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Serving Braselton, Hoschton, Chateau Elan, Traditions, Reunion, Deaton Creek and West Jackson $1.00 copy
Wednesday, January 11, 2023
Vol. 16 No. 5 A publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. www.BraseltonNewsTODAY.com 12 pages
Runner-up Panthers
The Jackson County High School wrestling team finished as runners-up
during Saturdays Region 8-AAAAAA duals
PAGE 7A
Art program
The Braselton Womans Club has started a
program to display the work of young artists
in the 1904 building.
PAGE 6A
Special election
qualify for State House 119 seat
Seven
Early voting opened this
week for the special election
to fill the State House District
119 seat. Seven people have
qualified for the State House
District 119 seat vacated by
Rep-Elect Danny Rampey. A
special election is set Jan. 31
for the race.
Qualified candidates in
clude:
•Charlie Chase, Republi
can, Winder. Chase is a gen
eral contractor.
•Shelbey Diamond Alexan
der, Democrat. Winder. Alex
ander is retired.
•Joseph Grodzicki, Repub
lican, of Winder. Grodzicki
works as a safety coordinator
for a gas distributor.
•Renee Lord. Republican,
no city listed. Lord is a busi
ness owner.
•Holt Persinger, Republi
can, no city listed. Persinger
is a landscape architect.
•Joe Price, Republican,
no city listed. Price works in
beauty and barber shop equip
ment sales.
•Bill Ritter, Republican,
Statham. Ritter is an insur
ance agent.
ELECTION DAY
Rampey was election to
the House District 119 seat
last year, but resigned from
the post following his recent
arrest on burglary charges in
Barrow County.
House District 119 covers
portions of Jackson County
(in the Braselton-Hoschton
area) and Barrow County.
Jackson County residents
in District 119 will cast their
vote on Election Day. Jan. 31,
at the Braselton Police and
Municipal Court building.
Polls will be open from 7 a.m.
to 7 p.m. on that date. The
county board of elections
approved relocating the site
from Free Chapel to the Bra
selton police and municipal
court building for this special
election. The elections office
See Election, page 3A
Development
Decision on
Braselton Lowe’s
designs tabled again
By Ben Munro
ben@mainstreetnews. com
Approval of drawings for
a Braselton Lowe's across
from Chateau Elan is again
on hold.
Last month, the Braselton
Town Council tabled an ar
chitectural review approval
of the home improvement
store planned as part of the
Braselton Village devel
opment on Hwy. 211. The
council again held off on a
decision Monday (Jan. 9),
voting 5-0 to table the mat
ter another month.
Braselton Village is a
planned unit development
(PUD), which provides a
mix of residential and com
mercial components. The
council must approve all
architectural designs as a
condition of the PUD.
“We’ve got to get this
right,’' Councilman Jim Jo-
edecke said during a Jan.
5 work session. “This is in
the gateway-to-Braselton
area.”
Multiple council mem
bers were displeased with
the original drawings re
viewed last month during
its Dec. 8 work session.
Mayor Kurt Ward and Joe-
decke said the designs from
the developer didn’t match
the architectural character
of Chateau Elan. The coun
cil received a revised ver
sion on Dec. 12 but opted to
table the item to allow more
discussion between town
staff and the developer. But
little dialogue transpired in
the past month.
“I talked to (Braselton
Planning Director) Kevin
See Lowe’s, page 3A
INDEX
News
1-3A
Opinion
4A
Public safety
5A
Social/School
6A
Sports
7A
State round-up
8A
Classifieds
9A
Obituaries 10A-11A
Panther relay
team headed to state
PAGE 6A
Photo by Ben Munro
The Town of Braselton purchased the former site of West Jackson Primary School in November of
2021. The town plans to perform a market study on the building as it considers different uses for the
facility.
Town property
Exploring options
Braselton planning study for old school site
By Ben Munro
ben@mainstreetnews. com
The Town of Braselton
plans to hire a firm to perform
a market assessment and de
velopment study for the for
mer West Jackson Primary
School site on Hwy. 53.
The town has owned the
63,500-square-foot building
and grounds since purchasing
it from the Jackson County
Board of Education in No
vember of 2021 for $1.2 mil
lion.
The $35,000 study, per
formed by Retail Strategies
located out of Birmingham,
Alabama and Ft. Worth, Tex
as, would provide a market
analysis, offer recommenda
tions for the use of the facility
and “give us some idea for
how it can be redone,” Town
Manager Jennifer Scott said.
The town still needs to sign
a contract with the firm but re
ceived the study cost estimate
last month. The town recently
contracted Retail Strategies to
perform Braselton’s five-year
downtown strategic plan.
Scott said this study is com
mon practice for the town’s
large purchases, pointing to a
similar survey commissioned
for the Braselton Brothers
Store building, which now
serves as a restaurant and re
tail space.
Scott noted that the former
school site, which initially
served as Jackson Coun
ty High School before that
school moved to Jefferson in
1979, has water leaks and nu
merous roof issues.
“It needs to be evaluated
by some engineers and archi
tects.” she said.
When asked if town offi
cials and council members
have an overall vision for
the facility, Scott said she be-
See Property, page 3A
MAILING LABEL
Library
Braselton Library facility remains
closed due to recent water damage
By Ben Munro
ben@mainstreetnews.com
The Braselton Library
remains closed due to wa
ter damage sustained from
a recent pipe issue.
According to town and
library officials, the issue
occurred on Dec. 25 or
Dec. 26 while the building
was closed for four days
for Christmas.
A pipe reportedly blew
out of its fitting, resulting
in a significant amount of
water in the main portion
of the library.
Braselton Library Di
rector Lori Hayes said
the water damaged some
The Braselton library sustained recent water
damage due to a pipe issue. The faclity remains
closed.
of the building’s drywall.
None of the library’s cat
aloged books sustained
damage, according to
Hayes.
Town Manager Jenni
fer Scott said the library
carpet would not need re
placing, just cleaning.
No estimate has been
provided yet for the cost
of the damage.
According to a Bra
selton Library Facebook
post, the facility is closed
to the public “for the fore
seeable future.” But Scott
estimated that the build
ing could re-open at some
point this month.
The closure comes as
construction crews add a
$4.1 million extension to
the building. Scott noted
that improvements to the
main library, including
See Library, page 3A
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