Oconee County Administrative Officer Jeff Benko said on Wednesday that he has rescinded his order that department heads limit their comments to the media.
Benko said he lifted the restriction on April 15, the day that the county released to me a copy of the email message Benko sent to department heads on April 3 telling them not to make statements to “the press” without clearing those statements in advance with him.
Angela Helwig, executive director of the Keep Oconee County Beautiful Commission, has submitted her resignation to the county, saying the job requires more time than she is able to give to it.
Helwig, who also serves as receptionist in the Oconee County Board of Commissioners office, open records officer for the Industrial Development Authority, and recording secretary for the IDA and for the Citizens Advisory Committee for Land Use and Transportation Planning, among other assignments, said her resignation is effective June 30.
Work on the county’s budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1 is taking place out of the public view, but in two weeks, citizens will know how the Board of Commissioners has reconciled the nearly $2.8 million gap between requested expenditures and anticipated revenue.
The $2,747,549 funding shortfall was presented to the commissioners in their last public meeting on the budget–a work session on March 25 held in the Grand Jury Room at the Courthouse in Watkinsville.
The Oconee County Code Enforcement Office on Friday issued building permits for three of the five buildings to make up The Falls of Oconee speciality retail center on Old Macon Highway opposite the Athens Ridge student housing complex.
The permits are for the shells of the three buildings only and give no indication of how the buildings will be used.
The Oconee County Board of Commissioners last night placed a condition on the rezone it approved for Presbyterian Homes of Georgia in order to control the movement of traffic from the site onto U.S. 441 until a traffic light is installed.
Before the vote, Oconee County Public Works Director Emil Beshara advised the Board that much of what will be done at the continuing care retirement community’s main entrance and exit on U.S. 441 is not under the control of the county.
The Oconee County Board of Commissioners voted 4-0 tonight to grant Presbyterian Homes of Georgia its rezone request to build a continuing care retirement community on 70 acres fronting U.S. 441 and Wellbrook Road.
The commissioners stipulated that Presbyterian Homes must limit traffic leaving the main entrance to the campus on U.S. 441 to right-hand turns.
The Oconee County Chamber of Commerce has asked the Oconee County Board of Commissioners to approve tomorrow night the rezone request of Presbyterian Homes of Georgia for a continuing care retirement community on U.S. 441 and Wellbrook Road.
The Chamber told the commissioners that the PHG facility will have “significant” economic impact on the community and “add to the quality of life” of citizens, but it did not address the issues of safety and traffic, which are most likely to be the primary focus of the commissioners tomorrow night.
