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The Member of the Georgia Press Association Your only locally-owned community newspaper Serving the communities of Braselton, Hoschton, Chateau Elan, Mill Creek, West Jackson and South Hall Wednesday, October 17,2007 Vol. 3 No. 3 A publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. BraseltonNews.com 250 copy 26 pages, 3 sections Inside •A sneaker club? The Village at Deaton Creek keeps residents busy page 5A BRASELTON •Retail projects on Ga. Hwy. 53 on planning com mission agenda page 3A Social: •Popular produce store to close due to road con struction page 1OA Sports: • Mill Creek’s Amberlie Saxton commits to UGA’s softball program page 2B Public safety: •Man falls from second- story window page 7A •Church events page 9A •Obituaries page 8A Fewer police or city taxes for Hoschton? Council debates 2008 budget amid financial crisis More inside BY KERRI TESTEMENT Hoschton’s financial crisis could lead to some major changes, including the imple menting of a city property tax, or a drastic cut in the police department, according to budget proposals. Those were two of the items discussed Monday afternoon by a committee of the Hoschton City Council as it began work on the town’s budget for 2008. The council is expected to discuss a proposed budget at its work session on Thursday, Nov. 1, followed by several public hearings in November and a final vote in December. The issue of next year’s budget comes on the heels of recent cutbacks by the town in the current year’s spending. Projections show that the town will be left with virtu ally no cash, less than $5,000, at the end of this year. That lack of reserves is putting a lot of pressure on Hoschton’s 2008 budget plans. Monday night, the council committee looked at three levels of budgeting for 2008 — a $1.02 million wish-list budget that includes pay hikes and no cutbacks on city person nel; a “low-revenue” budget of $681,600 that calls for cutting some city jobs; and an in-between budget labeled “bare-bones” of $896,800. The problem is that both the in-between budget and the wish-list budget would likely require some kind of city property tax, a move that councilmembers appear reluctant to consider and that may not be possible anyway because of the lack of time. On the other hand, the smallest “low-rev enue” budget would require some cutback, especially in the town’s police department of three to four officers out of the current seven. That move was also met with mixed feelings by the committee. “If you go with the low (revenue) budget projection and lose three or four officers, you’re going to lose a bunch of services,” said mayor Bill Copenhaver. “You’re going to have depend more on (Jackson) County.” Council member James Keinard suggest ed another option for the city — asking Braselton to assume policing responsibili ties in Hoschton. Editorial: ‘Hoschton government at a crossroads’ See page 4A That suggestion wasn’t an option for Tom Walden, who will be sworn onto the Hoschton City Council in December. “No, you give them policing and then they’ll take everything,” Walden said. “And if that’s the case, then what you’re sug gesting, Jim, is that we become part of Braselton.” “Well, that’s eventually what would hap pen,” Keinard said. See BUDGET on page 3A Mill Creek homecoming court QUEEN AND PRINCESSES Mill Creek High School named its homecoming queen and princesses on Friday night. Porsha Porter, a senior, was named the homecoming queen. Those named princesses were: Lindsey Davey, a senior; Julia Murphy, a junior; Sara Simmons, a sophomore; and Lauren Govemale, a freshman. Photo by Brandon Reed Hamilton Mill students to be split Residents angered by proposed redistricting BY KRISTI REED By 2009, Hamilton Mill students will no longer attend Duncan Creek Elementary School according to a new school board redistricting plan. Instead, Hamilton Mill’s youngest students will be split between two elementary schools in a plan that took residents of the 2,300 home subdivision by surprise. But residents are vowing to fight back. A group of Hamilton Mill citizens have joined together to form Hamilton Mill United, a group of concerned hom eowners opposed to the redistricting plan. “This is not just a Hamilton Mill issue; this is not just a Mill Creek issue,” said Paul Brannigan, one of the organizers of Hamilton Mill United. “This is a universal concept that strong communities build strong schools. There is no reason to divide a neigh borhood unnecessarily.” The group will be working the next few weeks to craft a unified response to the school system’s plan. Residents have been asked to send in the GCPS school boundary input forms by the November 1 deadline. Hamilton Mill parents are also making plans to attend a November 15 public meeting at the Instructional Support Center at 437 Old Peachtree Road in Suwanee. Mark Montini, who chairs the political subcommit tee of Hamilton Mill United, said the outcome of this issue has far reaching implications. “[The school board] has to realize that strong com munities are what make strong schools,” he said. “You start to break up communities; ultimately what Next Steps •Nov. 1: Deadline for completing boundary input forms in schools and on school system website. •By Nov. 5: Boundary committee submits revised draft boundaries (if any changes) and input forms received to school system’s planning department. • Nov. 15: Public comments to be taken from Mill Creek and Collins Hill clusters at 7 p.m., at the Instructional Support Center. • Nov. 19-Dec. 4: Planning develops final recommen dations. The final recommendations will be given to the schools on Dec. 5. • Dec. 13: The board of education votes on redistricting at 7 p.m. you are doing is breaking up a formula that has been proven to work over and over again. The board thinks they build strong schools. The rest of the world understands communities build strong schools.” BACKGROUND Just four years ago, Hamilton Mill was moved from the Dacula cluster to the newly-opened Mill Creek cluster. While that move was seen as largely positive, this time the feeling is different. Hundreds of Hamilton Mill students have attended Duncan Creek since its doors opened in 2003. See REDISTRICT on page 6A Keep depot in city’s hands, says town committee BY KERRI TESTEMENT n the end, all the public feuding over the status of the Hoschton Depot may lead right back to where it started — with the city continuing to man age the historic facility rather than leasing it out to another group. That was the recommendation of a Hoschton City Council com mittee Monday night. The commit tee, made up of council members Jim Jester, Deborah Donaldson and James Keinard, will recommend to the full council on Nov. 1 that the city continue to manage and pro mote the depot for special events. The move comes after two months of controversy over the facility after the council approved a proposal by a private for-profit firm in August to manage the facility, in effect leasing it from the city and then sub-leasing it for other uses. That idea was met with a firestorm of resistance by many Hoschton residents, who packed several council meetings where the matter was discussed. Some council members said they like the idea of leasing the facility so that it wouldn’t cost the city as much money. After the controversy began, the council decided to open bidding for managing the depot. In addition to the original proposal presented in August by Yesway Enterprises, the council received a bid from the newly-formed Hoschton Historic Depot Preservation Foundation. BIDS REVIEWED Monday morning, the council’s fiscal resources compared the two bids using 19 requirements out lined in the request for proposals. An estimated 15-20 people in the audience, including several current council members and the mayor, also attended the committee meet ing. A sticking point for the commit tee was a question concerning the city’s involvement in the depot, based on the submitted bids. Yesway Enterprises proposed that the city be responsible for major, structural repairs, but not daily maintenance. The Hoschton Historic Depot Preservation Foundation proposed a “partnership” with the city. The foundation said it will establish a board of directors that will include one member nominated by the city council. See DEPOT on page 3A Hoschton political forum set The Hoschton Women’s Civic Club will sponsor a political forum for candidates seeking Posts 4, 5, and 6 of the Hoschton City Council. The forum will be held on Thursday, Oct. 25, at 6:30 p.m., at the Hoschton Depot. The Post 4 candidate is Richard Shepherd, who is unopposed. The Post 5 candidate is Tom Walden, who is also unopposed. The Post 6 candidates are Theresa Kenerly and incumbent James Keinard. “This will give everyone an opportunity to ask questions and also to hear the answers from ques tions asked by others,” according to organizers. The West Jackson Fire Department has also been invited to take part in the forum and speak to citizens about the changes, equipment purchased and employ ees that have been added. Fire chief Ben Stephens and West Jackson Fire Board member Michael Cronic will represent the fire department. Refreshments will be served at the end of the forum. Mike Buffington, editor of The Jackson Herald (sister newspaper of The Braselton News), will be the emcee of the forum. Members of the committee are: Edna Sell, chairman; and Sherry Hayes, Jo Ann Howe, Judy Johnson, Kay Schulte and Janet Wagner. Two of the members asked to be excused, Theresa Kenerly and Mary Ann Kenerly, due to ties with the upcoming city election.