On Friday, September 28, the director of the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (EPD) declared a complete ban on most types of outdoor residential water use in dozens of Georgia counties, effective immediately.

Prior to this ban, Fulton County residents were allowed to water yards on weekends, but now that is prohibited. Read more.

The City of Johns Creek has selected Michael Buice, retired Gwinnett County Fire Chief and Director of Emergency Management, as its Interim Fire Chief, effective October 1.

Buice will advise the City in the selection of a permanent fire chief, hiring of firefighting personnel and general start-up activities of the City's first fire department, targeted for August 2008. Read more.

On September 26, the Johns Creek Community Development office kicked off a coordinated planning effort to develop the City's first comprehensive plan, including a transportation master plan and green plan. The 15-month process will engage citizens in defining a vision for the future that is articulated in the comprehensive plan, which then serves as a guide for local officials in making development decisions.

Be sure to get involved by attending any of the Citizen Advisory Committee and subcommittee meetings as well as the four scheduled public hearings. You can get all the details through the City's Web site.

Continuing its goal of bringing more city services online, the City of Johns Creek has launched a new on-line system for its building permit application and building inspection processes.

Residential and commercial applicants who have already applied in person for a permit can now go to the City's website, click the Building Permit/Inspection icon on the home page, check the status of their application and, once the permit is received, request a building inspection. Read more.

The City Council on September 24 unanimously approved a $44.1 million general fund budget as revised for Fiscal Year 2008, which runs October 1, 2007 through September 30, 2008. In addition, the city's first full-year budget includes $4.7 million in capital projects, $7.75 million in lease/purchase funds for police and fire vehicles and other equipment, as well as several other special fund categories for a total budget package of $57.7 million.

Thousands of cities were nominated, but only 25 made the grade as "America's Top Place to Live to Go to School" and Johns Creek is one of them, according to the national consumer directory Relocate-America.

Johns Creek was selected along with San Jose, Calif., Asheville, N. C., Colorado Springs, Colo. and 21 other cities for the 2007 list because of its strong schools, specialized educational programs, high parental involvement and community school support.

You have until October 9 to register in order to be eligible to vote in the November 6 election that features two city council races. Registration forms are available at City Hall and also online at Fulton County's website. Postcards will be mailed in October to all registered voters detailing the address of their specific voting poll locations. Or you can check online before that, but this on-line Poll Locator offered by the state does not serve as official registration notice.

There will be races in two of Johns Creek's three council positions up for election November 6 with five candidates, including all three incumbents, qualifying. Incumbent Dan McCabe faces Michael D. Barker for the Post 2 seat and Ivan Figueroa is being challenged by Stephen Becker for the Post 4 position, while Councilwoman Bev Miller is running unopposed for Post 6.

The Atlanta-Fulton County public library system plans to build 10 new libraries and renovate many facilities as part of a 10-year improvement list. The library system has scheduled a series of public meetings over the next several months to collect feedback from patrons.

The master plan includes a 25,000 square-foot facility for the Birmingham area of Milton, and major renovations for the existing facilities in Sandy Springs, Roswell, Alpharetta and Johns Creek. For more information on the master plan, visit the Atlanta-Fulton Public Library System web site.

Johns Creek meetings are as follows:

• October 24, 7pm – Northeast/Spruill Oaks library, 9560 Spruill Road
• October 25, 7pm – Ocee/Robert E. Fulton library, 5090 Abbotts Bridge Road