Blog Topic: Oconee Observations

In the Loop: Oconee SPLOST Likely to Be Delayed

By Lee Becker | February 26, 2014 12:36pm

The date for the referendum on the Oconee County 2015 Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax now seems more likely to be in November than May, as originally planned.

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In the Loop: Oconee Commissioners Whittling Down SPLOST

By Lee Becker | February 25, 2014 11:14am

Oconee County commissioners tonight are to begin the public whittling down of the $100 million in requests for the 2015 Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax.

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In the Loop: Oconee Farmers Market Starts Apr. 5

By Lee Becker | February 24, 2014 10:45am

Farmers market board member Annie Kennedy.

Oconee Farmers Market will launch its 11th season with the opening of the Saturday market on Apr. 5 and the Tuesday evening market on May 13.

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In the Loop: Athens Reps Quick, Williams Vote to Allow Guns in Government Buildings

By Lee Becker | February 23, 2014 3:57pm

Regina Quick

Oconee County’s two members of the Georgia House of Representatives voted with the Republican majority on Tuesday to pass an omnibus gun bill that would allow, among other things, licensed holders of guns to enter county government buildings that do not have security restrictions in place.

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In the Loop: Clear-Cutting for Hard Labor Creek Reservoir Starts Monday

By Lee Becker | February 20, 2014 12:03pm

Residents of southeastern Walton County as well as others traveling through the area will soon get a clearer sense of the scope of the 1,400 acre Hard Labor Creek Regional Reservoir project.

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In the Loop: Oconee Commissioner Asks for SPLOST Delay

By Lee Becker | February 19, 2014 12:12pm

Oconee County Commissioner Margaret Hale asked her fellow commissioners Tuesday night to delay the vote on the Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax referendum from May to November, but none of them expressed any support for her request.

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In the Loop: Thanks to Student Apartments, Oconee Building Permits Top Pre-Crash Levels

By Lee Becker | February 17, 2014 10:32am

Athens Ridge

The Oconee County Code Enforcement Office issued 502 single family and town home permits in 2013, exceeding the number issued for residential construction in 2006—before the housing collapse of a year later.

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In the Loop: Oconee Residents Pitch Funding for Farmland, Tennis

By Lee Becker | February 14, 2014 11:48am

Twenty-two speakers Monday, Feb. 11 made their pitches to the Oconee County Board of Commissioners, arguing that the projects they favored should be funded by the Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax scheduled to be on the May 20 ballot.

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In the Loop: No-Bid Contracts Granted for Caterpillar

By Lee Becker | February 11, 2014 1:47pm

The industrial development authorities of Oconee and Athens-Clarke counties in early 2012 granted two no-bid contracts totaling $870,079 to Williams and Associates land planners of Oconee County for engineering services for the Caterpillar project.

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In the Loop: Oconee SPLOST Requests Top $100 Million

By Lee Becker | February 10, 2014 11:14am

Chief Superior Court Judge David Sweat wants a $25 million judicial facility added to the list of projects to be funded by Oconee County’s 2015 Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax.

Oconee County Coroner Ed Carson wants $55,000 for a transport van.

These two requests bracket $100.2 million in requests that will be summarized in a public hearing with the Oconee County Board of Commissioners that will start at 6 p.m. today at the Civic Center on Hog Mountain Road.

The Commissioners have to pare that list down to about $38 million before they vote on March 4, as they are expected to do, to put the issue on the May 20 ballot.

The meeting tonight is the second and final chance for citizens to publicly express their feelings about the proposed projects and which ones will likely lead them to vote in favor of the tax at the May election.

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