Newspaper Page Text
Serving the communities of Braselton, Hoschton, Chateau Elan, Mill Creek, West Jackson and South Hall
Member of the
Georgia Press Association
250 copy
Wednesday, December 5,2007
Vol. 3 No. 33 A publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. BraseltonNews.com 22 pages, 3 sections
Inside
•Mill Creek student
helping foster children
with ‘Prom-o-rama’
page 8B
BARROW COUNTY
•Saunders named top
superintendent in state
page 2A
Sports:
•Lady Hawks remain
unbeaten page 1B
•Chateau Elan donates
funds to library
page 10A
Opinion:
•‘It’s important to
protect free speech’
page 4A
•Church events
page 4B
•Obituaries
page 5A
NEW HOSCHTON COUNCIL MEMBERS
SWORN INTO OFFICE
The Hoschton City Council welcomed its three new council mem
bers on Monday night. Shown (L-R) are Richard Shepherd, Tom
Walden and Theresa Kenerly. They will serve the council posts
formerly held by Ronnie Holcomb, Deborah Donaldson and James
Keinard. Photo by Kerri Testement
Hoschton passes 200$ budget
BY KERRI TESTEMENT
HosclUon's 2008 budget was adopted on Monday night
with little fanfare — after weeks of debate on the contro
versial item.
The city council approved a 2008 general fund bud
get of $771,110, which excludes $173,927 in sales tax
revenue. The water and sewer budget was approved for
$969,528, without $342,738 in sales tax funds.
HosclUon's water and sewer capital improvement bud
get was approved for $2 million.
Monday's adoption of the 2008 budget ended weeks of
debate on the topic. At one time, the council considered
cutting city jobs or starting a property tax. The adopted
budget includes no property taxes and no city job cuts.
The budget, as adopted, includes some minor changes
following last week’s public hearing.
Overtime pay in the police department was reduced
from $30,000 to $22,638.
Meanwhile, a program for police to conduct criminal
background checks for employers remained at $30,000.
Public Hearings Ahead
The Hoschton City Council is proposing to
amend the 2007 budget, after two public
hearings. The meetings will be held at city
hall, at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 12, and
Wednesday, Dec. 19. The first meeting was
held Monday night
City council members had questioned if the program
would generate $30,000 in the first year of its establish
ment.
In other budget news, the city council will hold two
public hearings to amend the 2007 budget. Those hear
ings will be held Wednesday, Dec. 12, at 7 p.m., and
See BUDGET on page 5A
All I want for Christmas...
SANTA MAKES A STOP IN BRASELTON
David Ransom, Hoschton, tells Santa Claus what he hopes to find under his tree on Christmas morn
ing. Ransom was one of several children to visit with St. Nick at the Braselton Library on Friday.
Photo by Brandon Reed
City-managed Hoschton Depot plan unveiled
BY KERRI TESTEMENT
Hoschton is outlining its plans
to operate and manage the city’s
historic depot, following the recent
controversy of such plans.
Mayor Bill Copenhaver said
Thursday that Hoschton officials
will manage the depot “more
aggressively” after the city council
decided in November to have city
employees manage, promote and
maintain the depot.
In August, the city council
approved an agreement to have a
private business manage the depot.
The deal, however, was met with
controversy and the city council
later allowed others to submit bids
for managing the depot.
The council considered the earlier
proposal from the private business
and a grassroots organization that
was created to manage the depot.
Last month, the council opted to
keep the management of the depot
in city hands.
The depot operation and manage
ment plan presented by Copenhaver
on Thursday calls for the city to
improve its opportunities for renting
the depot.
That includes encouraging local
restaurants to advertise and cater
events at the depot, adding links
about the depot on local websites,
creating a new website to adver
tise the depot and distributing fliers
advertising the depot's availabil
ity to rent for public and private
events.
Hoschton officials may also revise
the current rental terms of the depot,
and allow “in-kind” rental payments
and rent-free use of the depot. The
management plan further calls for
developing an online booking sys
tem with payment option and creat
ing a database to schedule events.
Another idea includes the estab
lishment of a “Friends of the Historic
Hoschton Depot” to help the city
promote the depot, sponsor events,
and provide financial support for
maintenance and improvements.
As for improving the depot, city
officials are proposing some short
term options to reduce operating
costs, and possibly using sales tax
funds for additional insulation and
building underpinning.
Braselton gets $500,000
grant for downtown project
B raselton has been awarded
a $500,000 transportation
grant for a streetscape
project on Ga. Hwy. 53 in down
town.
The project will include installa
tion of sidewalks, trees, pedestrian
lights and the burial of overhead
utility lines along the state highway
in downtown Braselton.
Braselton officials estimate the
first phase of the streetscape project
will cost $1.2 million, with $761,697
coming from local funds. The local
funds will include money from the
town’s general fund budget and
tourism budget, since the streetscape
project will improve an area of
Braselton named on the National
Register of Historic Places.
Winder also received a $500,000
transportation grant for streetscape
project improvements to Broad
Street (Hwy. 53), beginning at
Porter Street and ending at Stephens
Street. Barrow County is in the 7th
Congressional District.
The Georgia Department of
Transportation announced this
week that Braselton was one of
several jurisdictions in the 10th
Congressional District awarded with
a Transportation Enhancement (TE)
program grant.
The TE program is federally-
funded and was originally estab
lished in 1991 by the Intermodal
Surface Transportation Efficiency
Act (ISTEA). The program was
continued by the Safe, Accountable,
Flexible, Efficient Transportation
Equity Act - A Legacy For Users
(SAFETEA-LU) in 2005. The
Georgia DOT’S Planning Office man
ages the TE program in Georgia.
This year, the Georgia DOT
received a total of 285 eligible
applications representing combined
requests for more than $176 mil
lion in federal funds from all 13
congressional districts. In this selec
tion round, $54.6 million in federal
funds are available for fiscal years
2008 and 2009 for distribution state
wide.
The TE program’s goal is to enrich
the transportation experience of
Georgians through specific types of
enhancement projects. The kinds of
projects funded by the TE program
include multi-use facilities, such as
walking and biking trails and paths;
streetscaping and landscaping proj
ects in cities and towns; historic
preservation of transportation-relat
ed facilities like railroad depots; and
scenic preservation of views and
scenic byways.
Braselton's project was nominat
ed by State Sen. Ralph Hudgens
(R-Hull), State Sen. Lee Hawkins
(R-Gainesville), State Rep. Tommy
Benton (R-Jefferson) and State Rep.
Tom McCall (R-Elberton).
Ethics ordinance denied
BY KERRI TESTEMENT
A proposed ethics ordinance was
denied in a 4-1 vote of the Hoschton
City Council Monday night.
Council members Richard
Shepherd, John Schulte, Tom Walden
and Theresa Kenerly voted in oppo
sition to the ordinance, council
member Jim Jester voted to approve
and council member Richard Green
abstained from voting.
Council member Walden said he
opposed the proposed ordinance
because it was too vague to legally
defend and was worse than the exist
ing ordinance.
OTHER BUSINESS
In other business at the meeting
Monday, the council:
•decided to hold a called council
meeting on Monday, Dec. 10, at 7
p.m. to discuss council committee
assignments. Council member Jim
Jester said the city’s ordinance states
the mayor must make recommenda
tions for the council committees at
the beginning of each year. Council
members Tom Walden and Theresa
Kenerly said they didn’t want
city business slowed because the
council committees are not filled.
The council favored a temporary
assignment list, with council mem
bers Jim Jester and Richard Green
abstaining from the vote. Mayor Bill
Copenhaver said the proposed chair
persons for the council committees
are: Jim Jester, public works and
properties; John Schulte, business,
commerce and economic develop
ment; Tom Walden, fiscal resources;
Theresa Kenerly, planning and zon
ing; Richard Shepherd, public safe
ty; and Richard Green, water, waste
and environmental services.
•named council member Richard
Green as mayor pro tern.
•decided to name new members
See ORDINANCE on page 5A
