The county’s proposal to run a sewer pipe down Calls Creek through a string of residential neighborhoods has become a prominent issue in the May 24 Board of Commissioners election, since the Commission will have to make the final decision on whether to go forward with the project.
Behind this specific concern, however, is the larger issue of how the county–and the commissioners in particular–should handle growth.
David Titshaw, a commercial appraiser with The Boswell Group, has sent members of the Friends of Calls Creek an email saying that people living along the creek should be anxious about the impact of the proposed sewer line on the value of their property.
“You and your community are right to be concerned with the after effects of any proposed easement, particularly sewer,” Titshaw wrote.
Oconee County’s Code Enforcement Office has issued a building permit for the fourth of five planned buildings at the restaurant, retail and office complex being developed on Old Macon Highway across from the Athens Ridge student housing complex.
The new building, which will overlook McNutt Creek just downstream from the old mill dam, is for a restaurant, according to the building permit.
Oconee County commissioners tonight turned down the applications for appointment to the Animal Control Advisory Board of two women who have played leadership roles among volunteers at the Animal Shelter.
The commissioners instead reappointed Janet Calpin to a two-year term on the Advisory Board. Calpin has been a critic of the Animal Control Department’s adoption program run by the volunteers.
The proposed Mars Hill Road Overlay District is back on the agenda of the Oconee County Board of Commissioners tomorrow night.
The commissioners also will consider three rezone requests, two for properties in the quickly developing area surrounding the Virgil Langford Road and Oconee Connector intersection.
Oconee County Utility Department Director Wayne Haynie said he understands the negative reactions of people who live in subdivisions along Calls Creek to his plans to run a sewer line along the creek and through their yards.
If he were in their position, he acknowledged, he would be reacting in the same.
The first of two forums for candidates in the Oconee County May 24 Republican primary will take place from 6 to 9 p.m. on April 14 at the Community Center in Veterans Park on Hog Mountain Road.
A second forum will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. on April 25 at the North Oconee High School Auditorium, also on Hog Mountain Road.
