Newspaper Page Text
The
Member of the
Georgia Press Association
Your only locally-owned community newspaper
Serving the communities of Braselton, Hoschton, Chateau Elan, Mill Creek, West Jackson and South Hall
Wednesday, October 17,2007
Vol. 3 No. 3
A publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc.
BraseltonNews.com
250 copy
26 pages, 3 sections
Inside
•A sneaker club? The
Village at Deaton Creek
keeps residents busy
page 5A
BRASELTON
•Retail projects on Ga.
Hwy. 53 on planning com
mission agenda
page 3A
Social:
•Popular produce store
to close due to road con
struction page 1OA
Sports:
• Mill Creek’s Amberlie
Saxton commits to UGA’s
softball program
page 2B
Public safety:
•Man falls from second-
story window
page 7A
•Church events
page 9A
•Obituaries
page 8A
Fewer police or city taxes for Hoschton?
Council debates 2008 budget amid financial crisis More inside
BY KERRI TESTEMENT
Hoschton’s financial crisis could lead to
some major changes, including the imple
menting of a city property tax, or a drastic
cut in the police department, according to
budget proposals.
Those were two of the items discussed
Monday afternoon by a committee of the
Hoschton City Council as it began work on
the town’s budget for 2008. The council is
expected to discuss a proposed budget at its
work session on Thursday, Nov. 1, followed
by several public hearings in November and
a final vote in December.
The issue of next year’s budget comes
on the heels of recent cutbacks by the town
in the current year’s spending. Projections
show that the town will be left with virtu
ally no cash, less than $5,000, at the end of
this year.
That lack of reserves is putting a lot of
pressure on Hoschton’s 2008 budget plans.
Monday night, the council committee looked
at three levels of budgeting for 2008 — a
$1.02 million wish-list budget that includes
pay hikes and no cutbacks on city person
nel; a “low-revenue” budget of $681,600
that calls for cutting some city jobs; and an
in-between budget labeled “bare-bones” of
$896,800.
The problem is that both the in-between
budget and the wish-list budget would likely
require some kind of city property tax, a
move that councilmembers appear reluctant
to consider and that may not be possible
anyway because of the lack of time.
On the other hand, the smallest “low-rev
enue” budget would require some cutback,
especially in the town’s police department
of three to four officers out of the current
seven. That move was also met with mixed
feelings by the committee.
“If you go with the low (revenue) budget
projection and lose three or four officers,
you’re going to lose a bunch of services,”
said mayor Bill Copenhaver. “You’re going
to have depend more on (Jackson) County.”
Council member James Keinard suggest
ed another option for the city — asking
Braselton to assume policing responsibili
ties in Hoschton.
Editorial: ‘Hoschton government at a
crossroads’
See page 4A
That suggestion wasn’t an option for
Tom Walden, who will be sworn onto the
Hoschton City Council in December.
“No, you give them policing and then
they’ll take everything,” Walden said. “And
if that’s the case, then what you’re sug
gesting, Jim, is that we become part of
Braselton.”
“Well, that’s eventually what would hap
pen,” Keinard said.
See BUDGET on page 3A
Mill Creek homecoming court
QUEEN AND PRINCESSES
Mill Creek High School named its homecoming queen and princesses on Friday night. Porsha Porter,
a senior, was named the homecoming queen. Those named princesses were: Lindsey Davey, a
senior; Julia Murphy, a junior; Sara Simmons, a sophomore; and Lauren Govemale, a freshman.
Photo by Brandon Reed
Hamilton Mill students to be split
Residents angered by proposed redistricting
BY KRISTI REED
By 2009, Hamilton Mill students will no longer
attend Duncan Creek Elementary School according
to a new school board redistricting plan. Instead,
Hamilton Mill’s youngest students will be split
between two elementary schools in a plan that took
residents of the 2,300 home subdivision by surprise.
But residents are vowing to fight back. A group of
Hamilton Mill citizens have joined together to form
Hamilton Mill United, a group of concerned hom
eowners opposed to the redistricting plan.
“This is not just a Hamilton Mill issue; this is not
just a Mill Creek issue,” said Paul Brannigan, one
of the organizers of Hamilton Mill United. “This is
a universal concept that strong communities build
strong schools. There is no reason to divide a neigh
borhood unnecessarily.”
The group will be working the next few weeks to
craft a unified response to the school system’s plan.
Residents have been asked to send in the GCPS
school boundary input forms by the November 1
deadline. Hamilton Mill parents are also making
plans to attend a November 15 public meeting at the
Instructional Support Center at 437 Old Peachtree
Road in Suwanee.
Mark Montini, who chairs the political subcommit
tee of Hamilton Mill United, said the outcome of this
issue has far reaching implications.
“[The school board] has to realize that strong com
munities are what make strong schools,” he said.
“You start to break up communities; ultimately what
Next Steps
•Nov. 1: Deadline for completing boundary input
forms in schools and on school system website.
•By Nov. 5: Boundary committee submits revised
draft boundaries (if any changes) and input forms
received to school system’s planning department.
• Nov. 15: Public comments to be taken from Mill Creek
and Collins Hill clusters at 7 p.m., at the Instructional
Support Center.
• Nov. 19-Dec. 4: Planning develops final recommen
dations. The final recommendations will be given to the
schools on Dec. 5.
• Dec. 13: The board of education votes on redistricting
at 7 p.m.
you are doing is breaking up a formula that has been
proven to work over and over again. The board thinks
they build strong schools. The rest of the world
understands communities build strong schools.”
BACKGROUND
Just four years ago, Hamilton Mill was moved from
the Dacula cluster to the newly-opened Mill Creek
cluster. While that move was seen as largely positive,
this time the feeling is different.
Hundreds of Hamilton Mill students have attended
Duncan Creek since its doors opened in 2003.
See REDISTRICT on page 6A
Keep depot in city’s hands,
says town committee
BY KERRI TESTEMENT
n the end, all the public
feuding over the status of
the Hoschton Depot may
lead right back to where it started
— with the city continuing to man
age the historic facility rather than
leasing it out to another group.
That was the recommendation
of a Hoschton City Council com
mittee Monday night. The commit
tee, made up of council members
Jim Jester, Deborah Donaldson and
James Keinard, will recommend to
the full council on Nov. 1 that the
city continue to manage and pro
mote the depot for special events.
The move comes after two
months of controversy over the
facility after the council approved a
proposal by a private for-profit firm
in August to manage the facility, in
effect leasing it from the city and
then sub-leasing it for other uses.
That idea was met with a
firestorm of resistance by many
Hoschton residents, who packed
several council meetings where
the matter was discussed. Some
council members said they like the
idea of leasing the facility so that
it wouldn’t cost the city as much
money.
After the controversy began, the
council decided to open bidding
for managing the depot. In addition
to the original proposal presented
in August by Yesway Enterprises,
the council received a bid from the
newly-formed Hoschton Historic
Depot Preservation Foundation.
BIDS REVIEWED
Monday morning, the council’s
fiscal resources compared the two
bids using 19 requirements out
lined in the request for proposals.
An estimated 15-20 people in the
audience, including several current
council members and the mayor,
also attended the committee meet
ing.
A sticking point for the commit
tee was a question concerning the
city’s involvement in the depot,
based on the submitted bids.
Yesway Enterprises proposed
that the city be responsible for
major, structural repairs, but not
daily maintenance.
The Hoschton Historic Depot
Preservation Foundation proposed
a “partnership” with the city. The
foundation said it will establish a
board of directors that will include
one member nominated by the city
council.
See DEPOT on page 3A
Hoschton political forum set
The Hoschton Women’s Civic
Club will sponsor a political forum
for candidates seeking Posts 4,
5, and 6 of the Hoschton City
Council.
The forum will be held on
Thursday, Oct. 25, at 6:30 p.m., at
the Hoschton Depot.
The Post 4 candidate is Richard
Shepherd, who is unopposed. The
Post 5 candidate is Tom Walden,
who is also unopposed.
The Post 6 candidates are
Theresa Kenerly and incumbent
James Keinard.
“This will give everyone an
opportunity to ask questions and
also to hear the answers from ques
tions asked by others,” according
to organizers.
The West Jackson Fire
Department has also been invited
to take part in the forum and speak
to citizens about the changes,
equipment purchased and employ
ees that have been added.
Fire chief Ben Stephens and
West Jackson Fire Board member
Michael Cronic will represent the
fire department.
Refreshments will be served at
the end of the forum.
Mike Buffington, editor of The
Jackson Herald (sister newspaper
of The Braselton News), will be
the emcee of the forum.
Members of the committee are:
Edna Sell, chairman; and Sherry
Hayes, Jo Ann Howe, Judy Johnson,
Kay Schulte and Janet Wagner.
Two of the members asked to
be excused, Theresa Kenerly and
Mary Ann Kenerly, due to ties
with the upcoming city election.
