Sunday, January 29, 2017

Oconee County Utility Department Director Says He Will Not Ask Commissioners To Build A Pipeline Down Calls Creek

1.5 MGD Plant Upgrade

Oconee County Utility Department Director Wayne Haynie is scheduled to ask the Board of Commissioners on Tuesday night to approve his upgrade plans for the Calls Creek wastewater treatment plant, but he says those plans do not include an effluent pipeline down the creek.

In fact, Haynie told Jim McGarvey of Friends of Calls Creek in an email message on Friday that the county is no longer planning a sewer line down Calls Creek.

Wednesday, January 25, 2017

Oconee County Held Two-Day Staff Retreat For Department Heads At Stone Mountain

”Team Building”

Oconee County department heads, at the invitation of Board of Commissioners Chair John Daniell, met for two days last week at Stone Mountain in what Daniell said was an effort at “team building.”

In the first day of the session on Thursday, former County Administrative Officer Alan Theriault led the group through a discussion about the budget process, communications, morale “or any other item important to the group,” Daniell said. Neither he nor current Administrative Officer Jeff Benko attended that session.

Tuesday, January 24, 2017

Architectural Firm Recommending That Oconee County Replace Its Animal Shelter

Cost: $2.9 Million

Tevis Architects, hired to do an assessment of the Oconee County Animal Shelter, is recommending that the county replace the entire facility, located at 1171 Branch Road in the far south of the county.

In a report dated Jan. 9, 2017, Tevis said that the while renovation of the existing facility was possible, “it would be far less costly to build a new facility.”

Sunday, January 22, 2017

Initial Plans Submitted To Oconee County Planning Department For Restaurant In Historic Home On Hog Mountain Road

Abe Jones House

Plans for a restaurant in the historic home at Hog Mountain Road and Hillcrest Drive just west of Butler’s Crossing are moving forward.

Abe Abouhamdan of Abe Consulting presented a preliminary site plan and site development plans to the Oconee County Development Review Committee earlier this month that included the restaurant.

Oconee County Library Friends Preps For Winter Book Sale On Heels Of Successful Fall Event

Feb. 2-4

Oconee County Library Friends, following a record used book sale in the autumn, is preparing for its Winter Sale from Feb. 2 to Feb. 4.

The Winter Sale will be held at the Watkinsville Library itself, rather than at the Civic Center, as was the case in September.

Saturday, January 21, 2017

Oconee County Utility Department Director Blames Membranes For Past Sewage Plant Woes

Wants Them Eliminated

When a video surfaced in April of 2015 showing Oconee County discharging black water from its wastewater treatment plant into nearby Calls Creek, then Board of Commissioners Chairman Melvin Davis told the public the county had become aware of “an issue” at the plant and had it under control.

Oconee County Utility Department Director Wayne Haynie presented a very different view on Wednesday at a Board of Commissioners work session as he was making the case to abandon the existing technology used at the Calls Creek plant in favor of a new design for the plant upgrade.

Thursday, January 19, 2017

Sewer Plant On Middle Oconee River Center Of Focus At Oconee County Commission Work Session

Calls Creek Upgrade Too

Oconee County officials changed course yesterday (Wednesday), focusing their attention at a meeting on water and sewer issues less on the proposed upgrade to the Calls Creek wastewater treatment plant and more on the possibility of building a sewage plant on the Middle Oconee River.

Paula Feldman, lead-off speaker at the Board of Commissioners work session, set the stage, telling the Commissioners at the beginning of her talk that the recommendations in the 2005 Long Range Wastewater Strategies document “are still good and sound.”

Monday, January 16, 2017

Proposal For A Christian Ministry Campus Off Barnett Shoals Road On Agenda Of Oconee County Planning Commission

Water And Sewer Needed

The Oconee County Planning Commission tomorrow (Tuesday) night 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.

Sunday, January 15, 2017

Feasibility Study For Oconee County Animal Shelter Should Be Ready For Discussion Shortly, Commissioners Told

Before Advisory Board Feb. 8

Oconee County Administrative Officer Jeff Benko is expecting to distribute a consultant’s report on the feasibility of renovating the animal shelter to the Board of Commissioners this week.

Benko made that statement to the Board at its work session at the Community Center in Veterans Park on Tuesday.

Friday, January 13, 2017

Oconee County Industrial Development Authority Now Focusing On Western Tract In Gateway Business Park

Lacks Sewers

The Oconee County Industrial Development Authority, following its agreement last month to sell the undeveloped acreage in the eastern parcel of its Gateway Technology Business Park, is trying to determine the value of its western parcel in anticipation of interest in the acreage.

The group also wants to come up with firm figures for how much it will have to spend to extend sewer services to the western property.

Wednesday, January 11, 2017

Citizens At Oconee County Town Hall Meeting Told Decision On Calls Creek Sewer Pipeline Coming Soon

Solar Power Also Discussed

Oconee County is likely to make a decision on expansion of its Calls Creek sewage treatment plant and on whether to run a pipeline down Calls Creek for treated effluent early next month.

The commissioners who opposed the solar energy farm proposed for Dials Mill Road in the northwest of the county were concerned about the project’s impact on surrounding residential neighborhoods and were not opposed to alternative energy sources.

Sunday, January 08, 2017

Former Oconee County Chairman Had Impact On Discussion At Work Session Of New Board

Meeting On Friday

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.

Saturday, January 07, 2017

Healthcare And Education Will Dominate Discussions In General Assembly, Oconee Sen. Bill Cowsert Told Local Officials

Assembly Opens Monday

Bill Cowsert, who represents Oconee County in the Georgia Senate, told a group of local officials last month that he expects healthcare and education to dominate much of the work of the session of the General Assembly that starts on Monday.

Cowsert, who is Republican Majority leader, was speaking even before the U.S. Senate began its efforts this week to unravel the Affordable Care Act.

Tuesday, January 03, 2017

Oconee County Commissioners Turn Down Solar Energy Farm In Northwest Of County

3-1 Vote

Oconee County commissioners in a 3-1 vote tonight (Tuesday) 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.

Monday, January 02, 2017

Oconee County Planning Staff Recommends Approval Of Solar Energy Farm After Review Of Revised Plans

Comprehensive Plan An Issue

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. on Tuesday night at the Courthouse in Watkinsville.