Blog Topic: Oconee Observations

In the Loop: Liquor and SPLOST Will Be on the Oconee County Ballot in November

By Lee Becker | August 6, 2014 12:29pm

Photo Credit: Lee Becker

Jimmie Daniell Road at McNutt Creek.

The Oconee County Board of Commissioners voted Tuesday night to put both a 1 percent Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax referendum and a referendum on liquor by the drink in restaurants on the Nov. 4 ballot.

Commissioners also denied a request for a cell tower on McRees Mill Road in the rural area of the county south of Barnett Shoals Road and postponed action on three agreements with the Georgia Department of Transportation on road projects on Daniells Bridge Road and Jimmy Daniell Road.

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In the Loop: Assisted Living Center Prematurely Announces Groundbreaking

By Lee Becker | August 5, 2014 4:05pm

Photo Credit: Lee Becker

The future site of Thrive.

Anyone who went to the future location of Thrive Senior Living off Virgil Langford Road over the weekend in response to a news release issued last week by the company would have been surprised by what they didn’t find.

“Atlanta-based Thrive Senior Living has broken ground this week at The Village at Athens, an innovate new Assisted Living and Memory Care community in Athens, GA,” the news release on PRWeb stated, complete with the typing error for “innovative.”

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In the Loop: In Oconee, Few Speak Out on Liquor by the Drink

By Lee Becker | July 30, 2014 10:54am

The Oconee County Board of Commissioners, anticipating a large turnout tonight for its discussion of a liquor-by-the-drink referendum, moved its meeting from the relatively small Commission Chamber to the much larger Courtroom 1, but the change of venue proved to be unnecessary.

Only nine people spoke, with three of them expressing opposition to the proposal to put the issue before voters in November.

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In the Loop: Liquor By the Drink on Oconee Agenda

By Lee Becker | July 28, 2014 3:51pm

Discussion of a liquor-by-the-drink referendum tops a busy agenda of the Oconee County Board of Commissioners Tuesday night that also includes consideration of contracts for three roadway projects, at least one of which has been controversial in the past.

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In the Loop: Bubber Wilkes Beats Oconee Commission Margaret Hale

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Photo Credit: Lee Becker

Former Oconee County Commissioner W.E. “Bubber” Wilkes unseated incumbent Margaret Hale in the Republican primary runoff for Post 3 on the Board of Commissioners Tuesday, with 51.2 percent of the 4,253 votes cast.

Wilkes will have no opposition in November, meaning he will return to the commission after an absence of 10 years.

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Grub Notes: Fro-Yo, Fro-Cust and More Coming to Oconee County

By Lee Becker | July 10, 2014 10:21am

Photo Credit: Lee Becker

di'lishi will be going in on the left.

The Oconee County Planning Department has approved the final construction planning documents for the proposed Cheddar’s Casual Cafe on Epps Bridge Parkway at the front of Epps Bridge Centre, signaling that the project is moving forward even without the certainty of liquor sales.

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In the Loop: Oconee GOP Restricts Recording at Candidate Forum Tuesday

By Lee Becker | July 7, 2014 11:06am

The Oconee County Republican Party on Tuesday night will host the second of three scheduled debates between Mike Collins and Jody Hice, candidates seeking the Republican Party nomination for Congress from the 10th District.

The debate is scheduled to take place from 6–7:30 p.m. in the library on Experiment Station Road in Watkinsville.

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In the Loop: Oconee County Sometimes Enforces the Law

By Lee Becker | July 2, 2014 11:56am

Photo Credit: Lee Becker

The Oconee County Code Enforcement Office issued a sign permit on Friday for two temporary signs on the property being listed for sale at the southeast corner of Highway 316 and the Oconee Connector.

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In the Loop: Oconee Candidates Differ on Role of Chairman

By Lee Becker | June 30, 2014 3:45pm

Photo Credit: Lee Becker

Oconee County Post 3 Board of Commissioners candidates Margaret Hale and W. E. "Bubber” Wilkes take similar stands on some of the issues facing the county, but they differ markedly on one important one.

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In the Loop: Oconee County's Bridge to Nowhere

By Lee Becker | June 23, 2014 10:31am

Photo Credit: Lee Becker

In March of 2009, voters in Oconee County overwhelmingly approved a 1 percent Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax referendum setting aside $1.1 million for spending on “recreational, historic and scenic facilities” in the county.

More than three years later, in May of 2012, the Oconee County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously to spend $90,000 from that “recreational, historic and scenic facilities” category of SPLOST 2009, with most of that money going to replacement of a damaged “bridge” in Northwest Woods.

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