Newspaper Page Text
Page 2A
The Braselton News
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Area N e ws
Jackson County Water and Sewerage Authority
Hall County
Jackson wants Braselton as water customer
By reducing its wholesale water rate,
the Jackson County Water and Sewerage
Authority hopes to entice Braselton to buy
water from it instead of from Gwinnett
County.
The authority is expected to act Thursday,
April 17, on a proposal by its chairman,
Hunter Bicknell, to reduce its wholesale rate
to a flat $3 per 1,000 gallons.
Currently, the rates differ with virtually
every customer. The authority sells water to
both Braselton and Hoschton, as well as to
Jefferson at rates ranging from about $3 to
$4.50 per 1,000 gallons.
Bicknell Hopes the rate reduction will allow the
authority to supplant Gwinnett County as a water sup
plier to Braselton, a move that, he says, could bring in
$30,000 a month in additional revenue based on the sale
of about 11 million gallons per month (mgm).
To do that, however, the authority would have to beat
Gwinnett’s price, which Bicknell said is $3.60 per 1,000
gallons.
Driving the proposal is the authority’s cost for water
from the Bear Creek Reservoir, a cost that declines
(per 1,000 gallons) as it takes more water. Selling an
extra 11 (mgm) to Braselton would not only generate
more revenue for the authority, but it would also lower
the authority’s overall cost per 1,000 gallons. During
2006, the authority’s average cost per 1,000 gallons was
$1.50 as it sold an average of 61.8 mgm. But in 2007,
with sales restricted by the drought, the cost rose to $2
per 1,000 gallons for the year and peaked at
$4.15 per 1,000 gallons in November when
water restrictions reduced usage to 19.2 mil
lion gallons.
“We need to sell all the water we can sell
and drive down the cost of water from Bear
Creek,” pointed out manager Eric Klerk.
According to Bicknell, Braselton buys
about 11 mgm from Gwinnett County. It also
buys 700,000 gallons per day from Barrow
County at $1.60/1,000 gallons — a price the
authority can’t match.
The authority has apparently made over
tures to Braselton about switching to Bear Creek water.
“They have indicated a price they would like to get it
for — less than $3,” said Bicknell, who suggested that
the authority could probably do better. “If it is cheaper
from us, that 11 million gallons a day would come from
us, not Gwinnett County,” he added.
Under its current tiered structure, the more water a cus
tomer buys, the more it costs per 1,000 gallons. Bicknell
wants to do away with that “conservation rate.”
“We shouldn’t have conservation pricing on our
wholesale sales,” he said. “Conservation pricing should
be handled at the retail level.”
While the change could benefit Braselton, it would
have little effect on Hoschton and Jefferson, which also
buy from the authority. Hoschton already pays about
$3/1,000, while Jefferson has a long-standing contract
under which it can buy 200,000 to 250,000 gallons per
day at well under $3/1,000.
BICKNELL
Jackson County Board of Commissioners
Settlements offered for rights-of-way acquisition
BY ANGELA GARY
After meeting behind closed doors
for an hour Monday night to discuss
land acquisition, the Jackson County
Board of Commissioners agreed to
make an offer to two property own
ers for right-of-way acquisition.
The BOC voted for its attorney to
make a “settlement offer” to Billy
Cain for property on Hwy. 98 and to
Kit Braselton for property on Zion
Church Road.
In other business at the three-hour
meeting Monday night, the BOC:
•heard a report from Brian Traylor,
who has been updating the county’s
business property for the tax asses
sor’s office. In the past two years,
his firm has checked 600 accounts
and found $81.7 million in personal
property value that should have been
on the books, but was not.
•named Lisa Grice and Josh
Barnett to serve on the Keep Jackson
County Beautiful committee.
•approved a resolution proclaim
ing April as Child Abuse Prevention
Month.
•approved a resolution supporting
the Potter’s House, a ministry of
the Atlanta Union Mission. This is
required every year by the Georgia
Department of Community Affairs,
•agreed for the Possum Creek
bridge to remain open. There had
been an effort to close the bridge, but
a property owner who has land on
both sides of the structure opposed
the action. The BOC agreed to post
signs on the bridge designating it
as one-way and listing the weight
restrictions.
•heard an update on the AgriCycle
lawsuit. A trial will be held in
October in the case filed over the
Talmo plant being shut down after
complaints related to sewage alleg
edly being disposed of on the prop
erty. In an earlier hearing, company
officials said this was not done at
the site.
BOC considers fee increases for health dept
BY ANGELA GARY
The Jackson County Board of Commissioners
reviewed several proposed fee increases Monday for
the environmental health services offered by the health
department. Action on the increases will be taken when
the BOC meets at 6 p.m. on Monday, April 21, at the
courthouse in Jefferson.
Most of the proposed increases range from $25 to
$100.
In other business at Monday’s meeting, the BOC dis
cussed several items that will be acted on at the April 21
meeting, including the following:
• a request from Sonny Pruitt to allow an additional
home to be located at 11612 Hwy. 124 due to a medical
hardship. Mr. Pruitt is attempting to divide his property
and the location of a home makes the division difficult.
The realignment will make the home part of Mr. Pruitt’s
parcel, which is not allowed without a variance.
• a request from Publix Super Markets for an alcohol
license for its new store located at 6055 Hwy. 124 West,
Hoschton.
• a recommendation to name New South Construction
as the construction manager for the new jail project and
to approve $20,000 for pre-construction services.
Planners table Hwy. 211 retail, warehouse proposal
BY KERRI TESTEMENT
T he developers of a com
mercial and office-ware-
house project on Ga.
Hwy. 211 will go back to the draw
ing board.
The Hall County Planning
Commission recommended on
Monday that HMR Partnership fol
low-up with nearby residents who
are concerned about the project’s
impact on the area. The request will
be heard again before the planning
commission on Monday, May 5, at
5:15 p.m.
HMR Partnership is asking Hall
County to rezone 35.09 acres on
Old Winder Highway (Hwy. 211)
from AR-IV to highway business
for a proposed complex with 13
buildings.
Some of the proposed uses
include an auto maintenance facil
ity, dare care center, and 63,000
square feet for retail space. Plans
also call for nine buildings totaling
70,800 square feet of office-ware-
house space.
On the east side of a stream that
runs through the property, retail
space will be located along Hwy.
211; on the west side of the stream,
warehouses are planned. Union
Church Road is located near the
rear of the property.
“We plan to hold the construction
to very high standards,” said devel
oper Mike Mahone.
However, neighbors in an adja
cent subdivision, The Ridge at
Chestnut Mountain, argued that
the development would lower their
property values.
Most of the residents who spoke
in opposition to the proposal also
said they moved to the scenic area
to escape similar developments
around Atlanta. Elizabeth Stephens
was one of those residents who said
she moved out of Gwinnett County,
where growth isn’t controlled.
“You can’t fight growth,” she
said. “You have to control it. We
understand that.”
Residents also argued that the
proposed project isn’t compatible
with existing developments in the
area. Several large subdivisions,
retail centers and Chateau Elan are
near the property.
Resident A1 Shackled said the
development would destroy the
“desirability” of the Hwy. 211 area
and open the flood gates for “urban
blight.”
“Frankly, the term office ware
house really scares the pants off
me,” said Shackled, whose house
in The Ridge will have a backyard
view of the proposed warehouses.
Mahone said HMR Partnership
plans to sell lots in the development
to other businesses.
“But with the new hospital com
ing in, we figure there’d be some
medical supplies companies,”
Mahone said of Northeast Medical
Center’s plans to open a hospital
on Thompson Mill Road (Ga. Hwy.
347).
Fil Jessee — a resident of The
Ridge — said neighbors objected
not only to the warehouses, but
also to a potential 10-foot buffer
between the properties, if a fence
was installed. The project could
also affect a stream on the property
that feeds into the Mulberry River
and allow unwanted lights to shine
into residents’ homes, he added.
“Right now, we see it as a major
nuisance waiting to happen,” Jessee
said.
Mahone said the company held a
meeting last month with the hom
eowners whose property adjoins
the project. He apologized for not
inviting all residents of The Ridge
to the meeting.
Hall County planners said the
hearing raised more questions than
provided answers. They asked
Mahone to hold another meeting
with residents before coming back
to the planning commission.
Hall County BOC changes meeting location
The Hall County Board of Commissioners will hold
its meeting on Thursday, April 10, at 5 p.m. in a different
location.
The meeting will be held in the second floor com
mission meeting room of the courthouse annex, at 116
Spring Street, Gainesville.
The Hall County BOC work session meetings are held
on Mondays prior to the second and fourth Thursdays of
the month, at 3 p.m. The meetings are held in the commis
sion meeting room, on the second floor of the Courthouse
Annex Building, 116 Spring Street, Gainesville.
The BOC hold its regular meetings on the second and
fourth Thursdays of each month, at 5 p.m. Those meet
ings are held in the Georgia Mountains Center, located
on 301 Main Street, Gainesville, unless otherwise noti
fied.
Jackson County
Public meeting on overlay corridor set Tuesday
Jackson County officials will
hold a public meeting next week
discuss a proposed Ga. Hwy. 124/
Ga. Hwy. 53 overlay corridor.
The meeting will be held on
Tuesday, April 15, at 7 p.m., at the
Hoschton Depot.
Leaders from Jackson County,
Hoschton and Braselton, along
with developers, residents and a
chamber of commerce representa
tive recently met to discuss the
proposed overlay corridor.
The corridor would be located
in unincorporated Jackson County.
Braselton and Hoschton already
have overlay districts in portions
of their city limits.
The meeting will include discus
sion on lot standards, architecture,
signage, parking lighting, land
scaping and buffers, and acces
sibility.
For more information, call
Frank Etheridge, Jackson County
Planning Department manager, at
706-367-5908.
Submit your school or social news from Braselton, Hoschton, Chateau Elan,
Mill Creek, South Hall, Barrow County or West Jackson by e-mailing news@
mainstreetnews.com, faxing items to 706-387-5421 or calling 706-367-5986.
Enviro-Grind
Mulching Service
Have Underbrush &
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706-680-0346
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The Neighborhood Healthcare Center in
Braselton, the office of
Dr. Raymond Easley, has closed.
Please call (706) 654-3300 by Friday, May 9, 2008, to
obtain a copy of your medical record. Medical records
of patients who have not been seen in over 10 years will
be destroyed, and other patients’ charts will be sent to a
storage facility after this date.
an affiliate of Northeast Georgia Health System, Inc. T
4962 Highway 53 | Braselton, Georgia 30517
706654-3300 | www.nghsprimarycare.com
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