Newspaper Page Text
Serving Braselton, Hoschton, Chateau Elan, Traditions, Mill Creek, West Jackson and Barrow County
Gi* £
Member of the
Georgia Press Association
250 copy
Wednesday, March 19,2008
Vol. 3 No. 48 A publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. BraseltonNews.com Barrow Journal.com 24 pages, 3 sections
Inside
•WJMS students dis
play talent at show
page 8B
JACKSON COUNTY
•Commissioners split
on impact fees
page 2A
HOSCHTON
•Murder-arson case
hearing set Tuesday
page
10A
Sports:
•Ice Hawks fighting for
state title page !B
Opinion:
• ‘Tax cut smoke and
mirrors’
page 4A
Public safety:
•Braselton police chase
suspect to Commerce
page 6A
•Church events
page 6B
•Obituaries
page5B
Defendants claim Hoschton owes them $200,000
Lawsuit centers on sewer pump station
BY KERRI TESTEMENT
The defendants in a lawsuit with Hoschton
claim the city owes them more than $200,000
over the ownership of a sewer pump station in
a new subdivision.
Hoschton filed a lawsuit against Horizon
Communities, LLC, Gary and Olsson Properties,
LLC, Ken Gary and Kelley Gary in February in
Jackson County Superior Court.
The lawsuit centers on a new sewer pump
station to handle wastewater from Brook Glen,
an 88-lot subdivision located between Broad
Street and Jefferson Street. Brook Glen is being
developed by Horizon Communities.
In its lawsuit, the city contends that Ken and
Kelley Gary and their companies claim that
they still own the pump station and are respon
sible for its maintenance. The city further said
in the lawsuit that the defendants claim that the
pump station was never dedicated to the city.
In a counterclaim filed last week, the defen
dants claim that Hoschton owes them at least
$200,000 for the sewer pump station.
A June 2005 zoning condition on the
29.24-acre property would allow Horizon
Communities to recoup its investment in the
sewer lines and the Brook Glen pump station,
according to the defendants.
The Brook Glen pump station was designed
to serve several developments, including Wild
Flower subdivision, developed by Gary and
Olsson Properties; the proposed Oak Brook
subdivision on Jefferson Street; and a mixed-use
project being developed on Ga. Hwy. 53 known
as Creekside Village. The defendants claim that
the pump station doesn't have enough capacity
to serve other developments.
The defendants further claim that Hoschton
prevented them from negotiating with the
developers of those projects to share the costs
of a new sewer pump station.
Instead, the city required that the develop
ers pay Hoschton for sewer improvements and
pump station costs rather than contracting with
the defendants, according to the lawsuit.
Hoschton later required the developers of
Creekside Village to pay $200,000 for sewer
system improvements, the lawsuit notes.
The defendants are asking the court to order
Hoschton to pay the defendants that $200,000
amount, which follows a zoning condition
allowing the companies to recoup its costs for
the sewer line and pump station.
The defendants are further asking that the
city pay any funds Hoschton receives from
other developers for capacity into the Brook
Glen pump station.
Hoschton recently approved $55,000 in sales
tax funds for a new sewer line to divert waste-
water from a problematic pump station on West
Jefferson Street to the new Brook Glen facility.
Another request from the defendants asks
that Hoschton be required to issue building
permits and certificates of occupancy for the
Brook Glen subdivision.
Horizon Communities is also ready and will
ing to dedicate the Brook Glen pump station to
the city, according to the counterclaim.
An inside look at new school
A WORK IN PROGRESS
The new Gum Springs Elementary School — located next to West Jackson Middle School and
Traditions of Braselton — will be the largest elementary school for the Jackson County School System
when it opens next school year.The bottom left photo shows the main lobby of the new school. When
visitors enter from the vestibule, they’ll see the administrative offices to the right (shown here), the
cafeteria to the left and the main staircase to the front. The new gym at Gum Springs Elementary
School (bottom, right photo) also includes a stage for school-wide events.
Photos by Kerri Testement
Construction going well at Gum Springs Elem.
BY KERRI TESTEMENT
It’s not too hard to imagine students walking the hall
ways of the new Gum Springs Elementary School.
This week, construction workers are slated to lay tile
in those hallways. School administrators are expected to
order furniture for the new school. And colorful paint
will soon be painted on the elementary school's walls.
Construction of the 119,000 square-foot school seems
to be going well — thanks in part to drier weather condi
tions helping the construction schedule.
Gum Springs Elementary School will be the larg
est elementary school for the Jackson County School
System when it opens next school year on Aug. 7. It
will also be the first two-story elementary school for
the district.
Gum Springs Elementary School — with a capac
ity for 875 students — is expected to welcome 705
students when the doors open. The school is located
between West Jackson Middle School and Traditions of
Braselton, Jackson County’s largest subdivision.
See SCHOOL on page 10A
CREWS AT WORK
Construction workers work on the new adminis
trative offices at Gum Springs Elementary.
Braselton father, son
killed in wrong-way wreck
BY KERRI TESTEMENT
A Braselton father and son were
killed in a head-on collision in Cobb
County on Sunday night, according
to Marietta police.
Rodney James Godfrey, 47,
and his son, Eric James Godfrey,
17, were killed when their 1995
Ford Taurus was struck by a 1999
Mercury Villager traveling on the
wrong way of the Canton Road
Connector, according to police.
The driver of the mini-van, Nicasio
Rodrigo Vicente-Hernandez, 29, of
Kennesaw, was also killed in the
incident.
Marietta police said Vicente-
Hernandez was fleeing another
minor traf
fic accident
when he
drove in the
wrong direc
tion of travel
on the road,
striking the
Taurus.
Also
injured in the
accident were
Mary Clare
Godfrey,
51, and a 12-year-old son. Mary
Godfrey was reportedly slated to
See WRECK on page 5A
GODFREY
Flat tax digest could hurt
Barrow school budget
BY KRISTI REED
The Barrow County Board of
Education reviewed preliminary pro
jections for the 2009 fiscal year bud
get at its meeting Tuesday night.
Ken Cato, assistant superinten
dent of business services, presented
revenue and expenditure estimates
for FY09 (July 08-June 09) to the
board.
Cato told the board that one of
his primary concerns is the pos
sibility of little or no growth in the
Barrow County tax digest due to
the economic downturn hitting the
nation. At a recent Barrow County
Board of Commissioners’ meeting,
chief appraiser Cecil Whithead said
he didn’t see the county's tax digest
going up during 2008.
For 2009, Cato told the board that
he is currently projecting a five per
cent increase in the tax digest, but is
concerned that those numbers may
be optimistic based on predictions
by the Barrow County tax assessor’s
office.
Last year, the school system bud
geted based on a 10 percent growth
in the digest. The system expects to
See DIGEST on page 5A
DA theft case hearings ahead
Hearings will be
held Tuesday in Banks
County Superior Court
on charges filed against
former Piedmont Judicial
Circuit Assistant District
Attorney Brett Williams
and former DA employ
ee Linn Jones. The
hearings are set for 10
a.m. Tuesday in Banks
County Superior Court.
Jones is the wife of
former DA Tim Madison,
who pled guilty to theft charges and
was sentenced two weeks ago to six
years in prison and to pay restitution
of $40,000.
Williams is charged with theft
by taking, theft by receiving and
violation of oath of office for having
allegedly received a double salary,
one from the state and one from
See DA case on page 3A
