Blog Topic: Oconee Observations
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In the Loop: Oconee Could Vote on Liquor and Sunday Sales
Oconee County Board of Commissioners Chairman Melvin Davis’ efforts to get alcohol referenda on the ballot in November got a slight push-back from two of his Commission colleagues Tuesday night.
Commissioner Jim Luke said the county needed to do more to warn the citizens that the referenda were under consideration by the board, and Commissioner Mark Saxon agreed.
The bigger setback for Davis came from County Attorney Daniel Haygood.
Haygood told the commissioners that getting separate referenda on the November ballot for Sunday sale of beer and wine in grocery and convenience stores and for Sunday sale of beer, wine and alcohol by the drink in restaurants is straightforward, requiring only a majority vote of the Commission.
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In the Loop: Oconee: No Agreement on Mars Hill Median Cut
Oconee County officials now say that the county does not have a written agreement to build a full median cut on Mars Hill Road to provide access to property owned by Dickens Farms Inc.
The officials also say that, prior to its meeting on Tuesday night, the Board of Commissioners had never voted to support that full median cut or to ask the Georgia Department of Transportation to modify its design for the road to include the full median cut.
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In the Loop: Secret Mars Hill Road Deal Approved
Oconee County commissioners Tuesday night agreed to spend $10,000 for design work—double the amount originally planned—as part of a previously unknown deal to create a full median cut on Mars Hill Road to provide access to 103 acres owned by Dickens Farms Inc.
The investment could be good money thrown after bad, as Oconee County Public Works Director Emil Beshara told the commissioners that the Georgia Department of Transportation already has rejected the proposed plans for the change in the roadway design.
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In the Loop: Oconee Commission Approves Move for Mercedes-Benz of Athens
The Oconee County Board of Commissioners voted to rezone property for an Athens Mercedes-Benz dealership that wants to move, based in part on an economic development document that wasn’t made available to the public.
Three weeks after the Oconee County Planning Commission voted against a proposed rezone on Highway 316 for auto dealerships, county Economic Development Director J.R. Charles sent members of the Board of Commissioners an “Economic Impact Analysis” that said the project would benefit the county.
Charles also sent the report to Jon Williams, president of Williams and Associates, who was representing those asking for the rezone, saying “Thought you would like to have it in your back pocket if you have to speak at the Commission meeting.”
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In the Loop: Oconee County Had Plans for Calls Creek Sewer a Year Before It Told the Public
Photo Credit: Lee Becker
A proposed sewer pipeline down idyllic Calls Creek northeast of Watkinsville and through a series of neighborhoods along the creek has Oconee County in a bit of turmoil. Protest road signs, bumper stickers and T-shirts are popping up around the county.
Board of Commissioners Chairman Melvin Davis, who lost control of several meetings in which citizens voiced their unhappiness, has imposed strict restrictions. Sign-up sheets are required for citizens wanting to speak. A large clock is projected on the screen as people come forward to comment. A loud buzzer goes off if the speaker exceeds the allowed three minutes.
Despite these restrictions, citizens have used the open comment section of meetings, budget hearings, rezone hearings and discussions of sewer and water contracts to make it clear to anyone who wants to listen that a 24-inch pipeline with its required 30-foot buffer is not wanted.
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In the Loop: Shopping Center Proposed in Oconee County
The location of the proposed shopping center, Ray's Corner.
The Oconee County Planning Commission will hold public hearings on four different rezoning requests tonight, including one that will have impact on everyone who uses the already busy intersection of Hog Mountain Road and U.S. 441.
ABE Consulting, on behalf of property owner Toccoa 85 LP, is asking the county to rezone 1.7 acres, with frontage on and access to both Hog Mountain Road and U.S. 441, to allow development of a small commercial shopping center.
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In the Loop: Commissioners Met With Car Dealer Prior to Vote
The location of the proposed dealerships.
All three of Oconee County’s voting commissioners acknowledge meeting with the representative of the developer seeking to rezone properties on Highway 316 at Virgil Langford Road for auto dealerships—at least one of which is currently located in Clarke County—but each said he has not yet decided how to vote on the request.
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In the Loop: Openness Is an Issue in Oconee Races
Photo Credit: Lee Becker
Oconee County Commission Chairman said the idea of building a sewer line for a poultry plant was merely hypothetical, but a poultry company has in fact expressed interest in locating in Oconee.
The two candidates running as outsiders in the Oconee County Board of Commissioners contest have made transparency and openness in government a key issue.
At the last Board of Commissioners meeting on May 3, Commission Chairman Melvin Davis gave them the perfect illustration of the problem they are addressing.
With the other three commissioners sitting by, Davis told what is certainly a fabrication to a citizen who also made a misstatement about a poultry processing plant.
Davis told Barb Carroll that references to a poultry plant were just an “example” and that nothing concrete has come before the county.
That clearly is incorrect, as Oconee County Utility Department Director Wayne Haynie told the county's Industrial Development Authority in April, with Davis present, that the county was in discussions with a poultry concern.
Haynie said the same thing to the Board of Commissioners on several occasions, starting as early as Jan. 26.
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In the Loop: Bill Would Exempt 441 Project from Environmental Law
Sen. Bill Cowsert (R-Athens) supported SB 346.
The Georgia Senate has approved, with the support of Oconee County Sen. Bill Cowsert, a bill that would exempt the Georgia Department of Transportation from the provisions of the Georgia Environmental Policy Act.
The exemption likely would have a major effect immediately in Oconee County, as it would allow GDOT to bypass the provisions of the Georgia Environmental Policy Act in widening U.S. 441 from the Watkinsville Bypass to the Madison Bypass, including the construction of a bypass of Bishop.
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In the Loop: Daniell Is Unopposed for Oconee Commission Chair
John Daniell will run unopposed for chairman of the Oconee County Board of Commissioners in the May 24 Republican primary and in the November general election, unless someone files to run as an independent during qualifying from June 27–July 12.
No one filed to challenge Daniell during the five days of qualifying that ended at noon Friday, and no one filed to run as a Democrat for any Oconee County office.
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