Blog Topic: Oconee Observations

In the Loop: A Bible College Wants to Build Its Campus on an Old Oconee County Golf Course

By Lee Becker | January 17, 2017 3:34pm

The location of the proposed campus in northwestern Oconee County near the Clarke County line.

The Oconee County Planning Commission tonight will consider a request to convert a portion of the former Green Hills Golf Course and Country Club in the far east of the county to a ministry college.

Green Hills Farms LLC, the current land owner, is seeking a special use to allow the Athens College of Ministry to develop a campus on just more than 100.2 acres on the agriculturally zoned land.

Green Hills Farms LLC currently owns 189.2 acres in the small triangle of Oconee County on the east side of the Oconee River tucked between Athens-Clarke County and Oglethorpe County. The property has been vacant since 2009.

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In the Loop: New Chairman John Daniell Is Changing the Oconee Commission's Secretive Culture

By Lee Becker | January 9, 2017 11:44am

Photo Credit: Lee Becker

Melvin Davis wasn’t at the work session of the Oconee County Board of Commissioners on Friday, but he had impact on the discussion nonetheless.

The meeting began with a review of the ethics ordinance for commissioners, which has been used only once—in a complaint filed against Davis.

The next topic was an ordinance passed by the commissioners in 2009 to reassert the power of the commission as a whole versus the power of the chairman. Davis opposed the ordinance when it was passed and fought it until he retired on Dec. 31.

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In the Loop: Oconee Commissioners Turn Down Solar Farm

By Lee Becker | January 4, 2017 12:26pm

Photo Credit: Lee Becker

From left, Oconee County commissioners Mark Thomas, Chuck Horton, Bubber Wilkes and Mark Saxon.

Oconee County commissioners in a 3-1 vote Tuesday night turned down a request for a 30-megawatt solar energy farm at the intersection of McNutt Creek Road and Dials Mill Road in the northwestern part of the county.

Commissioner Chuck Horton made the notion to deny the request for a special use of the 205 acres zoned agricultural for the solar farm, proposed by Rural Green Power LLC of Athens. Commissioner Mark Saxon seconded the motion and was joined by Horton and Commissioner William “Bubber” Wilkes in the vote on the motion. Newly elected Commissioner Mark Thomas provided the sole vote against the denial.

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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: Horton Wins Oconee Commission Seat

By Lee Becker | December 7, 2016 1:11pm

Former commissioner Chuck Horton defeated Marcus Wiedower by a 520-vote margin Tuesday night in the special election runoff for the open Post 2 seat on the Oconee County Board of Commissioners.

Horton carried seven of the county’s 13 precincts, including the two largest, to get 56.8 percent of the vote overall.

A total of 3,845 voters cast a ballot, representing 15.6 percent of the county’s 24,657 registered voters.

In other county action tonight, the Board of Commissioners postponed a decision on a requested rezone in the western part of the county for a solar farm.

The board also approved a change in the county’s alcohol ordinances to allow for Sunday sale of beer and wine in groceries and convenience stores and beer, wine and alcoholic drinks in restaurants. The ordinance goes into effect immediately.

For more, visit Oconee County Observations.

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In the Loop: Trump Underperformed in Heavily Republican Oconee County

By Lee Becker | November 21, 2016 11:05am

Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore

Donald Trump underperformed in Oconee County on Nov. 8, compared with how Republican presidential candidates fared in 2012 and 2008, an analysis of the official results for the last three presidential elections shows.

Trump got 67.4 percent of the vote in Oconee County, compared with Mitt Romney’s 73.6 percent in 2012 and John McCain’s 70.8 percent in 2008.

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In the Loop: Dan Matthews Wins Watkinsville City Council Seat

By Blake Aued | November 15, 2016 12:26pm

Photo Credit: Lee Becker

Dan Matthews, a longtime Democratic activist and a fixture in the Athens music scene for decades, has won a Watkinsville city council seat, according to the Athens Banner-Herald.

Matthews, the office manager at Eric Krasle’s law firm, beat Mark Melvin 570 votes to 568. He was declared the winner Monday after a handful of absentee ballots arrived from overseas. It was Matthews’ fourth run for local or state office.

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In the Loop: Anonymous Mailer Attacks Oconee County Commission Candidate as 'Career Politician'

By Lee Becker | November 7, 2016 12:16pm

The campaign for the open Post 2 seat on the Oconee County Board of Commissioners turned negative this week as a campaign flier attacking candidate Chuck Horton as a “career politician” who has threatened the county’s school system arrived in select mailboxes in the county.

The dark colored, six-inch by 11-inch flier does not indicate who paid for the mailing, but it lists as the mailing address the postal box used by Marcus for Oconee BOC, the organization of candidate Marcus Wiedower.

Wiedower has not responded to repeated attempts to talk to him about the advertisement.

Ben Bridges, the third candidate for the Board of Commissioners position, said Thursday night he had not seen the flier and had nothing to do with it.

Horton also said that 25 to 30 of his campaign signs posted on private property have been stolen or damaged. Several of the damaged signs were run over by a vehicle, he said.

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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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In the Loop: Oconee County Joins the Chorus Against the 'Opportunity School District'

By Lee Becker | October 19, 2016 10:09am

Oconee County School Superintendent Jason Branch.

Both Oconee County School Superintendent Jason Branch and Board of Education Chairman Tom Odom have spoken out publicly against Amendment 1 to Georgia Constitution that is on the November ballot.

The so-called Opportunity School District amendment asks voters to decide if they want “to allow the state to intervene in chronically failing public schools in order to improve student performance?"

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