Newspaper Page Text
Serving Braselton, Hoschton, Chateau Elan, Traditions, Reunion, Deaton Creek and West Jackson $1.00 copy
Wednesday, February 9, 2022
Vol. 15 No. 9 A publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. www.BraseltonNewsTODAY.com 12 pages
Chocolate time in Braselton
BRASELTON
BREWING COMPANY
1
1
•w •
* 'foil
•
m
Photo by Ben Munro
Vicki Tuten of Braselton Brewing Company shows off a display of chocolate snacks Saturday (Feb. 5)
during Braselton’s eighth-annual Chocolate Walk. See more Chocolate Walk photos on 7A.
Jackson Co. Schools
Superintendent search continues
The Jackson County
Board of Education hopes
to have a new superinten
dent named by the end of
February, officials said this
week.
The interview process for
qualified candidates is un
derway. After the first round
of interviews, some candi
dates will be called back for
a second interview.
“All board members un
derstand the importance of
this selection,” stated BOE
chair Don Clerici. “We are
being thorough and method
ical in our search. Although
we have a tentative timeline
for the search process, we
are not trying to rush any
step of this critical process.”
Current superintendent
April Howard announced
her plans to retire last fall
and the board has been im
plementing its search since
then.
King-Cooper & Associ
ates are assisting the Jack-
son County BOE with the
search.
Jackson Co. BOC
Speed limit set to lower on Skelton Rd.
The speed limit on Skelt
on Rd. near Jackson County
High School will be lowered
if the Jackson County Board
of Commissioners approves
the measure later this month.
The BOC discussed a
plan to lower the speed limit
from 45 mph to 35 on the
road and for a short section
of .4 miles to be lowered to
25 mph near the school on
school days.
The plan also calls for
lowering the speed limit on
New Kings Bridge Rd. from
55 to 50 mph.
ROAD PAVING
The BOC also reviewed a
plan on Feb. 8 for additional
road pavings and resurfac
ing in the county. The board
had earlier approved a list of
roads to be repaved using
state LMIG funds.
The new list would use
$1 million of general county
funds and $1.75 million of
SPLOST funds to pave or
resurface additional roads.
The plan calls for repaving
19.8 miles of roads and pav
ing 10.8 miles of dirt roads
in the county.
Roads to be repaved (part
ly) are: Unity Church, Apple
Valley, Old Kings Bridge,
Stapler Bridge, Maley,
Hunter Ridge, Benton, Al
bert Lane/Eugene Ct., Sum
mer Hill Estates, Whitaker
Downs, Elias Hayes, and
See Roads, page 3A
Library addition
Braselton library
expansion project
could begin
this summer
By Ben Munro
ben@mainstreetnews. com
An expansion project that
will add a two-story children’s
wing to the Braselton Library
could start by July or August.
The town began seeking
bids for addition on Monday
(Feb. 7) after the state signed
off on the approximate $2 mil
lion project on Friday (Feb. 4).
The bid process will take 30
days. The town will submit a
recommended bid to the may
or and council likely in May.
If the bid is approved, ground
breaking would likely follow
in July or August, according to
town manager Jennifer Scott.
The vast majority of the
project will be covered
through $1.73 million worth
of state-grant funds allotted
during the 2021 state leg
islative session. The 8,166
square-foot wing, which will
be situated to the west of the
original structure, will take
roughly 10 months to build.
Scott noted the value of the
additional space.
“We’re extremely excited,”
she said. “Our library has been
so popular that we’ve been
having to hold programs off
site, which makes it so con
fusing ... And now we’ll be
able to consolidate everything
in one location to serve more
people in a better way.”
The library received 4,896
attendees for children’s pro
grams in 2019, the last con
ventional programming year
for the facility before the start
of the pandemic. All programs
were conducted online in
2020.
The new wing will house
all young adult and children’s
book collections and materials
on the first floor. The second
floor will feature a room for
See Library, page 3A
Image courtesy of the Town of Braselton
A planned expansion of the Braselton Library will
add an 8,166 square foot children’s wing to the ex
isting facility.
Gwinnett Co.
House approves new
Gwinnett County
commission district lines
As reported by multiple
media outlets, the Georgia
House of Representatives last
week approved a map drawn
by State Rep. Bonnie Rich
(R-Suwannee) to redivide
Gwinnett County’s commis
sion district lines.
The House voted 96-70 on
Feb. 3 to approve the redis
tricting map, which replaced
a proposal submitted by the
Democrat-controlled Gwin
nett County commission. The
changes, which drew heavy
criticism from Democrats,
creates a more conservative
northern Gwinnett district.
The map will now move
to the Georgia Senate, where
Republicans hold a majority,
for consideration.
MAILING LABEL
O
JCHS STAR Student, STAR Teacher selected
ACADEMY;
■L.»i mJ
H
Submitted photo
Adrian Gebo was recently selected as
Jackson County High School’s STAR Stu
dent. STAR Student is awarded to the se
nior who has the highest SAT score in a
single test administration. Gebo selected
Michelle Golden, the school’s Internation
al Baccalaureate Coordinator, as STAR
Teacher.
Submitted photo
Michelle Golden was named
Jackson County High School’s
STAR teacher. Golden was se
lected by the school’s STAR
student, Adrian Gebo.
COVID update
Steady
decline in
new COVID
cases
reported
New COVID cases in
Jackson. Hall, Barrow
and Gwinnett counties all
dropped significandy over
the past week.
Here is a look at the sev
en-day averages of new
COVID cases reported in
those counties this week
(Feb. 7) compared to last
week (Jan. 31):
Jackson Co.
49.4. down 50.5%
Hall Co.
93.6. down 43.5%
See COVID, page 2A
