graduates

Eleven residents have graduated from the City of Duluth's fourth class of L.E.A.D. (Learn, Engage, Advance Duluth) class. The graduation was at the Parc at Duluth on October 25. From left, seated, are Kim Kelkenberg, Bernadette Barnes, Anja Rettig and LaDovia Donaldson. Standing from left are John-Michael Jones, Robert Pennington, Kari Evans, Syed Rizvi and Kirkland McDaniel. (Not pictured are Jeff Cook and Woody Bell.) Participants were presented certificates and T shirts by Mayor Nancy Harris. This leadership academy offers an avenue for citizens to become knowledgeable about city government. It offers an interactive learning experience, which includes information about city services, programs and responsibilities. The six-week long L.E.A.D. academy is held once a year in the fall. For more information call Alisa Williams at 678-475-3506 or email her at awilliams@duluthga.net.

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© 2011, Gwinnett Forum.com. Gwinnett Forum is an online community commentary for exploring pragmatic and sensible social, political and economic approaches to improve life in Gwinnett County, Ga. USA.

TODAY'S QUOTE

Ah, written words sometimes confuse everyone

"People who like this sort of thing will find this the sort of thing they like."

-- The 16th president of the United States, Abraham Lincoln (1809 - 1865), in a book review

MORE COPIES
Last chance to get discount
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Here's your last chance to get a discount at pre-publication prices
for the second printing of Gwinnett: A Little Above Atlanta, the modern
history of Gwinnett County. The first edition sold out earlier this year.

Two versions of the book will be available. The hardback edition will be
priced at $75, while a softback edition will be $40.

People placing an order for the books before the delivery of the books
will earn discounts of $10 off the price of the hardback version, and $5
reduction of the price of the softbound version. To order books at this
special pricing, go to www.elliottbrack.com.

SEARCH GWINNETT FORUM

GWINNETT CALENDAR

Old Peachtree Road 5K, sponsored by Georgia campus, Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine: 9 a.m., Nov. 5, to benefit Rainbow Village. The race will begin and end in the medical college's parking lot at 625 Old Peachtree Rd. NW, Suwanee. Click here for application.

Celebrate America Festival: Noon to 5 p.m., Nov. 6, Catholic Church of Saint Monica, sponsored by the Knights of Columbus. The Festival will honor the military, community fire, police, emergency personnel and governmental workers. More info: drfoodatwcdk@bellsouth.net.

(NEW) Veteran's Day Ceremony, at Fallen Heroes Memorial, Gwinnett County Courthouse, Nov. 11 at 11 a.m. This event will pay tribute to Gwinnett veterans and Fallen Heroes. Speaker will be Dr. Dan Kaufman, a retired Army brigadier general, and now president of Georgia Gwinnett College. The ceremony will be shown on TVGwinnett at 7:30 p.m. and this will also be available on the Gwinnett County website.

Concert To Honor Veterans, by the Stone Mountain Barbershoppers, at the Gwinnett Performing Arts Center. Times: 8:30 p.m., Nov. 11; and 3 p.m. and 8 p.m., Nov. 12. The program features musical selections that bring back memories of "Route 66." For more details, visit online.

Harvest Homecoming Dance: 7 p.m., Nov. 12, Racquet Club of the South. To benefit the Norcross Cluster School Partnership. Tickets are $40. Order online at www.norcrosscsp.org.

Fourth Annual LaJazz: 6 p.m. to 10 p.m., Nov. 13 at Footprints Cafe in Lawrenceville and the same time Nov. 20 at Purple Rain in Duluth. Both events benefit Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority and the Gwinnett Pearls of Service Foundation. More info.

(NEW) General Meeting, Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce, Nov. 16, at 11:30 a.m. at the 1818 Club, 6500 Sugarloaf Parkway. Speaker will be David Ralston, speaker of the Georgia House of Representatives. Info: 678-957-4958.

Colored Pencil Odyssey exhibition of six artists: Now through Nov. 25, St. Edward's Episcopal Church, 737 Moon Road in Lawrenceville. These 24 drawings are from members of the Atlanta chapter of the Colored Pencil Society. The gallery is free to the public, with viewing hours 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 9 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. on Sunday. For more information, call 770-963-6128.

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