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The Vol. 3 No. 37 Your only locally-owned community newspaper Serving the communities of Braselton, Hoschton, Chateau Elan, Mill Creek, West Jackson and South Hall Wednesday, January 2,2008 A publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. BraseltonNews.com Member of the Georgia Press Association 250 copy 16 pages, 2 sections Inside •A month-by-month look at 2007 headlines page 3A BRASELTON •Zoning board of appeals to meet Jan. 10 page 2A Sports: •2007: A memorable year in sports . . page 11A Opinion: •‘Time for governments to practice conservative spending’ page 4A Public safety: •Braselton police inves tigate series of vehicle break-ins page 5A •Church events page 7A •Obituaries page 6A «? fc £ o < < w o 5 g O D. QL ~ 1 Love has No Boundaries LARGE LEDFORD FAMILY Eighteen of the Ledford’s 22 children are pictured. They are: Austin, Isaiah, Faith, Katelynn, Hannah, Robert, John, Kienna, Cora, Promise, Davion, Doreese, DJ, Anthony, Selena, Marvin, Krishawnda and Destinee. The children range in age from four to 15. Not pictured: Tabitha 28, Jennifer 26, Brian 24 and Stashia 18. Community makes holidays bright for family BY KRISTI REED Christmas is always a big affair in the Ledford household. With 22 kids, it could hardly be other wise. However, this year was made more special by the generosity and caring of several community members. Just before Thanksgiving, Steve Taylor showed up at the home of Keith and Vickie Ledford. Vickie said she had never met Taylor before and had no idea how he heard about her family. Taylor told Vickie that her family had been “adopted” for the holidays. Taylor asked Vickie to compile a list of items the children would like for Christmas. While pleasantly surprised at the offer, Vickie worried that Taylor did not know what he had just offered to do. “I told him that there were a lot of us, and he said he already knew,” Vickie said. Taylor told Vickie he had plenty of help. Taylor, along with his wife, Lynn, and friends, Pam King, Valerie Trimble and Sheila Beatty, joined forces with members of the Abundant Life Church in Hoschton and Taylor’s neighbors from the Trilogy Park subdivision. Profiles Hair Salon in Hoschton, where Lynn Taylor works, also pitched in to help. Before Christmas arrived, Taylor and his crew had also secured help from The Activity Zone in Winder, Vinnys in Hoschton and Universal Auto Center in Hoschton. Vickie said the next time she saw Taylor was on Thanksgiving Day. Taylor and his friends brought Thanksgiving dinner for the entire family — no small feat when you consider there are 24 mouths to feed even before relatives arrive. See FAMILY on page 2A Downtown Braselton plans to be discussed Hearing on TAD set for Jan. 10 BY KERRI TESTEMENT Braselton’s plan to revitalize downtown may continue to move forward after a public hearing next week. The town council will hold a public hearing about the Braselton Historic Redevelopment Plan and creation of the town’s Tax Allocation District (TAD) for his toric downtown. A public hearing will be held on Thursday, Jan. 10, at 4 p.m., with the town council expected to adopt a resolution on the proposals on Monday, Jan. 14, at 7 p.m. Braselton’s redevelopment plan centers on the 2003 recommen dations of a citizen’s committee, which addressed issues related to transportation, new developments and greenspace in downtown. One of the key transportation concerns addressed by the com mittee was the re-alignment of the intersection of Ga. Hwy. 124 and Ga. Hwy. 53. The committee rec ommended that Braselton re-align Hwy. 124 behind the Braselton Antique Mall. See TAD on page 2A Braselton approves sewer requests for new projects BY KERRI TESTEMENT The Braselton Town Council granted sewer allocations last week for several proposed developments — an indication of which projects may become a reality soon. Braselton has a sewer allocation ordinance that requires developers to request sewer service. Town officials then determine which projects get what amount based on certain criteria and the amount of sewer service available to new projects. Jennifer Scott, town manager, noted during a called meeting on Friday that all of the current sewer allocation requests are not for resi dential developments, but for com mercial projects. “Those are the ones that need to move forward at this time,” Scott said. Developers for 18 projects in Braselton requested a total of 740,588 gallons of sewer alloca tion a day, with associated tap fees reaching $8.7 million. However, Scott recommended that only eight projects be grant ed a sewer allocation, which will become immediately available to the developers. Scott said she talk ed with developers of each project before making her recommenda tion to the town council. Those eight projects were grant ed a total of 164,803 gallons a day of sewer allocation. The develop ers of those projects owe Braselton $1.9 million in tap fees. Braselton last approved sewer See SEWER on page 2A A look back at the top five news stories of 2007 How do you select the top stories of the year? You pick the stories that kept the com munity talking. And while there were plenty of stories to choose from, these are our choices for the top stories from the Braselton- Hoschton area in 2007. 1. BUDGET WORRIES IN HOSCHTON The state of Hoschton’s finances in 2007 may remain a hot topic in 2008 — depending on how city leaders handle waning cash flow. When the council first adopted its 2007 general fund, officials estimated that rev enue would top $923,710. That initial budget included projected revenue in building and sign permit fees of $120,000 in 2007. But when the city was hit with several law suits that halted the development of affected residential projects — and the local housing market slowed — Hoschton’s budget felt the impact. In October, the city council amended its 2007 general fund to reflect anticipated rev enue reaching $798,808. Fees for building and sign permits were also reduced to an estimated $40,000. In December, the budget was amended again — this time with general fund revenue expected at $831,858, thanks largely to carry over funds from the 2006 budget. The latest budget amendment also set projected building and sign permit fees at $22,000. At one point during this year’s budget pro cess, the city council looked at the possibility of implementing property taxes or reducing police services. Ultimately, the council decid ed against either option. 2. SUSPECT ARRESTED It was the one-year anniversary of the mur der and arson case that took the lives of four family members — and a suspect, or suspects, remained at large. On May 30, 2006, the bodies of Evelyn Strickland, 68; Marvelette J’Laine Strickland, 29; J’Majuan Stringer, 4; and J’Lasia Stringer, 2, were found in their burning house in Hoschton on Pendergrass Road (Ga. Hwy. 332). Investigators believed the suspect burned the house to cover their tracks. For one year, the Strickland family dealt with the memories of that painful and raw period of time in their lives. Mary Strickland, sister to Evelyn Strickland and aunt to J’Laine Strickland, reflected on the incident near the one-year anniversary in 2007. “They’ll solve it eventually,” Mary Strickland said. “I just hope the person that See STORIES on page 2A T. 1 J | ' I /I Ip % \\ M 9 * ' i A FAMILY REMEMBERS Family, friends and former neighbors of the Strickland family attended a candlelight vigil at Broadlawn Cemetery in Buford on May 30, 2007, to mark the one-year anni versary of the murders of Evelyn Strickland, Marvelette J’Laine Strickland, J’Majuan Stringer and J’Lasia Stringer. Pictured are Mary Strickland (center), sister to Evelyn and aunt to J’Laine; Scott Strickland (red shorts) brother to J’Laine and son of Evelyn; Scott’s son Jaylan, 6; the Rev. Theresa Waters (front), pastor at Allen Temple UMC; and Hoschton police chief Dave Hill (behind Scott). At the time of the cer emony, no arrests had been made in the case. Two days later, authorities arrested the children’s biological father, 34-year-old Henry Lee Stringer, for the murders.