Blog posts by Lee Becker
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A Bible College Wants to Build Its Campus on an Old Oconee County Golf Course
Blog: In the Loop
The location of the proposed campus in northwestern Oconee County near the Clarke County line.
The Oconee County Planning Commission tonight will consider a request to convert a portion of the former Green Hills Golf Course and Country Club in the far east of the county to a ministry college.
Green Hills Farms LLC, the current land owner, is seeking a special use to allow the Athens College of Ministry to develop a campus on just more than 100.2 acres on the agriculturally zoned land.
Green Hills Farms LLC currently owns 189.2 acres in the small triangle of Oconee County on the east side of the Oconee River tucked between Athens-Clarke County and Oglethorpe County. The property has been vacant since 2009.
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New Chairman John Daniell Is Changing the Oconee Commission's Secretive Culture
Blog: In the Loop
Photo Credit: Lee Becker
Melvin Davis wasn’t at the work session of the Oconee County Board of Commissioners on Friday, but he had impact on the discussion nonetheless.
The meeting began with a review of the ethics ordinance for commissioners, which has been used only once—in a complaint filed against Davis.
The next topic was an ordinance passed by the commissioners in 2009 to reassert the power of the commission as a whole versus the power of the chairman. Davis opposed the ordinance when it was passed and fought it until he retired on Dec. 31.
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Oconee Commissioners Turn Down Solar Farm
Blog: In the Loop
Photo Credit: Lee Becker
From left, Oconee County commissioners Mark Thomas, Chuck Horton, Bubber Wilkes and Mark Saxon.
Oconee County commissioners in a 3-1 vote Tuesday night turned down a request for a 30-megawatt solar energy farm at the intersection of McNutt Creek Road and Dials Mill Road in the northwestern part of the county.
Commissioner Chuck Horton made the notion to deny the request for a special use of the 205 acres zoned agricultural for the solar farm, proposed by Rural Green Power LLC of Athens. Commissioner Mark Saxon seconded the motion and was joined by Horton and Commissioner William “Bubber” Wilkes in the vote on the motion. Newly elected Commissioner Mark Thomas provided the sole vote against the denial.
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Planners Recommend Approving Oconee Solar Farm
Blog: In the Loop
The location of the proposed solar farm and planned subdivisions around it.
The Oconee County planning staff, after reviewing the revised plans for the solar farm on Dials Mill Road at McNutt Creek Road, has reaffirmed its recommendation that the Board of Commissioners approve the project.
In a report dated Dec. 27, 2016, the staff advocated that the commission grant Mr. Chick Farms Limited Partnership a special use when the commission meets at 7 p.m. today at the courthouse in Watkinsville.
The Staff Report addresses concerns raised by citizens in public hearings on Nov. 14 and Dec. 6, calling them “understandable” but dismissing them in the end as unfounded or inconsequential.
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Sunday Booze Is Now Legal in Oconee County
Blog: In the Loop
^Everyone in Oconee County this morning.
Restaurants, groceries and convenience stores in Oconee County currently selling beer, wine and alcoholic drinks are free to do so on Sunday.
The Oconee County Board of Commissioners changed the county’s alcoholic beverage ordinance on Tuesday night by adding hours for sales on Sundays, but did not require license holders to get new licenses.
So all the existing license holders needed to do on Sunday was ring up the sales when customers brought the beer and wine to the cash registers or fill the drink orders when customers made them.
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Horton Wins Oconee Commission Seat
Blog: In the Loop
Former commissioner Chuck Horton defeated Marcus Wiedower by a 520-vote margin Tuesday night in the special election runoff for the open Post 2 seat on the Oconee County Board of Commissioners.
Horton carried seven of the county’s 13 precincts, including the two largest, to get 56.8 percent of the vote overall.
A total of 3,845 voters cast a ballot, representing 15.6 percent of the county’s 24,657 registered voters.
In other county action tonight, the Board of Commissioners postponed a decision on a requested rezone in the western part of the county for a solar farm.
The board also approved a change in the county’s alcohol ordinances to allow for Sunday sale of beer and wine in groceries and convenience stores and beer, wine and alcoholic drinks in restaurants. The ordinance goes into effect immediately.
For more, visit Oconee County Observations.
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Trump Underperformed in Heavily Republican Oconee County
Blog: In the Loop
Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore
Donald Trump underperformed in Oconee County on Nov. 8, compared with how Republican presidential candidates fared in 2012 and 2008, an analysis of the official results for the last three presidential elections shows.
Trump got 67.4 percent of the vote in Oconee County, compared with Mitt Romney’s 73.6 percent in 2012 and John McCain’s 70.8 percent in 2008.
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Anonymous Mailer Attacks Oconee County Commission Candidate as 'Career Politician'
Blog: In the Loop
The campaign for the open Post 2 seat on the Oconee County Board of Commissioners turned negative this week as a campaign flier attacking candidate Chuck Horton as a “career politician” who has threatened the county’s school system arrived in select mailboxes in the county.
The dark colored, six-inch by 11-inch flier does not indicate who paid for the mailing, but it lists as the mailing address the postal box used by Marcus for Oconee BOC, the organization of candidate Marcus Wiedower.
Wiedower has not responded to repeated attempts to talk to him about the advertisement.
Ben Bridges, the third candidate for the Board of Commissioners position, said Thursday night he had not seen the flier and had nothing to do with it.
Horton also said that 25 to 30 of his campaign signs posted on private property have been stolen or damaged. Several of the damaged signs were run over by a vehicle, he said.
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Oconee Chairman Melvin Davis Will Make the Call on Calls Creek Sewer Before He Steps Down
Blog: In the Loop
Photo Credit: Lee Becker/file
Oconee County Board of Commissioners Chairman Melvin Davis said Tuesday that he is open to bringing the decision on whether to build a sewer line down Calls Creek up for action before he leaves the board in January.
In an email message to Jim McGarvey, president of Friends of Calls Creek, Davis said “I do not have any issues with the current Board of Commissioners acting” on sewer issues, even though Commissioner Jim Luke is retiring in January and will be replaced and one slot on the board is vacant.
Davis’ willingness to go forward with a vote on the sewer pipeline and other sewer issues before January puts pressure on opponents and proponents of the sewer pipeline to influence the outcome of the special election now underway to fill the vacant position on the board.
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Oconee County Joins the Chorus Against the 'Opportunity School District'
Blog: In the Loop
Oconee County School Superintendent Jason Branch.
Both Oconee County School Superintendent Jason Branch and Board of Education Chairman Tom Odom have spoken out publicly against Amendment 1 to Georgia Constitution that is on the November ballot.
The so-called Opportunity School District amendment asks voters to decide if they want “to allow the state to intervene in chronically failing public schools in order to improve student performance?"
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Oconee Can't Dump More Sewage Into Calls Creek
Blog: In the Loop
Photo Credit: Lee Becker
The Georgia Environmental Protection Division has denied Oconee County’s request for a 3 million gallons per day waste load allocation for Calls Creek, saying the stream is too small to handle the treated effluent.
The denial means that the county will have to change its plans to upgrade its Calls Creek wastewater treatment plant on the outskirts of Watkinsville, run a sewer line down Calls Creek, or find another way to discharge treated sewer water from an expanded Calls Creek plant into the Middle Oconee River.
Residents along Calls Creek have voiced strong and persistent opposition to construction of a sewer line down the creek, with many saying they will force the county to take condemnation action against them to get easements for the sewer line.
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Clearing Begins for Epps Bridge Centre Expansion
Blog: In the Loop
Chris Greer, an instructor of professional technology at Georgia College and State University in Milledgeville, shot this image of a new road off the Oconee Connector using a drone.
Simpson Trucking and Grading of Gaineville already has completed some of the clearing and grubbing work for Parkway Boulevard Extension, which will serve as a major entranceway for an expanded Epps Bridge Centre.
The company also is putting in temporary erosion control measures, according to Oconee County Public Works Director Emil Beshara, and plans to begin moving direct in the next couple of weeks.
The construction work is largely out of the view of the public because of topography and because access is cut off to the beginning of the roadway extension just northwest of Kohl’s department store off Epps Bridge Parkway.
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Top Dem Tells Oconee Activists to Focus on Turnout
Blog: In the Loop
Photo Credit: Lee Becker
House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams (D-Atlanta) gave a rousing calls to action to a gathering of Oconee County Democrats on Sunday afternoon, telling them to get people of all races registered and to get people of all races out to vote starting next month.
“Georgia is already blue,” Abrams said at the outset.
“There are already enough of us,” according to Abrams. “There are enough Democrats in Georgia to win every election from now on.”
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Commercial Growth Doesn't Pay Off for Oconee
Blog: In the Loop
Oconee County has experienced only modest growth in the revenue it receives from sales tax in the last decade and a half, even with significant expansion of its commercial inventory, changes in the county’s alcohol laws and the opening of new restaurants.
The growth in sales tax revenue in Oconee County, in fact, is not so different from the growth experienced by Athens-Clarke County, which has lost some retail outlets to Oconee County and lost its exclusivity in selling alcohol in restaurants.
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Oconee Chairman Wants County to Pay for Median Cut
Blog: In the Loop
Only 2 hours and 14 minutes after learning that the Georgia Department of Transportation had turned down the county’s request for a full median break on Mars Hill Road to accommodate landowner Doug Dickens, Oconee County Board of Commissioners Chairman Melvin Davis turned to “Plan B.”
Davis told commissioners that the county can build the median break when GDOT turns the highway back over to the county.
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ACC Could Easily Extend Sewer to Oconee County
Blog: In the Loop
Athens-Clarke County has excess capacity at its Middle Oconee Water Reclamation Facility, the sewer plant closest to Oconee County, an analysis of the Discharge Monitoring Reports for the plant since January of this year shows.
Athens-Clarke County also has a gravity feed sewer line running along its side of McNutt Creek, paralleling the sewer line that Oconee County is building from Bogart to Epps Bridge Parkway on its side of the stream.
The existing ACC sewer line already carries sewage from a limited number of customers in Oconee County to the Middle Oconee plant.
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Oconee County Misled Public on Mars Hill Road Work
Blog: In the Loop
Oconee County administrators, to accommodate Board of Commissioners Chairman Melvin Davis, intentionally mislabeled $15,000 in expenses in giving a public presentation in June of a bill for added design work for Mars Hill Road.
Moreland Altobelli Associates Inc. billed the county $10,000 for requested design work to reconnect Old Mars Hill Road to Mars Hill Road and $5,000 for design work on a median break requested by businessman Doug Dickens.
In the presentation to the public, the reference to Old Mars Hill Road was eliminated, and the median cut was linked to the Athens Area Humane Society, not Dickens.
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Oconee County Tried to Buy Sewer Treatment from Athens
Blog: In the Loop
Oconee County Board of Commissioners Chairman Melvin Davis and county Administrative Officer Jeff Benko met with their counterparts in Athens-Clarke County in late June to discuss possible collaboration in wastewater treatment.
Benko described the session as “a short meeting with no meaningful results.”
Benko said no materials were exchanged and no notes were taken, and he said he didn’t even send notes to the commissioners about the discussions.
Benko said Oconee County initiated the meeting, which took place in Mayor Nancy Denson’s office in Athens.
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Oconee Voters Will Decide on Sunday Alcohol Sales
Blog: In the Loop
The Oconee County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday night voted unanimously to put two Sunday sales referendums on the November ballot.One of those referenda, if approved by a majority of voters, will allow the sale of beer and wine in grocery, convenience and beverage stores in the county on Sundays.
The other will allow for the Sunday sale of beer, wine and alcoholic beverages by the drink in area restaurants.
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Incoming Oconee Chairman Promises Changes
Blog: In the Loop
Oconee County citizens will witness a change of culture in county government after Jan. 1, said John Daniell, who will take over as chairman of the board of commissioners on that date.
The work of the government and the Commission will be “responsive to citizens... efficient in our operations, and... bring everybody in and talk about our goals and where we want to go as a community,” Daniell said.
The county again will hold town hall meetings, Daniell said, and efforts will be made to increase citizen participation in those settings and through appointments to county advisory boards. The government also will be more transparent, he said.
Page 5 of 11, showing 20 records out of 210 total, starting on record 81, ending on 100
latest stories
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In the Loop | January 17, 2017 3:34pm
A Bible College Wants to Build Its Campus on an Old Oconee County Golf Course
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In the Loop | January 9, 2017 11:44am
New Chairman John Daniell Is Changing the Oconee Commission's Secretive Culture
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In the Loop | January 4, 2017 12:26pm
Oconee Commissioners Turn Down Solar Farm
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In the Loop | January 3, 2017 11:25am
Planners Recommend Approving Oconee Solar Farm
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In the Loop | December 12, 2016 4:46pm
Sunday Booze Is Now Legal in Oconee County
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In the Loop | December 7, 2016 1:11pm
Horton Wins Oconee Commission Seat
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In the Loop | November 21, 2016 11:05am
Trump Underperformed in Heavily Republican Oconee County
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In the Loop | November 7, 2016 12:16pm
Anonymous Mailer Attacks Oconee County Commission Candidate as 'Career Politician'
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In the Loop | October 20, 2016 12:24pm
Oconee Chairman Melvin Davis Will Make the Call on Calls Creek Sewer Before He Steps Down
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In the Loop | October 19, 2016 10:09am
Oconee County Joins the Chorus Against the 'Opportunity School District'
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In the Loop | October 3, 2016 12:12pm
Oconee Can't Dump More Sewage Into Calls Creek
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In the Loop | September 20, 2016 12:17pm
Clearing Begins for Epps Bridge Centre Expansion
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In the Loop | September 19, 2016 11:44am
Top Dem Tells Oconee Activists to Focus on Turnout
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In the Loop | September 14, 2016 4:24pm
Commercial Growth Doesn't Pay Off for Oconee
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In the Loop | September 6, 2016 3:13pm
Oconee Chairman Wants County to Pay for Median Cut
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In the Loop | August 25, 2016 1:49pm
ACC Could Easily Extend Sewer to Oconee County
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In the Loop | August 22, 2016 12:54pm
Oconee County Misled Public on Mars Hill Road Work
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In the Loop | August 11, 2016 10:08am
Oconee County Tried to Buy Sewer Treatment from Athens
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In the Loop | August 5, 2016 11:29am
Oconee Voters Will Decide on Sunday Alcohol Sales
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In the Loop | August 1, 2016 10:51am
Incoming Oconee Chairman Promises Changes