Newspaper Page Text
Page 10A
The Braselton News
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Sells Mill Park offers peaceful place to relax
SELLS MILL PARK
This view is from over the dam at Sells Mill Park, off Jackson Trail
Road in Hoschton. The park offers fishing, pavilions, grills, rest
rooms and a playground.
BRITTANY WHITLEY
Jackson County residents look
ing for a place to experience all the
outdoors has to offer in a histori
cal area need look no further than
Sells Mill Park.
The public park includes an old
wood frame grist mill, which was
originally built in the 1800s. Ricky
Sanders, director of parks and rec
reation for Jackson County, said
the mill was used in the 1800s to
grind corn, beans and other agri
cultural products.
The mill was closed in the 1950s
but stayed operational until 2000.
“It closed as an operation for
profit during the 1950s, although
it was still used by the owner, Mr.
Tate, for his personal use as well
as some of the farmers in the area
until his death in 2000,” Sanders
said.
Today, after renovations, the mill
is still in operation but is only used
for demonstration purposes.
Restoration on the mill began in
2003 and was completed in 2005.
In total, it took 22 months to com
plete the project. After completion,
the cost of restoring the mill came
to $95,000.
Other amenities at the park
include the Tate Pavilion, benches,
restrooms, walking trails and fish
ing at the park’s lake.
“It’s a peaceful place to relax,”
Sanders said.
There is also a half mile of walk
ing trails, Sanders said. A local
Boy Scout troop is adding on the
existing trails.
In the next two years, there will
be more pavilions, restrooms on
the mill side, parking, picnic tables
and benches added to the park.
Sanders said a shop on the park
property, estimated to be about 25
years old, had to be torn down dur
ing construction on the mill.
Around seven years ago,
the Jackson County Board of
Commissioners bought the 30.6
acres of land located off Jackson
Trail Road in Hoschton for the
project.
Sanders said civic and school
groups plan events at the park.
“We schedule school groups by
appointment and we have some
civic groups and other organiza
tions that have met here on occa
sion,” Sanders said.
The department of parks and
recreation is planning on adding
an event that is exclusive to the
park, Sander said, but it is still in
the discussion stages right now.
WJFD Explorers prepare youth for careers in fire services
BY KRISTI REED
October is national Fire Safety and Prevention
Month, a month devoted to educating the public
about fire safety and fire prevention. For the
West Jackson Fire Department, fire education is
a year round effort, particularly when it comes to
educating area youth.
Lt. Tony Harris leads the Department’s Fire
Explorers program, a hands-on program that
gives young people the opportunity to learn
about careers in fire services. Harris believes
the Explorers program is a worthwhile effort for
the Department.
“It gives us an opportunity to teach the young
folks in the area about firefighting and get them
interested in the field,” Harris said.
As part of the Explorers program, young men
and women 14 to 21 years of age participate in a
variety of classroom and practical training.
“They’ll do the same things we do,” said
Harris. “They will cover the basic firefighter’s
curriculum. They’ll be invited to any of the
events we have and will get to participate in our
in-house training.”
Harris plans to have the Explorers go on
ride-a-longs and allow them the opportunity to
volunteer at the station. The Explorers will also
receive emergency medical service training.
The Fire Explorers program is part of the Boy
Scouts of America Learning for Life program.
Explorers are eligible to participate in a variety
of local and national conferences and competi
tions. The program is supported by the U.S.
Fire Administration, the National Volunteer Fire
Council, The International Association of Fire
Chiefs and the Federal Emergency Management
Agency.
While the Explorers provide benefits to par
ticipants in terms of career information and
hands on experience, Harris says the Department
benefits as well.
“As they grow older, we have potential new
firefighters,” Harris explained. “We’ll have some
folks that we know, that we’ve watched grow.”
The West Jackson Fire Department Explorers
meets weekly. For more information, contact Lt.
Tony Harris at 706-654-2500 or email tharris@
westj acksonfd.com.
Braselton OK’s residential permits
RESERVOIR —
continued from page 1A
the situation well.
“We’re doing fine,” said Braselton
town manager Jennifer Scott. “We
don’t have any problems with our
providers.”
In fact, town officials are work
ing with the Jackson County Water
and Sewerage Authority (JCWSA)
to get more water to customers
in the western portion of Jackson
County.
Braselton gets an average of 1.4
million gallons of water a day from
Gwinnett County, which draws its
water from Lake Lanier.
Gwinnett County has agreed to
provide an additional 300,000 gal
lons of water a day to Braselton,
which will sell it to the JCWSA,
Scott said last week.
The JCWSA gets most of its water
from the Bear Creek Reservoir,
which also serves Barrow, Oconee
and Athens-Clarke counties. The
Bear Creek Reservoir, however, is
quickly drying up and officials are
scrambling to find other sources of
water.
“In this type of situation, every
one needs to work together to get
water,” Scott said.
Braselton also purchases water
from Barrow County, which pro
vides the cheapest rate to the town,
Scott said. Braselton gets 400,000
gallons a day from Barrow County.
Scott said Braselton purchases
water from Barrow County first,
since it has the cheapest rate at
$1.60 per 1,000 gallons. Gwinnett
County charges $3.47 per 1,000
gallons, she added.
The town is planning to expand
its water system that will help
move water around the town based
on availability and costs, Scott
said. The project was recently
approved for a loan by the Georgia
Environmental Facilities Authority
(GEFA).
Braselton also purchases about
3,000 gallons of water a month
from the JCWSA, which charges
$5 per 1,000 gallons, Scott said.
The town also has five wells that
provide up to 2.7 million gallons of
water a month, Scott said. One of
those wells, however, dried up dur
ing the current drought and town
officials are continuing to seek
more wells in the town limits.
Meanwhile, Braselton is still try
ing to make reuse water available
for residential customers.
The town is in the process of
acquiring the remaining rights-of-
way along Thompson Mill Road
for a reuse water line that will
serve 350 customers in the newer
sections of Chateau Elan. Once the
rights-of-way are purchased, town
officials plan to begin construction
immediately on a reuse water stor
age tank on Thompson Mill Road.
The Braselton Planning and
Development Department issued
26 residential building permits in
July and 29 permits in August,
according to a town report.
In July, 11 permits were issued in
Jackson County, seven in Barrow
County, six in Gwinnett County
and two in Hall County.
A non-residential building permit
for a 111 ,470 square-foot distribu
tion center for Whole Foods on
Ga. Hwy. 124 in Jackson County
was also issued in July.
The structures that received
building permits in July have an
estimated value of $14.6 million,
according to town officials.
In August, 22 permits were
issued in Jackson County, four in
Barrow County, three in Gwinnett
County and none in Hall County.
No non-residential building per
mits were issued in August.
The structures that received
building permits in August have
an estimated value of $5.6 million,
according to town officials.
In July, a final plat was signed
for Sienna, phase one. No final
plats were issued in August.
Permanent sign permits were
issued in July and August to
Bakers Farm, Prudential Realty,
Faux Maison, Tan Lines, ReMax,
Flooring Focus, Dojo Karate
Studio at Duncan’s Crossing,
Nutrition Depot at Publix and Pro
Nails at Duncan’s Crossing.
The following items are list
ed by town officials as pending
development permit applications,
preliminary plats or site develop
ment plans, as of July and August:
Braselton Village, located on Ga.
Hwy. 211 and Beaver Dam Road;
Reserve at Liberty Park, phase 2;
Liberty Crossing, phase 2; Hawg
Mountain Development (Chateau
Corners) commercial subdivi
sion; Discovery Point; Braselton
Distribution Center, building 12;
Braselton Crossing; Wachovia
Bank, located in front of Publix;
Park 85 at Braselton, speculative
building J; Braselton Academy;
GJ Enterprises, office warehouse
at Bordeaux Business Park.
Submit your school or social news from Braselton,
Hoschton, Chateau Elan, Mill Creek, South Hall or West
Jackson by e-mailing news@mainstreetnews.com, faxing
items to 706-387-5421 or calling 706-367-5986.
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DEPOT— cont’d from page 1A
funds earned through leasing the facility to operate the depot. A local
insurance company also agreed to provide a bond for the group.
The Hoschton City Council recently received a petition with the
signatures of more than 400 people who opposed the council’s plans to
have a private company manage, promote and maintain the depot.
Council members have said that maintaining the depot is costing
the city too much money. The city doesn’t charge non-profit groups to
lease the facility.
The Hoschton City Council agreed earlier to extend a deadline to
Nov. 15 for the Hoschton Women’s Civic Club to remove its items
from the depot. Those items include tables, chairs, kitchen appliances
and historical memorabilia.
To place a classified ad, call 706-367-5233
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