Three leaders of African-American churches in Oconee County called for greater involvement of African-Americans in the county’s future at a meeting of the Oconee County Democrat Party earlier this month.
They also called for a greater appreciation of the contribution of African-Americans to the county’s past.
The goal of that increased involvement, Rev. Joseph Nunnally told Oconee Democrats, is “to make Oconee County one community” sensitive to the views of all its members.
The Northeast Health District added 141 new cases of COVID-19 in the week ending on Friday and four new confirmed deaths attributed to the disease.
The 141 added cases of COVID-19 compare with the 199 added cases and the six confirmed deaths added in the week ending May 21.
The average of 20.1 new cases per day for the week ending on Friday compares with the average of 28.4 new cases per day for the week ending on May 21.
The Oconee County Board of Education is scheduled to hold is second and final public hearing on June 7 on its proposed $86.7 million Fiscal Year 2022 budget that leaves unchanged the existing property tax millage rate and increases spending per student by $333.
The budget includes a $1,250 one-time bonus paid to each of the system’s more than 1,000 employees plus an additional increase of $1 per hour for custodial staff, bus drivers, and school nutrition workers.
The bonus and hourly salary increase were not part of the budget submitted to the Board by Superintendent Jason Branch on May 3 but were added by the Board at its meeting on May 10.
For 40 minutes on Monday evening, the two candidates for Watkinsville Council Post 1 in the June 15 special election responded to questions ranging from their views on managing city growth to the need for a city manager.
WGAU New Director Tim Bryant asked Chuck Garrett and Carolyn Maultsby 23 different questions in the candidate forum organized by the Oconee County Republican Party and Bethel Baptist Church.
Agreement between them was more common than disagreement.
The Oconee County Planning Commission took quick action at its meeting on Monday night on a request by John and Brittany Wardlow that they be given permission to use a barn on their property on Osborne Road to house equipment from their septic cleaning service.
The Planning Commission recommended approval of Wardlow’s request, as well as a request by Tyler McClure that property he owns on Moreland Heights Drive just outside Watkinsville be rezoned for an assisted living facility and general office building.
The Northeast Health District added 199 new cases of COVID-19 in the week ending on Friday and six new confirmed deaths attributed to the disease.
The 199 added cases of COVID-19 compare with the 264 added cases and seven confirmed deaths added in the week ending May14.
The average of 28.4 new cases per day for the week ending on Friday compares with the average of 37.7 new cases per day for the week ending on May 14.
The Oconee County Board of Commissioners will hold a public hearing on the county’s proposed 2022 Fiscal Year Budget at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday before its agenda setting meeting.
County Finance Director Wes Geddings released spending requests and recommendations for the General Fund portion of the budget at the Commission’s May 4 meeting and promised to provide additional detail at the May 25 meeting.
Watkinsville’s nonpartisan special election on June 15 had taken on the character of an inter-party affair before the surprise announcement on Tuesday by Peter Steckel that he was withdrawing from the mayoral race.
The Oconee County Republican Party has organized a candidate forum for the election in partnership with Bethel Baptist Church for 6:30 p.m. on Monday (May 24), with Tim Bryant, WGAU news director and conservative commentator, serving as moderator.
When Oconee County commissioners gathers on June 1 and approve the minutes of their May 4 meeting, they will set the parameters for any near-term plans for development of a shopping center at the corner of Mars Hill Road and the Oconee Connector.
Property owner Maxie Price has 30 days from that date to file an appeal to Oconee County Superior Court of the May 4 denial by the commissioners in a 3 to 1 vote of his request to rezone the nearly 47 acres he owns at that intersection for a large shopping center anchored by a Publix.
The Northeast Health District added 264 new cases of COVID-19 in the week ending on Friday and seven new confirmed deaths attributed to the disease.
The 264 new cases compare with the 303 cases and two confirmed deaths added in the week ending on May 7.
The average of 37.7 new cases per day for the week ending on Friday compares with 43.3 cases per day in the week ending on May 7.
Oconee County added 11 cases in the week ending on Friday, while Clarke County added 51.
Walton County Board of Commissioners Chair David Thompson announced on Tuesday that he has been meeting with officials from Newton County about sale of water from the Hard Labor Creek Regional Reservoir to Newton County.
Thompson said he had three meetings with Newton County officials in recent months and that state officials also had been involved.
Thompson said the state is supportive of the interbasin transfer of water from the Oconee to Ocmulgee river basins. The water could help with development of a massive research park along I-20 on the southern tip of the county, he said.
Oconee and Clarke counties are above average in rate of full vaccination for COVID-19 in comparison with other counties in the Northeast Health District and with the state, but the number of added vaccinations per day is declining in the two counties as well as in the state.
In Oconee County, 35.3 percent of the population is fully vaccinated as of Wednesday, and in Clarke County, 27.8 is fully vaccinated.
Consistent with the rollout plans, vaccinations are disproportionately concentrated among those who are 55 years old and older in both counties.
The 10-county Northeast Health District added 303 new cases of COVID-19 in the last seven days ending on Friday, or an average of 43.3 cases per day, and only two confirmed deaths attributed to the disease.
In the week ending on Friday of last week, the District had added 371 cases, or an average of 53.0 cases per day, and eight confirmed deaths attributed to COVID-19.
The Oconee County Board of Commissioners, in a 3 to 1 vote Tuesday night, turned down the rezone request by Maxie Price’s Deferred Tax LLC for a rezone of nearly 47 acres at the corner of the Oconee Connector and Mars Hill Road.
Commissioner Chuck Horton made the motion for the denial after a public hearing and discussion among the commissioners that lasted nearly 90 minutes. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Mark Saxon.
If the Oconee County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday night were to approve the requested rezone for a shopping center at the intersection of Mars Hill Road and the Oconee Connector, it would be the third largest in the county in terms of building square footage.
It also would be the culmination of efforts going back to 1988 to create a shopping at that location.
Commissioners have approved smaller shopping centers on two of the three properties in the intersection in the past, but the property owners never developed the land.
