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Wednesday, November 21, 2007 The Braselton News Page 3A Jackson County School System New Gum Springs principal selected BY KERRI TESTEMENT Alisa Hanley will be a busy woman for the remaining of the school year. Hanley — who is principal of West Jackson Intermediate School — was recently named principal of the new Gum Springs Elementary School by the Jackson County Board of Education. Gum Springs Elementary School is slated to open next school year, next to West Jackson Middle School. The elementary school will have a capacity of 875 stu dents, but is expected to open with 650 students. Hanley will be handling admin istrative duties at both schools for the remaining of the school year. Hanley has been principal at WJIS for five years. Prior to her role at WJIS, Hanley was principal at West Jackson Primary School for two years and assistant prin cipal for instruction at Benton Elementary School. She was also a tech nology specialist in the Jackson County School System’s central office, and taught first and fourth grades for eight years at Maysville Elementary School. Hanley said she has spent her entire 20-year career in education with the Jackson County School System. And Gum Springs Elementary will bring some new challenges for the veteran educator. Gum Springs Elementary will be Jackson County’s first two-story elementary school and the largest elementary school in the county school system. Hanley said Gum Springs Elementary will cut the popula tion of both WJPS and WJIS next school year. According to the first round of the proposed redistricting plans for West Jackson, WJIS will open with 333 students and WJPS with 335. Outside of school, Hanley says she loves to read and spending time with her family. “Much of what I read now revolves around my 14-month-old daughter’s interests, however,” she said. HANLEY Braselton THANKSGIVING LUNCH AT WJPS Students at West Jackson Primary School celebrated Thanksgiving early, with a special lunch served for students, staff and parents. AthaTaylor, a student in Christie Matovina’s first grade class, is shown getting her lunch. Bette Ehmcke, a first grade teacher, is shown behind Taylor. Friday was also “book character dress-up” day, as part of children’s book week. Photo by Kerri Testement Braselton Planning Commission to meet Monday The Braselton Planning Commission will meet on Monday, Nov. 26, at 7 p.m. to hold a public hearing on a proposed Planned Unit Development (PUD) on Ga. Hwy. 124. Greg Hill is seeking a PUD master plan amendment for 61.76 acres in Barrow County. The applicant is pro posing a development of 206 residential single-family attached units and 99,200 square feet of commercial/ office building space on the property, which is owned by Anna Properties. Hill is also seeking annexation and rezoning of three acres located next to the PUD. The property is currently zoned C-3 in Barrow County and Hill is seeking PUD zoning in Braselton. Anna Properties is the property owner. The applicant is planning to develop 7,500 square feet of commercial/office building space. The Braselton Town Council will hold a public hear ing on the recommendations of the planning commission on Thursday, Dec. 6, at 4 p.m. The council is expected to vote on the proposals on Monday, Dec. 10, at 7 p.m. The planning commission and town council meet at the Braselton Police and Municipal Court Building, located in downtown Braselton. Regional planners to discuss local project Eagle Ranch nears goal for ‘Future Generations’ The Northeast Georgia Regional Development Center will hold a Development of Regional Impact (DRI) committee meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 27, at 2 p.m. in Athens to review a proposal in Braselton. Greg Hill has submitted plans for 106,700 square feet of space for office and commercial uses, and 206 residential units on Ga. Hwy. 124 in Barrow County. The project met the standards to be considered for review as a DRI. The Braselton Planning Commission is scheduled to hold a public hearing on Monday, Nov. 26, at 7 p.m. to discuss a proposed Planned Unit Development master plan amendment and annexation request for the property. Reviews for DRIs will be limited to 30 minutes. The committee is also scheduled to discuss a proposed project in Madison County during its meeting. The RDC is located at 305 Research Drive, Athens. To make comments on the DRIs, e-mail Jim Moneyhun, planning techician, at j moneyhun @negplan- ning.org. For more information, visit www. negplanning.org/dri/search. Eagle Ranch is nearing comple tion of its $5.4 million “Future Generations” capital campaign to build two new girls’ homes along with a number of campus improvement projects, accord ing to an announcement during a recent Greater Hall Chamber of Commerce meeting held at the ranch. “This campaign will essentially complete our campus housing with the addition of our last two girls’ homes, renovations to four of our boys’ homes and additional staff housing,” said Eddie Staub, Eagle Ranch executive director. The campaign also will fund expansion of the Eagle Ranch’s new on-campus middle school and strengthen the ranch’s endowment for operational costs associated with the expanded girls’ program and school. The school expansion will provide a multi-purpose audi torium and dedicated space for special enrichment classes. To date, Eagle Ranch has received $4.1 million toward its campaign goal. The ranch will not start construction until all funds are secured as part of a long standing policy that has allowed the ranch to remain debt-free over its 22-year history. Eagle Ranch is a Christian home for children in crisis located in Chestnut Mountain in South Hall. The program currently provides a home for up to 54 children (42 boys and 12 girls) and has served more than 600 children and their families through the years. Following completion of the two new girls’ homes, the ranch will be able to serve up to 24 girls for a total of 66 children on its 270-acre campus. For more information, visit www.EagleRanch.org or call 770-967-8500. Postal service looking for new carrier annex site Do you have a holiday recipe to share? Do you have special Christmas season recipes you’d like to share with other readers of The Braselton News? If so, e-mail them to news@mainstreetnews.com or mail them to MainStreet Newspapers, c/o Kerri Testement, RO. Box 908, Jefferson, Ga., 30549. Please include your name, city of residence, and any other information about the recipe, such as how you got it, how long you’ve been using it and why you like it for the holidays. The Braselton News will publish holiday recipes from residents of Braselton, Hoschton, South Hall, Mill Creek, Chateau Elan and West Jackson throughout the month of December, according to available space. The U.S. Postal Service is seeking a site or existing space for a new carrier annex to serve the Braselton/ Hoschton area, Braselton postmaster Derrell Smith has announced. The preferred area of consideration is the area to the 30517 and 30548 zip code areas. The site should be approximately 1.2 acres. To be acceptable, the building must contain approximately 7,170 gross square feet of interior space with plat form, loading dock, truck maneuvering area and approximately 84 parking spaces. For more information, or to submit propos als, contact Jean Scholl Berg, real estate spe cialist, Atlanta FSO, 1735 North Brown Road, Suite 200, Lawrenceville, Ga. 30043-8153, or call 678-442-6026. Proposals must be received no later than the close of business on Nov. 24. HOSCHTON — continued from page 1A OTHER BUSINESS Sell said he doesn’t have any plans to develop the property soon, given the slow economy. Planning commission member W.H. Sell wasn’t present for the hearing. W.H. Sell is the father of Shannon Sell. Planning commission member Richard Shepherd also wasn’t present for the hearing. He will be sworn into office as a city council member on Dec. 3. The city is seeking applicants to fill his unexpired post on the planning commission. The Hoschton Planning Commission also recommended approval on Monday for a request by Hilliard Lott to rezone his prop erty on Pendergrass Road (Hwy. 332) and Oak Street from C-l to R-l. When Lott’s property was subdi vided several years ago and sold to areal estate company, the Northeast Georgia Regional Development Center (RDC) was unaware of the property transaction. The RDC later updated Hoschton’s zoning map and showed the entire parcel as being commercially zoned. Lott recently told city officials that his taxes were significantly raised as a result of the “rezoning” that he didn’t request. The prop erty remains vacant. Harmon said the property was properly rezoned, but the city’s attorney advised the city council it should amend the zoning designa tion for the land. As a policy, the city council doesn’t rezone land against a property owner’s request, he added. FIGHT — cont’d from page 1A from parents who had received cell phone calls or text messages from their children. The school policy prohibits the use of cell phones dur ing school hours. Markham said the excessive ly high call volume impeded the school’s ability to complete the investigation due to the need to deal with worried parents. “We understand that cell phones are a necessity of life and we under stand parents feel their child ought to have the ability to call home,” Markham said. “However, teaching and learning is our business. Safety and security is our sacred obligation. We need to be able to do our job.” Recycle! flfeTmmeU YnuwiUi llbEjr.'Jrii.'Ji niidurduiE lofi: yotir oTjl fcvdqtt. Iron roniept tocDnn)lctbn, dc it alt I ^11 Irr y*■ (otrinkrn^ilsry CTTifl It.ltr.’i Yrtil I Imjb in! Kathj Sliz 7flS4S7-7MB * * I P * k, V'! J < ■ I' 4 P i n I \ V in bri J ■i-:i ! PiH. , niHiaYdr rtF.V sr.v J anH ur uYii Do You Need Extra Money For Christmas? Braselton Antique Mall Will Buy Your Old Gold & Silver Jewelry For Cash! Call 706-654-3693 Tuesday - Saturday And Ask For Kim Located at the traffic light on Hwy. 53 in Braselton Hospice offering holiday grief seminar Hospice of Northeast Georgia Medical Center (NGMC) is offering a free bereavement seminar focusing on grief and the holidays. The seminar will be held on Tuesday, Dec. 11, from 10:30-11:45 a.m., at the Buford Senior Center, 2755 Suwanee Avenue, Buford. The seminar is open to anyone who has experienced a close, personal loss of a friend or loved one. Light refreshments will be served. The seminar is provided at no charge, but registration is required since space is limited. To register, or for more information, including directions or informa tion on other grief support groups, contact Robert Gillespie, LMSW, at 770-533-8554 or toll-free at 1-888-572-3900. 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