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Serving Braselton, Hoschton, Chateau Elan, Traditions, Reunion, Deaton Creek and West Jackson $1.00 copy
Wednesday, December 14, 2022
Vol. 16 No. 1 A publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. www.BraseltonNewsTODAY.com 2 sections, 16 pages
Scenes from the JCHS
winter band concert
The Jackson County High School band program performed its winter concert last
week, which included a reading of "The Night Before Christmas" for kids
PAGE 6B
New NGMC fellows
Northeast Georgia Medical Center recently
announced a new class of fellows
PAGE 7A
Braselton
Braselton Town
Council pauses on
Lowe’s designs
By Ben Munro
ben@mainstreetnews. com
Approval of architectural
drawings for a Lowe's are on
hold alter the Braselton Town
Council postponed a vote on
them.
The proposed home-im
provement store is part of
Braselton Village, a planned-
unit development (PUD) on
Hwy. 211.
The initial drawings did
not pass the eye test of Bra
selton leaders during Thurs
day’s (Dec. 8) work session,
and they then opted to take a
longer look at revised draw
ings presented during their
Monday (Dec. 11) business
session, voting unanimously
to table their decision.
Under the conditions of the
development’s PUD zoning,
the council must review and
then vote on all architectural
elevations for commercial
buildings.
Council members during
the work session said the
appearance of the Lowe's
shown in the drawings did not
match the French-inspired
character of the Chateau Elan
architecture across the road.
Conditions of the PUD
“strongly urge” that the ar
chitectural style is consistent
with the Chateau Elan resort
and commercial area.
The area was described as
the “gateway” to that commu
nity.
“This feels like, to me,
it brings the neighborhood
down and down significant
ly.” councilman Jim Joedecke
said. “I understand properties
have to be developed, but I
expected more.”
Mayor Kurt Ward offered a
similar opinion.
“I don't think what we’re
seeing at the moment is meet
ing the architectural compo
nent that we're looking for,”
he said.
The project architect. Trent
Ferrell, on Monday (Dec.
12), provided revised designs
which he said incorporated
elements used for the special
ized design of the Hampton
Inn at Chateau Elan, which
mirrors the aesthetics of the
resort. Ward, however, made
a motion to table the decision
to allow the applicant to talk
further with town staff over
the revised drawings, provide
time for planning commis
sion review and allow more
opportunity for public input.
“On this one, we feel like
we would like our staff to
work with you guys more,”
Ward said to Ferrell, who par
ticipated in Monday’s meet
ing via phone. “We've given
you some recommendations
on how to do that, and to
night’s vote is to table it.”
See Braselton, page 7A
INDEX
News
1-3A
Opinion
4A
Public safety
5A
Social
6A
Sports
1B
School
2B
Obituaries
4B-5B
Classifieds
7B
The JCHS girls’ wres
tling team placed third
at weekend tourney
PAGE1B
Christmas sounds
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Photo by Ben Munro
The North Georgia Winds played its “Night Before Christmas” concert on Sunday (Dec. 11) at the
Braselton Civic Center.
South Hall
August-Sept, opening projected
for ambulatory surgery center
Photo courtesy of NGMC-Braselton
An ambulatory surgery center being con
structed at Northeast Georgia Medical Cen-
ter-Braselton is projected to open in either
August or September.
By Ben Munro
ben@mainstreetnews. com
A hospital official is
targeting a possible lat
er-summer opening for the
Northeast Georgia Health
System's ambulatory sur
gery center in Braselton.
Construction for the sur
gery center, dedicated to
outpatient procedures, be
gan in April.
“I think we're looking at
opening some time at this
point in the August-Sep-
tember range,” said North
east Georgia Medical
Center (NGMC)-Braselton
President Anthony Wil
liamson.
The three-story.
90,000-square-foot facility
is under construction on
NGMC-Braselton's Hwy.
347 campus and was orig
inally on pace to open in
May or June. Williamson
noted that construction will
See Construction, page 3A
Hoschton Jingle Mingle
set for Dec. 17
The City of Hoschtoris
second-annual Jingle Min
gle will feature a Santa's
workshop and horse-drawn
carriage rides around
downtown to go with the
slate of holiday activities
introduced last year. This
year's Jingle Mingle is
scheduled for Saturday,
Dec. 17(2-8 p.m.)
The carriage rides will
feature Clydesdales which
will carry passengers
around the city square
block.
More food and beverage
kiosks are planned for this
year's event. Organizers
expect 15-20 stops on the
Jingle Mingle walk. Santa
Claus will be on hand his
year, along with six to eight
Disney characters. The
event will include a tree
lighting.
MAILING LABEL
Jackson County
Crescenti named Chamber’s
2022 Woman of the Year
By Hannah Barron
hannah@mainstreetnews. com
Rosa Crescenti, owner
and CEO of At Work Person
nel, has been named Woman
of the Year for 2022.
The Jackson County Area
Chamber of Commerce
gave the award during the
15th annual luncheon held
on Nov. 30 at the Braselton
Civic Center.
Through the many chal
lenges she first faced in
moving to the United States
and learning English, Cres
centi is “immensely proud”
to own her company — a
certified minority business
enterprise.
She and her husband
opened the business in 2017.
Crescenti is a graduate
of the Leadership Jackson
program and is part of the
Leadership Jackson Alumni
Association. She serves as a
board member for both the
Jackson EMC Foundation
and The Treehouse. She
also serves with Heirbom
Servants as a mentor for sin
gle mothers.
Crescenti is also an ac
tive member of the 12Stone
Church in Braselton and
Photos by Hannah Barron
Rosa Crescenti and her family are pictured after
she was named the Worn- See Crescenti
,page 3A
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