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Wednesday, December 19, 2007 The Braselton News Page 5A Jackson County Board of Commissioners South Hall Jackson Countv New zoning map approved BY ANGELA GARY A new digital zoning map was approved by the Jackson County Board of Commissioners Monday night. The map replaces 200 tax maps that were used by county offi cials in the past. Planning director Scott Carpenter reported that it took staff 10 months to work on this project. The update included pouring over the old maps that had hand-written notes on them. Carpenter added that these maps were “tattered.” County staff also met with city officials to make sure municipal boundaries and annexations are up to date. Thousands of inconsisten cies and errors were corrected. “This moves us into the digital mapping age,” Carpenter said. In other zoning business at the meeting, the BOC: •approved a request from Neil Koelbl with The Knight Group to change the conditions on the zon ing of 150 acres on Hwy. 124. The condition requiring that a fence be located along the property line with White Plains Baptist Church was eliminated. Instead, a 25-foot vegetative buffer will be required. •approved a request from Terry Rowe to rezone 4.69 acres on Pond Fork Church Road from A-2 to A-R. He asked for this in order to combine the tract with an adjacent lot that is already zoned as A-R. •approved a request from James Owens of Double O Bonding to rezone five acres on Jackson Parkway from A-2 to CRC to locate a commercial office. •approved a request from Beatrice Stewart to rezone five acres at 355 Brockton Loop Road from A-2 to A-R to locate all of her property into a single zoning district. •approved a request from Matt Miller to rezone 3.37 acres at 303 Brooks Road from A-2 to R-1 for a second residential lot. •approved an amendment to the unified development code that addresses the maintenance of storm water detention ponds in subdivisions. The ordinance now requires these to be maintained by homeowner’s associations. MAIL — cont’d from page 1A Hoschton Post Office, while eBay customers continue to keep carriers busy with plenty of boxes, Puckett said. “It’s kinda busy,” she added. In Braselton, postmaster Derrell Smith said his office is handling “a lot” higher volume — an estimated three times higher the number of packages the Braselton Post Office typically handles during the non holiday season. The Braselton Post Office usu ally handles 150 packages a day during the rest of the year, but has been processing 290 packages a day for Christmas, according to a U.S Postal Service spokesperson. The higher volume of packages sometimes means that carriers have to make two trips because their delivery vehicles don’t have enough space, Smith said. “With the growth, it increases the mail volume growth,” Smith said. The Braselton Post Office has been experiencing about 14 percent growth a year, until the recent mar ket slowdown, he added. Smith said the Braselton Post Office has had short waits for cus tomers inside the store — typically about two minutes. “We move them pretty quickly,” he said. And what about those letters sent to Santa? Puckett said those letters get a reply from Santa, thanks to the help of the local post offices. The Braselton Post Office has nine routes in the 30517 zip code, with more than 20 employees. The Hoschton Post Office has 11 routes in the 30548 zip code, with 18 employees. Neither post office has hired seasonal workers to help with the holiday crunch. The U.S Postal Service says the Braselton Post typically handles 30,000 letters, magazines and enve lopes, but is expected to handle 60,000 letters, magazines and enve lopes during the holiday season. In Hoschton, the post office typi cally handles 580 packages a day during the non-holiday season and 1,000 packages a day during the holiday season. The U.S. Postal Service recently sought bids for a carrier annex in the Braselton-Hoschton area that will serve both post offices. The post office is still reviewing poten tial sites, according to a spokes person. Smith said when that facil ity is built, customers won’t notice a difference. The Braselton and Hoschton post offices will remain open for retail customers when that facility opens. PROJECT — cont’d from page 1A “They want the modular plant built and in operation before any build ing permits are issued,” Buchanan said. “The big issue for us is because we’re looking at a $2 million to $3 million investment, is the interest,” Buchanan said. “If we build the plant early, the plant would sit idle for a year before it would get any use.” Chairman Hunter Bicknell concurred with Buchanan’s reasoning. “It seems kind of foolhardy to build a plant that’s going to sit idle for a year,” he commented. The authority’s manager, Eric Klerk, pointed out that components of the waste plant would start breaking down if it stood idle. He suggested that the authority recommend to the planning department that Buchanan be allowed to defer construction of the plant until he begins building houses. The authority approved a motion by member Alex Bryan to authorize Bicknell to draft a letter to that effect. TOYS — cont’d from page 1A And what happens when one of the patients receives a donated toy? “They forget they’re in the hospi tal,” Austin said. “They forget that they’re hooked up to machines. They forget that they can’t do things that other little kids can do.” Jackson can be poked for blood draws several times, but when he gets a toy out of the toy box at the hospital, his mother says every thing seems “restored” for him. Jackson is still receiving the treatment involved in battling can cer. He is now in “long-term main tenance” for treatment. And while Jackson does get some colds, he is still a regular kid, Danielle said. Danielle said some of the toys may be stored in a hospital ware house, since Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta receives so many dona tions during Christmas. She said she may help to organize another local toy drive for the hospital dur ing the summer. The toys are slated to be deliv ered to the hospital this Saturday. Need Printing? Call 706-367-5233 Convenience store robbed ‘Hoax bomb’ found at JCCHS A South Hall convenience store in Chestnut Mountain was robbed at gun point on Monday night, according to the Hall County Sheriff’s Office. A white male dressed in blue jeans and a white T-shirt robbed the Golden Pantry on Ga. Hwy. 53 at Tanners Mill Road. The suspect robbed the store’s clerk at gun point and fled with an undeter mined amount of cash. He fled in an older model, red Ford Mustang, according to deputies. After the suspect had taken the money, he pointed the gun at the The fifth annual community Holiday Share the Blessing Feast will be held on Tuesday, Dec. 25, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., at Winder- Barrow Middle School. The event will include a hot meal, toy shop, food pantry, clothes closet and information available in clerk again, as if he intended to shoot the clerk, deputies said. The clerk pulled his own pistol and fired several rounds at the suspect as he fled. Hall County sheriff’s deputies don’t believe the suspect was struck by any of the rounds that were fired at him No one has been arrested as of press time. Those with information on the robbery are asked to contact the Hall County Sheriff’s Office’s criminal investigation division at 770-531-6879. the community. To volunteer, or to make a dona tion, contact Cassandra Harris at 770-725-8159 or e-mail cassan- draharris @ windstream.net. Winder-Barrow Middle School school is located at 163 King Street, Winder. BY ANGELA GARY A bomb squad was called to Jackson County Comprehensive High School for the second time this school year after a “suspicious package” was found at the school Monday evening. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation bomb disposal unit was called to the school. The device was not a bomb and no one was injured. Jefferson police chief Joe Wirthman said the “suspicious package” was found in the gym by the janitorial staff Monday night. He said a Jefferson police officer went to the scene and evacuated the school after seeing the pack age. “The sergeant on shift looked and it appeared to be an explosive device,” the chief said. “He cleared the building. There were some kids there but they were away from the gymnasium. No one was close by but they were evacuated.” Fire and EMS crews and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation bomb disposal unit were called to the scene. “They got the device outside and destroyed it,” Wirthman said. “It was what you would call a hoax device. It looked like a circuit board with a battery wrapped in a lot of wire. There was no explosive material.” The police department is investi gating the matter further. The chief pointed out that final exams were held on Tuesday and that someone could have placed the package in the gym to delay the tests. “We can only speculate on that,” he said. “We are continuing to investigate.” To place a classified ad, call 706-367-5233 ‘Share the Blessing Feast’ ahead EVERYTHING 30-50% OFF BRAND NAME WATCHES 25-50% Off Movado Citizen Tissot Seiko Wittnauer Pulsar Bulova Swiss Army » Great Selection of High Quality Jewelry and Low Prices • Family Owned and Operated • All Sizes of Diamonds & Other Colored Gemstones • 32 Years Experience • Jewelry Design • Remounting Jewelry Repair • Engraving • Appraisals • Watch Repair HOURS Mon. - Sat. 9 a.m. - 9 p.m. Sunday 7 7 a.m. - 6 p.m. The Vineyards at Chateau Elan 2095 Highway 211 NW • Braselton, GA 770-586-0073 S’ * Chateau'v Elan Sunday, December 23 - OPEN 9 a.m. - 8 p.m. P ALL DIAMONDS • Earrings • Rings • Pendants 30%-40% OFF 14K& 18K Gold, Platinum, Silver & Stainless Steel Natural Cultured Pearls starting at $159.00 Owned and Operated by Ay din & Jason GUVEN