Justification for Farm Pond Exemption for Lake on Aycock Road Remains Hidden to Public

Farm Act of 2008 Cited

The justification for the farm pond exemption to the federal Clean Water Act that Oconee County farmer Tony Townley received for a lake he built this spring on property he owns on Aycock Road remains hidden from the public because of an interpretation of a section of the Food, Conservation and Energy Act of 2008.

Chalmer Rennie from the Natural Resources Conservation Service in Washington used that justification for denying an appeal I had made of an earlier decision by Sharon Gipson from the Athens office of NRCS.

Analysis of Oconee County July 31 Election Suggests Voters Treated Races as Separate Matters

But Tough on Women

Oconee County voters on Tuesday said an overwhelming no to the Transportation Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax but reelected Board of Commissioners Chairman Melvin Davis, who was one of its strongest local supporters.

In reelecting Davis, the voters rejected challenger and current commissioner Chuck Horton, one of Davis’ strongest critics, but voters gave strong support to incumbent commissioner Jim Luke, who has been even more outspoken of late in his criticism of Davis.

Oconee and Walton Counties Get Loans from State for Hard Labor Creek Reservoir Project

No Grant Money

The state of Georgia today announced approval of $32 million in loans to Oconee and Walton counties to allow them to move forward with construction of the Hard Labor Creek Reservoir in Walton County.

The counties will not be required to make any payments on the larger loan of $20 million until it comes due in 40 years. No interest will be charged against the loan during construction of the reservoir, and the single balloon payment will be of principal and 1 percent interest.

Oconee County Could Have Big Changes In Its Government by End of Day Tomorrow

And Fewer Robo Calls

Oconee County voters could go to bed tomorrow night having elected a new sheriff, a majority female Board of Commissioners and a new chairman, a Board of Education chairman who knows the schools but has never been on the Board itself, a tax commissioner with legal experience but no experience in the tax commissioner office, and a woman to represent part of the county in the General Assembly.

And they could have added an additional 1 percent sales tax to the 7 percent sales tax they already pay as part of a proposal to improve regional transportation, including interchanges on SR 316.

All Four Oconee County Board of Commissioners Candidates Want to Keep Power Balance with Chairman

No Rollback Sought

Regardless of which of the two candidates running for the chairmanship of the Oconee County Board of Commissioners wins on Tuesday, he is going to be confronted with four other commissioners who say that they want to share governance equally with the chairman.

The current four commissioners, over the objection of incumbent chairman Melvin Davis, in August of 2009 approved an ordinance requiring the county administrative officer and its finance director to report to all five Commission member, not just the chairman, as had been the case prior to passage of the ordinance.

Oconee County Commissioners Accuse Chairman Davis of Playing Politics With Salary Increases

Luke, Daniell Take Lead

The ongoing election for chairman of the Oconee County Board of Commissioners spilled over into the agenda-setting meeting tonight as the Board debated a proposal to give cost-of-living wage increases to employees of three departments funded by the state but supplemented by the county.

In the end, the Board voted unanimously to give the salary adjustments to staff members in the Superior Court, County Extension and District Attorneys Office, but only after Commissioners Jim Luke and John Daniell criticized BOC Chairman Melvin Davis for bringing the issue up in the last week of the election.

Oconee County Citizens Turn Out To Question Candidates and Learn About T-SPLOST

2 Forums 2 Nights

More than 80 people turned out for the Candidate Forum on Monday night featuring the six candidates for the Oconee County Board of Commissioners, two for the Board of Education, and one of the two candidates for sheriff.

For the second Forum on Tuesday, more than 50 people turned out to ask questions of the two contenders for the office of county Tax Commissioner, the pose questions to the two candidates for the House District 117 seat, and to hear four incumbent or former state legislators from Oconee County talk about the history of the Transportation Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax ballot issue.