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o o Serving Braselton, Hoschton, Chateau Elan, Traditions, Reunion, Deaton Creek and West Jackson $1.00 copy Wednesday, January 15, 2020 Vol. 13 No. 6 A publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. www.BraseltonNewsTODAY.com 12 pages Hoschton mayor, council races contested The upcoming March 24 special elections Hope Weeks and Shannon Sell qualified on the Hoschton City Council since she is main (see related story), to fill the unexpired seats of Hoschton mayor for the Hoschton mayor’s seat during qual- seeking the mayor position. That leaves the Meanwhile, the election to fill Cleveland’s Theresa Kenerly and councilman Jim Cleve- ifying last week. Weeks, who has served on city council inoperable until the March 24 seat will also be a contested race, with Ra- land will both be contested. the council since 2018, had to resign her seat election since only two council members re- phael Mayberry facing James Lawson. The Hoschton City Council held a called meeting Jan. 9 to approve an updated spending policy that will allow the town to operate until April without council votes. Council member Hope Weeks (left) resigned her position the following day to run for mayor, leaving only two council members, Adam Ledbetter (center) and Shantwon Astin (right). Two members aren’t a quorum so the council will likely not meet again until April. Hoschton council ‘on vacation’ Council meetings on hold until April as no quorum possible By Mike Buffngton mike@mainstreetnews. com And then there were — just — two. With only two sitting members left, the Hoschton City Council’s ability to hold votes and conduct business will be on ice until April. Although the council had a meeting slated for Jan. 13 — and did a preliminary call to order with a roll call, a prayer and the pledge to the flag — the council couldn’t hold an official meeting to discuss or transact business since it no longer has a quo rum of members. Following last week’s res ignation of council member Hope Weeks, who qualified to run for mayor and had to relinquish her council seat to do so, only two members of the council are left — Shantwon Astin and Adam Ledbetter. (See other story for city election updates.) City attorney Thom as Mitchell told the small crowd of citizens that with out a quorum, the city can’t do business and that the meeting “fails for the lack of a quorum.” If there is some kind of major emergency before the March election to fill two empty council seats, Mitch ell said the city would have to go back to court and seek a solution that would allow just two council members to vote. The town had pre viously gotten court clear ance to hold votes with three members, but without a mayor following the res ignation of Theresa Kenerly in December. Saying there would likely not be any meetings until April, mayor pro tern Led better joked that the next three months would be “a vacation for everyone.” Ledbetter and Astin did take some comments and questions from citizens on Jan. 13, including a com ment from planning and zoning board member Jan Gailey who questioned why Ledbetter had attended the Jan. 10 meeting of the city’s planning and zoning board, saying that was improper. Ledbetter said he had never attended a planning board meeting before and wanted to see how it oper ates. Mitchell said it wasn’t improper for Ledbetter to attend the meeting. WORK AROUND FOR FINANCES While the council may not be able to meet for a few months, it did anticipate the problem and last week, ad opted a tentative spending plan that will allow the town to function financially with out an official council vote. In a called meeting Jan. See Hoschton, page 2A 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 Online Like us on Facebook: The Braselton News www.BraseltonNewsTODAY.com Braselton leaders sworn-in JOEDECKE SWORN-IN Jim Joedecke is sworn-in at the Braselton Town Council’s Jan. 9 meeting. Joedecke was elected to the council in the Nov. 5 election. Pictured are (L-R): Braselton mayor Bill Orr, Jim Joedecke and Stephanie Joedecke. RICHARDSON SWORN-IN Mayor Bill Orr swears in Braselton Town Council member Becky Richardson at the council’s meeting Jan. 9. See more on page 3. Three failed votes lead to deferral Braselton tables decision on large residential project By Alex Buffington alex@mainstreetnews. com After three unsuccessful votes, Braselton leaders voted Jan. 13 to defer a request for a large residential development near Chateau Elan. In a split vote, the Braselton Town Council voted to defer a decision on annexation, rezoning and a master plan change for the 141 acres off Duncan Creek Rd. Meritage Homes of Georgia plans to develop 321 de tached single-family lots on the prop erty. The deferral came after three votes failed to get a majority. New council member Jim Joedecke first made a motion to deny it with a second by Bill Orr. When that failed to get a third vote, Hardy Johnson made a motion to approve the request with a second by Becky Richardson. That vote also failed and Peggy Slappey made a motion to defer the request until the next meeting. Her motion failed, too, and town manag er Jennifer Scott notified the council that no action meant automatic ap proval. so Joedecke voted to defer the request until March. The vote was split, but ultimately approved. In discussions about the project, Jo edecke said he struggled with calling the development a planned unit de velopment (PUD). (Most of the prop erty — excluding 30 acres requested for annexation — is zoned PUD and was originally part of the larger Cha teau Elan PUD.) Joedecke argued Meritage’s project doesn’t fit the PUD zoning standard. “The PUD statute says that zoning district is intended to establish a truly unique development in which con ventional design requirements and districts cannot accommodate.” said Joedecke. “And, at least from what I heard in the testimony (at the work session Thursday, Jan. 9), I don’t think we have that here,” Joedecke noted a PUD must have two separate land uses, a requirement the proposed development doesn’t meet. MINI-GOLF REQUEST NIXED In other business, the council re jected a conditional use that would allow a mini-golf establishment. Joanne Liu requested the condi tional use for 2.3 acres at 7304 and 7310 Spout Springs Rd. Liu initially planned to put a min iature golf course and batting cages on the property, but eliminated the request for the batting cages ahead of the Jan. 9 work session. The request raised opposition from area residents, who cited concerns with property values, noise and light ing nuisances. OTHER BUSINESS Also at its meeting, the council ap proved: See Braselton, page 2A