Newspaper Page Text
Page 2A
The Braselton News
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Braselton
Zoning board of appeals to meet Jan. 10
The Braselton Zoning Board of Appeals will meet
on Thursday, Jan. 10, at 7 p.m.
Mary and Marvin Stover are seeking a variance for
property located at 5257 Ga. Hwy. 53. The purpose
of the variance request is to seek relief from the
minimum rear yard requirements of the Braselton
Development Code. The property is zoned R-1.
The Braselton Zoning Board of Appeals meets at
the Braselton Police and Municipal Court Building,
located at 5040 Ga. Hwy. 53, Braselton.
FAMILY — continued from page 1A
That day, Taylor picked up the
children’s Christmas wish list.
Vickie said she thought the kids
might get one or two items off
their lists. She never expected the
surprise that awaited her and the
children on Christmas Eve.
Taylor and his friends arrived at
the Ledfords with Santa Claus and
a large pile of wrapped presents.
Vickie said she kept the children
inside while Santa sorted the pres
ents and got ready to pass them out
to the children.
Much to everyone’s surprise, the
children received almost everything
on their lists. The children’s gifts
included toys, clothes and books.
Eleven-year-old Cora said she
received Hannah Montana paja
mas, a Hannah Montana Barbie
and other related items. Four-
year-old Faith brought out one of
her favorite presents, a life sized
Barbie that she hugged tightly to
her chest. The boys were most
excited about the new game sys
tems they received including two
Xbox systems, three Playstations,
a GameCube and a Nintendo Wii.
Even Keith and Vickie had presents
from Santa.
“It was just a fantastic Christmas,”
Vickie said. “It was just more than
anyone could ask for. I know there
is not a kid alive who had a bet
ter Christmas than these kids did.
They got new clothes, new shoes,
and all kinds of toys. I just thought,
how will we ever repay them.”
There was still more to come
though.
The Activity Zone donated a day
in their gym.
“The kids had a blast,” Vickie
said.
The Ledfords also received an
anonymous $200 gift in the mail.
“We don’t know who sent it,”
Vickie said. “They just signed it
‘Merry Christmas.’”
Universal Auto Center in
Hoschton fixed the brakes on the
family’s small bus at no charge.
Vinnys NY Pizza and Italian Grill
in Hoschton also provided a gift
certificate.
Vickie said with so many chil
dren, buying presents can get very
expensive. For birthdays, the
children are allowed to choose a
$10 gift and have a birthday cake.
Christmas is a different story.
“Christmas we always try to do
big,” Vickie said. “This year, we
had help and it was fantastic.”
LOVE HAS
NO BOUNDARIES
Keith and Vickie Ledford never
imagined they would be parents of
22 children.
“I never thought I’d have four,”
Vickie said referring to her four
biological children.
Twelve years ago, the Ledfords
became foster parents. After sev
eral years, Keith and Vickie felt it
was time to give their foster chil
dren permanent homes. Since that
time, they have adopted five sets
of siblings and two other single
children. Vickie said the decision
to adopt so many times and build
such a large family has not been as
difficult as one might think.
“Love has no boundaries,” she
said.
“Kids come in and you fall in
love with them,” Vickie said. “You
just can’t let them go.”
Keith Ledford is a foreman for
Vulcan Materials and Vickie is a
full time mom. Both work hard
each day to provide for their large
family.
Cleaning, cooking, laundry and
homework take hours every day
with so many children. Vickie said
grocery shopping alone is normally
a twice a week activity. Vickie also
keeps busy driving the children to
various activities. Currently, she has
one child playing high school bas
ketball, one playing middle school
basketball, three playing recreation
league basketball, two participat
ing in middle school wrestling,
five in band, one in chorus and two
about to start karate lessons.
“It’s a full time job,” Vickie
said.
Two of Vickie’s older children
live next door. Without their help,
getting everyone to practices and
running errands would be much
more difficult, Vickie explained.
With such a chaotic schedule,
Vickie said the only way everything
gets done is that the whole family
pitches in to help. Each child is
assigned chores at the beginning
of the year and is responsible for
picking up after themselves.
“The kids all work great togeth
er,” Vickie said. “They all do
great.”
While being the parents of 22
children definitely has its chal
lenges, Vickie said she would not
have it any other way.
“I’m always busy and I love
every minute of it,” she said. “I
love being a mom. They don’t
know it, but their accomplishments
are my accomplishments.”
Vickie and Keith said they are
grateful for their family and thank
ful for the help they received this
year from Taylor and the others.
Vickie said it was a huge financial
help for her family.
Despite the financial and logisti
cal difficulties involved with man
aging such a huge household and
parenting so many children, Vickie
said she feels very blessed.
“It’s what I felt like I was put here
to do,” Vickie said. “I want them to
have every dream they could ever
hope for. I love every one of them.
Each one of them is dear to me; each
one is precious to me. I know this is
where they were supposed to be.”
SEWER — continued from page 1A
allocations in June, when it granted 72,375 gallons a
day of sewer capacity to nine developments, includ
ing residential projects. Those projects were slated to
pay the town $856,438 in tap fees at the time.
The council also earmarked 190,650 gallons a day
of sewer allocation to 16 projects, which became
available in October. Those projects were expected to
pay Braselton a total of $2.2 million in tap fees.
OTHER BUSINESS
In other business during the called meeting, the
Braselton Town Council:
•awarded two bids for the phase five water system
improvement project. The town council awarded a
$1.1 million bid to Strack, Inc., Fairbum, to install a
total of 19,700 feet of 12-inch water lines and 2,846
feet of eight-inch water lines. The council also award
ed a $1.4 million bid to Caldwell Tanks of Louisville,
Ky., to install a one million gallon water tank on
New Liberty Church Road. Braselton was awarded
a $4.3 million loan from the Georgia Environmental
Facilities Authority (GEFA) in September for the
project.
•accepted the FYE 2007 audit
•approved budget adjustments to the FYE 2007
budget for actual revenues to expenses, based on the
2007 audit.
Sewer service approved
The Braselton Town Council approved sewer alloca
tions for the following projects:
Developer
• Halvorsen
•Brand Properties
• Mayfield Dairy
•Duke
•Braselton Hospitality
• Mulberry Walk
Properties
• Derek Smith
• Kincaid Development
Project
• Mixed retail, office
behind Publix
• Mini storage, bank,
retail on Thompson Mill
Rd, Spout Springs Rd.
• Dairy expansion
•Warehouses at “Park
85 at Braselton”
• Hampton Inn hotel on
Chardonnay Trace Dr.
•Additional retail, restau
rant at Mulberry Walk
•Office, retail on
Braselton Highway
•Retail, office at 5373
Thompson Mill Rd.
To place a classified ad, call 706-367-5233
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STORIES — continued from page 1A
LOOKING FOR ARMED ROBBER
Police draw their weapons as they search the Peoples Bank on Ga.
Hwy. 211, where an armed robbery took place on Jan. 31, 2007.
Photo by Steven Beardsley
did it would just give himself up.
Because they keep running like this,
it ain’t doing them no good.”
And two days after that anniversary,
police made an arrest in the case.
Henry Lee Stringer, father of the
two murdered children, was arrested
on June 1, 2007. A second grand
jury on Dec. 3 indicted Stringer on
16 counts related to the deaths of the
Strickland family. Stringer had pled
not guilty to the earlier charges.
The Stringer case will mark the
first death penalty case by new dis
trict attorney Rick Bridgeman, a
resident of Hoschton.
In the year after the deaths of
Strickland family, the case remained
one of the top priorities of the
Hoschton Police Department. No
additional court dates have sched
uled in the case at this time.
3. DEPOT MANAGEMENT
BECOMES HOT TOPIC
When the Hoschton City Council
announced plans to have a private
company manage, promote and
maintain the historic depot, it started
an uproar in the community.
Citing lagging funds to manage
the depot, the council first approved
a professional management agree
ment of the depot with Yesway
Enterprises in September. But after
a public outcry, the council extended
the deadline to receive bids for man
aging the depot until October.
Meanwhile, the Hoschton
Women’s Civic Club was asked by
the council to give an answer if the
organization would remove its items
from the depot or donate them to
the city.
A number of members of the civic
club — which was largely respon
sible for remodeling the depot sev
eral years ago — began organizing
another non-profit organization that
would submit its own bid to manage
the depot. Signs prompting residents
to “Save the depot for us” were also
placed throughout Hoschton.
A city committee reviewing the
bids of the private company and
newly-established non-profit group
recommended to the city council
in October to keep the manage
ment of the depot in city hands. In
December, the council unveiled its
plans to have city officials promote,
market and manage the depot.
4. HOSPITAL PLANS
MOVE FORWARD
A drive along Thompson Mill
Road (Ga. Hwy. 347) near Ga. Hwy.
211 reveals a major project in the
works — a medical campus that
will include a 100-bed hospital in
Braselton.
In September, the Northeast
Georgia Health System marked
the beginning of construction at
its future Braselton campus, River
Place, with Medical Plaza I.
The 105,000 square-foot building
is the first structure on the 119-acre
site. Medical Plaza I will include
medical office space for 40-50
physicians representing eight to 10
medical specialties, along with other
healthcare services. Medical Plaza
I is slated to be completed in fall
2008.
In April, the health system received
state approval for the medical cam
pus in Braselton — after collecting
more than 1,000 letters from area
residents and businesses in support
of the project in 2006.
The new hospital is expected to
open in 2011 or 2012 — to coincide
with the widening and re-alignment
of Ga. Hwy. 347.
In the meantime, the construction
of the medical campus will con
tinue to have a major impact in the
Braselton area — attracting more
physicians and related healthcare
services to the community.
5. BANK ROBBER REMAINS
AT LARGE
It didn’t take long —just 16 days
— for a bank robber to strike again
in Braselton in 2007.
In January, an armed suspect
robbed the Peoples Bank on Ga.
Hwy. 211. In February, authorities
believe the same suspect robbed the
Hometown Community Bank on
Ga. Hwy. 53 in Braselton.
In both robberies, the suspect wore
a ski mask and gloves, brandished a
semi-automatic gun and stood on
the teller counter to demand money.
And in both cases, the suspect fled
with an undisclosed amount of
money.
After hitting two area banks within
a short period of time, law enforce
ment authorities remained on high
alert for the suspect — believing he
would soon rob another local bank.
TAD — continued from page 1A
On the existing route of Hwy. 124
in front of the Braselton Antique
Mall, the committee recommended
a “town green” for the center of the
town that could provide a place for
festivals and other social events.
To help fund the infrastructure
improvements, Braselton officials
proposed creating a TAD for the
downtown area.
Local governments may create
TADs to include “economically and
social depressed areas” that can be
redeveloped using bonds to finance
infrastructure and redevelopment
costs in the TAD. A TAD provides
a mechanism to freeze tax rev
enue in a blighted or economically-
underutilized area, where incentives
are needed to attract or enhance
private investment, according to
the Georgia Municipal Association.
Atlantic Station is one of the most-
widely known uses of a TAD in
Georgia.
In November, voters approved
“redevelopment powers” for
Braselton to create a TAD in down
town. The Jackson County of Board
of Education and Jackson County
Board of Commissioners must also
approve the TAD for Braselton to
implement the measure.
Braselton’s proposals to improve
downtown received a boast last
month, when the town was awarded
a $500,000 state grant to install
sidewalks, trees and pedestrian
lights along Hwy. 53.
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