Saturday, June 22, 2013

Maps Show Changes Proposed By Rep. Quick To Modify House Districts 117 And 119

Rep. Williams On Board

Oconee County’s two delegates in the Georgia House of Representatives agreed after a town hall style meeting in Bogart in April to release maps showing how their two districts could be reconfigured in the next meeting of the General Assembly to put all of Oconee County voters back into a single district.

Following that meeting, Dan O’Connor, a data analyst in the Reapportionment Office of the General Assembly, provided me the detailed maps–the first ever released–showing the changes in House Districts 117 and 119 requested before the legislative session in January by Rep. Regina Quick from the 117th District.

Saturday, June 15, 2013

Hard Labor Creek Management Board Set To Consider $28 Million Budget At Meeting On Tuesday

Big Item: Dam Construction

The Hard Labor Creek Regional Reservoir Management Board is scheduled to consider on Tuesday the $28.2 million fiscal year 2014 project budget, which includes $15 million for construction of the dam and spillway for the reservoir in southeast Walton County.

The budget also includes $2.8 million for construction of the reservoir intake and pump and $3.5 million to relocate Social Circle Fairplay Road.

Friday, June 14, 2013

Oconee County Sees Population Growth Rate of 2.5 Percent From 2010 to 2012

Most Recent Estimate

Oconee County’s population increased by 804 individuals between April 1, 2010, and July 1, 2012, according to the latest estimate by the U.S. Census Bureau.

The growth rate for Oconee County of 2.5 percent is just slightly higher than the growth rate of 2.4 percent for the state as a whole.

Monday, June 10, 2013

Called Meeting of Oconee County Commissioners To Deal With Sewer Capacity Fees

Changes For Pending Projects

The Oconee County Board of Commissioners is scheduled to meet at 5:15 p.m. tomorrow evening in a called meeting to consider changes to the county’s policy on computation of sewer capacity fees.

Utility Department Director Chris Thomas told me on Friday that he is proposing that the county change when capacity fees are paid and how they are calculated.

Sunday, June 09, 2013

Oconee County Code Enforcement Office Logged Complaints In April And May Against Oconee Waste Transport

Loud Banging Noise Cited

Oconee County Code Enforcement has logged five complaints against Oconee Waste Transport following acknowledgment by the county in early April that it had agreed to allow the company to operate in violate of a county zoning ordinance in part because neighbors had stopped complaining.

Five different residents of the small subdivision off Greene Ferry Road south of Watkinsville complained to the county on three different dates in late April and early May that OWT was operating before 6 a.m.

Monday, June 03, 2013

Oconee County Commissioners Set To Adopt FY 2014 Budget With Water And Sewer Rate Increases

Sheriff Gets Deputies

The Oconee County Board of Commissioners tomorrow night is expected to adopt a fiscal year 2014 General Fund budget that is up 5.7 percent from a year earlier but $2.7 million less than department heads and constitutional officers had requested.

The overall county budget includes water and sewer rate increases, with residential water customers paying $19 for the first 1,000 gallons of water used, up 5.6 percent from the current $18, and residential sewer customers paying $21.32, up 4.0 percent from a year earlier.

Sunday, June 02, 2013

County Attorney’s Change Of View Precedes Oconee County Commissioners’ Vote To Approve Beer And Wine License For Theater

No Monitoring Acknowledged

The Oconee County Board of Commissioners last week voted to approve the beer and wine license for University 16 Cinema after the theater owner scaled back from three to one the number of auditoriums in which food and alcohol would be sold.

That change led County Attorney Daniel Haygood to drop his opposition to the request and conclude that a restaurant that includes a theater does not necessarily violate the county’s definition of a restaurant as spelled out in the beer and wine ordinance.