The Braselton news. (Jefferson, Ga) 2006-current, April 20, 2022, Image 1

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The Braselton news., April 20, 2022, Image 1

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Newspaper Page Texto o Serving Braselton, Hoschton, Chateau Elan, Traditions, Reunion, Deaton Creek and West Jackson $1.00 copy Wednesday, April 20, 2022 Vol. 15 No. 19 A publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. www.BraseltonNewsTODAY.com 12 pages Easter egg fun Photo by Wesleigh Sagon Evelyn Jackson, 5, is shown collecting Easter eggs at Hoschton Baptist Church’s annual Easter cel ebration on Good Friday. Mulberry River Hoschton residents oppose Winder water withdrawal at Mulberry River By Morgan Irvin morgan@mainstreetnews. com By Ben Munro ben@mainstreetnews. com Property owners along the Mulberry River recently de nied the City of Winder ac cess onto their properties in a collective opposition to its proposed water withdrawal at Covered Bridge Road. The withdrawal is part of the City of Winder’s Waterline Project, which will build a new pumping station at Mulberry River, making it the city’s sec ond pumping station along the river. Winder is seeking ease ments from several Hoschton property owners as the city enters the surveying and struc tural planning phases of the project. The opposition to Winder’s withdrawal comes from over a dozen Hoschton property owners and stems from con cerns it will potentially close off Hoschton and Braselton’s access to the water source. ‘This will become a more contentious issue as water re sources become scarcer and smaller cities in this area com pete for them,” said Hoschton resident Terrence Hughey. The Hoschton property owners feel that by granting Winder access to their prop erties and allowing it to move forward with the withdrawal, they are essentially writing the city a‘‘blank check.” ‘‘Once permitted we have little control over the survey crews and their machetes, axes and other destructive practices other than the courts’ and as sociated attorneys' expenses,” said a letter addressed to Wind er public works director, Roger Wilhelm. The group proposed the pump station be located further downstream to “avoid infring ing on developed properties,” and also suggests the city take into consideration events along the 1-85 corridor, which could impact the river. Concerns about a potential for 12-foot plus deep water hazards next to their properties were also expressed in the let ter to Wilhelm, describing it as “unacceptable.” “In our opinion, the current approach does not appear to be sound or thorough engineer ing.” According to Wilhelm, as waters of the state, the Mul berry River and the entire area around it was evaluated in de tail based on criteria used by the Environmental Protection Division (EPD) of the Geor gia Department of Natural Resources and it selected the site at Covered Bridge Road for this project, not the City of Winder. “The water is not ours to take. It’s ours to submit an ap plication for.” “From our perspective, we have a strong need and a proj ect for a pipeline, which we made an application for,” he said, “just like they could have See Mulberry, page 3A MAILING LABEL Braselton Requests for gas station, church to be heard The Braselton Planning Commission will hold public hearings over two condition al use requests — one for a gas station and another for a church—onApril25 (7 p.m.), and the Braselton Town Coun cil will hold public hearings over the same requests on May 5 (4 p.m.). Ed Merchant seeks a con ditional use for 6.75 acres on Hwy. 53 in Jackson County to permit a gas station and con venience store in the Hwy. 53 Overlay District. The property, owned by Friendship Road Properties LLC, is currently zoned general commercial with conditions. North Metro First Baptist Church of Gwinnett and Ma- haffey Pickens Tucker, LLC, seeks a conditional use approv al to permit a place of worship in the Hwy. 211 Overlay Dis trict on 33.94 acres located on Hwy. 124 in Barrow County. The property, owned by White Charitable Trust, is currently zoned general commercial. Copies of the applications may be viewed or downloaded at: https://www.braselton.net/ govemment/town_officials/ planning_commission.php. The public hearings will be held in the courtroom of the police and municipal court fa cility located at 5040 Hwy. 53. Hoschton Hoschton residents express concerns with traffic and development By Hannah Barron hannah@mainstreetnews. com Hoschton residents have expressed growing con cern at the increased traf fic and development along Hwy. 53 and Peachtree Rd. To a packed room at Hoschton City Council’s April 18 work session meeting, the Hoschton public explained the prob lems with new develop ments popping up and traffic increasing. While the council re pealed a recent application for a convenience store and gas station in that area last month, developments still pop up all the time. The public believes more industrial development could increase traffic and further degrade the resi dential and historic char acter of the neighborhood. Traffic along the route is already jammed where many accidents occur and people wait long periods to turn left. Lineups of up to 15 cars occur when peo ple try to turn left during rush hour. Developments such as gas stations would only make it more com promised. They say the most important concern for Hoschton residents is the increasingly dangerous traffic. One resident. Ross Billingsley, spoke of the traffic problems along the highway which includes congestion from Braselton and Winder. He suggests the Georgia Department of Transportation conduct a comprehensive traffic study and consider better traffic patterns, ultimately including a traffic light at the intersection. “I am requesting a mor atorium on any future de velopment ... a thorough See Hoschton, page 12A Photo by Ben Munro Hoschton city council members listen to a Zoom presentation over future road improve ment projects for the Hoschton-Braselton area. Roads Transportation official discusses road projects for west Jackson By Ben Munro ben@mainstreetnews.com Multiple state road-im provement projects are pro posed for Jackson Coun ty’s west side, according to a transportation official, though it could be years be fore new asphalt is seen for many of those plans. Joseph Boyd of the Gainesville Metropoli tan Planning Organization (MPO), which serves both Hoschton and Braselton, briefed Hoschton leaders via Zoom on those proj ects April 14 during the city council’s retreat at Brasstown Valley Resort. According to MPO projections, the area See Transportation, page3A Braselton Antique and Artisan Festival set for April 22-24 The next Braselton Antique and Artisan Festival will be hosted April 22-24 on Harrison St. in downtown. Over 350 vendors and at least 12 food vendors are expected for the three-day event. The festival will include live music and drink tents. Admission, parking and shuttle service for the event are free. The festival times are as follows: •April 22, noon to 7 p.m. •April 23,9 a.m. to 6 p.m. •April 24,10 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information, go to www.vintagemarkets.net or call 706- 824-7204. MotoAmerica Superbikes race set for Road Atlanta this weekend MotoAmerica Superbikes is set for Michelin Race Road Atlanta Friday through Sunday (April 22-24) in the Braselton area. The event will include six classes of road racing — Superbikes, Supersport, Stock 100, Twin Cup, Junior Cup and King of the Bag gers. Road Atlanta is located at 5300 Winder Hwy, Bra selton. For more details, go to www.roadatlanta.com/ motoamerica.