The monthly Buford City Commission meeting on Monday, July 21, 2025, was an eventful meeting with attendees being updated about the new high school stadium, witnessing the approval of a new drive-thru restaurant and watching Commission Chairman Phillip Beard receive a special honor.
The new Phillip Beard Stadium was a hot topic at the meeting as it will soon host its first football game ever, but before the Wolves take the field, the Buford community will have the chance to see the impressive new $62 million stadium on Sunday, July 27, at 2 p.m. for the official ribbon-cutting ceremony. This is a free event that is open to the public.
The public will get another chance to see the new stadium for free on Friday, Aug. 1, for the annual Green and Gold Scrimmage game. The game starts at 7:30 p.m. The season officially starts on Thursday, Aug. 14, when Buford hosts Milton in a nationally televised game on ESPN at 7 p.m.
As with all other school events, there will be a clear bag policy in effect at Phillip Beard Stadium. Metal detectors are being installed and will be utilized during every game.
At the end of the meeting, Gwinnett Forum’s Elliott Brack named Beard as the 2025 Most Valuable Gwinnettian “For his leadership, continuous service and commitment to the City of Buford and its School Board since first elected on September 1, 1974.”
The plaque lists all of the various contributions and achievements Beard has had during his 51 years of service to the citizens of Buford. To read the entire plaque, click here to go to the Gwinnett Forum.
During the public hearings portion of Monday night’s meeting, the Commission approved a new drive-thru restaurant at 4995 Lanier Islands Parkway. The new restaurant will be a Dutch Bros Coffee. The location will have only drive-thru and walk-up windows. There will be no seating inside the restaurant. A construction timeline was not given.
A new convenience store with fuel pumps and a canopy was also approved by the Commission for The Dam Investments, LLC, for 1250 Buford Dam Road. There was a convenience store and bait shop called The Dam Store located there previously, but it burned down in August 2013. The owners intend to sell fish bait and supplies in addition to the normal offerings of a convenience store.
Rounding out the public hearings section was a discussion and eventual adoption of a resolution for the City of Buford Urban Redevelopment Plan. The plan involves four parcels currently owned by Gwinnett County that were originally going to be used to make an additional holding pond for Gwinnett’s Water Department. The county scratched that plan, and the Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners approved the plans to sell the land to the City of Buford. The city intends to use the approximately 222 acres as future green space that the residents of the city can use. The city will pay Gwinnett County the fair market value of $90,000 per acre for the land.
The Commission authorized various payments to contractors for work on the new stadium, the New Street relocation project, the Southside Sewer, Phase III project, the New Street Roundabout project and the Moreno Street LCI project. City Manager Bryan Kerlin stated that the Moreno Street project will not be completed until late Summer 2026.
Todd Cleveland with the Buford Community Center reminded attendees that another FREE concert on the lawn will take place on Saturday, July 26, at 7 p.m., featuring Departure, A Journey Tribute band. Gates will open at 6 p.m.
