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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.