Oconee County Schools took in $1.8 million more in revenue than budgeted for the fiscal year that ended on June 30, with $1.1 million of that from higher local tax revenue.
The $1.8 million in unbudgeted revenue also included $0.7 million more in investment and interest income than was expected.
In a time of diminished resources, journalists need to collaborate more and reach out to their communities as they go about their work, the journalists assembled last month for a panel to celebrate the First Amendment said.
The number of journalists coving local news has decreased, they acknowledged, making cooperation rather than competition more important.
On Sept. 1, the 3.6 acres on which the Oconee County Civic Center sits at 1661 Hog Mountain Road will be reincorporated into the surrounding campus of Oconee County High School, with the Oconee County Board of Education having full control over operation of the facility.
Both the Board of Education and the Oconee County Board of Commissioners approved the transfer unanimously in a joint special meeting at the Oconee County Schools Instructional Support Center on Monday (July 6).
The Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT), in its update last week on construction on SR 316 in the county, said bridge construction is actively underway at the Jimmy Daniell Road interchange and crews have begun constructing mechanically stabilized earth (MSE) walls to support the new roadway structure.
Significant earthmoving operations and grading activities are ongoing as the new alignment takes shape, GDOT said.
The Oconee County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday (June 30) cleared the way for approval on July 6 in a special meeting with the Oconee County Board of Education of transfer of ownership and operation of the Civic Center to Oconee County Schools.
In a brief discussion at the end of its agenda-setting meeting on Tuesday, Board members reviewed the details of the proposed Intergovernmental Agreement released on June 26 without raising major concerns.
Oconee County Schools will take over full administration of and ownership of the Oconee County Civic Center as of Sept. 1 of this year, even gaining the right to change the name of the facility, according to a proposed Intergovernmental Agreement released by the county on Friday afternoon.
In return, Oconee County will assume ownership of 42.7 acres of undeveloped land between U.S. 441 and Union Church Road north of Bishop for future use as a park.
The Oconee County Board of Elections and Registration, meeting on Monday (June 22) for certification of the June 16 Primary Runoff Election, voted to tell the county’s two representatives in the Georgia House of its opposition to legislation passed in the Senate a few days earlier.
The Senate had passed Senate Bill 3 EX on Saturday (June 20) that would have required Election Boards in the state’s 159 counties to hand count prior to certification the results for the top two elected offices in each election.
