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, May 21,2008
Vol. 4 No. 5 A publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. BraseltonNews.com BarrowJournal.com 24 pages, 2 sections
Inside
•Plenty of pets get
rabies vaccinations
page 2A
BARROW COUNTY
•Rising fuel, food costs
affecting schools
page 3A
•Another wreck on Ga.
Hwy. 11 claims two lives
page 3A
Sports:
•Mill Creek’s spring
practice ends
page 1B
Opinion:
•’’Are governments too
‘professional?’”
page 4A
Public safety:
•Woman calls police,
slams door in officer’s
face
page 6A
•Church events
page 4B
•Obituaries
page 7A
Child killed in ATV accident
BY KERRI TESTEMENT
A seven-year-old child was killed
Monday evening in what one offi
cial called a “tragic accident” in
Braselton.
Maj. David Cochran of the
Jackson County Sheriff’s Office said
Michael Samples was killed when
the All Terrain Vehicle (ATV) that
he was riding on with two other
juveniles went under the trailer of a
parked tractor trailer at a Davenport
Road address.
Samples apparently failed to duck
his head when the four-wheeler
went under the trailer and was killed
instantly, according to the Jackson
County Department of Emergency
Services.
The other children involved in the
accident — a five-year old broth
er of the victim and a 10-year-old
female driver —received minor inju
ries, and were treated and released at
the scene.
Congressman answers tough questions
SPEAKING TO CROWD
Rep. John Linder (R-Ga.) speaks to a crowd at the Braselton Police and Municipal Court Building on
Saturday morning. Photos by Kerri Testement
Linder visits Braselton to talk about issues
BY KERRI TESTEMENT
Taxes, soaring gas prices and the
war in Iraq were the key issues await
ing answers when Congressman
John Linder visited Braselton on
Saturday.
An estimated 70 people —
including those protesting the war
in Iraq — heard Linder speak at
the Braselton Police and Municipal
Court Building.
Some of the signs protesters dis
played along Ga. Hwy. 53 in front
of the building said, “Stop Sending
Our Grandchildren to Iraq” and
“Rep. Linder. Gwinnett Citizens say
Troops Home Now.”
One of the protestors questioned
why Linder supported the war in
Iraq when others at the nation’s Cap
itol knew it was a “lie.” The woman
also cited rising costs, lost lives and
injured soldiers in the war.
“We know he did use weapons
of mass destruction against his own
people,” Linder said of intelligence
provided to officials about former
Iraqi president Saddam Hussein.
“Everybody believed the same
thing,” he added.
On the energy issue, Linder
(R-Ga.) said for the past six years,
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SIGNS OF OPPOSITION
Two protesters of the war in Iraq display signs outside the
Braselton Police and Municipal Court Building, where Rep. John
Linder spoke on Saturday morning.
he has voted in favor of drilling for
oil in the Arctic National Wildlife
Refuge (ANWR) in Alaska.
Proponents of the move say the
area has several billion barrels of
oil available, which would help the
United States become less depen
dent on foreign oil. However, drill
ing for oil in Alaska has remained an
environmental issue.
“It’s a pure political battle,” Linder
said.
See LINDER on page 5A
ACCIDENT SCENE
The Jackson County Sheriff’s Office said a seven-year-old was
killed in a four-wheeler accident in Braselton on Monday.
Cochran said the Jackson County were on the property at the time of
Sheriff’s Office doesn’t plan to press the incident, he said on Tuesday
charges against anyone. The parents morning.
BOC postpones action on
Braselton’s TAD request
BY ANGELA GARY
raselton leaders had
hoped the Jackson County
Board of Commissioners
would approve a resolution Monday
night supporting their tax allocation
district. Instead, the BOC postponed
action after receiving notice from
tax commissioner Don Elrod on his
concerns about the issue.
Commissioner Tom Crow said
Elrod had contacted him with con
cerns about keeping up with the
property tax numbers for tax alloca
tion districts. The BOC agreed to
meet with Elrod before taking action
on the request from Braselton.
Braselton leaders want county
taxes collected in a historic dis
trict designated in the town’s old
downtown area to be frozen to fund
city revitalization and development.
The mechanism for doing that, a
tax allocation district, has prov
en controversial in Georgia after
the state’s Supreme Court struck
down TADs that use school taxes
to pay for funding the projects.
In November, Georgia voters will
decide whether or not to amend the
state’s Constitution to allow school
funds to be used in TAD projects.
Last year, before the Georgia
Supreme Court’s ruling, Braselton
voters approved a TAD project as
a way to fund a major downtown
revitalization project. At an earli
er meeting, Braselton Mayor Pat
Graham and city manager Jennifer
Scott asked the BOC to approve
a resolution supporting Braselton’s
plans.
Graham said a plan was developed
to “bring Braselton back to the thriv
ing commercial center it was in the
1920s.” She said the main priority
is to realign Hwy. 53 to develop a
green area, as well as commercial,
retail and office development. The
district has 285 acres and the tax
value is $6.2 million.
The BOC’s participation in the
TAD would be allowed since it
doesn’t involve school funds. For the
Jackson County School System to
participate, the state’s Constitution
will have to be amended. Since
school taxes make up the bulk of the
tax rate, that may prove critical to
funding the project.
Barrow BOE deficit
continues to climb
Deficit increases to $4 million
BY KRISTI REED
The Barrow County Board of
Education authorized the expendi
ture of an additional $310,000 to
fund the purchase of five additional
buses at the May 15 called meeting.
The buses are in addition to the ten
buses approved by the board last
week as part of the fiscal year 2009
budget.
The board had initially refused to
approve the purchase due to con
cerns about cash flow. Under the
terms of a financing deal negotiated
by transportation director Dr. James
Cantrell, the school system will be
able to finance the five additional
buses for one year at a rate of 4.23
percent. The terms of the deal allow
the loan to be repaid at any time
during the term with no prepayment
penalties. The payment will be due
in one lump sum at the end of the
loan term.
With the additional expenditures,
the school system’s projected 2009
deficit will grow to over $4 million.
The most current projections show
Barrow County Schools ending the
2008 fiscal year with reserves of
$7 million. The school system will
dip into these reserves to cover the
projected 2009 deficit, leaving $3
million in reserves at the end of the
next fiscal year.
In the past three weeks, additions
See BOE on page 5A
Citizens’ group holds first meeting
BY KRISTI REED
The Barrow Citizens’ Partnership
for Effective Government (CPEG)
held its organizational meeting
Sunday, May 18, at The Georgia
Club. Approximately 35 people
attended.
District 3 commissioner Bill
Healan and county commis
sion chairman candidates Danny
Yearwood and Jim Beckemeyer
were among those in attendance.
CPEG chairman Len Ebersberger
said he was pleased with the turn
out.
“We felt really good about it,” he
said.
A number of people joined CPEG
and signed up for various commit
tees the group is organizing.
“We’re pumped up and ready to
go,” Ebersberger said.
CPEG’S MISSION
Ebersberger said the purpose of the
group is to encourage more effective
government in Barrow County.
“We think the tax money is not
being spent wisely in this county,”
he said. “We think that the infra
structure is much more important in
the county at this time than it is to
build the Cultural Arts Center.”
“The county is supposed to supply
sewer and road improvements and
there’s no money in the county cof
fers to do that. Our job is to assess
the budgets to see that the tax money
is being spent wisely. If it’s not,
then we’re going to be a forum for
those citizens in the county that are
looking for a much more efficient
government,” Ebersberger said.
CPEG is a non-partisan group.
Ebersberger said the group will not
publicly endorse any candidates, but
will hold voters forums as a way to
provide its members with the oppor
tunity to listen to the candidates and
See CITIZENS on page 5A
