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Wednesday, January 1, 2020 The Braselton News Page 3A o o Lookback continued from 2A ment in town. The Braselton Town Council approved a master plan amendment for The Village at Chateau Elan to add “specific allowable uses” for property on the comer of SR 211 and Thompson Mill Rd. on Aug. 12. •A controversial request to construct town homes and additional residences at Chateau Elan was again set to go before town planners. The Braselton Planning Com mission was set to consider Chateau Elan Resort, LLC’s request for a map amendment to allow 68 townhomes and 55 single-family units at its Aug. 26 meeting. Developers planned to construct the resi dences on 48 acres in the exist ing vineyards and at the par 3 golf course. •The first hurdle toward building a new subdivision in West Jackson got approval by the Jackson County Board of Commissioners on Aug. 19. The BOC approved map changes for 74 acres at 8308 Hwy. 53 in Braselton from agricultural to suburban and residential. McKinley Homes US is planning to build 151 single-family homes on the property if the rezoning is ap proved. Developers say the homes will have a minimum 1,400 sq. ft. and the price-point will be in the mid-$200s. •Four qualified for two seats on the Nov. 5 ballot in Hoschton, including Shant- won Astin, incumbent Mindi Kiewert, Adam Ledbetter and Suzanne Owens (who later withdrew). Incumbent Susan Powers did not seek re-elec tion. •Five qualified for two seats on the Nov. 5 ballot in Bra selton including: District 1, incumbent Becky Richardson, Richard Mayberry and Joy Basham; and District 3, in cumbent Tony Funari and Jim Joedecke. •Organizers seeking to re call Hoschton mayor There sa Kenerly and mayor pro tem Jim Cleveland officially initiated the effort. The recall group filed an application in August and began collecting signatures. •Efforts by Chateau Elan to build townhouses and some additional single-fami ly homes in its development were again shot down by Bra selton leaders.The Braselton Planning Commission voted to recommend denial of Cha teau Elan’s request to change its master plan and a variance to allow 68 townhomes and 55 single-family homes at its Aug. 26 meeting. •A memo done by the top security administrator for the Wisconsin Elections Commis sion claims the March 2019 ransom ware attack on the Jackson County, Ga. com puter network was due to the failure of the county to install a 2017 security update. SEPTEMBER •Organizers seeking a recall against two Hoschton offi cials crossed the first hurdle. A recall petition application was filed Tuesday, Sept. 3, with the Jackson County Board of Elections and Registration Of fice. Over 130 signatures were collected on the application, which was submitted by chair person Mary Morrison. Orga nizers sought a recall against Hoschton mayor Theresa Ken erly and mayor pro tem Jim Cleveland following alleged racial comments. •Hoschton was awarded a $600,000 state grant for sew er improvements on Panther Ct. •Two Braselton residents were indicted for murder by a Jackson County grand jury. The two cases were un related. The jury indicted Allan Heinz Bredig, 62, for murder and felony murder for killing an unarmed man at his resi dence on July 26. Bredig and the man, William Halbman, 52, Braselton, had an argu ment which ended with Bre dig shooting Halbman. EMS transported Halbman to North east Georgia Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.The jury also indicted Monique Lynette Pinckney, 52, for felony murder and three counts of aggravated assault for an assault on May 8. Pinck ney brutally assaulted a man, James Patrick Pritchard Jr., 29, Durango, Colo., at her resi dence and left him in a bathtub. He later died. •After months of wrangling, the Braselton Town Council approved Chateau Elan’s controversial plans to build 68 townhomes and 55 sin gle-family homes. The action came at the council’s meeting Sept. 9. •LongHom Steak- house opened in Braselton on Tuesday. Sept. 17. The 5,465-square-foot restaurant is located at 2700 Hwy. 211. •Hoschton residents were fed up with continued delays on a trash pickup contract. Several citizens spoke about the issue at the Hoschton City Council meeting Sept. 5. •Two Hoschton leaders at the center of a potential re call election challenged the effort in court Hoschton mayor Theresa Kenerly and mayor pro tem Jim Cleveland filed petitions Sept. 6 to have a judge review the sufficiency of the grounds for the recall in the Superior Court of Jackson County. That action halted any progress on the recall move ment until a court decision is made. •The Braselton News launched a new website start ing Sept. 18. •Braselton planners gave the initial nod for a multi-family development off of Thomp son Mill Rd. The Braselton Planning Commission voted Sept. 23 to recommend ap proval of Callicott Holdings’ request to rezone 36 acres off Thompson Mill Rd. in the Duncan Comers area. De velopers plan to construct a 289-unit multi-family devel opment. •Members of the Braselton community were invited Tues day (Sept. 17) to give their in put on updates to the town’s comprehensive plan. •Developers of a proposed large development in Bra selton requested to defer a hearing on the project. Stolz Partners, LLC, requested to defer its request for one month. It was set to go before the Bra selton Planning Commission on Monday, Sept. 23. Stolz Partners requested annexation and rezoning of 77 acres at the comer of Hwy. 53 and Braselton Pkwy. Developers plan 240 multi-family units, six commercial outparcels and nearly 500,000 square feet of warehouse/distribution space. OCTOBER •A city-initiated rezoning of 21 properties in Hoschton raised a number of questions from area residents at a recent public meeting. The Hoschton Planning and Zoning Com mission voted Sept. 26 to rec ommend approving rezoning the properties — located on West Jefferson St. and Bell Ave. — from R-2 to R-3. •Judge David Sweat mled Oct. 2 that the recall efforts against Hoschton Mayor Theresa Kenerly and mayor pro tem Jim Cleveland can move forward. •Braselton leaders gave the go-ahead for a senior living development at its October meeting.The Braselton Town Council approved a request from Fountainhead Residen tial Development, LLC, for a master plan amendment on a planned unit development at the comer of Thompson Mill Rd. and Hwy. 211. Developers plan senior independent living, assisted living and memory care uses on a portion of the 56.6-acre property. •Public hearings on a large multi-family development proposed in Braselton were deferred. Callicott Holdings requested deferral of its annexation and rezoning request of 36 acres off of Thompson Mill Rd. •Hoschton failed to achieve a quorum at its October meet ings, resulting in the cancella tion of both meetings. •Jackson County Board of Elections member Erma Den ney gave a spirited defense of her actions regarding the recall movement in Hoschton and her elections board duties. •Hearings on a request for a change to a planned unit development off Hwy. 124 were deferred. The Braselton Planning Commission was ini tially set to hear Fountainhead Residential Development, LLC’s request for a master plan amendment at its Oct. 28 meeting. Fountainhead re quested the change on 57 acres off Hwy. 124 to allow 144 multi-family units, 24 town- houses and 114 detached sin gle-family lots. •The Jackson County Board of Education approved the guaranteed maximum price (GMP) for the new Jackson County High School building at $46.15 million in a called meeting Oct. 18. The total cost of the project including grad ing and other expenses is ex pected to be $68 million. •Hoschton Mayor Theresa Kenerly appealed a court’s decision to allow a recall effort against her to move forward. Kenerly’s attorneys filed an appeal with the Georgia Su preme Court on Oct. 25. •A request was withdrawn for a massive project off Hwy. 53 with a mix of multi-family, commercial and warehouse space. Stolz Partners. LLC’s request had been set for a hear ing at the Braselton Planning Commission’s meeting Oct. 28. Stolz had requested to re zone 77 acres off Hwy. 53 at Braselton Pkwy. with plans for 240 multi-family units, six commercial outparcels and nearly 500,000 sq. ft. of ware house space on the property. •Two new subdivisions to taling over 450 homes could be coming to the West Jackson area following tentative ap proval by the Jackson County Planning Commission. The planning board gave a green light to rezone 130 acres on Gum Springs Church Rd. for a subdivision of around 300 homes, and to rezone 89 acres at 8308 Hwy. 53 Braselton for around 150 residential lots. NOVEMBER •Shantwon Astin and Adam Ledbetter handily defeated incumbent Mindi Kiewert to secure the two at- large Hoschton City Council seats in the Nov. 5 election. •In the Braselton Town Council District 3 race, chal lenger Jim Joedecke over whelmingly beat incumbent Tony Funari. But in the Bra selton District 1 race, none of the three candidates secured 50-percent of the vote, forcing a runoff. Incumbent Becky Richardson got 86 votes (44.5 percent), followed by chal lengers Richard Mayberry with 58 votes (30 percent) and Joy Basham with 49 votes (25.4 percent.) A runoff be tween Richardson and May berry was set Dec. 3. •Jackson County authorities sought information on a van dalism incident at Sell’s Mill Park that caused over $ 10.000 worth of damage. •Braselton rejected a re quest to add more apart ments to the town. The Braselton Town Council unanimously denied annex ation and rezoning for Call icott Holdings. LLC, at its Nov. 11 meeting. Callicott planned to construct a 289- unit multi-family development on 36 acres on Thompson Mill Rd. •The Supreme Court of Georgia denied an appeal by Hoschton mayor The resa Kenerly, challenging a decision made in a local court that allowed the recall effort against her to move forward. Meanwhile, the recall effort against Kenerly and Cleveland crossed the next hurdle in the process. Organizers collect ed the required signatures of 30-percent of registered voters in Hoschton. •A new development may soon bring new life to an old section of vineyards in Bra selton, it was announced. The Braselton Planning Commis sion voted Nov. 18 to recom mend approval of a master plan change for a planned unit development on 57 acres off Hwy. 124. •Around 460 new homes could start going up in the West Jackson area after two rezon- ings got the green light from the Jackson County Board of Commissioners on Nov. 18. The largest project was slated for 308 single-family houses on 130 acres on Gum Springs Church Rd. The second major residential rezoning approved by the BOC on Nov. 18 was for 89 acres at 8308 Hwy. 53 Braselton for 151 single-fam ily houses. •The City of Hoschton be gan discussing making chang es to its city charter. •Braselton leaders were set to hold a hearing in December on a development request previously rejected by the town council. In August, the Braselton Town Council voted to deny a master plan change for HECE, LLC, for 230 acres around the Publix shopping center on Hwy. 211. On re mand from the Superior Court of Jackson County, the council set another public hearing on the request on Dec. 9 at 7 p.m. •Hoschton was one step closer to securing a trash/re cycling pickup contract fol lowing action taken last week. The Hoschton City Council approved Nov. 21 allowing city administrator Dale Hall to move forward with negoti ations for a trash and recycling contract. DECEMBER •Incumbent Becky Rich ardson held on to her Bra selton Town Council seat in the Dec. 3 runoff election. •The recall effort against two Hoschton City Council members was set to move forward following action by the Jackson County Board of Elections Dec. 3. The elec tions board approved the “legal sufficiency” of over 400 signatures calling for Mayor Theresa Kenerly and mayor pro tem Jim Cleve land to be recalled. A special election was set for the recall Jan. 14. •Northside Hospital an nounced plans to pursue opening an outpatient surgery center on Monday, Dec. 2. Northside is seeking an appeal for a state permit for a new out patient surgery center that will serve 13 northeast Georgia counties. •The Hoschton City Coun cil held its first working meet ing to discuss changing the town’s governing charter. The biggest change being dis cussed by the council would be to change the town’s gover nance from a “strong mayor” system to a city manager gov ernment. Under that system, a hired city manager would ran the city on a day-to-day basis rather than the mayor. •Action on a controversial and legally contentious re zoning proposed for proper ty across from Chateau Elan on Hwy. 211 was deferred by the Braselton Town Council on Dec. 9 until a called meet ing on Dec. 18. The plan for a massive housing and commer cial development on 230 acres around the Publix shopping center was turned down by the council in August. A subse quent lawsuit against the town remanded the case back to the council for another hearing. •A second public hearing on a residential development in Braselton was deferred. Mer- itage Homes of Georgia re quested deferral of its request shortly before the Braselton Town Council was set to hear it on Dec. 5. Meritage is re questing annexation, rezoning and a master plan change for a planned unit development off Duncan Creek Rd. Developers plan 326 detached single-fam ily units on 141 acres. •Political tensions in Hoschton boiled over at a Dec. 5 council meeting as one of the town’s newest council members became embroiled in a heated discussion with embattled Mayor Theresa Kenerly over the form of the meeting’s agenda. •Hoschton adopted its FY2020 budget and decided on a waste disposal company at its meeting on Dec. 9, but both were contentious and re quired Mayor Theresa Kenerly to break a tie vote for the items to pass. •Hoschton Mayor Pro Tem Jim Cleveland resigned just days before Mayor There sa Kenerly tendered her resignation. The Hoschton City Council held two special meetings on Dec. 11 and Dec. 14, accepting their resigna tions and to call for a March 24 election to fill the vacated seats. The resignations leave a three-member council, which cannot operate under the city’s charter. That forced the coun cil to pursue a court decision to allow its continued functioning until the two vacant seats are filled. Meanwhile, the council also voted to fire its current city administrator Dale Hall for cause instead of accepting his resignation. •Jason Wester was named principal of Jackson County Comprehensive High School when the Jackson County Board of Education met Dec. 9. He had been serving in the interim role. •Braselton leaders approved a controversial and legal ly contentious rezoning for property across from Chateau Elan on Hwy. 211. At a spe cial called meeting Dec. 18, the Braselton Town Council unanimously approved the request from HECE, LLC, for a massive housing and commercial development on 230 acres around the Publix shopping center. •The Hoschton City Council can continue to op erate with a three-member board following court action, it was announced. On Dec. 20, Superior Court Judge Joe Booth ordered the temporary suspension of a sentence in the town’s charter that prevents the acting mayor from vot ing. That move allowed may or pro tem Adam Ledbetter and council members Shant won Astin and Hope Weeks to continue functioning as a three-member board. Select Fence Group Northeast Georgia \v Best Fence Installer Farm Fences Wood Fences Steel and Aluminum Fences Chain Link Fences SelectFen.ce Group: (678) 201-6548 TlcSkin LLC 7400 Spout Springs Rd., Suite 1 JO • 30542 (Inside Stylist Studios) (239) 243-6003 Buy Local Braselton Only In Braselton.