Blog posts by Lee Becker
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Mars Hill Widening Will Bring More Development to Oconee
Blog: In the Loop
Oconee County Strategic and Long-Range Planning Director Wayne Provost told Oconee County commissioners back in January that they could get an idea of what Mars Hill Road could look like in the future by looking at Epps Bridge Parkway today.
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GDOT Won't Fund Widening of Jimmy Daniell Road
Blog: In the Loop
The Georgia Department of Transportation has decided not to fund the widening of Jimmy Daniell Road, nullifying the project framework agreement signed by Oconee County in December of last year.
GDOT took this action because Oconee County never specified where it was going to find the $1.15 million estimated cost to the county for right of way acquisition for the project.
And Athens-Clarke County, which was to be a partner on the widening of the roadway, will not have funding available for its share of the project until 2020.
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Oconee Chairman: Connect Roads to Benefit Landowner
Blog: In the Loop
Photo Credit: Lee Becker
Oconee County Board of Commissioners Chairman Melvin Davis is asking his fellow Board members on Tuesday night to spend up to $115,000 to create a connection between Old Mars Hill Road and the new Mars Hill Road now under reconstruction.
The change will benefit a landowner who asked Davis to alter the road design, according to email messages among county officials.
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Epps Bridge Centre Expansion Depends on Rezoning, Road Construction, Environmental Permits
Blog: In the Loop
Plans for Epps Bridge Centre phases II and III that were submitted to the Army Corps of Engineers.
Atlanta Developer Frank Bishop filed paperwork with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers late last month for Phases II and III of Epps Bridge Centre, to be built in the wooded area across the Oconee Connector from his existing shopping center.
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Our GDOT Rep's Illegal Roadside Signs Are Back
Blog: In the Loop
Photo Credit: Lee Becker
The Oconee County Code Enforcement Office is once again investigating a two-sided sign installed by Boswell Properties on the southwest corner of Highway 316 and the Oconee Connector.
Boswell Properties reinstalled the signs sometime in the last few weeks to list property owned by Maxie Price, the Loganville auto dealer and businessman who has several properties in the county.
Boswell Properties is owned by Jamie Boswell, an Athens commercial real estate agent who also represents the Athens area on the State Transportation Board, which oversees state highways.
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Oconee Animal Control Board Refuses to Strengthen Abuse Laws
Blog: In the Loop
Photo Credit: Nhandler/Wikimedia Commons
The Oconee County Animal Control Advisory Board yesterday afternoon refused to support Catlyn A. Vickers, director of the Oconee County Animal Control Department, in her request for increased powers to investigate complaints about animal abuse in the county.
Board member Helen Fosgate made a motion calling for a strengthening of the county’s animal control ordinace, but the motion died for lack of a second.
The Advisory Board also refused to endorse a call for a new animal shelter, saying instead it wanted to study the issue more.
The Advisory Board even had trouble electing new officers and approving the minutes of the last meeting, showing a body badly split and with a majority at odds with Vickers and her staff.
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Oconee Utility Director Resigns Over Sewer Spills
Blog: In the Loop
Chris Thomas, head of Oconee County’s beleaguered utility department, has resigned effective June 19.
Thomas, 42, has been with the county for 17 years and has been director of the utility department since 2008.
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Oconee County Creeks Are Full of Sewage
Blog: In the Loop
Luckily for Oconee County utility workers, this photo was taken in India.
Oconee County reported two new sewage spills to the Georgia Environmental Protection Division on Friday, one of which was classified as a “major spill” and involved the discharge of sewage into Calls Creek.
The smaller spill was into McNutt Creek behind Creekside subdivision, which is on the east side of Jimmy Daniell Road at the county line.
The spill into Calls Creek was at the troubled Calls Creek wastewater treatment planton Durhams Mill Way north of Watkinsville, where a separation of pipe allowed sewage to flow for five minutes into the creek.
For more, visit Oconee County Observations.
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Bill Cowsert Explains His Vote for a Tax Hike
Blog: In the Loop
State Sen. Bill Cowsert (R-Athens) told a small group of Oconee County Republicans earlier this month that he voted in favor of the tax increases for transportation in March because the bill gave legislators more control over the Georgia Department of Transportation and “capped” the fuel tax—something the tax bill does only in part.
Cowsert also defended the $5 per night fee added to hotel and other lodging bills as part of the transportation act on the grounds that most of those paying the fee will be from out of state.
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Serious Problems Found at Oconee Sewer Plants
Blog: In the Loop
A month-long investigation of effluent from the county’s Calls Creek sewage plant outside Watkinsville became Tuesday last night when Board of Commissioners Chairman Melvin Davis reported that the county had received the resignation of two of the plant’s employees.
The county also released a six-page report by a consultant hired to review the operation of both of the country’s sewage treatment facilities.
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Oconee County Newspaper Shuts Down
Blog: In the Loop
Photo Credit: Lee Becker
Oconee County lost another local news and information site on Friday with the closing of The Oconee Leader, the county’s largely free circulation weekly newspaper.
Publisher Rob Peecher announced the decision to close the newspaper in a front-page “note of thanks to our readers and advertisers” in Friday’s paper.
Peecher cited continued financial problems going back several years as the reason for the decision to close the paper. Friday’s was the last edition of the paper.
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Oconee County Employees Forbidden From Speaking to the Press
Blog: In the Loop
Photo Credit: Lee Becker
Oconee County Administrative Officer Jeff Benko has issued a directive to county department heads telling them not to make statements to “the press” without clearing those statements in advance with him.
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Bogart Library Expansion Cut from State Budget
Blog: In the Loop
Photo Credit: Lee Becker
A House-Senate conference committee removed all funding for the renovation and expansion of the Bogart Library from the state budget approved in the final two days of the General Assembly last week.
The conference committee action was taken at the direction of Terry England, R-Auburn, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, according to Sen. Bill Cowsert, who represents Bogart and the rest of Oconee County.
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Athens Reps Split on Plastic Bag Ban Ban
Blog: In the Loop
Rep. Chuck Williams (R-Watkinsville) was the only one of three Athens legislators to vote in favor of SB 139 on Friday.
Clarke and Oconee counties' three members of the Georgia House of Representatives cast opposing votes again Friday, this time on plastic bags.
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An Athens Representative Asked GDOT for Documents, and They Wanted to Charge Her $100,000
Blog: In the Loop
The Georgia Department of Transportation has told Rep. Regina Quick (R-Athens) that it will respond to her open records request for documents about the operation of the department, but only if she pays more than $100,000 in advance.
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GDOT Rep: My Clients Will Benefit from Road Project
Blog: In the Loop
Jamie Boswell, commercial real estate broker and area representative to the Georgia Transportation Board, readily admits that his clients will benefit from the proposed Daniells Bridge Road extension and flyover of Loop 10.
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Seafood Restaurant Coming to Epps Bridge Centre
Blog: Grub Notes
Bone Island Grillhouse Restaurants has submitted a preliminary site development plan to the Oconee County Planning Department for construction of a restaurant at the Epps Bridge Parkway entrance to the Epps Bridge Centre.
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Confusion Reigns on Georgia Gas Tax Hike
Blog: In the Loop
Athens and Oconee County’s two Republican representatives cast conflicting votes on House Bill 170, which overhauls the state’s motor fuel tax, with Regina Quick joining the 43 Republicans in opposition and Chuck Williams voting as part of the 72 Republicans in favor.
The bill, approved by the House on Mar. 5, would have major impact on both local and state taxes on motor fuel if approved by the Senate in its present form.
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Oconee DA: Development Leads to More Crime
Blog: In the Loop
Photo Credit: Lee Becker
Commercial development has its downside, District Attorney Ken Mauldin told the Oconee County Board of Commissioners during a recent work session.
“The more stores you have out there, you’re going to have more shop lifting,” Mauldin said.
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Oconee Official: Move Bishop and Widen 441
Blog: In the Loop
Photo Credit: Lee Becker
The Madison Athens-Clarke Oconee Regional Transportation Study (MACORTS) Policy Committee took the first step on Wednesday toward reactivating the construction of a bypass of Bishop and the four-laning of U.S. 441 from Watkinsville to the Apalachee River.
The project now goes to the public comment stage, with a key meeting to be held from 5–7 p.m. on Feb. 24 in the Community Center at Oconee Veterans Park.
Page 7 of 11, showing 20 records out of 210 total, starting on record 121, ending on 140
latest stories
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In the Loop | September 17, 2015 1:20pm
Mars Hill Widening Will Bring More Development to Oconee
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In the Loop | September 8, 2015 5:04pm
GDOT Won't Fund Widening of Jimmy Daniell Road
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In the Loop | August 25, 2015 12:15pm
Oconee Chairman: Connect Roads to Benefit Landowner
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In the Loop | July 17, 2015 10:32am
Epps Bridge Centre Expansion Depends on Rezoning, Road Construction, Environmental Permits
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In the Loop | July 14, 2015 5:02pm
Our GDOT Rep's Illegal Roadside Signs Are Back
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In the Loop | July 10, 2015 1:22pm
Oconee Animal Control Board Refuses to Strengthen Abuse Laws
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In the Loop | June 11, 2015 12:18pm
Oconee Utility Director Resigns Over Sewer Spills
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In the Loop | June 2, 2015 2:35pm
Oconee County Creeks Are Full of Sewage
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In the Loop | June 1, 2015 11:09am
Bill Cowsert Explains His Vote for a Tax Hike
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In the Loop | May 28, 2015 10:28am
Serious Problems Found at Oconee Sewer Plants
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In the Loop | May 20, 2015 11:38am
Oconee County Newspaper Shuts Down
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In the Loop | April 24, 2015 11:26am
Oconee County Employees Forbidden From Speaking to the Press
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In the Loop | April 14, 2015 11:43am
Bogart Library Expansion Cut from State Budget
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In the Loop | March 31, 2015 2:23pm
Athens Reps Split on Plastic Bag Ban Ban
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In the Loop | March 27, 2015 11:48am
An Athens Representative Asked GDOT for Documents, and They Wanted to Charge Her $100,000
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In the Loop | March 25, 2015 4:21pm
GDOT Rep: My Clients Will Benefit from Road Project
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Grub Notes | March 23, 2015 1:19pm
Seafood Restaurant Coming to Epps Bridge Centre
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In the Loop | March 16, 2015 11:23am
Confusion Reigns on Georgia Gas Tax Hike
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In the Loop | March 1, 2015 11:43am
Oconee DA: Development Leads to More Crime
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In the Loop | February 13, 2015 11:05am
Oconee Official: Move Bishop and Widen 441