Sunday, December 27, 2015

Oconee County Issues Building Permit For Fifth Restaurant In Epps Bridge Centre

Grove Burgers

Oconee County’s Code Enforcement Office has issued a building permit for the build out of unit 510 of Epps Bridge Centre for Groove Burgers, which will become the fifth restaurant in the shopping center.

Work on the restaurant has begun and should be completed by Jan. 10, according to the permit, issued on Dec. 16.

Tuesday, December 22, 2015

Oconee County SPLOST Report Shows $9.2 Million In Unspent Funds From 2004 and 2009 Tax Collections

SPLOST 2015 Underway

Oconee County was sitting on $9.2 million in unspent funds in its Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax accounts on June 30, three months before the 2009 tax came to an end, according to the annual report the county is required to publish by the end of the month.

The money includes $3.6 million in collected but unspent revenue from the 2004 SPLOST and $5.6 million from the 2009 SPLOST, which went into effect in September of 2009 when the 2004 SPLOST expired.

Monday, December 21, 2015

Oconee County Legislators Said They Expect The Upcoming Session Of The General Assembly To Be Brief

It’s An Election Year

The upcoming session of the Georgia General Assembly likely will be brief, because 2016 is an election year and the legislators want to get home to campaign.

Two topics the legislators are likely to deal with are education and casino gambling.

Friday, December 18, 2015

Oconee County Sounding Board On U.S. 441 Widening And Bishop Bypass To Meet Tuesday

Open To Public

The newly appointed Sounding Board on the widening of U.S. 441 and construction of a bypass of Bishop is set to hold its first meeting at 6 p.m. on Tuesday at the Community Center, 4951 U.S. 441 in Bishop.

Attendees will include legislators, Georgia Department of Transportation officials, and 441 Sounding Board members, according to an announcement released by Oconee County Clerk Jane Greathouse early this afternoon and now on the county web site.

Wednesday, December 16, 2015

Oconee County Commission Chairman Says More Information Needed Regarding U.S. 441 Widening But Withholds Maps Of Project

No Web Presence

Oconee County Board of Commissioners Chairman Melvin Davis last night refused to put onto the county website maps that the George Department of Transportation provided him in June showing the route under review for the widening of U.S. 441 and construction of the Bishop bypass.

Davis took that action following a request by Carole Ludwig, one of the landowners in the area, that the county and GDOT be more forthcoming in providing information about the project.

Monday, December 14, 2015

Oconee County Commission Chairman To Unveil His “Sounding Board” For U.S. 441 Widening and Bishop Bypass Project

Follow To June Meeting

Oconee County Board of Commissioners Chairman Melvin Davis is asking his fellow commissioners tomorrow night to approve of his selection of an eight-member “Sounding Board” for the planned widening of U.S. 441 and construction of a bypass of Bishop.

At least two of those Davis has designed as members of the citizen group have property likely to be impacted by the road construction. Two others are members of the county’s Citizen Advisory Committee for Land Use and Transportation Planning, which the BOC appoints.

Sunday, December 13, 2015

Oconee County Planning Commission To Consider Request To Bring Hots BBQ and Reception Hall Into Zoning Compliance

Historic Sites

The Oconee County Planning Commission tomorrow night will consider taking steps to bring Hot Thomas Bar-B-Que, a famous south Oconee family restaurant operating since 1984, into compliance with Oconee County zoning ordinances.

It also will consider plans to make a more recently opened reception hall in a historic seed house next door to an existing cotton gin consistent with current land use laws.

Tuesday, December 08, 2015

GDOT Told Bidders For Engineering Design Services For U.S. 441 Widening And Bishop Bypass In Oconee County That It Needed A Validation Of Existing Plans

Revision Possible

While representatives of the Georgia Department of Transportation last week emphasized the lack of firm plans for the future route of a widened U.S. 441 in southern Oconee County, the Request for Qualifications issued late last year for engineering design services presents at least a slightly different picture.

Brad Saxon, assistant state program delivery engineer for GDOT, told a gathering of citizens at Oconee Veterans Park on Nov. 30 that “we do not have a preferred alignment” for the route and “we are starting work anew.”

Friday, December 04, 2015

Farmland Protection Was A Central Theme Of Oconee County Citizen Group Meeting Regarding U.S. 441 Widening and Bishop Bypass

Stay Organized

When given the opportunity to speak on Thursday night, Carole Ludwig, 1510 Old Farmington Road, outside Bishop, seized it quickly.

“Yea, I want to talk,” Ludwig told the more than 40 people assembled at the Oconee County Library in Watkinsville to discuss the proposed widening of U.S. 441 and construction of a bypass of Bishop.

Wednesday, December 02, 2015

Crowd At Regional Transportation Authority Meeting Concerned About Possible Route Of U.S. 441 From Watkinsville To County Line

Technical Matter

The meeting on Monday night was on a technical issue involving funding for the widening of U.S. 441 and construction of a Bishop bypass, but the more than 30 people who crammed the room had a broader range of concerns.

Sherry McDuffie, planner with the Madison Athens-Clarke Oconee Regional Transportation Study (MACORTS), anticipated those concerns, and she told the group at the beginning of what was billed as a drop-in session that she didn’t have information on the future route or other matters.