The Town of Braselton is looking for proposals from qualified engineering firms and consultants for two major projects in downtown.
The projects will include the design and development of the Town Green and phase two of the downtown streetscape.
The Town Green will be located in front of the Braselton Brothers Store complex along the existing Ga. Hwy. 124. Once the new alignment of the state highway is shifted to the rear of the building, that portion of the roadway and a nearby parking lot will be removed to make way for the Town Green.
The second phase of the downtown streetscape will include the Town Green in front of the Braselton Brothers Store, from Ga. Hwy. 53 to the new alignment of Ga. Hwy. 124.
The projects will include removing existing pavement and installing pedestrian facilities and amenities, public open space areas, parking areas, drainage, landscaping, lighting and a linkage to the sidewalks constructed as part of phase one of the downtown streetscape project.
The first phase of the downtown streetscape project will be located along Ga. Hwy. 53 from West Jackson Primary School to the historic house of the late Mayor H.E. Braselton, and along the new alignment of Ga. Hwy. 124 in downtown Braselton.
Braselton has been awarded two grants from the Georgia Department of Transportation to fund the streetscape projects.
The Town Green was initially proposed almost a decade ago by a citizens committee that was considering ways to revitalize downtown Braselton.
Sealed bid proposals must be submitted to the town by 5 p.m. on March 2.
Complete details of requirements for the Request for Proposals (RFP) packages are available at www.braselton.net.
Winder is an larger older town, I dont mean charter wise either, Braselton was a 1/2 mi village almost when Winder was already a town. Winder has an aging actual Downtown, blocks and blocks of older building. Winder was a town when Braselton was basically one families private property next to Hoschton.
20 years ago Braselton was still about that same 1/2 circle (half of the size of Hoschton), then springing off the Chateau Elan development in Barrow County, the tiny town went on a development craze annexing all over the place into 3 other counties, they took the little family owned town and packed the town council full of developer people, it was a blank canvas, EVERYTHING except that little tiny town intersection, Everything that is Braselton is brand new. They face very little “older imfrastucture issues” like an older much larger town like Winder. There are subdivisions that that are miles and miles out of Braselton that town cronies would build practically to Jefferson (has Jefferson & Hoschton addresses) on one end and practically Buford & Flowery Branch on the other all named “something of Braselton” most annexed in some will be later as Braselton becomes the largest town in Georgia (before in annexes in Lake Lanier, the Mall of Georgia and UGA). Everyone loves brand new.
Braselton and the areas annexed into it are perched right up the growing corridor on the Interstate, it is easy to sell that too, easy access, so that is a natural advantange too.
Its is not apples and apples and if you are going to compare towns, at least learn to spell them.
You are really hung up on GOB's, I see you going on and on about GOB's on almost any article. Yee Hah GOBs!
1. If Winder is(was) a larger, older town with blocks of buildings, then why is it now a decaying strip of empty buildings?
Look at the old building in Braselton/Hoschton and you see quint little shops, cafes, antique dealers.
Winder empty buildings -- Braselton - Thriving with SMALL businesses
2. Winder also has easy access to the Interstate AND 316. Trucks travel THRU Winder to get to Braselton.
The difference? Braselton / Hoschton / Jackson County have governments that ACTIVELY go after small businesses and development.
Barrow County, actively goes out of it's way to not attract businesses and to run off small businesses.
4 years ago, listening to the candidates that were running for commissioner and chairman, one statement stuck with me. It was made by a candidate running for chairman.
He said, we don't want no outside businesses moving here; they can take their wares and peddle them on down the road. -- THEY DID
to Braselton / Hoschton / Jackson County.
So you see, there are MANY of us in Barrow County who are "hung up" on the GOB party.
There are many of us "newcomers" in Barrow County who will break the GOB party.
We need to become the republican party the county "claims" to be.
Oh and kudos to the person who came up with the GOB party instead of GOP party. They hit the nail right on the head and it's beginning to sting the GOBs. Truth hurts!
Just look at all the properties up for auction for back taxes (how many $,$$$,$$$ was it?) and defaulted loans. Look at all the property taxes that haven't been paid or was only paid after notices of intent were sent out.
Look at the empty store fronts in downtown Winder once owned by daddy.
It's sad to see the ghost of the daddy's dream being pissed away by Jr who is bond and determined to keep the rapidly declining GOBs in power.
Daddy's gone baby boy! But you keep holding on to those memories of days past.
The STUPID County Government leaders moved the majority of county employees to a new Courthouse in the woods off Hwy 211, literally, by itself deterring economic advances in downtown, and moved other services to the Annex on East Broad out of downtown. So let’s say I want a loan to open up a business, eatery, coffee shop, grill, etc., Anyone in lending will tell you those are Hard-Sell items to get funded for, and you no longer have a dedicated, captive workforce across or up the street, walking distance. They took the customers out of downtown. The County Government ONLY considers ITSELF and not the welfare of the city in its moves. Most strong communities have a strong core and build outward.
The better fix instead(too late) would have been take land downhill from the Old Historic Courthouse and build on the administration space needed by taking the entire block (probably destroy the old non-historic detention center) and build a building that included a parking structure on the Woodlawn/Porter corner, like Gainesville did. We still should expand the NEXT needed space at that location. The 211 courthouse should be Criminal Courts/Justice Center, since it looks like a prison anyway when you drive up. We have already developed the Annex and services should remain there because my tax dollars were already spent, the meeting rooms and tag office are Good Enough for now.
I see the other commenters keep digging at "Jr", may I assume that is a shot at the Peoples bank CEO, who only has 2 former buildings now vacant? Bank seizures (or failures) have happened to thousands of towns across America, there were 145 banks worse off than TPB, but the FDIC seized that one in a back room deal, it had many suitors due to it's market share in Barrow, before and after the financial crisis or management issues (whichever you prefer), Yes I heard but some risky venture that backfired, but if not for the national economic scene, we might have survived that.
Winder has suffered some GOB issues, really some greedy businessmen that were intimidated by new competition, so they ran for office and tried to slow down competition in the 60s & 70s, back then many were wary of too much growth, Gwinnett hadn't even become "Gwinnett" yet then. Really, it seems a lack of proper forethought, planning and a County Govt which was nothing and developed into a power hungry entity worried only about what it controlled, and not the entire community.
Lawrenceville went through a similar depressed period in it's downtown and now that is on a comeback. Winder can be too, If BETTER DECISONS are made from now forward.
Also if we can get the new City Government to commit to not tearing down Historic Structures we already have. Any Idiot can tell you that you are not going to get a innovative investor, risk-taker to during an economic downturn in the economy to invest, but allow that to turn positive and your odds will go up. Wait for a while before you permanently destroy a building that cannot be replaced. This is small minded "today only thinking", Yes today it's a no go, but torn down means when better times come we have another empty lot.
As far as Braselton, managing a town spread over 4 counties, the proposed projects (which it is good to think ahead & plan), It will be rough to see the how we pay for all this...
Why do they not stop here? If we have no easy access to _85 or 316, please explain to me why there are always semi-trucks passing through on their way to someplace else?
Do you think they go out of their way to drive through Winder? Or is it because it's an EASY, SHORTCUT?
How is that working for you? Barrow
If you actually go there, they are not striving, they are partially occupied and struggling like the rest of us. And I am glad we have what we have.
My family was from Hoschton so I have hope that it could be the utopia you make it sounld like. Facts: there is more business still operating in central downtown Winder, even with half occupancy than both Hoschton & Braselton have in their downtowns.
Being literally on the Interstate and argueing access to it is just as good? Really? Why because the highways are named Winder Hwy & Old Winder Hwy?
I think most are missing the point, we need our entire region/area to grow, we need to partisapate whether its Winder, Hoschton or Braselton, Jackson or Barrow. So you have the answers, I really hope you do more than just blog about it.
Are you the GOB problem or solution?
whne the sanitary sewr systems are paid for by business in those areas the homeowners do not bear what is mostly industrial use, it makes sense to cut some fat from the towns rather then keep looking for Federal and state monies as well as hoping in the stopping of as many cars Braselton PD can they hope to snag big bucks and not wind up getting caught violating citizens who have time and money to sue their butts sideways.
Anyway they are a dying breed, and on their way OUT!!!!
Well, unless you have had your head in the sand for the past couple of months, Maynard, Eberhart and Evans were just elected/reelected to city positions.
These people have been part of the GOB's for years.
Yeah, go ahead and take credit for what?
Yes, The GOB Party is a dying breed!
Good Riddance
Winder 34,941
Braselton 63,036
Jefferson 44,874
Auburn 47,301
Bethlehem 43,636
You can rail on the GOBs all you want but numbers speak volumes.
Looks like, Class envy is not a democrat thing in GOB Barrow / Winder.
It easy when all the elite move into a newly developed higher end area, as neighhoods age, those who can, those who now make more also, upgrade to newer and higher cost housing.
As it was said before Braselton is mostly Brand New, the majority of it was not there 20 years ago.
You see you snob, you have to factor ALL of the people to get the median income. How many government Housing projects does Braselton have? ZERO. It was a blink in the road.
Winder 34,941 Population 14,099
Braselton 63,036 Population 7,511
Jefferson 44,874 Population 9,432
Auburn 47,301 Population 6,887
Bethlehem 43,636 Population 601
*2009 Population numbers, US Census.
Braselton & Jefferson did not grow from PEOPLE MOVING INTO THE EXSISTING Towns, But By ANNEXATION of People into those towns.
You see if you take a smaller number of RICH folks and divide their income you get a higher number. THOSE Higher INCOMES in Braselton were and are majority NOT EARNED in the town of Braselton.
Some may also think might you sound alittle racist, since you hold it against Winder to contain housing for other classes of people within it’s borders, people of lower income statuses are mixed into those numbers. Braselton has almost all larger and new homes and has even annexed around the pre-existing “regular” folk (those undesirables, probably below snob standards and income levels) who already lived in the area to take in only these nice new subdivisions only, maybe this is the snob way of “fixing the numbers” you are so proud of.
Braselton has a housing project. The Winder housing authority built one there 20+ years ago.
Also they have never annexed any developed subdivisions,everything they annexed was undeveolped raw land. No built subdivisions were annexed as you suggest, the population growth was all new growth. It was 100% new people moving into the area. I think annexation is done by a property owner that wants to be annexed. Jefferson has annexed islands and taken property in by force, so to speak, but Braselton has never done this.
The Georgia Club ain't so bad either, some might say debate on "best in show"...