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o O Serving Braselton, Hoschton, Chateau Elan, Traditions, Reunion, Deaton Creek and West Jackson $1.00 copy Wednesday, June 21, 2023 Vol. 16 No. 28 A publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. www.BraseltonNewsTODAY.com 12 pages Braselton recognized The Town of Braselton was awarded Main Street America reaccreditation for the ninth-straight year PAGE 3A Scholarship winners The Braselton Woman’s Club recently announced its scholarship recipients PAGE 7A Hoschton Proposed Hoschton developments headed to arbitration By Ben Munro ben@mainstreetnews. com Decisions on two pro posed major developments in Hoschton remain unresolved as both move toward arbitra tion. One project would bring over 1,000 homes into the city, while the other would add 389 if approved. The city council cannot ap prove either proposal without entering into arbitration with Jackson County, which has fonnally objected to annexa tions into Hoschton required for the projects. The council could have denied either pro posal, but the items did not appear on Monday’s (June 19) voting meeting agenda. City Manager Jennifer Kidd-Harri- son confinned that both proj ects will move into arbitration. Providence Group of Geor gia and Rocklyn Homes seek the annexation and zoning changes for the respective de velopments. PROPOSED DEVELOPMENTS Providence Group calls for a gated planned unit develop ment (PUD) of 389 residential units with a mix of detached single-family units and town- homes on nearly 110 acres fronting Pendergrass and E.G. Barnett roads, East Jefferson St. and West Jackson Rd. As part of this plan, it seeks to annex and rezone a com bined 33 acres fronting Pend ergrass and E.G. Barnett roads to PUD (planned unit devel opment). Shannon Sell owns 25.6 acres of that land, and Paul and Brenda Cheek own See Developments, page 12A South Hall Hall planners table recommendation for South Hall com maze again By Ben Munro ben@mainstreetnews. com Hall County planners have again tabled a recom mendation on a proposed com maze and pumpkin patch on just over 17 acres in South Hall on Lanier Is lands Pkwy. They’ll consider the proposal again at the plan ning commission’s July 24 meeting. According to Hall See Planners, page 12A INSIDE [m 1 m -31 INDEX News ... 1A-3A, 12A Opinion ... 4A f " Public safety... 5A School.. 6A Local students Social... 7A recognized at Obituaries... 8A multiple colleges Sports... 10A PAGE 6A Classifieds... 11A Summer cheer Emmlynn Akins, WJES student seen learning a dance during cheer camp. Submitted photo Braselton Group moves forward with Braselton charter school application following BOE denial Photo by Ben Munro A Braselton-area charter school has been pro posed for the former campus of West Jackson Primary School. By Ben Munro ben@mainstreetnews. com The Jackson Coun ty school board last week turned down a K-8 charter school request for the Bra selton area, but that wasn’t bad news for the group seek ing to start one. The non-profit group, New Schools Georgia, will continue seeking a char ter through Georgia’s State Charter School Commission (SCSC). Obtaining a charter through the state commission required local-level denial. New Schools Georgia (NSG) will learn if its char ter application will be grant ed during the SCSC’s July board meeting, typically held during the last week of the month. It will receive the SCSC’s staff recommenda tion two weeks before the meeting. “We anticipate that we will be recommended for approv al .... everything has been encouraging,” NSG’s Pam Estabrooke said. “We’ve just got to go through the steps.” NSG has partnered with National Heritage Acad emies (NHA) to run the proposed charter school — called Four Points Prepara tory Academy — with NSG overseeing its operation. The attendance zones would be Gwinnett, Banks, Barrow, Jackson and Hall counties, and Buford, Gainesville, Commerce and Jefferson city schools (NSG initially hoped to apply with a state-wide attendance zone). The group proposes to house the school in the former site of West See School, page 12A MAILING LABEL Braselton Daycare center, gas station expansion proposed in Braselton A pair of projects could be in the works for the Spout Springs Rd. and Thompson Mill Rd. area. The Braselton Planning Commission will hear zoning requests for a daycare center and a fuel station expansion at its June 26 (6 p.m.) meeting. Land Development and Engineering lias requested a planned unit development master plan amendment for 1.36 acres at 5331 Thompson Mill Rd. for a daycare facility and office-retail building. Plans call for approximately 10,000 square feet of daycare space and 4,200 square feet of office and retail space. Meanwhile, Kroger Company has applied for conditional use approval for 13.11 acres at 7380 Spout Springs Rd. to expand its existing fueling center to add four gasoline dispenser stations and reduce congestion at the location. The fu eling center currently lias five dispensers. “This is a very busy fuel center, and customers often have to wait quite a while to get gas at peak times,” the project ar chitect and engineering firm wrote in its application. “Expanding the fuel center will allow more customers to fuel up at once, thereby reducing the wait time and will improve the congestion around the fuel center area.” Following the planning commis sion public hearings, the Braselton Town Council will hold public hearings over both proposals during its June 6 (4:30 p.m.) meeting. South Hall Flowery Branch man charged with additional counts of child pom possession More charges have been filed against a Flowery Branch man recent ly taken into custody for possession of child pornography, according to a press release from the Hall County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO). Jonathan Malinguaggio, 39, was charged on June 13 with an additional 121 counts of sexual exploitation of children after continued forensic test ing of Malinguaggio’s electronic de vices uncovered more images of child pornography. He remains in the Hall County Jail with no bond. See Arrest,page 12A '0 4 8 7 9 1 4 5 4 0