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o o Serving Braselton, Hoschton, Chateau Elan, Traditions, Reunion, Deaton Creek and West Jackson $1.00 copy Wednesday, January 1, 2020 Vol. 13 No. 5 A publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. www.BraseltonNewsTODAY.com 12 pages Happy New Year Take a look back at the headlines from 2019 Photo by Wesleigh Sagon BORN ON NEW YEAR’S DAY 2019 Kenneth Stephens and Brandy Mitchell are shown at Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Braselton with their newborn son, Andrew Michael Stephens. Born Jan. 1, 2019, at 12:32 a.m., Andrew was the first baby born at NGMC Braselton in 2019. Photo by Kyle Funerburk GRABBING CANDY Children rush to the streets to grab candy tossed by drivers and passengers of vehicles riding through Braselton’s Fourth of July parade. Photo by Alex Buffington MORRISON LED RECALL EFFORT Mary Morrison, a longtime Hoschton resident, was one of the critics who spoke against Hoschton’s leadership and who led a recall effort in the town during 2019. Photo by Alex Buffington WEARING GREEN The Braselton PathFest fun wasn’t just for the hu mans in March. Many locals’ dogs also donned green during the annual event and participated in the parade. Contact Us • News: news@mainstreet- news.com, call 706-395-2752 or fax to 706-367-8056 •Ads: ads@mainstreetnews. com or call 706-367-5233 At the end of each year, The Braselton News reflects on the headlines throughout the year. 2019 brought several big development stories, from Chateau Elan's request to construct townhomes and residences near its iconic winery, to a massive project proposed around the Publix onHwy. 211. The year also saw the groundbreaking for the new high school in West Jackson. Meanwhile, county school leaders also picked the name for the new school: Jackson County High School. But most of the headlines throughout the year were dominated by the controversy in Hoschton. The issue began in May after a story broke on racial comments made by Mayor Theresa Kenerly and Mayor Pro Tem Jim Cleveland regarding the city's search for a city administrator. Those comments raised a fierce backlash from citizens, who pushed for their resignation and filed numerous ethics com plaints. When they didn’t resign, a group of citizens pursued a re call against them. After months of gathering signatures and court hearings, the recall effort crossed its final hurdle and the recall election was set for Jan. 14. The issue was in the headlines throughout the year, but didn’t reach a head until the last few weeks of the year. Kenerly and Cleveland resigned before facing a recall election. That forced the remaining council members to pursue court ac tion to allow the council to continue operating with three mem bers until the March 24 election is held to fill the vacated seats. Meanwhile, the Hoschton City Council opted to fire its current city administrator. Dale Hall, instead of accepting his resignation. That move, along with the resignations of Kenerly and Cleveland, left the city with virtually no experienced executive in city hall. Read more headlines from 2019: JANUARY •Three new members took their seats on the Jackson Coun ty school board. Don Clerici. Carol Anglin and Robert “Beau” Hollett were all sworn in. as over half of the board in 2019 were first-term members. •The Hoschton City Council adopted, with a 3-2 vote, an ordi nance that would allow a “special assessment.” The fee would provide for public services, such as roads. •Braselton leaders held off on a vote for an automotive re pair center. The Braselton Town Council deferred a vote on a conditional use permit for NTW. LLC, which wanted to open an auto repair center on a little over 1 acre at 2137 Friendship Rd. Council members requested more time to consider additional in formation about noise that was presented by NTW. •Braselton started the bidding process for its future 71-acre park in Barrow County. The property is located on SR 124 at the Mulberry River. •A controversial request for a RaceTrac convenience store in Braselton was pulled. But developers didn’t plan to drop the issue completely, it was announced. •The Town of Braselton launched a new website. •Braselton planners were set to consider a request to allow townhomes and a handful of detached residences in Cha teau Elan. Chateau Elan Resorts, LLC, requested a master plan amendment for 48 acres with plans to develop 115 attached, sin gle-family residential units and 16 detached units. The property is located at 100 Tour de France and 100 Rue de Charlemagne. The hearing was later deferred. •Developers broke ground on a new senior living commu nity in Braselton. Phoenix Senior Living broke ground on The Phoenix at Braselton, the company announced in a press release. The project — located at 1949 Friendship Rd., Flowery Branch — was set to include 162 apartments. That includes 90 indepen dent living, 48 traditional assisted living and 24 memory care units. •The Jackson County Board of Education hosted a ground breaking ceremony for its new high school in West Jackson. •A Braselton doctor was indicted for illegally prescribing drugs. Dr. Johnny Di Blasi, 46, of Braselton, was being held in custody in January pending trial in federal court for allegedly pre scribing drugs to non-patients illegally. •Adair Realty, Inc., dismissed its complaint against Jackson County. The developers of a rejected warehouse project in West Jackson dismissed the complaint on Jan. 22. Adair Real ty filed the complaint against the county shortly after the Jackson County Board of Commissioners voted to deny the company's request for a future land use change from residential to industrial for 357 acres on Josh Pirkle Rd. •Braselton was again named one of the safest cities in Geor gia. The town ranked second on the 2019 list, behind Holly Springs. FEBRUARY •Dan Aldridge, Library Champion of the Year, was honored at an awards ceremony at the Braselton Library. •In a forceful three-and-a-half-minute speech at the Hoschton City Council meeting, mayor Theresa Kenerly pushed back hard against critics who had repeatedly criticized her about 2018 actions surrounding a proposal by developers to locate four warehouses on what is known as the Pirkle property. •State health leaders were set to decide on two requests in March for ambulatory surgery centers in Braselton, it was an nounced. Both Northeast Georgia Medical Center and Northside Hospital both filed Certificate of Need (CON) re quests with the Georgia Department of Community Health. •Braselton leaders approved an ordinance change to allow mi cro-blading. an increasingly popular form of eyebrow tattooing. •A request for an auto repair center in Braselton got the go-ahead. The Braselton Town Council approved NTW, LLC’s conditional use request to allow an auto repair center on a little over 1 acre at 2137 Friendship Rd., within the Publix shopping center area. NTW planned a 5,800 square foot facility. •A new policy aimed at limiting partisan political activity by members of the Jackson County Board of Elections appeared to be forthcoming following allegations that new elections board chairman Ron Johnson had remained politically active in the Re publican Party even after being named to that board. •Jackson County Board of Elections chairman Ron Johnson suggested that local voting rolls needed to be cleaned up by purging those who have moved out of the county and that absen tee ballots need to be “tightened up.” •April Plank, the Hoschton city administrator, resigned. •The controversial land between Braselton and Hoschton that was targeted by developers for four large warehouses in 2018 was apparently brought back in play. Hoschton Mayor Theresa Ken erly said that she had been contacted by the real estate agent selling the Pirkle property and told that a new plan would be presented to the Jackson County Planning Commission for action — unless some deal could be worked out with Hoschton. •Braselton planners recommended a denial of a request that would allow over 100 townhouses and a handful of detached residential units at Chateau Elan. The Braselton Planning Commission unanimously denied requests for a planned unit de velopment master plan change and several variances at its Feb. 25 meeting. •Ron Johnson, the newly-appointed chairman of the Jack- son County Board of Elections, said he planned to resign from the position. Johnson — who was appointed to the posi tion in October 2018 after the death of former chairman Ponchie Beck—made the announcement following a bizarre and heated elections board meeting. MARCH •In its annual report on conditions affecting real estate in North Georgia, the Norton real estate agency based in Gainesville crit icized some Jackson County communities for bowing down to anti-growth pressures. •Rumors of a strip joint coming to Hoschton were dis missed. Hoschton mayor Theresa Kenerly discussed the misun derstanding at the Hoschton City Council meeting on Feb. 28. The rumors started after Tavern 53 — a restaurant on Towne Cen ter Pkwy. — held a “Magic Mike” night. •A public hearing on a proposal to allow townhomes and a handful of detached residences at Chateau Elan was de ferred. The hearing—for a master plan change and five varianc es — was initially set for the Braselton Town Council’s March 7 meeting. •Three Hoschton leaders met with developers of the “Pirkle property” to discuss revised plans for the land. •The Jackson County government continued to recover from a costly ransomware attack that slammed county com puter operations. •Green4U, an electric vehicle company started by the late See Lookback, page 2A Online Like us on Facebook: The Braselton News www.BraseltonNewsTODAY.com DIGGING DIRT Members of the Jackson County School System and community formally broke ground in 2019 for a new West Jackson area high school. Shown here are (L to R): Jackson County Comprehensive High School former principal Pete Jones; Jackson County Board of Commissioners member Ralph Richardson Jr.; former board of education member Celina Wilson; BOE member Michael Cronic; BOE member Lynn Wheeler; former BOE member Steve Bryant; community member Martha Martin; former Hoschton Mayor Theresa Kenerly; former BOE member Tim Brooks; new BOE member Carol Anglin; and superintendent April Howard.