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Wednesday, December 30, 2020 The Braselton News Page 3A m 1—i 1 - ' . _ m i| | s mw 1 HU III! VgB Jg i nyp jgki it ■If Ilf . — m a r cBIWErff & llyr ' % ■ ■'***■' W i r j ’ v’ - //■ Life @ fwBSPil. ■ J Photo by Luciana Sarmento MAY The Peters family Front Porch Project photoshoot depicted a humorous take on the coronavirus. A lo cal photographer, Luciana Sarmento, offered free photoshoots to residents of Riverstone Park in Braselton, asking for donations for St. Jude Chil dren’s Hospital. •Absentee voting surges — Despite controversy from some GOP leaders, thousands of people in Jackson County began voting via absentee ballot for the June 9 primary. •Health leaders urge precaution as businesses open — As more businesses began reopening doors amid the COVID-19 pandemic, local health leaders encouraged in creased precautions to ensure the safety of employers, em ployees and patrons. •Norton: Virus will profoundly change how people work, live and play — The impact of the COVID virus is going to have a profound impact on how people live and how businesses operate in the coming years said Gaines ville real estate leader Frank Norton. •Hoschton hires interim city administrator — The City of Hoschton hired a new interim city administrator. Gary Fesperman took the oath of office for the interim po sition at the Hoschton City Council's May 18 meeting. •Planners recommend denial of townhomes project — Plans for a townhome development in an industrial area of Braselton were dealt a blow May 18 when the town's planning board voted 3-1 to recommend denial of a rezon ing for the proposed project. Developers wanted to build 161 town homes on 21.5 acres on Broadway Ave. (Hwy. 124) across from the intersection with Josh Pirkle Rd. •More flexible housing one goal in comp plan — A major rewrite of the Town of Braselton’s development codes was set to be one of the major focuses of the com munity’s 2020 Comprehensive Plan Update. •Unemployment reaches all-time high in April — State Labor Commissioner Mark Butler reported that the number of initial unemployment claims reached another all-time high, with the month's total surpassing the number of claims reached in the past four years combined. •Humphrey named president and general manager at Road Atlanta — Rick Humphrey was named president and general manager of Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta. Humphrey replaced Geoff Lee, who announced his retire ment. PEFUND AND DISARM IbLMX TRANS LIVES (UTTER [black QUEER WSIWER I BLACK ART MATTERS | BLACK TOY MATTERS I BLACK LOVE MATTERS JUNE A handful of protestors gathered in downtown Hoschton on Monday afternoon, June 8. The pro testors held up signs reading “Black Lives Matter,” “No Justice, No Peace” and “Defund and Disarm.” The protest was among several that have been held in recent weeks locally and across the country fol lowing the death of George Floyd, who was killed by a police officer in Minneapolis, Minn. JUNE •Braselton protest calls for justice — A peaceful demonstration with around 100 people was held in Bra selton Tuesday, June 2, to protest the the death of George Floyd and other African-Americans who have been killed in recent years at the hands of law enforcement officers. •Roy named assistant county manager — Jackson County Public Development Director Gina Roy moved to the position of assistant county manager starting June 1. Jamie Dove replaced Roy as the county’s new development director. •Cresswind sells 23 homes — Over 20 homes in the new Cresswind development in Hoschton were sold. Kolter Homes announced 23 homes in the new development were sold during the first week of VIP sales. •NGHS announced position cuts, furloughs — North east Georgia Health System announced that it would elim inate positions and implement furloughs due to decreased revenues amid the COVID-19 pandemic. •Hoschton issues building moratorium for 90 days — The Hoschton City Council issued a 90-day moratorium on most new building permits during its meeting on June 8. •County public safety employee terminated over so cial media post — A Jackson County public safety em ployee was terminated from his position June 5 following an internal investigation into an inflammatory post he made on a Gainesville social media page. John Pethel, a training officer with the Jackson County Emergency Medical Ser vice, posted a comment about recent Gainesville protest to The (Gainesville) Times newspaper Facebook page June 1. Pethel’s comment was in response to a post that said protesters were “again in Gainesville.” “Shoot them all.” Pethel said in his comment. •Carswell, Lawson take Hoschton council seats — Tracy Carswell and James Lawson were elected to the Hoschton City Council. •Homeowners win lawsuit against Chateau Elan — Homeowners in Chateau Elan won a major lawsuit to stop the redevelopment of the resort’s Par 3 golf course into res idential homes. •Planned residential project crosses hurdle — De- Lookback continued from 2A velopers of a planned residential project in West Jackson crossed another hurdle on Monday, June 15. The Jackson County Board of Commissioners approved a map amend ment request from Galilee Springs. LLC. for the 79-acre property located at 1904 Hwy. 124 West, Jefferson. That move changes the character area from agricultural to sub urban and the future land use from agricultural to residen tial. •Hoschton begins process for stormwater fees — Hoschton announced it would soon implement a storm water fee system in the city to help cover the costs of its runoff. The Hoschton City Council approved paying its en gineering services firm, EMI, $14,000 to begin the process during its June 15 meeting. •Locals buy Traditions golf course — Following years of corporate ownership. Traditions of Braselton Golf Club is now in the hands of a local ownership group intent on bringing improvements to the 15-year-old course, •Braselton planner dies — Burgess Baird Jr. died on June 14. Baird was a member of the Braselton Planning Commission. •Over 60 homes sold at Cresswind — More than 60 new homes were sold during the first two weeks of prelim inary sales at Cresswind Georgia at Twin Lakes. Photo by Wesleigh Sagon JULY Jackson County Comprehensive High School prin cipal Jason Wester congratulated Jason Charles Crowthers at graduation with an elbow bump as social distancing guidelines were in place due to the Coronavirus pandemic. Local graduations were postponed several times before finally being scheduled in July. JULY •Large mixed-use project planned — A large mixed- use development was proposed off Highway 211 in the Braselton-Hoschton area of Barrow County and was set to go before a state review process. The proposed project. “Stone Tract” would include 312 apartments, 158 townho mes and 37,500 square feet of commercial space at 103 Lee Stone Rd., just northwest of the Highway 211/ Free man Johnson Road junction and a couple miles south of Interstate 85, according to a Developments of Regional Impact filing by the county June 9. •Governor extends state of emergency — Governor Brian P. Kemp extended the public health state of emergen cy and existing COVID-19 safety measures. Kemp signed the executive orders on June 29. •Hoschton to implement impact fees — Hoschton’s efforts to re-establish a city police department could get a boost from plans to implement building impact fees in the city, it was announced. Building a $2.27 million police facility was one of four major areas Hoschton plans to use funds from impact fees. •Hoschton planners OK revised overlay — Plans for a revised overlay district along Hwy. 53 in Hoschton got a boost June 6 after the Hoschton Planning Commission voted to send the new plan to the city council. •Townhouse project pulled — A controversial town- house project proposed for an industrial area in Braselton was pulled from the town council’s July 13 agenda at the request of the applicant. The project is in an industrial area along Broadway Ave. where a rezoning from manufactur ing to multi-family residential is required. •Town defers vote on comp plan — The Braselton Town Council deferred a vote on an updated comp plan for the town on July 13. The council deferred the vote to give additional time to get some questions answered about the plan. •Schools make plans to return — Area schools began making plans to return to school, with many delaying the start date. •Hoschton postpones vote on overlay rewrite — Plans to update Hoschton’s Hwy. 53 overlay district rules were postponed until September. •Large mixed use project planned — A large mixed- use development was proposed in Braselton. The project, which is planned on 40 acres on Jesse Cronic Rd.. was set to go before a state review process. The property is located right off Jesse Cronic Rd. when turning off of Broadway Ave., next to the Free Chapel Braselton campus. Braselton 38, LLC, plans to develop the property with multi-fami ly, senior living, daycare, medical offices, self-storage and business service space. •NGHS surpasses COVID record — As of July 28, NGHS had 173 positive COVID-19 patients. 42 of whom were at Northeast Georgia Medical Center Braselton. Those totals are higher than the previous peak day on April 29, when the hospital system had 159 positive patients (28 at NGMC Braselton). •Noble Vines completed — Noble Vines, a new multi-family residential development in Braselton, was completed. AUGUST •Braselton approves comp plan — Braselton formal ly adopted an updated comprehensive plan, but not before the town council spent over two hours picking it apart and at times, disagreeing with the consultants who drafted the massive document. •Braselton area apartment complex gets nod — A request to develop an apartment project in the Braselton area crossed a hurdle. The Hall County Planning Commis sion voted Monday, Aug. 3, to recommend approval of a rezoning on 30.66 acres off Thompson Mill Rd. near Spout Springs Rd. from agricultural residential to planned resi dential development. •Walton sells its holding in four Braselton area sub divisions — The Canadian real estate firm Walton sold its holdings in four large subdivisions near Braselton in Jack- son County to other investors. The property sold represents AUGUST A Gum Springs Elementary School student head ed to his first day back to school on Wednesday, August 12. a total of 766 building lots on 489 acres. The subdivisions being divested were: Liberty Crossing (326 lots); Baker’s Farm (179 lots); Liberty Park (139 lots); and Walnut Creek (122 lots). •Hoschton to move forward on impact fees — The Hoschton City Council was set to move forward on impos ing impact fees on new construction in the town, funds that would be used to build new facilities for recreation, fire protection and for a police department facility. The council held its first public hearing on the impact fees on Aug. 10. •NGHS reaches new peak — As of Aug. 10, the North east Georgia Health System was treating 179 COVID pa tients, with 38 of those being treated at Northeast Georgia Medical Center Braselton. •Vote on townhomes deferred — A controversial town- house project proposed for an industrial area in Braselton was again pulled from the town council’s agenda at the re quest of the applicant. Johnnie Hastings had requested a rezoning of the 21.5 acre property on Broadway Ave. from manufacturing to multi-family residential. •Ground broken for second WJFD station — Officials gathered for a ceremonial groundbreaking for the second, full-service station for the West Jackson Fire Department. The station will be constructed at 1875 Ednaville Road, near the Thompson Mill Arboretum, by Sunbelt Builders at an estimated $1.9 million. •Hall schools issue bonds for new facilities — The Hall County Board of Education held a called meeting to is sue $157 million in bonds to build new school facilities in the county, including a new middle school in the Braselton area. Among the projects on the list is Cherokee Bluff Mid dle School on existing school property along Spout Springs Rd. with a price tag of $44 million. •Hoschton hires building inspector — The Hoschton City Council hired a new building inspector on Aug. 17. Joseph Hayes was hired by the council following a closed session of the council to discuss personnel. •Johnson wins BOE seat — Rob Johnson will represent West Jackson on the Jackson County Board of Education. Johnson defeated Ricky Sanders in the Aug. 11 runoff, se curing 50.67% of the vote. •Hoschton ponders need for police department — Hoschton leaders heard from several local public safety of ficials when considering the need for a police department for the town. •Proposed large single-family subdivision in Bra selton heads to BOC for vote — A proposed single-fam ily subdivision of nearly 300 homes south of Interstate 85 in the Braselton-Hoschton area of Barrow County cleared a hurdle Thursday, Aug. 20. The county planning commis sion, during its monthly meeting, recommended approv al of a change in conditions for the development of 92.23 acres just to the west of the intersection of highways 211 and 124. •Planners give nod for large Braselton subdivision — Braselton planners gave a nod for a large subdivision project off of Davis St. The Braselton Planning Commis sion voted to recommend approving a zoning request for 85 acres off Davis St. Photo by Wesleigh Sagon SEPTEMBER As Braselton didn’t get to celebrate the Fourth of July due to the COVID-19 pandemic the town host ed a Red, White and Blue Redo along with a reverse parade on Saturday, September 5. Here, Ryleigh, 6, and Ryder Hanson, 3, showed their patriotic spirit as they waved their flags in the air to visitors pass ing through the obstacle course in the reverse pa rade at YearOne. SEPTEMBER •Hall denies Braselton area apartments — Hall Coun ty leaders rejected a request to allow an apartment devel opment in the Braselton area. The Hall County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously Thursday, Aug. 27, to deny a rezoning request from Rochester and Associates, Inc., for 30.7 acres on Thompson Mill Rd. •Hoschton delays final vote on impact fees — The Hoschton City Council postponed taking action on pro posed impact fees in the town. The unexpected delay came following a major pushback from Kolter, the real estate firm developing Cresswinds at Twin Lakes, a massive planned community in the town. •Jackson planners give OK for 120-lot subdivision — A new 120-lot subdivision got the initial green light Aug. 27 following action by the Jackson County Planning Commis sion. The board approved the rezoning of 79.2 acres at 1904 Hwy. 124, Jefferson from A-2 to R-l for the development.