Blog Topic: Government

In the Loop: Planners Recommend Approving Oconee Solar Farm

By Lee Becker | January 3, 2017 11:25am

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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In the Loop: Huge New Playground Opens at Southeast Clarke Park

By Blake Aued | December 20, 2016 9:44am

Photo Credit: Blake Aued

Athens-Clarke County officials and scores of parents and children braved frigid weather Friday to celebrate the re-opening of the all-new World of Wonder playground at Southeast Clarke Park.

The 2.5 acre playground is a replacement for the original World of Wonder, Athens’ first “destination playground,” which drew people not only from all over the county, but the region as well.

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In the Loop: What Would You Fund With a Local Transportation Tax?

By Blake Aued | December 12, 2016 3:55pm

Photo Credit: Joshua L. Jones/file

Athens-Clarke County will host a public forum Wednesday from 7–8 p.m. at the ACC Library for people with questions or comments about an upcoming sales-tax referendum for transportation.

The Transportation Special Local Option Sales Tax (T-SPLOST) will be on the Nov. 7, 2017 ballot. If approved, it will raise an estimated $104 million over five years to spend on roads, bridges, sidewalks, bike lanes and paths and public transit.

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In the Loop: Commissioners Propose Compromise on Radio Fences

By Blake Aued | December 5, 2016 11:29am

Two Athens-Clarke County commissioners have filed a potential compromise on a proposed law allowing local pet owners to confine their animals using radio or wireless fences.

Radio fences—which send a small shock to a dog's collar when it crosses an invisible boundary—weren't considered fences under ACC's animal control ordinance until a recent court ruling said that they are. The ordinance requires dogs to be kept under the owner's control at all times—on a leash or inside a structure or fenced area.

The ruling led to some complaints that dogs were breaking out of the invisible fenced areas and roaming free in neighborhoods.

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In the Loop: ADDA Director Pamela Thompson Is Leaving

By Blake Aued | November 23, 2016 12:41pm

Photo Credit: Blake Aued/file

Pamela Thompson is resigning effective Dec. 29 after more than three years as executive director of the Athens Downtown Development Association.

Thompson informed ADDA board chairman Chris Blackmon of her resignation in a letter on Monday.

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In the Loop: Clarke School Board Names UGA Dean Interim Superintendent

By Blake Aued | November 21, 2016 5:42pm

The Clarke County Board of Education named former University of Georgia professor and administrator Jack Parish as interim superintendent today to replace Philip Lanoue while the board searches for a permanent replacement.

Parish recently retired as associate dean for outreach and education at the UGA College of Education. He served as superintendent of the Henry County school system from 2000–2008—where he was president of the Georgia School Superintendents Association and was a finalist for state superintendent of the year—and has experience as a teacher and principal as well. He assisted CCSD with several projects while at UGA.

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In the Loop: Athens Activists Organize to Stop Trump

By Blake Aued | November 20, 2016 12:26pm

Photo Credit: Joshua L. Jones/file

A post-Election Day protest against President-elect Donald Trump at the Arch.

Like many people, you may find yourself wondering, "What now?" after Donald Trump's stunning win Nov. 8. Athens for Everyone's answer is: "Organize!"

The local progressive group is holding a public mass meeting at 3 p.m. today at The Cotton Press (a catering facility in the Chase Park warehouses) to discuss how Trump's policies could affect Athens and how to resist the president-elect's agenda. The organization says:

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In the Loop: Athens Is Getting a Civil Rights Committee, and No One Is Too Happy About It

By Blake Aued | November 2, 2016 4:01pm

Photo Credit: Blake Aued

City Hall was packed out Tuesday.

Every single Athens-Clarke County commissioner favors forming a local civil rights committee to deal with issues of discrimination in Athens, and so did almost every single one of the 100 people who packed City Hall for a commission vote on the topic Tuesday night. So why did most of them leave mad?

A bizarre 6-2 vote instructing county staff to bring forward a framework for the civil rights committee revealed rancor between not only the citizen activists pushing for the committee and the commissioners who approved it, but behind the rail as well.

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In the Loop: ACC Commissioners Will Probably Approve a Civil Rights Committee—But Which One?

By Blake Aued | October 31, 2016 1:45pm

Photo Credit: Joshua L. Jones/file

Hundreds of protesters marched on City Hall in September to demand a commission vote on a civil rights committee.

Tuesday's Athens-Clarke County Commission meeting just got a lot more interesting.

The commission is scheduled to vote on an ordinance banning bars from using bogus private events or selectively enforcing dress codes to keep out people of color. Local activist groups have been lobbying for a civil rights committee to supplement that narrow ordinance.

Until a couple of days ago, it seemed that a majority of commissioners were resisting that idea. Now, though, there are three different versions of a civil rights committee headed to the floor Tuesday.

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In the Loop: Oconee Chairman Melvin Davis Will Make the Call on Calls Creek Sewer Before He Steps Down

By Lee Becker | October 20, 2016 12:24pm

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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