Monday, February 10, 2025

Questions About SR 316 Interchange at McNutt Creek Road, Other Transportation Projects, Dominate Oconee County Town Hall Meeting

***Combating Invasive Plants At Heritage Park Featured***

When former State Rep. Chuck Williams asked Board of Commissioners Chair John Daniell at the Town Hall Meeting late last month to provide an overview of transportation projects in the county, Daniell was happy and ready to respond.

Daniell routinely gives road work updates at Town Hall meetings, and earlier that day at a planning session with other commissioners he had gone over the long list of projects funded fully by the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT), funded jointly with GDOT, and funded by the county alone.

Friday, February 07, 2025

Oconee County Election Board Decides To Reduce The Number Of Precincts From Eight To Four In A Split Vote After Public Hearing

***10 Citizens Spoke, All In Opposition***

The Oconee County Board of Elections and Registration, in a 3 to 2 vote on Thursday night, reduced the number of precincts in the county from eight to four, with the largest new precinct stretching from the Greene County line in the south to the Clarke County line in the north.

Ten citizens spoke at the consolidation hearing held before the vote, with all of them in opposition to the change.

Wednesday, February 05, 2025

Oconee County Schools Administrator Gives Update To School Board On School Resource Officer Program

***No Detail On Hiring Provided***

Kevin Yancey, Director of Student Services for Oconee County Schools, told the Board of Education on Monday that Sheriff James Hale currently is working to fill the positions created by an Agreement approved on Jan. 29 to place a deputy in each of the county’s 12 schools.

Yancey, in his update to the Board, gave no time line for staffing of the school resource officer program within the Sheriff’s Office created by the Agreement signed by Hale and the chairs of the School Board and the Board of Commissioners at the end of the joint meeting on the 29th.

Tuesday, February 04, 2025

Oconee School Board Votes To Opt Out of Statewide Homestead Exemption Designed To Restrict Impact Of Assessments On Taxes

***Citizens At Third Hearing Asked Board Not To Opt Out***

The Oconee County Board of Education, in a 4 to 1 vote Monday evening, passed a resolution to opt out of the statewide homestead exemption approved by voters in November to rein in the impact of increases in assessments on property taxes.

The Board voted in its regular work session following the third of the required public hearings two hours earlier, with only Post 4 Board Member Adam Hammond voting against the decision.

Monday, February 03, 2025

Oconee County Commissioners Discuss SPLOST Spending, New Park, Road Projects, Homestead Exemptions At Planning Session

***Paying Off Bond Discussed***

Oconee County is expecting to collect $20 million more than budgeted when it asked voters to approve the current Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) in November of 2020, and commissioners at their strategic planning meeting on Wednesday discussed how to allocate the funds.

At the top of the list is a plan to pay off the General Obligation Bond voters approved in 2002 for purchase of land and development of what is now Oconee Veterans Park.

Sunday, February 02, 2025

Four Citizens Speak At Second Oconee School Board Hearing On Stated Intent To Opt Out Of Statewide Floating Homestead Exemption

***School Administration Makes Case For Opting Out***

Four citizens spoke at the second public hearing on Tuesday (Jan. 28) on the Oconee County School Board’s announced intent to opt out of the statewide floating homestead exemption, all telling the Board they want the exemption.

Two of the citizens emphasized that the clear majority of Oconee County voters (64.3 percent) had approved a Constitutional Amendment in the Nov. 5 election allowing for the new homestead exemption.

Saturday, February 01, 2025

Oconee County School Board, Commission, Sheriff Agree On MOU For School Resource Officers In County Schools

***Some Disagreement On Costs***

The Oconee County Board of Commissioners, the Board of Education, and Sheriff James Hale came together on Wednesday to establish a 16-person division within the Sheriff’s Office to provide School Resource Officers (SROs) in each of the county’s 12 schools.

The Memorandum of Understanding signed at the end of the meeting was the result of discussions among the three entities that began immediately after the Sept. 4 shooting at Apalachee High School in Barrow County that left two students and two teachers dead and seven others injured.