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 19,2007
Vol. 3 No. 35 A publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. BraseltonNews.com 22 pages, 3 sections
Inside
•Thousands attend
Taste of Mill Creek’
page 7 A
JACKSON COUNTY
•Commissioners argue
over cost of project
page 2A
NORTHEAST GA
•Economic woes affect
ing local food bank
page 3A
Sports:
•Wins keep coming for
Lady Hawks .... page 1B
Opinion:
•’Hindsight: Murphy
wasn’t so bad, after all’
page 4A
Public safety:
•Hoschton police nab
wanted husband
page 6A
•Church events
page 10A
•Obituaries
page 9A
Braselton, Hoschton case gets hearing before judge
Lawyers debate rezoning issue
BY KERRI TESTEMENT
Attorneys for Braselton and Hoschton pre
sented evidence before a Superior Court judge
on Monday over a legal battle between the
neighboring cities.
The case of Town of Braselton vs. City of
Hoschton centers on a September 2006 deci
sion by the Hoschton City Council to annex
and rezone 124 acres located between Maddox
Road and Ga. Hwy. 124. Hampton Homes
plans to build 302 houses on the property.
After the council’s decision, Braselton filed
a lawsuit contending that the property was
located in Braselton’s water and sewer service
delivery area.
State law requires that local governments
in each county develop a service delivery
strategy that will minimize inefficiencies and
duplication of services, such as water and
sewer services.
Jackson County and its nine cities agreed to
its service delivery strategy in 2006.
Braselton attorney Gregory Jay said the
issue centers on who is the proper service pro
vider for the Hampton Homes property, based
on Jackson County’s service delivery strategy
agreement.
“This area is clearly within Braselton’s
water and sewer service area, under a Jackson
County agreement,” Jay said in a Jackson
County hearing room at the courthouse.
However, Hoschton contends that when
a developer representing Hampton Homes
informally asked Braselton mayor Pat Graham
if the town would provide sewer service to
the property, Graham said Braselton wouldn’t
provide sewer service unless it was for a com
mercial development.
Jay said in court that if that statement is
hue, Graham is only one voice on the town
council.
Hoschton attorney Thomas Mitchell said
Braselton has presented no plans to provide
sewer service in the area, while Hoschton has
plans to bring a sewer line to a neighboring
development on Maddox Road.
Jay said Braselton has a concern about
growth in the area, as the town has “a large
financial interest” in the area.
Mitchell contended that Braselton has a
See LAWSUIT on page 3A
Big week for local post offices
SORTING MAIL
Jamie Rednour helps sort mail at the Braselton Post Office last week. The post office is expect
ing today (Wednesday) will be its busiest day for deliveries. Photo by Kerri Testement
Post offices stay busy for holiday rush
BY KERRI TESTEMENT
Santa may be a busy man in a few nights, but
postal workers in Braselton and Hoschton say this
week is their busy season.
Today (Wednesday) marks the busiest day for
the United States Postal Service. While Monday
was the busiest mailing day of the year, today is
the busiest delivery day of the year for post offices
nationwide.
The U.S. Postal Service estimates that it will
deliver 20 billion cards, letters and packages
between Thanksgiving and Christmas.
“We’re either pretty busy or steady all day,” said
Hoschton postmaster Donna Puckett, as she shifts
Last chance to send mail
The U.S Postal Service recommends the following
mail-by dates so that holiday cheer arrives on time:
• Thursday Dec. 20: First-Class Mail
• Thursday Dec. 20: Priority Mail
•Saturday Dec. 22: Express Mail
For more information, visit www.usps.com.
through packages.
One customer brought 45 packages to the
See MAIL on page 5A
Gwinnett B0E approves
school redistricting plan
BY KRISTI REED
The Gwinnett County Board of
Education voted December 13 to
approve a redistricting plan that
affects over 22,000 students cur
rently attending Gwinnett County
public schools. The plan alters
attendance zones for 36 existing
schools and creates new attendance
zones for 15 schools scheduled to
open over the next two years.
The redistricting plan affects
over 14 percent of the school sys
tem’s 157,000 students. It is one
of the largest redistricting plans
ever undertaken by the system.
Jorge Quintana, director of
media relations for Gwinnett
County Public Schools (GCPS),
said the redistricting process went
very well despite the magnitude of
the project.
“I think we definitely had a suc
cessful process with the help of
the community and the parents,”
Quintana said. “For two months
now, we have been working on
finalizing this process. Since
October, we’ve involved parents
and community members and
we’ve heard what they had to say
about our proposals. Throughout
the two months, they have made
different suggestions and we have
See SCHOOLS on page 3A
Developer holding off on
large residential project
West Jackson developer John
Buchanan is putting a 400-plus
residential development on the
back burner due to the housing
crunch.
“Wendell Butler and I are going
to sit this one out for a few months
and see how it turns out,” Buchanan
told the Jackson County Water and
Sewerage Authority last Thursday
night.
He was referring to a develop
ment on Hwy. 60, bordered by
New Cut Road on the South and
Pocket Road on the north.
He came before the authority
because he said Jackson County’s
Planning Department told him he
had to build a fully functional
waste treatment plant for the site
before it would issue any building
permits for the houses. His origi
nal timetable was to start construc
tion of the waste plant at about the
same time as he started building
houses.
See PROJECT on page 5A
Community effort collects toys for children’s hospital this Christmas
BY KERRI TESTEMENT
Christmas time holds a special
memory in Danielle Austin’s mind
— it’s when her son, Jackson, was
diagnosed with leukemia.
It was three days after Christmas
— Dec. 28. 2006 — when Danielle
and Jason Austin learned that
Jackson had Acute Lymphoblastic
Leukemia (ALL), a cancer usually
seen in children.
And since then, four-year-old
Jackson has been a regular patient
at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta
at Egleston — where he routinely
visits his doctors.
That’s why Danielle Austin felt
compelled to help other patients at
the children’s hospital, one of the
largest in the country.
“It‘s crummy at Christmas
— whether you’re rich or poor
— it’s crummy to be at the hospi
tal during Christmas,” said Austin,
who lives in Hoschton and works
for the town of Braselton.
Christmas is also the busiest sea
son for the Aflac Cancer Center at
Egleston, when more children are
typically diagnosed with cancer,
Austin said.
Austin, along with Dawn Jones,
helped organize a local holiday
toy drive that will bring treats to
patients at Egleston, especially the
cancer unit. Austin and Jones were
teammates for the Breast Cancer
3-Day walk.
“This was the perfect opportu
nity to help out,” Jones said.
Austin said the toy drive received
“a big response” from the commu
nity. Students at Heritage Prep in
Rockdale County collected more
than 150 toys, she said. A teach
er at the school reads Jackson’s
Carepage, a website that keeps
friends and family informed when
someone is receiving care.
Jones said Union Grove Baptist
Church in Auburn and Crossroads
Baptist Church in Lawerenceville
also helped with the holiday toy
drive.
The toys — ranging from Barbie
dolls to games — will be given
to pediatric patients at Egleston.
Some of the toys will be placed in
various playrooms at the children’s
hospital, while smaller items will
be available in toy boxes.
See TOYS on page 5A
PLENTY OF TOYS
Danielle Austin and Dawn Jones stand near some of the toys col
lected for patients at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston.
