Bills To Change Composition Of Athens-Clarke County Elections Board Sent To Committee For Future Discussion Of Election Board Make-Up

***Oconee Board Similar To One Targeted For Change***

The Georgia House of Representatives on Monday pulled two bills designed to reconfigure the Athens-Clarke County Board of Elections and Registration from its local legislative Calendar and sent them to its Intragovernmental Coordination Committee for further consideration.

Rep. Houston Gaines, who represents one of Oconee County’s four precincts in the 120th House District and is the chief sponsor of the two bills, did not object when Beth Camp, chair of the Intragovernmental Coordination Committee, asked House Speaker Jon Burns to pull the two bills from the Local Calendar.

Oconee County’s State Legislators Seeking To Change Way Athens-Clarke County Election Board Is Constituted

***Oconee And ACC Need Local Legislation For Board Definitions***

Oconee County’s two state House representatives, who also represent parts of Athens-Clarke County, have introduced legislation in the General Assembly to change how the Athens-Clarke County Board of Elections and Registration is constituted.

As is the case in Oconee County, the ACC Board of Elections and Registration at present consists of five voters serving four-year terms, with one member put forward by the county’s Democratic Party, one member put forward by the county’s Republican Party, and three chosen by the County Commission from voters in the county who apply.

Bill Sent To Governor Gives Oconee County School Board Chance To Reverse The Decision To Opt Out of Floating Homestead Exemption

***Decision Due By April 30***

Georgia House Bill 92, on the desk of Gov. Brian Kemp, would give the Oconee County Board of Education until the end of April to decide to reverse its decision to opt out of the floating homestead exemption approved by voters last November.

If the Board decides to stay the course and not participate in the inflation-adjusted property tax exemption for homeowners, it will have to renew that decision again in 2027, after holding three public hearings, if the governor signs the bill.

Speaker Tells Oconee County Democrats To Reach Out To Rural And Working Class Communities Through Nonpartisan Civic Projects

***Democrats Deliver Comments; Republicans Elect Officers***

Meredith Dean, Director of Community Works, an initiative to build relationships and trust across political differences, asked Oconee County Democrats last week to “think differently” about people living in rural America.

Speaking to the Democrats via Zoom from her base in rural Virginia, Dean said “both major parties have actually failed rural communities,” and this is part of the reason Democrats “are in the situation” they are in.

GDOT Has Sent Letters To Property Owners South Of Watkinsville Asking For Location Of Septic Tanks As Part Of SR 15 Bypass Planning

***Little Detail About Route Available***

The Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) has sent letters to property owners between SR 15 and U.S. 441 south of Watkinsville telling them that survey work will begin soon for the design of a truck bypass of Watkinsville for SR 15.

Property owners are told they must allow access to the surveyors and are asked to complete a sketch showing where their septic tanks are located.

Developer Shows Oconee County Planning Commission Drawing For Unnamed Grocery On U.S. 78 Near Mars Hill Road Intersection

***Signaled Entrance For Grocery At Clotfelter Road***

Representatives of Jones Petroleum Company and Hand Properties were before the Oconee County Planning Commission on Monday with the most specific plans to date for a grocery store in the U.S. 78 corridor in the northwest part of the county.

The request was to rezone a very narrow strip of land north of and opposite Clotfelter Road on U.S. 78 that will allow for a signalized entrance to a planned shopping center to the west of the JP convenience store and fuel station and Burger King at Mars Hill Road.

Large Crowd Turns Out For Town Hall Meeting With 10th District Congressman Collins, Who Said In Advance He Would Not Attend

***Audience Members Read Questions To Empty Chair***

Organizers of the Tuesday evening Town Hall Meeting With Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Collins were not able to get Collins to attend, but they did turn out a very large crowd that produced a stack of 163 comment forms to deliver to Collins’s Monroe Office this week.

Selected individuals in the auditorium of the Athens Library read aloud a number of those questions, and the crowd remained engaged and orderly for the more than 90 minutes set aside for the meeting.

Bishop Recall Circulators Can Ask Again For Petition Applications But Have Decided To Focus On November Elections Instead

***Error Made In Interpretation Of Laws***

The group in Bishop that submitted a rejected application to begin the recall process for that city’s mayor and three member of its Council can restart the process at any time, according to a new interpretation of the state laws covering recalls.

Despite that option, Jacob Spaulding, who picked up the application forms and returned them to the Oconee County Office of Elections and Registration on March 3, said that he and his colleagues have decided to end their recall efforts.

Two Bills In Georgia House Of Representatives Target Oconee County School Board After It Opted Out Of Floating Homestead Exemption

***Gaines Lead Sponsor Of HB 370***

Members of the Georgia House of Representative, led in part by Oconee County Rep. Houston Gaines, are working hard to make life difficult for members of governmental bodies that voted to opt out of the state’s new floating homestead exemption.

In Oconee County, those are the members of the Oconee County Board of Education, who voted 4 to 1 on Feb. 3 to approve a resolution not to participate in the inflation-adjusted homestead exemption.

Oconee County Democrats Plan To Hold Town Hall Meeting Without Republican U.S. District 10 Rep. Mike Collins

***Venue Moved Because Of Size Of Registration***

Oconee County Democrats are going forward with plans to hold a Town Hall Meeting on Tuesday evening, even though they acknowledge invited Republican 10th Congressional District Rep. Mike Collins has said he will not attend.

The meeting will begin at 5:30 p.m. at the Athens Clarke-County Library Auditorium, according to an email message sent out by Harold Thompson, Oconee County Democratic Party Chair, on Friday (March 14).

Oconee Connector Could Be Closed For 45 Days During Reconstruction Of SR 316 Interchange, Daniell Says During State Of County Address

***Virgil Langford Flyover Like First Part Of Project Bundle***

The Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) is considering allowing its contractor to close the Oconee Connector interchange with SR 316 for 45 days during reconstruction of that intersection.

Construction of the three-interchange bundle consisting of Jimmy Daniell Road, Virgil Langford Road, and the Connector is expected to begin later this year with the Virgil Langford Road flyover of SR 316.

Tax Revenue, State Funding At Expected Level, But Federal Fund Reimbursements Slightly Delayed, Oconee County School Board Told

***Threat At Elementary School Reported***

Oconee County Schools has collected 99 percent of its projected revenue from ad valorem taxes and from title taxes, two-thirds of its funding from the state Quality Basic Education (QBE) formula, and 28 times the budgeted amount for investment income.

Oconee County Schools Chief Financial Officer Peter Adams made that report to School Board on Monday, saying that, in the eighth month of the school year “we are on target for the period, maintaining a well balanced financial position.”

Oconee County School Board Approves Five-Year Facilities Plan That Outlines Big Changes To North Oconee, Oconee County High Schools

***State Told Enrollment Expected To Increase***

The Oconee County Board of Education on Monday approved a state-required five-year facilities plan that projects growing enrollment through the 2028-2029 school year and calls for expanded high school instructional space to address that growth.

The total cost of the construction in the plan is $67.1 million, with $16.2 million of that listed as eligible for state funding and the remaining $50.9 million coming from local sources.

Oconee County School Board Being Asked To Approve Five-Year Facilities Plan; Upgrades For North Oconee High School Top Priority

***No Mention Of Third High School***

Oconee County Schools is planning the addition of seven instructional units to North Oconee High School in the next five years as well as substantial renovations and modifications of the facility.

The school system is telling the state that the changes at North Oconee High School are its top construction priority for the next five years and asking the state to contribute $4.5 million to those changes. Total costs are expected to exceed $13 million.

Oconee County Elections Board Rejects Petitions For Recall Of Bishop Mayor, Council Members After Review Of Submitted Documents

***Applications Did Not Meet Requirements Of Law***

The Oconee County Board of Elections and Registration on Tuesday turned down the Application Petition of a group of Bishop residents that would have been the first step in initiating a recall election for the mayor and three members of the Bishop Council.

The Elections Board took that action after reviewing the application documents submitted the day earlier and determining that Greg Montgomery, designated as the Petition Chairperson on the four Recall Application Petitions, is not a registered voter in Bishop or in Oconee County and had not actually signed the petitions.

Oconee County Commission Approves Rezones For Car Wash And Oil Change Shop At Epps Bridge Centre And For Nearby Hotel

***New Office Buildings Also Approved***

Oconee County commissioners, in quick succession on Tuesday night, approved rezone plans for a car wash and oil change shop at Epps Bridge Centre II, for a small office complex just north of Watkinsville, and for a hotel on Parkway Boulevard near Epps Bridge Centre.

No one other than the applicants or their representatives spoke in favor of any of the three rezone requests, and no one spoke in opposition. With almost no discussion, the commissioners approved all three unanimously.

Oconee County Schools Now Has Resource Officers In Five Of Its 12 Schools, Board Of Education Informed At Monday Work Session

***High Schools And Middle Schools Have SROs

Only a little more than a month after approval of an agreement setting up a School Resource Officer (SRO) program for Oconee County Schools, officers have been assigned to five of the system’s 12 schools.

Kevin Yancey, Director of Student Services at Oconee County Schools, told the Oconee County Board of Education at its work session on Monday (March 3) that, as of that day, the third officer had been assigned to the system’s three middle schools.

Number of Oconee County Students Enrolled At Private Schools Increased This School Year; Home Schooling Intentions Also Up

***Prince Avenue, Westminster Report Increases***

Nearly 1,000 students who live in Oconee County were attending private schools last October, up by 85 students from October of 2023.

The largest number of those Oconee County students in private schools in October were attending Prince Avenue Christian School, Athens Academy, and Westminster Christian Academy.

Oconee County Superior Court Judge Condemns Two Properties For SR 316 Interchanges at Virgil Langford Road, Oconee Connector

***$35,600 and $69,300 Offered For Less Than One Acre***

Oconee County Superior Court Judge Eric Norris last month issued orders condemning two pieces of property owned by Deferred Tax LLC that are needed by the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) for construction of the interchanges of Virgil Langford Road and the Oconee Connector at SR 316.

Norris also granted GDOT additional easements and access rights needed during the construction of the two interchanges.