A new concept plan for the future Wendell and Betty Dawson Park on Rocky Branch Road shows eight basketball courts in a 100,000 square foot gymnasium, 10 multi-use fields, three pavilions, a concession building, and a separate restroom building.
It also shows three entrances off Rocky Branch Road and parking on both sides of the gym and wrapping around the sports fields.
These facilities are part of Phase 1 of the project, with future plans showing an additional six multi-use fields.
The plans, presented by Oconee County Board of Commissioners Chair John Daniell at the Town Hall meeting on Sept. 23, also show a 23,175 square foot county services building at the far north of the 250 acre site, surrounded by storage buildings for the Parks and Recreation Department and Road Department equipment.
The county currently is using the acreage for its Land Application System wastewater treatment facility, but Daniell said at the Town Hall meeting that the county is working on changes to the water treatment infrastructure to be able to decommission that site in the near future.
The Town Hall meeting was a attended by only a dozen people, five of whom are county staff. Only three of the five Commissioners were at the front of the room. Only two people asked questions.
Daniell used the top of the meeting to review county road projects and plans for the Dawson and other county parks.
Daniell also confirmed that the Commission plans to put renewal of the county’s Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) on the May 2026 ballot and outlined plans for identifying projects to be funded by the tax.
Dawson Park
In presenting the new site plan for Dawson Park, Daniell said the plan “has been tweaked since the last time you've seen it. It's been tweaked several times, actually.” Carter Engineering produced the latest version.
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| Revised Site Plans For Dawson Park (Click To Enlarge) |
“Our engineering is in full steam ahead on the fields, stormwater, internal roadways, intersections and getting pad ready for a gymnasium,” Daniell said. “Right now, the gym is in concept phase.”
“Our goal is to have eight full basketball courts, which translates into 16 volleyball and, of course, 16 half courts,” he said.
“We'll be getting construction estimates as we get into the engineering, and that'll be presented to the Board. We'll make decisions on it, how to move forward there.”
Internal traffic plans and access points have changed on the new plans, Daniell said, based on the recommendation of traffic planners.
Daniell the goal is to “make sure we don't end up with some problems that exist today at some other parks.” Oconee Veterans Park has only one entrance.
“We also moved the gym location,” Daniell said, from the front of the park to the edge of Phase 1 development of the park.
“Right now, we're working on the operational costs of the park,” Daniell said. “That'll be broken down between the field operations and then whatever the operations of the gymnasium will be.”
Construction of the sports fields will be covered by SPLOST and General Fund monies, Daniell said, but “Our goal is going to be to offset some of that cost (for the gym) with a sports tourism component to the park.”
The Oconee County Industrial Development Authority raised that option at its meeting in early August.
“This is kind of a new endeavor on our end,” Daniell said.
Other Projects
Daniell said that “We're in the value engineering portion” of work at Heritage Park. “What we're looking at doing is adding an arena, improving the footing in those arenas, (improving) water sources, and also fencing upgrades.”
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| Daniell 9/23/2025 |
“We're looking at improvement to the trails,” he said, including “investigating the possibility of separating bikes and horses on those trails as well. We'll be adding parking and public restrooms as well.”
Daniell said the county anticipates opening bids on Oct. 30 for the addition of tennis courts at Oconee Veterans Park.
The county announced early in September that Oconee County Parks and Recreation Department will receive a $500,000 grant from the USTA Southern Enhanced Build It Forward program to support the construction of 16 tennis courts at Oconee Veterans Park.
Daniell next turned to road projects, saying that the roundabout at Snows Mill Road and Lane Creek and Lane Creek Road “is substantially complete,” that utility relocation is underway for the roundabout at New High Shoals Road and Union Church Road, and that “negotiations are underway at this time” for the planned roundabout at Astondale Road and Colham Ferry Road.
The roundabout at Snows Mill Road/Rocky Branch Road and SR 53 is under construction “and on schedule to complete in the first quarter of 2026,” and “right of way negotiations are complete” for the roundabout at SR 53 at Malcom Bridge Road/Rays Church Road
The widening of Experiment Station Road from Butler’s Crossing to the U.S. 441 Bypass is “supposed to be done by the end of the year,” Daniell said.
Construction has already started on the SR 316 interchange with Jimmy Daniell Road, Daniell said, the first of three intersections–Jimmy Daniell, Virgil Langford, and the Oconee Connector–that are being reconfigured.
“So they're saying 2028 is the estimated completion,” Daniell said.
SPLOST
“We're planning to ask the voters for a continuation of our SPLOST in May of 2026 during the primary,” Daniell said, confirming what had been discussed at a strategic planning session of the Board of Commissioners in January.
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| Stitt Gohdes 9/23/2025 |
“Over the next few months,” he said, “we'll be getting some potential projects together for presentation to the Board of Commissioners.”
“We'll try to get public engagement as we produce these lists as well,” he said. “Right now we're working on the budget of what we're going to project to bring in” from the tax, he said.
“SPLOST is very important to our operation,” he said. “We anticipate, with the next SPLOST, we'll be able to pay off OVP debt.” Voters approved issuance of bonds for construction of Oconee Veterans Park.
“We fund all our farmland preservation through SPLOST,” he said. He also mentioned fire, rescue, and medical equipment, sheriff’s vehicles, and historic preservation as projects funded by SPLOST.
“Our public safety radio system is due for some upgrades,” he said. “That’s going to be very expensive, so that'll be something we'll need.”
At the very beginning of the meeting Daniell had noted that the county had set its millage rates for the year, with the rate for the unincorporated part of the county below the rollback rate and the rate for the incorporated parts of the county at the rollback rate.
Daniell said that the county was able to accomplish this even with an increase of $287 million in homestead exemptions because of the new exemptions approved by Oconee County voters and the floating homestead exemptions approved by voters statewide.
The county and its four cities did not opt out of the statewide homestead exemptions, but the Oconee County Board of Education did.
Two Speakers
At the State Of The County presentation in March, Daniell said that Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) was considering allowing its contractor to close the Oconee Connector interchange with SR 316 for 45 days during reconstruction of that intersection.
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| Magee 9/23/2025 |
Wanda Stitt Gohdes, the first person to come to the podium when Daniell finished his comments, said she had heard about that possibility. “Do you have any clarification about that?” she asked.
“So there's been different versions that came out,” Daniell said. “They're still working on the final design and phasing plan on that.”
Kyle Collins, GDOT Communications Program Manager, said following the Public Information Open House held by GDOT on Sept. 25 that GDOT has approved a new design for the Connector interchange and that no closure of the intersection during construction will be necessary.
Dan Magee, the only other citizen to speak at the Town Hall meeting on Sept. 23, said he was aware of the discussion of the Industrial Development Authority using some of its cash reserves for sports tourism.
“If that money can be spent on that, it's great,” he said. “I would just rather have the County Manager and the Parks Director have some oversight at spending,” he said.
“The intersection in Bishop's Crossing is heavily used by not just runners and walkers, but by school children--middle school kids,” he said.
“That intersection should be a priority,” he said. “That needs to get done.”
“I'm worried about my kid walking to school,” he said. “The middle schoolers, they're not always paying attention, they're on their phone, earbuds or whatever.”
“Anything you guys can do to prioritize safety there will be much appreciated,” he said.
Video
The video below is on the Oconee County YouTube channel.
I attended the meeting and video recorded it as a backup. The still images above are frames taken my video.
Daniell made his introductory comments starting at 20:22 in the video.
Wanda Stitt Gohdes began speaking at 38:58.
Magee began his comments at 40:36.