Serving the communities of Braselton, Hoschton, Chateau Elan, Mill Creek, West Jackson and South Hall
Gi* £
Member of the
Georgia Press Association
250 copy
Wednesday, January 16,2008
Vol. 3 No. 39 A publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. BraseltonNews.com 22 pages, 3 sections
Inside
•Braselton woman wins
$1 million from lottery
page 3A
JACKSON COUNTY
•BOE hears complaints
about JCCHS facilities
page 2A
Sports:
•Hawks struggle in
region play page 1B
•Technology students
build skills while helping
others page 6B
Opinion:
• ‘Political parody is
important on BOE’
page 4A
Public safety:
•Accident in Braselton
claims one life
page 5A
•Church events
page5B
•Obituaries
page4B
Braselton approves TAD plans
BY KERRI TESTEMENT
Braselton is moving forward with its
“blueprint” to transform downtown into a
live, work and play community.
On Monday, the town council adopted a
redevelopment plan and a Tax Allocation
District (TAD) for downtown Braselton.
Several members of a citizens commit
tee attended a brief public hearing on
Thursday.
In 2002, that citizens committee recom
mended some bold changes for downtown
Braselton — namely re-aligning Ga. Hwy.
124 at the intersection of Ga. Hwy. 53,
creating a “town green,” building an amphitheater and
making additional infrastructure improvements through
a streetscape project.
In November, voters approved redevelopment powers
for Braselton to create a TAD in its historic downtown
area.
TADs provide a mechanism to freeze tax revenue in
a blighted or economically under-utilitized
area, where incentives are needed to attract
or enhance private investments, accord
ing to the Georgia Municipal Association.
Atlantic Station is one of the most-widely
known uses of a TAD in Georgia.
Braselton town manager Jennifer Scott
said the TAD will be used to “facilitate
investment and development in downtown.”
Mayor Pat Graham said the next step
for town officials is to speak with the
Jackson County Board of Commissioners
and Jackson County Board of Education
about the TAD program. Those boards must
approve Braselton’s TAD plans.
“It’s really their funding that’s returned to the dis
trict,” Graham said.
The Braselton TAD will create economic opportu
nities for all entities involved, as they benefit from
See TAD on page 7A
GRAHAM
Armed robber hits local restaurant
POLICE INVESTIGATING
Braselton police investigate an armed robbery at a Subway store on Ga. Hwy. 53 on Thursday. A
suspect who was later arrested is tied to the Subway armed robbery and another at a Golden Pantry
store on Hwy. 53 in Chestnut Mountain. Photo by Kerri Testement
Suspect tied to two local armed robberies
BY KERRI TESTEMENT
He didn’t want a sandwich — just the money in the
cash register, according to Braselton police.
An armed robber hit a Subway store, located at 6072
Ga. Hwy. 53, on Thursday morning. Hall County sher
iff’s deputies arrested a suspect during the weekend.
The suspect — Ronald Shane Phillips, 24, of Baldwin
— is tied to armed robberies in Braselton and South
Hall, according to Braselton police.
Phillips was arrested by Hall County sheriff’s deputies
at a gas station near the Hall-Jackson county line, said
Braselton police detective J.D. Gille on Tuesday. The
Hall County Sheriff’s Office didn’t have information
related to the arrest by press time.
Braselton police charged Phillips with armed rob
bery, aggravated assault, possession of a weapon by a
convicted felon, possession of a weapon during the com
mission of a crime, theft by taking and aiming a pistol
at another person.
The suspect in last week's armed robbery at Subway
was described as a man, 25-30 years old, weighing about
165 pounds, police said. The suspect was unshaven and
had strawberry blond hair.
Braselton police said the suspect entered the Subway
store, where a lone female employee was working at the
time. The employee asked the potential customer what
See ROBBERY on page 7A
Braselton approves two residential permits
The Braselton Planning and
Development Department issued
two residential building permits
in December, according to a town
report.
One permit was issued in Hall
County and another in Jackson
County. The town didn’t issue any
permits last month for non-residen-
tial buildings.
Braselton officials approved
11 residential building permits in
November. The town is typically
one of the busiest in the area for new
home construction, but is also dea
ling with the recent housing market
slowdown.
In December, grading permits
were issued for Braselton Academy
and CGJ Enterprises.
Permanent sign permits were
issued to Baker’s Farm, Gwinnett
Clinic and Towne Square at Spout
Springs.
The following items are listed by
town officials as pending develop
ment permit applications, prelimi
nary plats or site development plans:
Liberty Crossing, phase 2; Discovery
Point; Braselton Distribution Center,
building 12; Braselton Crossing;
Wachovia Bank, located in front
of Publix; Braselton Academy;
CGJ Enterprises, office ware
house at Bordeaux Business Park;
Commonwealth Properties, warehou
se on Ga. Hwy. 124; Hampton Inn,
hotel on Chardonnay Trace Drive;
and Haverty’s parking expansion.
New facilities push
Braselton into red ink
Slowing economy also hits town revenues
O wing to capital expenses
related to building new
city facilities, the Town of
Braselton ended its 2007 fiscal year in
the red by $2.7 million, according to
a recently released audit. But the city
had accrued a surplus of funds from
previous years and finished FY07
with positive general fund balance of
$2.4 million. The town’s fiscal year
ended June 30.
But the most dramatic numbers in
the budget were a result of a large drop
in some areas of city income, mostly
related to a slowing economy that
generated less fee and service charge
revenues. Increased sales tax income
offset much of that drop, however.
Total general fund revenue to the
town was $4.1 million with expenses
of $6.9 million, leaving the $2.7 in
negative income. However, capital
expenditures accounted for $3.9 mil
lion of the city’s expenses in FY07.
That was mostly related to the con-
More Inside
For a chart on Braselton’s
recent audit, see page 7A
struction and furnishing of new town
governmental facilities.
“All in all, the town’s financials
remained solid despite a weak econo
my,” said the audit.
Town manager Jennifer Scott also
pointed out that the town’s tax digest
had grown by 22 percent and that
the town’s assets had grown by 13
percent.
WATER FUND
In the town’s water and sewer fund,
Braselton finished FY07 with an oper
ating net income of $1.4 million. That
was due to higher water rates because
of the drought and to a growing num
ber of customers on the city’s water/
sewer system.
Hoschton taking second look
at budget, additional revenue
BY KERRI TESTEMENT
Hoschton is starting the New Year
by potentially taking a new approach
to its budget woes from last year.
Tom Walden, chairman of the
council’s fiscal resources committee,
said he wants Hoschton’s budget to
be presented in a more understand
able manner for the public.
That includes a new format that
summarizes expenses and revenues
for each city department, instead of
by individual line items. The sum
marized budget would also include
pie charts to illustrate the city’s rev
enue and expenses.
Walden said the summarized bud
get would be available at public
hearings, while the detailed budget
would be available to anyone upon
request.
The proposed new format would
also allow city officials to review the
budget easier on a monthly basis, he
added.
Walden — who was sworn into
office in December — said he also
wants to grant the mayor the abil
ity to move funds from within each
city department, but not from one
department to another.
Walden said he wants the council
to approve amendments to the bud
get when a city department changes
its budget by more than 10 percent,
instead of a line item by 10 per
cent. Currently, the city council is
required to hold public hearings
when it plans to amend the budget
for line items slated to change by
more than 10 percent.
As for additional revenue sources
for the budget, Walden offered that
city officials take a second look at
how much Hoschton charges for
certain fees.
Hoschton charges $250 for a
rezoning request, while the neigh
boring town of Braselton charges
$650, Walden said.
Hoschton should consider an
administrative fee for city services
See BUDGET on page 7A
Barrow County airport
plans draw opposition
BY KERRI TESTEMENT
A grassroots campaign effort to
tame proposed expansion plans of
Barrow County’s airport will now
have the assistance of a national
consultant firm.
Concerned Citizens of Barrow
County (CCBC) — a newly-estab
lished organization that will monitor
expansion plans at the Northeast
Georgia Regional Airport in Winder
— has hired Williams Aviation
Consultants of Arizona to assist the
group.
Williams Aviation plans to review
all proposed expansion projects at
the Winder airport, determine the
airport’s financial condition and
analyze flight patterns, among other
services.
“They know their business,” said
David Brock, one of the citizens
spearheading CCBC’s efforts. “They
know what to look for.”
And one of the key issues the
consultant firm will analyze is if
Barrow County’s airport is capable
of becoming a “second alterna
tive” to Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson
International Airport.
That prospect came to light last
year, when a regional airport com
mission met for the first time in 15
years to reconsider local options for
See AIRPORT on page 7A
