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PAGE 2A
THE JACKSON HERALD
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 2, 2010
New park construction to be finished in June
REC. DIRECTOR DISCUSSES PARK
Ricky Sanders, director of the Jackson County Parks
and Recreation Department, talks about the new
Hoschton Park during a town hall meeting hosted by
commissioner Bruce Yates on Tuesday, May 11, in
Braselton. Photo by Kerri Testement
Chamber of commerce
looks for new website host
BY KERRI TESTEMENT
RICKY SANDERS has a
long-time connection with a
new park under construction
in Hoschton.
It's the same spot where
— as a child — he played
Little League. And as director
of the Jackson County Parks
and Recreation Department.
Sanders is overseeing a mas
sive facelift of the decades-
old ball field.
Located next to West Jackson
Primary School on Ga. Hwy.
53, the new Hoschton Park is
expected to open in June. A
dedication ceremony may be
held in September.
The new park will feature
a large soccer/football field
and a baseball field, along
with a playground, conces
sion stand with restrooms and
a lighted walking trail around
the fields.
“I predict that will be the
most heavily used part of the
facility,” Sanders said of the
walking trail.
In recent weeks, construc
tion crews have installed
asphalt and lights for the walk
ing trail. The Jackson County
Board of Commissioners
Renovations
BY KERRI TESTEMENT
BEFORE A major road
project starts in downtown
Braselton, a century-old mill
will get a facelift.
The Enterprise Flour and
Grist Mill is located in the
heart of downtown Braselton
— at the intersection of
Ga. Hwy. 53 and Frances
Street, across from Northeast
Georgia Bank.
The roller mill was built
around 1900 and was a state-
of-the-art facility before it
closed in the 1950s.
Since then, the three-
story wooden structure has
remained unoccupied — and
the mill's equipment has been
untouched from decades of
being idle.
But now, town officials
plan to spend an estimated
$50,000 stabilizing the mill
before it starts realigning Ga.
Hwy. 124 at the intersection
Ga. Hwy. 53.
“The road project is going
to be coming so close to that
building.” said town manager
Jennifer Dees. “I’ve had some
architects and engineers that
actually donated their time,
that live in town, come look
at it. They think we need to
get the foundation stabilized
before the heavy equipment
comes through there.”
The project includes stabi
lizing the mill’s foundation,
providing exterior paint and
installing new windows.
It doesn’t include installing
a bathroom, or a heating and
air conditioning system in the
building. Dees said.
Work on the mill is expect
ed to start in July or August
—just before the town begins
its road realignment project.
And once the mill work is
done, the town council will be
asked what it plans to do with
the building, Dees said.
The mill project will be
funded by the town’s visitors
bureau authority, which will
hold a public hearing on its
proposed FYE 2011 budget
on Thursday, June 3, at 2:30
p.m.
The authority is proposing
a $322,000 budget for the
next fiscal year, which starts
approved $274,900 in
December for outdoor light
ing at the facility.
Sanders is also predicting
that the prime-location park
— easily visible from Ga.
Hwy. 53 — will become a
center of community activity.
A representative for the
American Cancer Society
recently asked a Braselton
group to consider a proposal
on July 1. That's a 10 per
cent increase from the current
budget of $290,750.
For the first time, the visi
tors bureau authority will
tap into $50,000 of reserve
money to fund its budget. The
agency has $210,000 avail
able in reserves, according
to Dees.
The authority is expect
ing its single, largest source
of income — a two percent
hotel/motel tax — to dip from
$284,000 to $255,000 next
fiscal year.
Braselton charges a total
of five percent in hotel/motel
taxes — one of the largest
sources of revenue for the
town. Two percent of that
money funds the visitors
bureau authority, while the
remaining three percent is
used in the town's general
fund budget.
Despite opening a fourth
hotel — Country Inn and
Suites on Ga. Hwy. 124 —
during the current fiscal year,
Braselton is still slated to get
fewer hotel/motel tax reve
nue.
Through April, the town
had collected 60 percent of
the 75 percent of hotel/motel
tax it anticipated for the fis
cal year.
Dees said while Chateau
for a second Relay for Life
event in Jackson County. A
potential site pitched for the
Relay was the new Hoschton
Park.
Sanders also foresees the
possibility of an exercise cen
ter at the new Hoschton Park
in the future.
The Braselton family ini
tially donated the land for
a ball field in the 1970s.
Elan — the largest source of
hotel/motel tax for Braselton
— has been filling rooms,
the resort has offered a num
ber of discounted rates. That,
in turn, generates fewer tax
funds for the town.
“I don't ever want to bud
get money that I don't think
will really come in,” she said.
“Because our collections this
year are lower than we antici
pated. I wanted to make sure
that for next year we don’t
anticipate anything I don’t
think we’ll really collect.
We can always go back and
amend the budget if money
comes in higher than antici
pated.”
Still, hotel/motel tax rev
enue could see an uptick with
the summer tourism season
now under way, she added.
With the anticipated dip in
revenue, the visitors bureau
authority will spend less on
marketing — from $120,000
in the FYE 2010 budget to
$75,000 next fiscal year.
But, the authority will
spend more on public rela
tions and special events —
such as festivals and concerts
in the town.
The authority proposes
spending $130,000 on special
events and public relations
in FYE 2011, compared to
Sanders said.
For the new park an inter
governmental agreement was
signed between the Jackson
County Board of Education,
the Jackson County Board of
Commissioners and the City
of Hoschton.
The BOE owns a portion
of the land being used for
the new park and the City
of Hoschton owns the other
portion.
The BOE-owned land,
where the ball field was once
located, was once donated
from the Braselton family.
The city-owned land, locat
ed next to Ga. Hwy. 53, was
once owned by the Braselton-
Basinger Group and later
developer Wayne Mason.
Larry and Jean Beck, along
with two other partners, pur
chased that property from one
of Mason’s development com
panies, in addition to other
property adjacent to it. The
Becks, who graduated from
Jackson County High School,
later donated the land to
Hoschton for a park.
The new park is being
funded by sales tax revenue,
Sanders said.
$101,500 in the current bud
get.
Another town agency —
the Braselton Downtown
Development Authority
— will also hold a public
hearing on its proposed FYE
2011 budget.
That meeting will be held
on Thursday. June 3. at 1 p.m.
The DDA, which was estab
lished in August, is propos
ing that its inaugural budget
reach $30,000 — all funded
by money shifted from the
town's general fund budget.
Most of that money
— $19,000 — will be used
on consultants, followed by a
total of $8,500 in dues, fees,
education and training.
The public hearings on
the proposed budgets will
be held in the courtroom
of the Braselton Police and
Municipal Court Building,
located on Ga. Hwy. 53.
BY MARK BEARDSLEY
WITH THE company that
hosts its website dissolving,
the Jackson County Area
Chamber of Commerce is
scrambling to recreate the
site with another host.
“We got a letter three or
four weeks ago,” reported
chairman Shane Short to his
board of directors Friday.
“The president of the com
pany was fired — by her
husband. She’s in jail, on
apparently serious charges.”
Meanwhile, the company's
employees bailed.
“We just know that any
day now our website may
cease to exist,” Short said.
He told the directors that
the chamber has an electron
ic copy of the site and is in
discussions with other firms
to serve as host at a cost
ranging from “a few thou
sand dollars to $25,000,” he
said, adding that the cham
ber would not select the
high end.
Short said the chamber
staff would have a recom
mendation on how to pro
ceed for board action at its
June meeting.
In other business, the
chamber board accepted
Short's recommendation to
refinance its mortgage with
Northeast Georgia Bank,
which holds the current
mortgage.
The chamber solicited
bids from a number of local
banks. The agreement low
ers the interest rate from
7.99 to six percent fixed
THE JEFFERSON Main
Street Market will be held
every Saturday from June 19
through August, with wares
offered on the downtown
square from 7 to 10 a.m.
Products will include fresh
vegetables, fruits, nuts, plants,
cut flowers, herbs, pumpkins,
gourds, baked goods, breads
and jams and jellies.
The fee for vendors is $10.
with a balloon note due in
35 months. The chamber
also gets free checking and
free remote deposit service.
SPLOST
RECOMMENDATION
COMING UP SOON
Short told the chamber that
negotiations for the division
of revenue from a proposed
new term of the special pur
pose local option sales tax
are winding down. Once the
county and the nine munici
pal governments in Jackson
County finalize the split, the
chamber will “aggressively”
support passage of the Nov.
2 referendum.
Failure to pass the refer
endum. Short noted, “could
be devastating to some of
the cities.” He also pointed
out that: “the county has
some debt that must be paid
and unless you want to put
that on the backs of the
taxpayers, it needs to be
passed.”
Linda Foster, vice presi
dent for member services,
reported that the chamber
acquired 15 new members
during April and dropped 17
members for nonpayment.
Most of those, she said,
were companies no longer
in business.
Foster also reported that
the chamber’s Education
Committee will hold a
“school supply drive” start
ing this week and continuing
through August. Donated
items will be divided among
the schools throughout the
county.
All products must be produced,
made or grown in Georgia,
and should be sold by con
tainer, bag or item. No scales
will be allowed, and items
should be clearly priced.
For more vendor infor
mation, contact Beth
Laughinghouse, Main Street
Jefferson director, at blaugh-
inghouse @ city ofj effersonga.
com.
NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING
FOR THE NORTHEAST GEORGIA SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT PLAN
The Georgia Department of Community Affairs requires that each local government prepare and
update their local comprehensive Solid Waste Management Plan as part of the state comprehensive-
planning process.
In 2004, the Northeast Georgia Regional Solid Waste Management Authority competed a 10-County
multi-jurisdictional Solid Waste Management Plan for the counties of Athens-Clarke, Barrow, Elbert,
Greene, Jackson, Madison, Morgan, Oconee, Oglethorpe, and Walton. The state requires these plans
to be updated every five years.
A Public Hearing was held April 20th, 2010 to provide a general introduction to the Solid Waste
Planning process and to elicit community feedback. Comments gathered were considered and
incorporated where appropriate as the counties moved forward with the Solid Waste Management
Plan Update.
The purpose of this Second Public Hearing is to present the final draft plans for the ten (10)
participating counties and to allow the opportunity for additional public comment.
This Public Hearing will be held on June 17, 2010 from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. at the Lyndon House
Arts Center at 293 Hoyt Street, Athens, Georgia 30601.
Free legal services offered
FREE LEGAL services are available to senior citizens and
low-income clients in the area.
Services are based on case type and financial eligibility.
Georgia Legal Service Program does not handle criminal
cases.
For an appointment, call 1-800-745-5717 or 770-535-5717
between 9 a.m. and 11
a.m., Mondays through Fridays.
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