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Serving Braselton, Hoschton, Chateau Elan, Traditions, Mill Creek, West Jackson and Barrow County
Gi* £
Member of the
Georgia Press Association
250 copy
Wednesday, June 4,2008
Vol. 4 No. 7 A publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. BraseltonNews.com BarrowJournal.com 22 pages, 2 sections
Inside
•Braselton’s Road
Atlanta pleased with Tour
de Georgia turnout
page 2A
•Financial partner
sought for Granite Hotel
project
page 3A
Sports:
•Registration open for
summer camps
page 1B
Opinion:
• ‘Hoschton scarecrow
record effort will require
lots of persuasion’
page 4A
Public safety:
•Man tries to hide mari
juana in can of cleaner
page 6A
•Church events
page 4B
•Obituaries
page 7A
Jackson commissioners split on Braselton TAD request
Proposal passes with tie-breaker
BY ANGELA GARY
Braselton leaders can move for
ward with their tax allocation district
following a 3-2 vote of the Jackson
County Board of Commissioners
Monday night.
Commissioners Bruce Yates and
Jody Thompson voted in favor of
a resolution supporting the TAD,
while Dwain Smith and Tom Crow
voted against it. BOC chairman
Pat Bell broke the tie and voted to
approve the resolution.
The TAD will allow county taxes
collected in a historic district des
ignated in the town’s old down
town area to be frozen to fund city
revitalization and development.
Braselton Mayor Pat Graham said
at Monday’s BOC meeting that
these funds will be used to improve
the appearance of the downtown
area.
“The appearance of downtown
Braselton doesn’t give someone
making a large investment a lot of
confidence in the area,” Graham
said. “...We have lost industri
al developments because of the
appearance of the downtown area.”
The first priority will be 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.
DOWNTOWN PLANS
Braselton’s plan to revitalize downtown include the re-alignment of Ga. Hwy. 53, which would help
the town create a green area (shown in drawing). The town plans to use a tax allocation district to
redevelop the area.
Budget talks
ahead Thurs.
for Braselton
The Braselton Town Council
will hold a public hearing on its
proposed FYE 2009 budget on
Thursday, June 5, at 4 p.m.
Braselton’s general fund budget
is slated to rise six percent — from
$2.8 million in 2008 to $2.9 million
in 2009.
However, the town’s water and
sewer fund budget is expected to
slide 22 percent from $8.7 million
in 2008 to $6.7 million in 2009.
Also, the Braselton Visitor’s
Bureau Authority will hold a public
hearing to discuss its proposed FYE
2009 budget on Tuesday, June 10,
at 4 p.m.
The town’s visitor’s bureau man
ages a two percent hotel/motel tax.
Braselton also has a three percent
hotel/motel tax that is accounted in
the town’s general fund budget.
Braselton is proposing a 14.8 per
cent increase in the 2009 budget for
the visitor’s bureau, compared to the
2008 budget of $237,500. The bud
get is proposed for $279,000.
Political
forums set in
Hoschton
Two political forums for candi
dates in races in Jackson County will
be held in Hoschton this month.
On Wednesday, June 18, at
7 p.m., the candidates for seats
on the Jackson County Board of
Commissioners and the Jackson
County Board of Education will be
featured.
On Wednesday, June 25, at 7
p.m., the candidates for Jackson
County sheriff and district attorney
of the Piedmont Judicial Circuit will
be featured. The Piedmont Judicial
Circuit serves Jackson, Barrow and
Banks counties.
The Hoschton Women’s Civic
Club is sponsoring the forums,
which will allow audience members
to ask questions for the candidates.
Refreshments will be provided by
the group.
The forums will be held at the
Hoschton Depot, located on Ga.
Hwy. 53.
A home for history
A GLIMPSE INTO THE PAST
Braselton town manager Jennifer Scott shows a copy of a news
paper article featuring Braselton. The Town of Braselton is orga
nizing historical items for a museum and visitor’s center in the
town’s former library. Photos by Kerri Testement
Braselton’s history to be
shown in new town museum
BY KERRI TESTEMENT
Jennifer Scott admits she’s not a
museum curator — but for the next
month, she’s helping to prepare a col
lection of historical pieces that will be
featured in a Braselton center.
The Town of Braselton is planning
to open its own museum and visitor’s
center on July 4 in the former library
building.
Inside the estimated 600-square-
foot building on Frances Street, are
details of the town’s 90-year-plus his
tory.
Photos from the former Braselton
High School show athletic teams pre
paring for another season.
Newspaper articles from the former
“Braselton Four-County Booster”
highlight the area’s death notices,
farm reports and advertisements for
the Braselton Bros. Store.
And there are a few items from the
“Basinger era,” when actress Kim
See MUSEUM on page 11A
FAMILY PHOTOS
Photos from the Braselton fam
ily and an advertisement from
the former Braselton Bros.
Store are some of the items that
will be included in the town’s
museum and visitor’s center,
which may open on July 4.
Barrow B0E tentatively
OK’s $102.1 million budget
Deficit estimated at $4 million
BY KRISTI REED
The Barrow County Board of
Education has given preliminary
approval to the proposed $102.1
million fiscal year 2009 budget.
With projected revenues of $98
million, the school system will end
the year with a $4 million deficit.
The most current projections show
Barrow County Schools ending
the 2008 fiscal year with reserves
of approximately $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 a 5-1 vote, the board autho
rized the advertisement of the new
budget. District 5 representative
Lynn Stevens was the sole dissent
ing vote.
Stevens said that while she was
pleased with certain aspects of the
budget, such as the addition of six
new school nurse positions, she has
reservations about other aspects of
the proposed budget.
“It’s my feeling that we should
have funded an assistant superinten
dent position for strategic initiatives
to continue moving forward with
the very positive things that are hap
pening in this county,” she said. “I
also have concerns about fuel costs
and other things we may have not
adequately prepared for this year.”
Stevens said the county also has
issues with growth and is not able to
fund it as quickly as needed.
“I can live with [the budget], but
See BUDGET on page 3A
Hoschton to ask businesses
again to help fund sewer line
BY KERRI TESTEMENT
It’ll be another round of Hoschton
leaders asking some of its busi
nesses to fund a new sewer line to
the city’s industrial area.
Monday night, the Hoschton City
Council agreed to ask businesses
that would benefit from a new sewer
line along Ga. Hwy. 53 from Jopena
Blvd. to Nancy Industrial to help
fund the project.
It’s a proposal that city leaders
asked those businesses to consider
just a few months ago.
In February, the city council
approved a low bid of $118,000
from Dale Construction Company
to install the sewer line to the city’s
industrial area.
However, the council also said it
needed half of the project costs —
$59,000 — from those businesses
within 45 days to install the sewer
line.
And when the city only received
$35,000 by the deadline, the council
opted to drop the project in April.
But a renewed interest from busi
nesses for the project encouraged
the Hoschton City Council to try
again. Council members also said
the $118,000 bid was a bargain.
“It’s a very good
price. It’s never
going to be lower.
It’s going to be
higher.”
— Hoschton City
Council member
Richard Green
“It’s a very good price,” said coun
cil member Richard Green. “It’s
never going to be lower. It’s going
to be higher.”
The city is asking those busi
nesses to write checks for $5,000
as a prepayment tap fee within 30
days. This time, however, the coun
cil decided not to stick to the 50 per
cent match requirement. The council
will discuss its progress with the
project at its July meeting.
Council members on Monday also
considered funding the remaining
portion of the project.
“The funds are there, but it would
put us in a tight situation if some
thing else comes up in the year,”
mayor Bill Copenhaver said.
See SEWER on page 5A
