Blog posts by Lee Becker
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Republican Candidate Houston Gaines Won't Say Whether He'd Vote for Trump
Blog: In the Loop
Photo Credit: Joshua L. Jones/file
Donald Trump played a role in the candidate forum for the Nov. 7 special elections for House Districts 117 and 119 held Tuesday night at the Oconee County campus of the University of North Georgia, as he did in a forum last week.
In response to a question about Trump’s behavior as President, the three Republican candidates in the race for House District 119 strongly endorsed Trump, though Steven Strickland did say he had problems with 5 percent of what Trump does.
When Houston Gaines, running as the sole Republican in House District 117, was asked, if the 2016 election were tomorrow, would he vote for Trump or Hillary Clinton, he did not answer.
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Clarke County Voters Make Up Majorities in Both State House Districts Up for Election
Blog: In the Loop
Clarke County voters are dominant in Georgia House District 117 and make up a very slight majority of voters in the 119th Georgia House District, an analysis of voter registration data as of Oct. 1 shows.
Clarke County voters also differ demographically from those in Barrow, Jackson and Oconee counties, who share the 117th, and from voters in Oconee County, who share the 119th, the analysis of the registration data confirms.
Early voting starts today in the two special elections to fill the vacant 117th and 119th Georgia House seats, and the two candidates in the 117th and four candidates in the 119th have to persuade voters to vote for them and to turn out at the polls if they hope to represent the area in the General Assembly session in January.
All six candidates have the opportunity to meet with potential voters tonight in a candidate forum at the Oconee County campus of the University of North Georgia and in a forum Oct. 23 at the Athens-Clarke County Library.
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Hobby Lobby Will Move to Epps Bridge
Blog: In the Loop
Photo Credit: Lee Becker
Oconee County has issued a building permit for Hobby Lobby in Epps Bridge Centre II, signaling that another big box retailer is leaving the Atlanta Highway commercial corridor for Oconee County.
The permit is for a 54,947-square-foot building and is the first issued by the county for Epps Bridge Centre II, which is across the Oconee Connector from the existing shopping center at the newly opened Plaza Parkway.
Hobby Lobby now shares a 87,543-square-foot building on Atlanta Highway at Epps Bridge Parkway with 2nd & Charles and Athens Pool Spa.
Oconee County also has issued a building permit for a second restaurant in Falls of Oconee, the commercial complex on old Macon Highway opposite Athens Ridge, a student housing complex.
The county has received plans for construction of a branch office of Robins Financial Credit Union on Mars Hill Road opposite the Oconee Primary School and Oconee Elementary School, just west of the Burger King now under construction.
Initial plans had called for two fast food restaurants on the property, both with drive through operations. The submitted plans show a drive through for the credit union.
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Third Candidate Jumps Into House District 119 Race
Blog: In the Loop
A third Oconee County businessman has announced that he plans to run for what will be an open seat in the Georgia General Assembly representing Oconee and Clarke counties.
North High Shoals resident Steven Strickland said he wants to bring his 17 years of business experience in the communications and software industries to the Georgia House of Representatives.
“I look forward to being the voice of District 119, and leveraging my experience in collaboration, negotiations and technology innovation to drive meaningful legislation for our local community,” Strickland said in announcing his intention to run.
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Potential Costco in Oconee County Put on Hold
Blog: In the Loop
The future site of Epps Bridge Centre Phase II at the intersection of Plaza Parkway and the Oconee Connector.
The developers of the expanded Epps Bridge Centre have postponed until some unspecified time in the future construction of the part of the project that was expected to include a Costco membership-only warehouse store.
In revised preliminary site plans submitted to the Oconee County Planning and Code Enforcement Department on July 31, Oconee 316 Associates LLC of Atlanta split development of Epps Bridge Centre II into two parts, labeled Phase 1 and 2.
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Oconee County Considers Plan to Demolish Old Jail, Expand Courthouse
Blog: In the Loop
Oconee County commissioners are considering a plan to tear down the old, unused jail tucked at the rear of the existing courthouse in Watkinsville and to build an addition to the courthouse where the old jail now sits.
Oconee County Board of Commissioners Chairman John Daniell announced the proposal at the end of a town Hall meeting held by the commissioners Thursday night at the Community Center in Veterans Park.
Eighteen people other than the commissioners attended the meeting, which covered a range of topics, including the Animal Shelter, Mars Hill Road, the proposed widening of U.S. 441 and the possibility of a property tax rollback.
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Democrat Says She'll Run Against Rep. Jody Hice
Blog: In the Loop
Chalis Montgomery, a musician and music educator from Barrow County, told the Oconee County Democratic Party Tuesday night that she intends to announce her candidacy for the 10th Congressional District seat and is seeking help in forming her campaign committee.
Montgomery said she was motivated to challenge incumbent Republican Jody Hice in part because of her 7-year-old daughter, who has rheumatoid arthritis.
She said she anticipated losses in her life, but “I never thought I’d look at losing the future for my child, or her friends, or my community.”
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Officials Cut Daniells Bridge Extension From Plans
Blog: In the Loop
MACORTS, the regional transportation planning organization, has begun accepting public feedback on changes to its planning documents, including the removal of the controversial Daniells Bridge Road Extension and Loop 10 flyover from its long range plans.
The first of three public meetings on the proposed changes in the planning documents will be held from 5–7 p.m. on Monday, June 26 at the Community Center in Oconee Veterans Park, 3500 Hog Mountain Road.
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Athens Democrat Will Run for State House
Blog: In the Loop
A screenshot from Deborah Gonzalez's website.
Deborah Gonzalez, an Athens attorney, has announced that she will seek the Democratic Party nomination for Georgia House District 117, which includes three Oconee County precincts.
Regina Quick, a Republican, currently represents the 117th in the Georgia House of Representatives. Quick, also an Athens attorney, has not said if she intends to seek re-election in 2018.
Gonzalez officially launched her campaign at Bishop Park in Athens on Saturday.
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GOP State Rep: Athens Democrats Are 'Fired Up'
Blog: In the Loop
Rep. Chuck Williams (R-Watkinsville).
Athens native Brian Kemp, seeking the Republican Party nomination in the 2018 gubernatorial election, told a gathering of Oconee County Republicans late last month that his experience as a small business owner sets him apart in the campaign.
“I have been a conservative, small business owner for over 30 years,” Kemp, who currently is secretary of state, said. He said he is seeking the governor's office to “take that small-business owner’s mentality and be the next CEO of the state.”
Kemp said he wants to reform state government, strengthen rural Georgia, do tax and regulatory reform and provide health care for those in Georgia who are here legally.
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New Progressive Group Emerges in Oconee County
Blog: In the Loop
Andrea Wellnitz met hundreds of sympathetic people in Oconee County when she shared concerns about President Trump's election emboldening discrimination against her adopted children from China.
An empathetic response by the North Oconee Rotary Club to a member’s statement of concern about possible discrimination against her Chinese-born, adopted daughters after the November election has had an unexpected outcome.
A group calling itself Oconee Progressives and claiming nearly 300 members has emerged.
The group is political but not necessarily partisan, according to four women who have been instrumental in its formation.
The goal is community building, the women say, and they’ve organized luncheon meetings and picnics for their families so people can get together and share their concerns.
Also planned is a workshop to help children learn how to deal with bullying and another workshop to teach participants how to write more effectively letters to advocate for their causes.
The story of the formation of Oconee Progressives is a complex and surprising one that begins with Andrea Wellnitz, 47, an artist and social worker who works with veterans who are at risk for being homeless.
Wellnitz lives in the far west of the county near Statham.
Wellnitz first shared her concerns about the implications of the elections on her two daughters, adopted from China, with the Rotary.
Then she shared the positive response of the Rotary with her friends on Facebook.
That second sharing led to the emergence of Oconee Progressives.
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Epps Bridge Centre Phase II Is Coming Along
Blog: In the Loop
In the foreground are the new $3.3 million road Parkway Boulevard and the site of Epps Bridge Centre's second phase across the Oconee Connector from Phase 1.
Oconee County expects to open Parkway Boulevard from the Oconee Connector to Kohl’s by the end of May, county Public Works Director Emil Beshara told a meeting of the regional metropolitan transportation planning organization on Wednesday.
Construction on the roadway is “winding down,” Beshara told the group, with work remaining only on such things as pedestrian islands, guardrails, and striping.
The roadway will allow traffic to flow from Epps Bridge Parkway just inside Oconee County at the bridge over McNutt Creek to one of the entrances to Epps Bridge Centre or onto the Loop and Highway 316, or the reverse.
The county decided to spend $3.35 million to build the roadway not as a means of relieving traffic but to open up the area for further commercial development.
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Oconee Can't Provide Sewer to New Car Dealership
Blog: In the Loop
Oconee County told Mercedes-Benz of Athens on Friday that the county will not be able to provide sewer service for the planned new auto dealership on Highway 316 at Virgil Langford Road for another 12–18 months.
The announcement coincided with the release of a memorandum stating that those requesting letters of availability of sewer service be advised of limited capacity in parts of the county’s service area and the complete lack of availability in others, including where the Mercedes-Benz facility is planned.
The county released the announcement on sewer capacity in a meeting of the county’s Development Review Committee, which was considering the preliminary site plan and site development plans for the new auto dealership.
The DRC approved the Preliminary Site Plan, but Sandy Weinel, assistant director of the Planning and Code Enforcement Department, told a representative of Mercedes-Benz the firm will have to build a private septic system if it wants to move forward before sewer capacity is available.
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GDOT Ditches Plan for 441 Bypass Around Bishop
Blog: In the Loop
The Georgia Department of Transportation is proposing that U.S. 441 be widened to three lanes through the center of Bishop rather than build a bypass of the small Oconee County city.
GDOT also is proposing that the highway be widened to four lanes from Bishop north to Watkinsville and from Bishop south to Madison, following the alignment of the existing roadway.
GDOT released the proposed route Tuesday night at the first meeting of the Oconee County Citizen Advisory Committee, where it met with strong opposition from Bishop Mayor Johnny Pritchett and Farmington resident Buddy Murrow, both members of the Citizen Advisory Committee.
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Cheers! Watkinsville Approves Sunday Sales
Blog: In the Loop
Photo Credit: Paul Joseph
Watkinsville voters overwhelmingly approved the Sunday sales of alcoholic drinks in the city’s restaurants and the Sunday sales of beer and wine in the city’s convenience stores in voting in the special election that ended Tuesday.
Vote rturnout was low, but the margins in favor of Sunday sales in the city were even higher than they were when county voters approved Sunday sales last November.
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Turnout Light for Watkinsville Alcohol Referendum
Blog: In the Loop
Photo Credit: Lee Becker
Only 63 of Watkinsville’s 2,117 eligible voters participated in the three weeks of early voting leading up to todays ’s election on whether Sunday sales of alcohol should be allowed at the city’s restaurants and convenience stores.
The turnout of less than 3 percent of the city’s voters suggests that only a small number of the city’s voters will decide the issue.
In the Mar. 17, 2015 special election in the city on liquor by the drink, only 265 voters cast a ballot, representing just a little more than 15 percent of the 1,759 registered voters. Positive votes were cast by 216 of those voters.
Voting on Sunday sales will take place from 7 a.m.–7 p.m. today at the city’s two precincts, City Hall and Annex.
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Oconee Subdivisions Sue for Access to Sewer
Blog: In the Loop
The owners of the long-dormant Westland and Parkside subdivisions have filed suit again Oconee County, seeking to block the decision by the Board of Commissioners to refund sewer capacity fees for the massive master plan developments.
In three separate lawsuits filed in Oconee County Superior Court, the owners contend, among other things, that the Board of Commissioners violated state zoning laws when it voted on Jan. 31 to refund sewer capacity fees paid by the developers of Westland and Parkside as well as by two other residential project developers.
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Oconee Zoning Decisions Will Affect Athens Residents
Blog: In the Loop
The proposed convenience store and college campus are located near the point where Oconee, Athens-Clarke and Oglethorpe counties meet.
Oconee County commissioners on Tuesday night will be asked to decide whether to allow a convenience store, a ministry college campus and an expansion of a community-scale church, all on land zoned for agriculture.
Two of the rezones are in the only part of Oconee County east of the Oconee River—a triangle of land assigned to the county when it was split off from Clarke County in 1875.
The commission’s decision on the convenience store will have impact on Athens-Clarke County residents, who live across Bob Godfrey Road from the proposed old-fashioned general store.
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Oconee Solar Farm Isn't Dead, Developer Says
Blog: In the Loop
When the developers of Wildflower Meadows, a 263- acre subdivision in northwestern Oconee County, wanted to launch the project in 2006, they assembled 10 different pieces of property to accommodate the proposed 170 lots.
The largest of the 10 assembled tracts was a 113-acre parcel owned by the Hammond family of Gainesville.
Another tract of 12 acres also was owned by the Hammond family, and today it provides one of the two Wildflower Meadows entrances off Dials Mill Road.
The decision of the family to sell the two tracts in 2006 came back to haunt it on Jan. 3, when the Oconee County Board of Commissioners voted 3-1 against a rezone request for an adjoining 204.8 acres owned by the Hammond family.
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Oconee County Moves to Slow Growth, Revokes Sewer Permits for Unbuilt Subdivisions
Blog: In the Loop
Photo Credit: Lee Becker
Wayne Hanie speaks to, from left, commissioners John Daniell, Mark Thomas, Chuck Horton, Bubber Wilkes and Mark Saxon.
Oconee County Commissioners voted Tuesday night to refund sewer capacity for four undeveloped subdivisions in the county, significantly reducing the need for increased sewage treatment capacity in the county.
The decision will make those four housing projects—including the massive Parkside and Westland subdivisions—unbuildable as zoned, since they require sewage capacity for the intensive development proposed.
The decision provides some relief to the county school system, which has raised concerns about the increased residential growth on the county schools.
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latest stories
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In the Loop | October 18, 2017 1:09pm
Republican Candidate Houston Gaines Won't Say Whether He'd Vote for Trump
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In the Loop | October 17, 2017 2:04pm
Clarke County Voters Make Up Majorities in Both State House Districts Up for Election
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In the Loop | October 9, 2017 4:10pm
Hobby Lobby Will Move to Epps Bridge
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In the Loop | September 6, 2017 10:00am
Third Candidate Jumps Into House District 119 Race
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In the Loop | August 29, 2017 8:21am
Potential Costco in Oconee County Put on Hold
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In the Loop | July 17, 2017 4:24pm
Oconee County Considers Plan to Demolish Old Jail, Expand Courthouse
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In the Loop | June 25, 2017 3:26pm
Democrat Says She'll Run Against Rep. Jody Hice
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In the Loop | June 20, 2017 12:27pm
Officials Cut Daniells Bridge Extension From Plans
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In the Loop | June 14, 2017 5:07pm
Athens Democrat Will Run for State House
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In the Loop | June 12, 2017 11:03am
GOP State Rep: Athens Democrats Are 'Fired Up'
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In the Loop | May 30, 2017 1:25pm
New Progressive Group Emerges in Oconee County
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In the Loop | May 1, 2017 12:34pm
Epps Bridge Centre Phase II Is Coming Along
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In the Loop | April 24, 2017 12:11pm
Oconee Can't Provide Sewer to New Car Dealership
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In the Loop | March 29, 2017 1:14pm
GDOT Ditches Plan for 441 Bypass Around Bishop
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In the Loop | March 22, 2017 4:42pm
Cheers! Watkinsville Approves Sunday Sales
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In the Loop | March 21, 2017 11:41am
Turnout Light for Watkinsville Alcohol Referendum
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In the Loop | March 13, 2017 11:42am
Oconee Subdivisions Sue for Access to Sewer
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In the Loop | March 6, 2017 3:10pm
Oconee Zoning Decisions Will Affect Athens Residents
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In the Loop | February 14, 2017 10:05am
Oconee Solar Farm Isn't Dead, Developer Says
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In the Loop | February 1, 2017 4:08pm
Oconee County Moves to Slow Growth, Revokes Sewer Permits for Unbuilt Subdivisions