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Villa Rica council places multiple final plats, boosts sidewalk contribution and agrees to purchase wetland credits
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Summary
Council placed three final plats on consent (Liberty Point Phase 5, The Cottages, Northwoods Phase 3B), endorsed increasing the sidewalk fund contribution to $60 per linear foot, and agreed to proceed with purchasing stream/wetland credits (approx. $705,000) needed for Punkantown Road phase 1; staff also outlined a downtown streetscape engineering task under an 80% grant.
The Villa Rica City Council approved multiple development items on consent and heard updates on several capital and infrastructure projects.
Staff recommended and council placed on consent final-plat approvals for Liberty Point Phase 5 (37 single-family lots), The Cottages (a private 192-unit community with a city-serving lift station), and Northwoods Phase 3B (lots 1–38). Nick Griffin told council the Liberty Point maintenance bond is $246,748.54 and a performance bond of $168,000 covers sidewalks and top coat; The Cottages submitted a maintenance bond of $140,063.50 and contributed $12,240 in lieu of frontage sidewalk construction. Staff said all as-builts and inspections have been completed and recommended recording the plats.
Council also considered policy changes to the sidewalk fund: staff proposed increasing the per-linear-foot contribution from a historical $30 to $60 per linear foot to better cover construction, right-of-way, utility relocation and a two-year maintenance period. Griffin said the $60 value is intended to reflect current market costs and would be accepted only after review by staff/manager for isolated parcels or where connectivity is appropriate.
Public Works reported Punkantown Road phase 1 requires purchasing stream and wetland credits from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Mark Teal said the cost previously quoted at over $1,000,000 is now approximately $705,000 to support a culvert replacement and associated environmental mitigation; council removed that item from consent pending legal discussion and rescheduled it for action next Tuesday. The downtown streetscape task order #2 — a preliminary engineering package including traffic, environmental, and utility coordination — was estimated at $456,871 with an 80% grant reimbursement.
Staff also described an addendum to the Old Stone Road development agreement that would clarify what the city accepted in a prior street-acceptance resolution and proposed authorizing a developer offset of roughly $575,000 tied to Fortune Parkway construction obligations; that matter was placed on consent to return next week for final documentation.
Taken together, the items signal continuing residential development across the city as staff works to balance infrastructure obligations, funding strategies and environmental mitigation requirements.
