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THE JACKSON HERALD
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2009
Five industries looking at Jackson County sites
Pendergrass holds first
of three budget hearings
BY MARK BEARDSLEY
FIVE NEW industrial pros
pects revealed interest in locat
ing facilities in Jackson County
during the past week.
“In the past week, we’ve seen
a significant increase in activity,”
Shane Short, president of the
Jackson County Area Chamber
of Commerce, told the coun
ty’s Industrial Development
Authority last Friday.
That brings to 48 the number
of projects expressing interest
during the year, a number con
sidered to be pretty high, given
the economy.
“It's a good mix,” said Short
of the new prospects, “some
manufacturing, some distribu
tion. They are good projects,
a little bigger than we were
seeing.”
Short also noted a shift in the
kinds of companies looking at
the county during 2009.
“This year we’ve seen more
(bio-industry), more manufac
turing,” he said. “I met with
a bio firm last week. Jackson
County is the only place they're
BY KERRI TESTEMENT
IRONICALLY, THE last time
Jennifer Dees would see her
former boss — Henry Edward
Braselton — was election day
in November, when he was cast
ing a ballot for the town’s next
mayor.
Himself a former mayor and
longtime council member, H.E.
Braselton, 82, lived just one
block from town hall — a his
toric residence that he helped
transform from near-ruin to one
of the most beautiful city halls
in Georgia.
It was also the place where
H.E. Braselton later worked with
Dees — now the town’s man
ager — on a day-to-day basis for
almost five years.
“I learned so much from him,”
she said Tuesday.
But on Monday morning, an
ambulance was called to HE.
Braselton’s home — a Southern-
style residence located across
the street from his family's old
store at the intersection of Ga.
Hwy. 124 and Ga. Hwy. 53.
It's the home his father — John
Oliver, one of the town’s found
ing “3Bs” — built in 1904.
H.E. Braselton was later
pronounced dead at Barrow
Regional Medical Center,
Winder. There is an unconfirmed
report that Braselton died of car
diac arrest.
Graveside services will be
held today (Wednesday), at 2
p.m„ at the Braselton Family
Cemetery, located off Jesse
Cronic Road. A memorial ser
vice is planned Sunday, at 2
p.m„ at First Baptist Church,
Gainesville. Little & Davenport
Funeral Home, Gainesville, is in
charge of arrangements.
Mayor Pat Graham — who
defeated Braselton in 2001 for
the town's top elected seat —
said in a statement that HE.
Braselton was the “consummate
mayor who embodied the good
life of small town America.”
“He served with high distinc
tion as Mayor of Braselton for
fourteen years carrying forth the
honored tradition of his ances
tors,” she continued in the state
ment. “His efforts to recruit busi
ness and industry for jobs for the
citizens of Braselton are unpar
alleled. His love for the historic
traditions of the Town will be
long remembered.”
H.E. Braselton also garnered
the national media's attention
when actress Kim Basinger was
looking at.”
“I’ll feel bad if we don’t get
that one,” quipped member Jim
Shaw.
But chairman Scott Martin
noted that a lot of companies
just can’t get the financing they
need to build a new facility.
“That’s the number one deter
rent,” he said. “Financing is
really, really tough right now
and it's affecting everyone.”
Short also pointed out that
some companies, because of
the poor economy, expect to
be offered unrealistic incentives.
“They think communities are
able to give a lot more than they
can give,” he said, reminding the
IDA of a company that expected
to be given 100 acres on a rail
road line - because some other
county apparently made that
kind of offer.
“I told them there's a reason
that land is free.”
“You can get that in
Nicaragua,” added Shaw.
Martin expressed the opinion
that nationwide, but particular
ly in the southeast, companies
a purchaser of the town in 1989.
Henry Edward often welcomed
Basinger in his home during her
visits to the small town.
But alter a financial hardship
lead Basinger to sell the town
to a group of developers, HE.
Braselton lead the town in other
projects.
He personally directed the
upgrade of the town's public
works, including water tanks,
water and wastewater plants and
started the town’s first, full-time
police force. Under his leader
ship, the town purchased and
renovated a Greek-revival home
for its town hall and won nation
al awards for historic preserva
tion in the venture.
H.E. Braselton hired Terry
Esco in 1990 for the town’s new
police department. Esco, who
grew up in the area and knew
H.E. Braselton for most of his
life, is now the town's police
chief.
“Working for Henry was a
privilege, actually,” Esco said.
“He was a very good person to
work for.”
H.E. Braselton liked riding in
his patrol car at night, Esco said.
At times, they’d ride through the
small town searching for broken
streetlights and marking them
for replacement.
The former mayor — who
operated his family's grocery
store — also enjoyed buying
candy for others.
“Lord, there's no telling
how many bags of candy he
gave to (a) bank and city
involved in the life sciences -
especially those related to food
production - will become more
important players in the area's
economy.
“The southeast over the next
15 to 20 years is going to have
to be more productive to feed
the world,” he said.
Short told the group that
Jackson County’s proximity to
the Centers for Disease Control,
the University of Georgia and
Hartsfield-Jackson Airport are
key factors in making the coun
ty attractive to those kinds of
companies.
“I think the University is our
greatest resource we can utilize
in Jackson County,” Short com
mented.
UNSTIMULATING
STIMULUS
Martin and attorney Daniel
Haygood explained how two
bond financing programs created
under the American Recovery
and Reinvestment Act are cur
rently of no benefit to Jackson
County.
Funding was made avail-
hall,” Esco said.
And when those in need had
to buy food, H.E. Braselton was
known to open the family gro
cery store on Sundays to lend a
hand, he added.
“He did a lot of things for a lot
of people,” Esco said.
H.E. Braselton was a fife-
long member of Zion Baptist
Church, where he served as
Sunday school superintendent
and president of the Mulberry
Youth Organization for many
years. He was bom in his fam
ily’s namesake town on Jan. 8,
1927.
Mayor Braselton served in
the Georgia Home Guard and
the United States Navy. He
attended Emory University,
and earned a bachelor’s degree
in business administration
from the University of Georgia
of which he remained a life-
able for two kinds of “recovery
zone bonds,” one for economic
development and the other for
facilities, Martin explained. But
when the money was allocated
across Georgia based on need,
Jackson County qualified for
not one cent.
Martin said he and Short are
working to see if Jackson can
be considered should there be
a reallocation of unused bond
money.
“We have the potential,”
Martin said. “We can put those
things to use. Other counties
don’t have that opportunity.”
“It was pretty much the
metro counties that got the abil
ity to issue those bonds,” said
Haygood. He noted that Oconee
County qualified for $800,000
in bonds - an amount so small
as to be impractical from a bond
standpoint.
The allocation formula,
Martin theorized, was based on
data from 2007-08.
“If they had used 2008-09
data, the numbers would have
been different,” he insisted.
time supporter.
He was married to the for
mer Janice Martin, Gainesville,
for 48 years. They have three
daughters, three granddaughters
and two grandsons.
He served more than 40 years
on the Braselton Town Council,
including 14 years as Mayor
(1988-2001). H.E. Braselton
was the last Braselton fam
ily member to hold the mayor's
seat since the town's founding
in 1916.
He also served on the
Northeast Georgia Regional
Development Commission
board, the Northeast Georgia
Soil and Water Conservation
district board and was a charter
member and past president of
the West Jackson Lions Club.
His accomplishments during
his tenure on the town council
and as mayor are legendary as
he recruited high quality busi
nesses and industries to the small
town, including Chateau Elan.
Sears Logistics, Haverty’s, Panoz
Automotive, Mayfield Dairy,
Braselton Poultry and more.
Dr. Charles Braselton Gillespie
worked with H.E. Braselton on
the family’s cemetery founda
tion. With H.E. Braselton's pass
ing, there are only two family
members — Herbert B. “Kit”
Braselton and Green Braselton
Jr. — who remain a part of that
generation, Gillespie said.
“Time is taking them all,” he
added.
Mayor Graham said: “We
express our profound sympathy
to his family as he was a legend
ary Southerner with a wonderful
sense of history and place and
pride. Forever, we will remem
ber his oft-spoken gentlemanly
invitation, ‘come to see us.’”
THE PENDERGRASS
City Council held the first
of three budget hearings
Thursday morning on the
city’s proposed 2010 budget.
City manager Rob Russell
read through the proposed
budget, which projects
$360,000 in revenue for the
year, the lowest amount in six
years. The budget also antici
pates $10,000 less in property
taxes from last year.
Meeting attendee Jerry
Cooper asked about the city's
plans for SPLOST funds in
2010. Russell explained that
the funds are expected to go
towards road and street proj
ects.
BY KATIE HUSTON
A REZONING request is in
the works for Valentine Farms
Park on Wayne Poultry Road,
Pendergrass.
The property is 156.386 acres
that is zoned Light Industrial,
but developers want it changed
to General Industrial.
When the county’s Unified
Development Code (UDC) was
being worked on a few years
ago, the property’s zoning was
changed to Light Industrial by
staff. Developers want the zon
ing changed back. Under the
current zoning, the property
could be developed for distri
bution purposes, but not manu
facturing.
Officials said that the park
has added millions of dollars
to the tax digest with a mix
of manufacturing and distribu
tion.
BYANGELA GARY
THE JEFFERSON Police
Department has regained its
state certification.
Police chief Joe Wirthman
reported to the city council last
week that the department had
completed the process to get
recertification. He added that it
has been a three-year process.
In other business at the Dec.
14 meeting:
•$1,800 in proceeds from
the Holiday Market was pre
sented to the library.
•an agreement between the
county and city on the Hog
Mountain Road project was
approved. The city’s portion is
$1.3 million and the county’s
portion is $2.1 million.
•a recommendation from the
library board of trustees call
ing for the organization to be
disbanded was presented. It
was reported that the library’s
board’s responsibilities could
become part of the Friends of
the Library organization.
Russell also responded
to Cooper’s question on the
number of people the city's
police force employs, saying
that four certified officers are
currently employed, with two
sharing duties with other city
departments.
The next hearing on the
proposed budget will be held
on Wednesday, Dec. 23 at 9
a.m. and later that day at 6
p.m.
The budget will be voted
on at the council's Dec. 29
regular meeting.
A copy of the proposed
2010 budget is available for
review at Pendergrass city
hall.
Approval was granted and
the matter will now go on to
the Jackson County Board of
Commissioners on Jan. 11 at
6 p.m. at the Jackson County
Courthouse.
OTHER BUSINESS
In other business at the
Dec. 17 meeting of the
Jackson County Planning
Commission:
•portions of the Jackson
County UDC were amended
to include and define “Public
Institutional.”
•a new ordinance was
established that repeals any
thing not in accordance with
it and affects the UDC and
the official zoning map of
the county. The ordinance
didn’t change anything, but
simply fostered consistency
within the code and zoning
map.
•MainStreet manager Beth
Laughinghouse reported that
the city has received a Preserve
America Communities des
ignation. The designation is
given to communities that
work toward historic preserva
tion, heritage tourism, commu
nity revitalization and heritage
education.
•a report on the events
planned for the reopening
of the Crawford W. Long
Museum following a renova
tion project was given. The
official opening day will be
held on Saturday, Jan. 9. Other
special events are planned dur
ing the week leading up to the
reopening.
•Doug Sims asked for a two-
year extension on his lease for
property located at 55 College
Street where Direct Supply is
located. Action on this request
is expected to be taken when
the council meets at 6 p.m. on
Monday, Dec. 28, at the civic
center.
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Former Braselton mayor, council member dies
LONG SERVICE TO CITY
Henry Edward Braselton served on the Braselton
Town Council for 40 years, including a 14-year stint
as mayor. He was the last Braselton family member
to hold the mayor’s seat since the town was founded
in 1916.
Industrial park seeks rezoning
Jefferson police department
receives state certification