The Oconee County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday agreed to spend $755,363 for a roundabout at New High Shoals Road and Union Church Road, with construction to start in the next few weeks and to be completed by the end of the year.
The roundabout is the second of five planned roundabouts to be funded by the Transportation Local Option Sales Tax (TSPLOST). Work on a roundabout at Lane Creek Road and Snows Mill Road is underway.
The next of the five planned TSPLOST roundabouts will be at Colham Ferry Road and Astondale Road.
Much of the costs of the New High Shoals Road and Union Church Road roundabout as well as of the Astondale Road and Colham Ferry Road roundabouts will be covered by newly allocated supplemental state transportation funds, with TSPLOST monies covering the remainder.
The Colham Ferry Road and Astondale Road roundabout has been discussed by the Board at several recent meeting following the March 4 death of 17-year-old William Morgan in a single-car accident on Colham Ferry Road.
Jeff and Jennifer Morgan, parents of William, have spoken at several Commission meetings since that time to urge the commissioners to address their concerns about that intersection and the safety of travel on Colham Ferry Road generally.
The couple was back on Tuesday, with Jennifer saying it was the three-month three-month anniversary of the death of her son and asking for Board action. The Morgans spoke during the public comment section at the beginning of the Commission meeting on Tuesday.
The Board subsequently took final action on the $83.7 million Fiscal Year 2026 Budget, granted three zoning requests, and appointed citizens to a number of committees.
Public Comment
Jeff Morgan told the Commissioners that on Colham Ferry “There are speed limit signs that are suggestions. There are other caution signs that are greatly ignored. We have a lot of people driving 80 (mph), and the speed limit is 55 (mph) or less.”
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| Jennifer Morgan Before Board 6/3/2025 |
“So the speed needs to be dropped down,” he said. “And again, I urge you to do something to control the intersection at Astondale.”
“I'm still asking, what are we going to do about this?” Jennifer Morgan said when she followed her husband to the podium. “How are we going to fix this?”
“I'm not asking for you to stand on the side of the road and slow people down,” she said. “But we have a problem in South Oconee, and we need to fix it.”
“My son was killed three months ago tomorrow,” she said. “He was not speeding. He was not on the phone. He was doing the right things.”
“I am passed on blind hills, blind curves, and sometimes both in the same location,” she said. “People who are flying. No regard for their safety.”
“I think I have earned the right to be emotional if I need to be,” she said, breaking down. “You haven't walked a minute in my shoes. In fact, you have not put my shoes on. Be thankful for that. You have no idea the pain, the agony, the emotion that I deal with. On a minute-by-minute basis.”
“You have no idea what it takes for me sometimes to get out of bed in the morning,” she said. “Be thankful for that. I don't wish this on my worst enemy, let alone somebody I know and care about.”
“Don't wait until somebody else dies,” she said. “Don't put somebody else through this agony.”
Commission Response
The Board of Commissioners does not set time limits for public comment, and the Morgans spoke for a little more than eight minutes.
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| Thomas 6/3/2025 |
“Ms. Morgan, I just want to say how sorry I am for your loss,” Commissioner Mark Thomas said in response. “I can only imagine what you guys are going through. I know it's extremely difficult.”
“I did speak to the sheriff,” Thomas said, referring to Oconee County Sheriff James Hale. “He has not heard from you guys. And would like to speak with you guys. If you want to make an appointment to go by and speak with him, he'd certainly be more than happy to talk to you.”
Commission Chair Daniell said because voters approved TSPLOST in 2022 the county has been able to make road improvements, and “we have the right solution for” the Colham Ferry Road and Astondale Road intersection.
“They're finishing up the final right-of-way acquisition” for a roundabout,” he said, “and we hope to go to bid on that in September.”
Daniell said that speed detection signs were put up on Colham Ferry Road from May 7 to May 11, with a cautionary flashing light, and from May 21 to May 25, without the flashing light.
The vehicle count was 7,329 with the flashing light, and 8,158 without, and no vehicles were clocked more than 10 miles per hour higher than the 55 mph speed limit, Daniell said.
“We are doing a study, based on this information,” he said, to determine to ‘if the speed limit needs to be dropped. We're looking at that to see if that's a possibility.”
County Administrator Justin Kirouac said in an email on Friday that the “southbound radar sign was placed at 1121 Colham Ferry Road and the northbound was placed at 2730 Colham Ferry Road. These addresses are approximately a half mile on each side from Astondale.”
New High Shoals Road/Union Church Road
Public Works Director Jody Woodall told the Board that CMC Inc. of Suwanee was the low among nine bidders for the roundabout at New High Shoals Road and Union Church Road.
The supplemental state funds will cover the costs of the $740,267 contract with CMI, he said, and the county will use $15,095 in TSPLOST monies for geotechnical and material testing and permitting.
The next roundabout with TSPLOST funding will be at Cole Springs, Aycock, and Snows Mill Roads, and the fifth will be at Moores Ford Road and Lane Creek Road.
In partnership with the Georgia Department of Transportation, construction is underway for a roundabout at Snows Mill Road/Rocky Branch and SR 53 (Hog Mountain Road). Another at Malcom Bridge/Ray’s Church Road and SR 53 is set for construction next year.
Preliminary planning is underway for an additional roundabout at Wellbrook Road and Hog Mountain Road.
Rezones
The Board took quick action on Tuesday on a request by Robert Woelfl to divide 10 acres at 1488 Old Bishop Road into two residential lots.
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| Chamberlin Before Board 6/3/2025 |
No one spoke in opposition to the request. The Board approved it unanimously.
Susan Chamberlin, 1011 Barnett Drive, in the far eastern tip of Oconee County on the eastern side of the Oconee River, asked the Commission on Tuesday to grant two special use variances for her 1.01 acre lot.
Chamberlin wants to build a 1,200 square foot detached garage in the corner of Barnett Drive and South Barnett Shoals Road and has cleared that area of her property for that purpose.
Chamberlin asked for a variance to allow her to reduce the private freestanding garage setback along Barnett Drive from 200 feet to 38.1 feet and along South Barnett Shoals Road from 200 feet to 34.4 feet.
She also asked that she be allowed to reduce the front yard setback along South Barnett Shoals Road from 40 feet to 34.4 feet and
Eric Starkey, who lives at 1020 Barnett Drive, across the street from Chamberlin, said Chamberlin is asking for “a substantial change to the setback” and that the change “alters the character of that entrance to the neighborhood.”
The Commission added a condition that the garage be screened by an evergreen barrier on both Barnett Drive and South Barnett Shoals Road.
Approval of the variance request to reduce the private freestanding garage setback along Barnett Drive and South Barnett Shoals Road was unanimous.
Commissioner Amrey Harden voted against granting the variance to reduce front yard setback along South Barnett Shoals Road.
Other Action
The Board appointed Jeffrey B. Watson to the Oconee County Board of Assessors.
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| Haygood (L), Kirouac 6/3/2025 |
It appointed Linda Wistrom and Amy Bramlet to the Oconee County Animal Services Advisory Board.
The Board appointed Stan Ruth to the Family and Children Services Board.
It appointed Jody Pope, John Lawson, Angela Young, Ashley Sorrells, and Tamara Andros to the Keep Oconee County Beautiful Commission.
The Board appointed Stephanie VanDyck, Deesha Hagwood, Casey Deming, and Amber McCall Deutsch to the Tourism and Visitors Bureau
The Board also approved the donation to the Georgia Department of Transportation of small rights of way for five parcels along SR 316.
Two are for the Jimmy Daniell Road interchange. Two are for the Virgil Langford Road flyover. One is for the Oconee Connector interchange.
“This is what they need to move forward with the interchange improvements,” County Attorney Daniel Haygood told the Board. Construction is scheduled to begin in the final quarter of this year.
The Board also approved its consent agenda from its May 20 agenda-setting meeting, including spending $105,300 and $189,135 on design work for two separate sewer expansion projects to accommodate growth in the Epps Bridge Road and the U.S. 441 corridors.
Video
The embedded video below is on the Oconee County YouTube Channel.
I attended the meeting and recorded my own video. The still images above are frames from my video.
The meeting begins at 5:11 in the video.
Jeff Morgan began his comments at 6:17 in the video.
Jenny Morgan began her comments at 9:19.
Consideration of the Woelfl rezone is at 18:48.
Consideration of the Chamberlin rezone is at 21:30.
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