The Georgia Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has awarded Oconee County a $3 million grant for expansion of and improvements to Heritage Park, located on U.S. 441 south of Farmington.
The county made application for the grant after agreeing last October to spend $1.91 million to acquire 110 pristine acres to expand the park. The DNR has decided to allow the grant to cover that purchase price.
After three days of Advance In Person voting, and with only two days remaining, 2,175 of Oconee County’s eligible voters, or 6.4 percent, have cast an In Person ballot in the June 16 Party Primary Runoff.
Another 87 voters have returned an Absentee by Mail ballot, bringing the total number of votes cast by the end of the day on Wednesday to 2,262, or 7.0 percent or those eligible.
In separate news releases on Tuesday, the Oconee County Board of Commissioners and the Oconee County Board of Education announced plans to transfer ownership of the Oconee County Civic Center from the county to Oconee County Schools.
If the plans are approved by both Boards, the county would transfer ownership of the nearly 30,000 square foot Civic Center, located at 2661 Hog Mountain Road, to Oconee County Schools and receive in return 42.7 acres of undeveloped land owned by the Board of Education on U.S. 441 north of Bishop.
The Federal Funds Fiscal Year 2027 Budget for Oconee County Schools, which at $6.3 million is dwarfed by the $122.5 million General Fund Fiscal Year 2027 Budget, has played a slightly more prominent role than usual in budget discussions this year.
Chief Financial Officer Peter Adams told School Board Chair Michael Ransom at the first public hearing on the budgets on May 21 that Oconee County Schools will draw from the Fiscal Year 2027 Federal Funds Budget to hire two literary coaches for the system’s middle schools.
The Oconee County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday gave official approval to a Fiscal Year 2027 General Fund Budget of $49.0 million, up by 7.2 percent from the original Fiscal Year 2026 Budget of $45.7 million
The Board also approved a new fee schedule for county services that includes a 3.6 percent increase in the basic water rate for residential customers, a 3.5 percent increase for commercial water customers, and a 4.8 percent increase in the base sewer rate for both residential and commercial customers.
The developer of the large, upscale athletic club on Plaza Parkway across from Costco is asking the county to allow it to change its development plans to eliminate the proposed hotel and substitute instead two medical office buildings.
The 14.3 acre parcel has been cleared and graded for the proposed athletic facility and hotel, but developer Kelly Mahoney has submitted a request with the county to divide the property into three lots, one with the athletic club and two smaller lots, each with a separate building.
The Republican Party Stumping Ground forum got off to a contentious start on Monday as Doug McKillip and Marc McMain, seeking the party’s nomination in the state Senate District 46 race, tussled over gambling, property tax relief, campaign financing, party affiliation, and other matters.
The event ended nearly two hours later with a sharp exchange between Vernon Jones, seeking the party nomination in the state Secretary of State race, and moderator Tim Bryant over Jones’s assertion that the 2020 presidential race in Georgia was “stolen.”
