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WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 4, 2010
THE JACKSON HERALD
PAGE 11A
WJ park pond being dredged after silt problem
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REPAIR WORK AT SELL’S MILL PARK
A small pond at Sell’s Mill Park, Hoschton, that leads to a renovated gristmill (shown
in the background) is being drained and dredged after a massive amount of silt
came into the pond from a creek. While portions of the pond’s banks are closed,
other facilities at the park remain open.
Photo by Kerri Testement
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Veteran’s Day event for city
BY KERRI TESTEMENT
A DROUGHT — fol
lowed by recent months with
plenty of rain — has created
a major problem for one of
Jackson County’s parks.
Sell’s Mill Park — locat
ed on Jackson Trail Road,
off Ga. Hwy. 53 — is hav
ing its small pond drained
and dredged in the wake
of a massive amount of silt
dumped into the waterhole.
The Hoschton park, how
ever, remains open during
repair work.
“The silt had built in there
and created some islands
in the pond.” said Ricky
Sanders, director of the
Jackson County Parks and
Recreation Department. “It
just needed to be cleaned
out.”
The process to remove
the silt stemming from the
Indian Creek started two
weeks ago and is expected to
wrap up this week, he said.
So much silt had gathered
recently in the pond next to
Jackson Trail Road that park
officials couldn’t open the
doors to a stone dam, which
leads to a lower creek by a
mill, Sanders said.
Workers got the silt loos
ened up to go back through
the dam doors, but one of
the two doors later had a
leak in it, he added. Repairs
are now taking place on that
door.
The Jackson County Parks
and Recreation Department
closed portions of the bank
along the pond and the lower
segment by a waterfall. The
playground, trails, bath
rooms, pavilion and reno
vated mill remain open.
“I really think all of the
rain last fall (brought this
on),” Sanders said. “It just
kept raining and raining and
raining, and the silt kept
building up. We had tried to
open the (dam) doors and we
found out that you couldn’t
drain the pond because the
doors are not open, because
of all the silt had come down
and sealed that off.”
Park officials waited until
drier weather arrived to
start draining the pond and
removing the excess silt with
equipment, Sanders said on
Monday.
In the meantime, park offi
cials placed barriers around
portions of the pond to pre
vent people from walking on
the new sandbars.
“That’s part of the reason
why we closed it and cleaned
it,” Sanders said. “With that
sandbar there, folks were
trying to get out there and
fish out there.”
Sanders expects that the
Sell’s Mill Park pond will be
drained every three or four
months, with major drain
ing and dredging work being
done every 10 years.
The Jackson County Parks
and Recreation Department
opened Sell’s Mill Park
in 2001 and the renovated
gristmill in 2005.
BY KERRI TESTEMENT
INSPIRED BY his brother’s
military service, a Hoschton man
is organizing a Veteran’s Day
event for the city.
Charles Ford said he’s reach
ing out to veterans and their fami
lies to participate in the inaugural
event for Hoschton.
“What we want to do is to wel
come and shake hands with all
veterans in this area,” he told the
city council on Thursday.
Hoschton’s Veteran’s Day
event will be held on Saturday,
Nov. 13 — two days after the
observance of the national holi
day on Thursday, Nov. 11. Most
likely, Hoschton’s event will be
held from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on
Saturday, Ford said.
And while he’s still working on
plenty of details, Ford does have
a number of activities planned for
the Veteran’s Day event.
A patriotic guard that serves at
the funerals of fallen soldiers is
expected to bring an estimated 20
motorcycles to Hoschton, Ford
said.
A band is slated to perform
Southern gospel, country and
western, and other music, he said.
A couple who lived during World
War II is expected to perform
skits about the era.
Ford has also invited a
Gainesville man who was the
first American to shoot down a
Japanese plane that came into
Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1944. A
flag ceremony is also planned.
However, Ford said some of
the participants may not be able
to come to Hoschton if they have
other, unexpected obligations or
poor weather that day.
Hoschton Mayor Erma Denney
said the American Legion Post in
Jefferson and a JROTC unit are
expected to participate.
Ford — who hasn’t served in
the military because of an injury
— said his brother, Gene, inspired
him to organize the event.
Gene fought at the Battle of the
Bulge — the single largest and
bloodiest battle that Americans
fought in World War n, with
19,000 U.S. troops killed.
Gene was captured by German
forces and marched for three
days with no food and water,
Ford said. He later worked 16
hours a day shoveling coal with
little food.
Ford said the Hoschton event is
intended to honor veterans and let
them know that they are appreci
ated for their service. He’s invit
ing all veterans and their families
to attend.
Hoschton council member Jim
Cleveland said that the city is
seeking donations to fund some
activities, such as small flags to
distribute at the event and promo
tional signs. The council is also
looking for volunteers to do face
painting and similar activities.
Donated money may also
be used to provide lunch for a
Jackson County Comprehensive
High School band ensemble that
is slated to perform, Cleveland
said. Due to budget cuts, the
entire JCCHS band can’t perform
at the event unless Hoschton pro
vides about $200 for students’
transportation.
Restaurants in the Hoschton
City Square will provide food
and not for-profit vendors will be
allowed at the event.
For more information, call
Ford at 770-656-9841. To make
a donation for the event, call city
hall at 706-654-3034.
Hoschton approves bed and breakfast but sets moratorium
Braselton OKs resolution
about Gwinnett services
BYBENMUNRO
DESPITE recent debate, a
bed and breakfast located at
the front of a Hoschton neigh
borhood has received an O.K.
from the city council to begin
operating.
But any similar bed and
breakfast requests will have
to wait.
The Hoschton City Council
unanimously approved a con
ditional use permit for Michael
and Patricia Grant recently to
start running the business out
of their Deer Creek Farms
home on Peachtree Road, but
also placed a three-month
moratorium on any additional
bed and breakfast requests in
residential areas. The suspen
sion will allow city leaders
time to study the matter fur
ther.
As for the Grants, the coun
cil approved their request with
additional zoning stipulations
submitted by councilman Jim
Cleveland.
They include noise level
restrictions from 9 p.m. to 8
a.m., parking behind the front
corner of the house exclu
sively, no additional signage,
no late arrivals, no additional
exterior lighting not attached
to the house, no oversized
vehicles (campers and RVs)
and no alcohol sales. The
Grants are also required to
live on-site and pay commer
cial rates for water and trash
service.
The Grants, whose home
fronts Peachtree Road, had
no objections to the terms at
Monday’s meeting.
“I think most of those were
actually in the original set of
requirements we discussed,”
Patricia Grant said.
The city’s planning direc
tor, Guy Herring, had previ
ously recommended approval
of the request with several
conditions.
Those conditions included
limiting the property to one
sign measuring one-square
foot in area, prohibiting on
street parking and limiting the
house to bed and breakfast
services instead of hotel ser
vices, such as laundry ser
vices and banquet halls.
The Hoschton Planning
Commission also approved
the request.
The bed and breakfast,
located on a 2.75 acre tract,
will use two existing second-
floor guestrooms of the Grant
home, housing up to two peo
ple per room. Patricia Grant
said the business would cater
to adults looking for a week
end stay.
Grant said she and her hus
band, who is from England,
have long been hosting out-of-
town and international guests
at their home, which they
named Stand Fast Cottage.
This venture would just for
malize what they’ve already
been doing, she said.
Others weren’t so keen on
that idea.
The city spent over 40 min
utes discussing the bed and
breakfast with the public at
Thursday’s work session,
with the opposition wanting
to keep the business — and
what they thought the bed
and breakfast might evolve
into — away from a residen
tial area.
Former councilman John
Schulte said that if a bed and
breakfast is permitted in Deer
Creek, there’s nothing to stop
others from doing the same in
other subdivisions.
“What affects one of the
three (subdivisions) affects
and opens the door to all,”
Schulte said.
Tom Walden, another for
mer councilman, agreed.
“Because once you let it in.
someone else will say you did
it once, so you might as well
do it again, so I think you’re
opening a Pandora’s box if
you approve this,” Walden
said.
There was also fear the bed
and breakfast would grow
into something other than a
quiet getaway for weekend
guests.
“A bed and breakfast is just
a short, quick, small step from
a boarding house, a rooming
house, and thus a turnover of
strangers over, over and over,”
Schulte said.
Councilman Cleveland was
particularly concerned about
noise levels, using the sce
nario of late-night revelers as
an example.
“I know it’s a bed and
breakfast, and that’s supposed
to be different than a hotel,”
he said. “But it might not
always be different. It may
just be the same rowdy crowd
that came off of a fishing trip
or a golf outing and won the
tournament and they’re cel
ebrating.”
Grant defended the plans
of her and her husband, say
ing Stand Fast Cottage was
their home. She said they had
no intentions of opening a
boarding house, nor disturb
ing the peace, and would call
the police if any of the scenes
Cleveland described ever
occurred.
Grant also noted that their
business would target a very
high market, which she said
would “partially make a dif
ference” between their guests
and rowdy hotel guests.
“We are not out to create
chaos in the neighborhood,”
Grant said.
Meanwhile, Hoschton’s
moratorium on similar bed
and breakfast requests will run
until Oct. 5, though the coun
cil can extend it at that point if
the city council chooses.
In a separate matter, the
council approved on Monday
the rezone of a two-par
cel, 4.7-acre tract on West
Jefferson Street in Hoschton
entirely to R3 with several
conditions, many which per
tained to duplexes. Part of the
tract was already zoned R3.
while the other was agricul
tural.
The landowner intends to
subdivide the land into a max
imum of four lots for four
single-family units.
BY KERRI TESTEMENT
THE BRASELTON Town
Council approved a resolution
Wednesday that may be an initial
step in settling a dispute with
Gwinnett County and most of
its cities.
For two years, Gwinnett
County and its 15 cities haven’t
been able to reach an agreement
for the Service Delivery Strategy
Act — also called House Bill
489.
The state law requires that coun
ties and cities in Georgia deter
mine which governments will
provide which services — such
as police protection - without cre
ating duplication of services.
Gwinnett County charges the
same tax rate for residents who
live in unincorporated areas or
within city limits.
Officials from Gwinnett’s 15
cities have contended that the
county overtaxes its property
owners in cities, based on the city
and the services provided.
When the county and the cit
ies failed to meet a deadline to
update its service delivery strat
egy, the Georgia Department
of Community Affairs (DCA)
named them to a list of govern
ments not eligible to receive state
grants, financing or permits.
Braselton was also named to
that list — but just the portion of
the town in Gwinnett County. The
town also spans Jackson, Barrow
and Hall counties.
Wednesday’s resolution out
lines which services Gwinnett
County may provide in Braselton
with a tax and which services the
town plans to provide without a
Gwinnett County tax.
For a tax, Gwinnett may pro
vide services that includes fire
protection, emergency medi
cal services (EMS), ambulance,
court services, and parks and rec
reation. Braselton, however, said
it will provide other services that
Gwinnett will not provide and
will not pass a tax or fee.
Those services include zoning,
code enforcement, solid waste,
and developing, licensing and per
mitting. It also includes a number
of police services, such as bomb
disposal, K-9 teams, SWAT and
crossing guards.
Braselton town manager
Jennifer Dees said the disagree
ment with Gwinnett County and
its cities has centered on police
protection and transportation.
“The cities’ contention is sim
ply that the county is charging
city residents taxes for services
that they do not provide to those
residents,” she said.
The Gwinnett cities — except
Lilbum, which has dropped out
of a coalition — were expected to
sign similar resolutions last week,
Dees said.
But, until the county approves
the resolution — and the cities
and Gwinnett hammer out a new
Service Delivery Strategy agree
ment — the legal matter will con
tinue. There is also a 2009 lawsuit
with Gwinnett County and its
cities over the issue.
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