The Oconee County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday night voted unanimously to create the county’s own Emergency Medical Services (EMS) operation.
In addition to formally making that decision, and in support of it, the Board also voted unanimously to spend $1.1 million for five F-350 Ford trucks and $0.8 million to equip those truck as ambulances.
Money for the trucks will come from the county’s Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) and for the equipment from SPLOST, the county’s General Fund, and its Opiod Settlement Fund.
The Board took the action in responses to the recommendation of Board Chair John Daniell, who said he offered the proposal because of slow response times with current EMS provider National EMS, billing problems, staffing issues, anticipated increased costs, and the lack of county control.
Daniell has said he anticipates the county will transition from National EMS to its own program by the end of the calendar year.
Also on Tuesday, the Board voted, also unanimously, to turn down an appeal by Deferred Tax LLC of a decision by county planning staff to not grant approval for a two-building retail center with a restaurant on a 6.85 sub-parcel at the northwest corner of Mars Hill Road and the Oconee Connector.
Jeffrey DeLoach, representing Deferred Tax, told the Board that the decision of the county staff “is legally flawed and violates Georgia law.”
On Feb. 4, DeLoach and Attorney David F. Ellison had filed suit against the county asking that a rezone the Board initiated for that parcel and an adjoining parcel be declared unconstitutional.
Daniell’s Recommendation
As he had at the Town Hall meeting on March 26 and at the Board’s agenda setting meeting on March 31, Daniell gave the Board on Tuesday an overview of how EMS operations are regulated in the state, the reasons for his making the recommendation, and details of the operation proposed.
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| Daniell 4/7/2026 |
“We’ve seen negative trends in priority response times,” Daniell said. “And while our response times are not the only factor to consider, the trends do indicate some changes in operation or performance.”
National EMS is seeking to increase the current subsidy the county pays for its services, Daniell said. In addition, citizens have complained about billing problems that the county has been unsuccessful in addressing, he said.
“We must be the designated 911 Zone Provider for Oconee County” Daniell said, “and we must have local control and oversight of EMS operations in Oconee County.”
At startup, the focus will entirely on 911 readiness, he said. No non-emergency transport or other services will be provided, he explained.
The county plans to hire an EMS Director and will contract with a medical billing company, Daniell said, “and accountability will rest right here with your Board of Commissioners.”
The county will have five ambulances, with three operating with a paramedic and Emergency Medical Technician Advanced “24/7/365,” Daniell said.
The net costs to taxpayers will be $1.9 million per year, Daniell said.
The Board approved the proposal and purchase of the trucks and equipment without discussion.
Deferred Tax Hearing
Earlier in the meeting, Guy Herring, Director of Planning and Code Enforcement for the county, gave the Board an overview of the appeal by Deferred Tax LLC, owned by Maxie Price.
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| Beall (Center), DeLoach (Foreground) 4/7/2026 |
Herring told the Board that the appeal was of a decision he made not to review a preliminary site plan submitted on Nov. 23 of last year for the 6.85 acres owned by Deferred Tax because the Board of Commissioners had initiated on Oct. 7 a rezone of that and an adjoining property totaling 33.65 acres.
The site plan Deferred Tax submitted was for a two building totaling 26,000 square feet of retail space with a restaurant on the 6.85 acres.
On Jan. 6, the Board adopted the rezone it had initiated, downzoning the 6.85 acres from B-2 Highway Business to OIP Office Institutional Professional District.
Herring said he told DeLoach on Feb. 13, that “The retail use as shown on the submitted site development plan are not permitted uses under that zoning.”
At the meeting on Tuesday, DeLoach called forward to the podium with him Ken Beall, a land planner representing Deferred Tax, swore Beall in as a witness, and asked Beall to verify documents related to his interactions with Herring during this process.
“I’m not going to repeat, what Mr. Herring, I think, very accurately described as factual background,” DeLoach said after Beall returned to his seat. “There is not any dispute, I think, about any of those facts that Mr. Herring recited for you.”
DeLoach said that his objection is to the decision “that because a potential rezoning that was initiated by this Board was pending at the time the application was submitted, the site plans proposed must now comply with the new OIP zoning, which was not passed until Jan. 6, of 2026.”
“That B-2 zoning designation had existed on this property since Oct. 4, 1988,” DeLoach said. “That’s over 37 years. The zoning of this property was changed 44 days after the application for the site plan approval was submitted.”
“So now I get to the part of the legal argument that’s really important,” DeLoach said. “And that is–the bottom line is–the interpretation of the Planning Director and the application of the UDC (county Unified Development Code) is legally flawed and violates Georgia Law.”
“It is a well-settled principle that once a proper application is filed under zoning regulations then in effect, the developer acquires a vested, constitutionally protected right that cannot be impaired by subsequent zoning changes,” DeLoach said.
Without discussion, the Board voted to uphold the Planning Director’s decision.
Legal Contests
The appeal on Tuesday night by Deferred Tax is the most recent challenge to the county over the zoning of property owned by Deferred Tax LLC that stretches from the Oconee Connector to Virgil Langford Road and is bordered on the north by SR 316 and on the south by Mars Hill Road.
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| DeLoach 4/7/2026 |
The Board of Commissioners turned down a request for a rezone of part of that property that was to include a Publix as an anchor in 2022.
In 2023, Deferred Tax LLC filed suit against the county asking the Oconee County Superior Court to overturn the county zoning decision.
On Jan 15 of this year, Deferred Tax and the County stipulated to a dismissal request of that suit in response to the Board’s approval on Jan. 6 of the rezone it initiated for the property.
On Feb. 4 DeLoach and Ellison filed a new suit in Oconee County Superior Court asking the Court to void the Jan. 6 zoning decision.
The suit says that the zoning decision and the conditions specifying the type access to the property is “unconstitutional and violates Plaintiff’s guarantees of due process, equal protection, and right against arbitrary government action under the Georgia and Federal constitutions.”
Specifically, the suit objects to the restrictions the county put on a access from the Oconee Connector and from Mars Hill Road and the requirement that Deferred Tax construct a roundabout at the intersection of Mars Hill Road and Hollow Creek Lane and make further improvements to Mars Hill Road.
The suit also objects to the limit on the square footage of the development and the requirement that it be developed in phases.
“The Plaintiff has a right to de novo review of the Zoning Decision” based on Georgia code, according to the suit.
DeLoach and Ellison also ask the court to rule that Deferred Tax should “be awarded damages for Defendants’ taking or damage to Plaintiff’s property in an amount to be proven at trial.”
County Response
In a March 12 response to the suit by Buford Attorney Thomas Mitchell, who handles zoning challenges for the County, the county argues it “has properly exercised discretion with regard to the acts complained of in the Plaintiff’s Complaint and Plaintiff has no clear legal right to any relief sought.”
“At all times, the actions of Oconee County, Georgia were proper and in full compliance with the laws of the United States, the State of Georgia, and the Unified Development Code and other Codes of Oconee County, Georgia,” Mitchell writes.
“Oconee County, Georgia has a rational basis for regulating land uses sought by Plaintiff and distinguishing between it and certain other types of uses at issue in its ordinance,” according to Mitchell’s response.
“The alleged injuries and damages sustained by Plaintiff resulted solely from the voluntary and intentional conduct of Plaintiff, and not from any conduct of Defendant,” Mitchell wrote.
Video
The video embedded below is on the county YouTube Channel.
I attended and recorded the meeting as a backup, and the still images used here are frames from the video.
Discussion of the Deferred Tax appeal begins at 15:47 in the video.
Daniell began the discussion of the EMS system at 44:33 in the video.
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