Newspaper Page Text
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
