Three Questions With the Mayor: Car Wash Grand Opening, Avoiding Water Problems and Significant Changes in Dacula
Dacula Mayor Jimmy Wilbanks answers questions about our community.
UPDATED 6:08 p.m.
In this week's "Three Questions With the Mayor," Dacula Mayor Jimmy Wilbanks provides an update on the latest city news and discusses the changes he has seen in Dacula over the past several decades.
Dacula Patch: What's new in Dacula this week?
Mayor Wilbanks: The Quick Shop Exxon, at the corner of Fence and Dacula Roads, is premiering its new Xpress Car Wash on Wednesday, Sept. 19 at 8:30 a.m.* This is a replacement and upgrade of the old car wash that has been out of service for several months. If your car is like mine and needs washing, visit the Quick Shop Wednesday for a wash.
Dacula Patch: What is something Dacula residents need to know?
Mayor Wilbanks: Our area is supposed to get some much needed rain this week, some of it may be heavy. So let me encourage each homeowner to check downspouts, drainage ditches, and drop inlets. Minor maintenance to these, including making sure they are not clogged, makes a big difference in the amount of complaints the City receives about water problems following heavy rains. When the rains are over, please take mosquito prevention a priority. As we get further into the fall, the mosquito population will fall off drastically. Until then, take precautions against mosquito bites.
Dacula Patch: What is the most significant change you have seen in Dacula during the past 10 years? The past 20 years?
Mayor Wilbanks: Most of the commercial growth in the City occurred in the past 10-12 years. This has provided essential goods, services, convenience, and tax-digest stability for our residents as the City and surrounding areas have grown.
Let me back up to about 40 years ago (I know the question was the past 20 years). I was first mayor here in 1971, and I served four years (two-year terms then). We had a population of only about 400 in the City. Over that 40 years we grew from 400 people to nearly 5,000. If we can extrapolate for the next forty years to 2052, the City might expect to have a population of nearly 40,000. Changes that I saw during the previous 40 years included going from dirt streets to paved streets, the expansion of the interstate system, the construction of Georgia 316, the last outhouse in the City, the expansion of the water system and what little sewer we have in the City. I saw my home church expand from around 120 members to over 12,000 members. I saw our historic downtown dwindle, and other parts of the City become the commercial centers. I saw the loss of innocence in our City as we went from being able to leave the doors unlocked to making sure everything was secured when you left home. I saw the decline of stay-at-home agricultural use of land and the rise of other forms of “public” work that necessitated going somewhere else to work.
In other words, I have seen the transformation of Dacula from a rural, agricultural demographic to the start of a suburban center, and I hope I have had a part in making that transition as smooth and as acceptable as possible. Change is inevitable. Change isn’t easy. Change ruffles feathers and costs. For the foreseeable future, change will be clouded with decisions made as a result of our current, terrible economic situation. In the next forty years, we will need to decide how best to face the challenges which will surface. I believe that our area needs to provide the infrastructure that will encourage local job centers and growth. As we move forward in our long-range planning, that should be our focus.
*In an email to Dacula Patch, store owner Peter Thakkar advised the grand opening time has been changed to 8:30 a.m.
How long have you lived in the Dacula area? What are the most significant changes you have seen during that time? Let us know in the comments.
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North Georgia Weather
4:22 pm on Monday, September 17, 2012
I've lived here since 1991 when we moved to Stratton Place Subdivision off of Bailey Woods Road, back when Bailey Woods was still gravel. I still live in the country, only on the Harbins side now, where not much has changed over here other than a few new subdivisions.
My son was the very first class at Harbins Elementary where he started as a Pre-K student. The school was only half full and half of the building was closed off and not used.
He also started playing T-Ball with DAA at the old Dacula Park, I think we had 4 ball fields then. There was nothing but a field of cows where Kroger is, and really nothing all the way around Dacula Road.
Some of you might not know, but Dacula Middle was once the largest middle school in the country, with more than 3000 kids. To hold them all, the county brought in more than 100 trailers to be used as classrooms.
I haven't been here nearly as long as the Mayor, but I've seen tons of changes in the 20 or so years I've been here!
Kristi Reed
4:42 pm on Monday, September 17, 2012
We moved to Dacula in 1998. My son was at Dacula Middle when it was referred to as the largest trailer park in Georgia. When we moved here, they had started construction on the Mall of Georgia, but you could take Gravel Springs to Buford and not even see another car. When the mall first opened, you could go during the week and have the whole place practically to yourself. The closest Target/Walmart was in Lawrenceville and the closest library was in Buford. The biggest and nicest changes though have been the additions of new schools, parks and libraries in our area.
Tommy Hunter
8:30 pm on Monday, September 17, 2012
Lived in and close to the area my whole life. I can remember Dacula High being a single A school and big as nothing. I can remember many of the local roads being dirt and gas at $0.35/gallon--but you had to go to Lawrenceville or Gainesville to get it. I can remember Kristi's part of the world being Jeep trails and Mineral Springs Road requiring serious 4wd to navigate---on a good day. I can remember visiting friends at the corner of Hamilton Mill Road and Ridge Road (I know that's Buford, but close) and being able to play in either road without worrying about a car from 9 am to 5 pm. I can remember the old gas station at Hamilton Mill and I-85 where the outdoor furniture place is now, and that being the only "development" on Hamilton Mill between SR 124 and Atlanta Highway in Buford.
Tommy Hunter
8:33 pm on Monday, September 17, 2012
I can also remember going past Fort Daniel Elementary under construction while on our way to our hunting lease in Morgan County and asking, "why in the world would they build a school WAY out here". I can also remember designing and managing the construction of the new water line on Jim Moore Road while it was being realigned and paved when I was at Gwinnett County. I believe that was 1999, the year my wife, kids, and I moved to the "country" out on Old Fountain Road.
M.K. Osborne
9:00 pm on Monday, September 17, 2012
I remember when the county actually kept the ditches dug out and the water didn't flow down the road like it does now. i remember when old fountain had wooden slat bridges and was dirt , Cat Fishing at Crowes lakes .
Tommy Hunter
9:06 pm on Monday, September 17, 2012
Yep, remember that too.
M.K. Osborne
9:15 pm on Monday, September 17, 2012
I guess that simple fix makes too much sense and doesn't require a SPLOST . lol