About The Braselton news. (Jefferson, Ga) 2006-current | View Entire Issue (March 2, 2022)
Serving Braselton, Hoschton, Chateau Elan, Traditions, Reunion, Deaton Creek and West Jackson $1.00 copy Wednesday, March 2, 2022 Vol. 15 No. 12 A publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. www.BraseltonNewsTODAY.com 12 pages Hoschton Hoschton water tower project approximately a month ahead of schedule By Ben Munro ben@mainstreetnews.com Hoschton's new water tow er project is progressing fast er than expected as the city moves to increase its water capacity. According to city manager Joe Hayes, work on the West Jackson water tower — which will be located on West Jack- son Rd. near West Jackson Elementary School — is ap proximately a month ahead of schedule. Welding for the tower has been completed, according to Hayes, while X-rays of all the welds have also been complet ed. Once those are approved, Hayes said the sand blasting phase of the project can begin. “On one of the original schedules we had, sand blast ing wasn’t supposed to start until April,” Hayes said. “So, we’re a month ahead on that.” The tower is expected to be ready by either late July or ear ly August. With a tank span ning 50 feet in diameter, the tower will hold 500,000 gal lons. By comparison, the city’s in-town tank holds 100,000 gallons. One side of the wa ter tank will bare Hoschton’s city logo, while the other will bare the Jackson County High School Panther logo. The West Jackson tower is one part of the city’s plans to up its water capacity. Plans are already in the works to build a one-million gallon tank on the Southside of town on Jopena Blvd. where property has been acquired. The Southside tower will be located across from the large Twin Lakes and Cresswind subdivisions, which will total 2,600 homes when both are built out. Work on the Southside tow er will likely begin after the West Jackson tower is up-and- running. “We’re probably going to finish this one (the West Jack- son tower) and then proba bly look at starting that one,” Hayes said. Courtesy of the City of Hoschton 50'-0" (Diameter) 50'-0" (Diameter) HOSCHTON Funding Hoschton, Braselton receive money for water and sewer infrastructure The City of Hoschton and the Town of Braselton were among the municipalities across the state that were awarded grant money for water and sewer infrastructure. The recipients were announced on Tuesday (Feb. 22) by the governor’s of fice. Hoschton will receive a total of $2.4 million — $2 million for wastewater treatment and $400,000 for drinking water — while Braselton will receive $416,500. The money was awarded to ensure that “communities in high-need areas have reliable and safe drinking water and wastewater systems,” according to a press release, “Because we remained fo cused on protecting lives and livelihoods throughout the pandemic, Georgia is now in a position to make strategic, transformational investments in our state’s water and sewer infrastructure,” said Gov. Brian Kemp said in a statement. MAILING LABEL A grand opening Photo by Wesleigh Sagon Those attending Thursday’s grand opening of Braselton’s renovated 1904 building wait in line in the lobby to register for a raffle. See the March 23 edition of Braselton TODAY magazine for more on the 1904 building. Braselton Braselton residents asked about interest in charter school system Photo by Ben Munro The Braselton Comprehensive Evaluation Planning Committee (some mem bers not pictured) met Monday (Feb. 28) to seek public input. One of the topics presented to residents was a potential Braselton charter school system. By Ben Munro ben@mainstreetnews. com Though only an idea at this point, it’s an idea Braselton leadership has pushed out to the public. Mayor Kurt Ward, during a Monday (Feb. 28) meet ing of his newly-formed comprehensive plan eval uation committee, told au dience members that the committee seeks to gauge residents’ interest in a po tential Braselton charter school system. A charter system, with a lottery-based admission standard, would be public ly-funded but use a curric ulum determined by Bra selton’s charter (subject to approval by the state char ter commission). If such a system comes to fruition. Ward said either the town or a 501-C-3 or ganization would hold the charter. “A charter school is sim ilar to a private school in that the charter gets to set its classroom sizes and the number of students it will accept.” Ward said. “It’s a lottery system, and it’s open to the public, and it is See School, page 3A Jackson Co. Planning Commission Industrial project near Braselton gets green light Plans for an office park/ distribution center got a green light last week when the Jackson County Plan ning Commission approved map amendments for indus trial use. EastGroup Properties plans to build two build ings on 44 acres at 354 Tom White Rd. Braselton. EastGroup said its buildings typically have multi-tenants and not just one large user. EastGroup has 23 de velopment projects around the nation with 1.5 million square feet of space in the Atlanta area. The map amendment proposal will now go to the Jackson County Board of Commissioners for final ac tion. If approved, the prop erty would next have to be rezoned for industrial use. NEW LEADERSHIP Also at its Feb. 24 meet ing, the JCPC named Carson Saville as its new chairman following the resignation of Steve Wittry, who is run ning for a seat on the BOC this year. Wittry served as chairman for two months following the resignation of long-time chairman Marty Clark, who is also running for a seat on the BOC. Saville is vice-president of Saville Public Entity, a family-owned insurance firm that specializes in in surance for public groups, such as cities and counties. He is a graduate of Auburn University. Harold Mull was named vice-chairman of the plan ning board and Les Kno- block was named as liai son to the Jackson County Board of Adjustment. OTHER ACTION In other action, the JCPC: • approved a map amend ment for 2 acres at 4608 Winder Hwy.. Jefferson, to See JCPC, page 3A Carson Saville COVID decline continues Here are the seven-day moving averages of new area COVID cases this week (Feb. 28) compared to last week (Feb. 21). •Jackson Co. 7.3, down 34.2% •Hall Co. 19.0, down 31.9% •Barrow Co. 6.0, down 43.9% •Gwinnett Co. 69.9, down 40.6% •State 937.1, down 37% COVID HOSPITALIZATIONS Northeast Georgia Health System 68, down 34.6% from Feb. 21 o
