The Oconee County Board of Commissioners voted 2-1 last night to deny fellow commissioner William “Bubber” Wilkes’ request to rezone six acres of land he owns on Old Greensboro Road south of Watkinsville for a recreational vehicle storage and mini-warehouse facility.
Commissioners John Daniell and Mark Saxon voted for the denial of the rezone request. Commissioner Jim Luke voted against the motion to deny.
The Oconee County Board of Commissioners decided in executive session last week to begin discussions with the owners of two key pieces of property needed to create a recreational greenspace along the Oconee River at Barnett Shoals.
BOC Chairman Melvin Davis sent an email message to the county’s Citizen Advisory Committee on Recreational Affairs Chairwoman Leslie Hunsinger on Wednesday informing her of the Commission action of the night before.
The members of the Oconee County Board of Commissioners will be in the uncomfortable position on Tuesday evening of having to decide if a fellow commissioner should be allowed to rezone his agricultural property for commercial development.
The three voting commissioners have good reasons to turn down the request by Commissioner William “Bubber” Wilkes.
Oconee County Board of Commissioners Chairman Melvin Davis is at center stage as the county orients itself for next year’s Board of Commissioners elections.
Davis, who is 75, has until noon on March 11 to decide if he wants to seek a fifth term as a party candidate or until noon on July 1 should he choose to run as an independent.
The Georgia Department of Transportation has decided to build the bypass of Bishop and widen U.S. 441 from the Morgan County line to Watkinsville entirely with state funds, bypassing the normal processes associated with federal highway funding.
That decision moves the timetable forward so that project engineering will begin in 2019 and right of way acquisition and actual construction is now slated for 2022.
Oconee County Board of Commissioners Chairman Melvin Davis’ attempt to get himself named as an equal to county Administrative Officer Jeff Benko in the county’s Human Resources Policies and Procedures manual ran into opposition last night.
Commissioner John Daniell, in a methodical analysis of the 42-page document, asserted repeatedly that the reference to the chair should be removed in all but one place to leave Benko as the person in charge of administration of the policies spelled out in the document.
The public and the Oconee County Board of Commissioners will get an overview tomorrow night of a revised Human Resources policy document that solidifies the power of the chairman of the Board of Commissioners in terms of job classification, pay, dismissals and other personnel matters.
Contrary to the Organizational Policy adopted by the Board of Commissioners in August of 2009, the document makes the chair of the Board of Commissioners and the county administrative officer equals in key personnel matters.
