The Oconee County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday night agreed to put on its agenda for next week discussion of a proposal that the county launch its own Emergency Medical Services (EMS) operation.
The Board also will consider purchasing five 2026 F-350 Ford trucks for a total cost of $1,124,000 and purchasing $768,279 in ambulance equipment for those trucks as the first step in establishing the county program.
State Rep. Eric Gisler’s Third Town Hall meeting quickly became a conversation, and he exchanged ideas with the audience on topics including gun control, voting rights, education funding, property and income taxes, and the state budget surplus.
Gisler, representing Oconee County in House District 121, noted as the session at the Town of North High Shoals Town Hall got underway that he knew everyone in the audience, and many had been involved in his campaign leading up to the special election last December that put him in the General Assembly in January.
More than 230 people turned out on a sunny but cool Saturday afternoon in front of the historic Eagle Tavern and in front of the Oconee County Courthouse on Main Street in downtown Watkinsville to join the national No Kings rally.
Protesters carried hand-created signs with the No Kings theme, but also protesting the war in Iran, the cost of gasoline, President Donald Trump’s cabinet appointments, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency, and the Jeffrey Epstein files.
Oconee County Commission Chair John Daniell waited until about 12 minutes into his 40-minute-long State of the County address on Wednesday to talk about what he said he knew his audience was most interested in hearing: his annual transportation project update.
Daniell reviewed the status of 11 Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) projects in the county and eight county funded projects.
Oconee County Board of Commissioners Chair John Daniell took a pause in his summary of county finances in his State of the County address on Wednesday (March 18) to comment on property tax legislation passed by the Georgia House of Representatives and now before the Senate.
Daniell said the current version of House Bill 1116 would impact the county in three ways.
The Oconee County Board of Commissioners, seeking input on the provision of emergency medical services (EMS) in the county, will hold a called Town Hall Meeting at 6 p.m. on March 26 at the Oconee County Administrative Building, 7635 Macon Highway, north of Watkinsville.
The meeting will focus on the current arrangement for provision of EMS in the county and on options for the future, according to the announcement on the county web site.
The Oconee County Board of Education on Monday night approved spending $108,128 for the purchase and installation of 120 new access control panels for doors in the system’s 12 schools.
Tony McCullers, Chief Technology Officer for Oconee County Schools, told the Board the purchase will address technology needs of the schools and strengthen overall security across the district.
When the Oconee County Democratic Party asked County Commissioner Chuck Horton to give an overview of the proposed new Dawson Park last week, Horton focused on what he sees as the immediate need for new sports fields and a gym.
The long-range plan for the 250-acre site on Rocky Branch Road that now is the county’s Land Application System (LAS) site includes bike and walking trails, a dog park, ponds, playgrounds, and picnic areas.
An unidentified interested party has approached the Oconee County Board of Education about the possibility of purchasing 42.7 acres on U.S. 41 north of Bishop that the School Board has owned since 2007 but has never utilized.
The Board spent an hour and 45 minutes in executive session after its regular meeting on Monday (March 2) discussing the possible sale of the property as well as the Personnel Report from Superintendent Melissa Butler.
Only one candidate has qualified for each of the four Oconee County local races on the ballot on May 19, meaning the only wholly local question before voters is the referendum on renewal of the county’s Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST).
At the end of qualifying at noon on Friday, only incumbent Chuck Horton qualified for Post 2 on the Board of Commissioners, and only incumbent Amrey Harden qualified for Board of Commissioners Post 3.
The Oconee County Board of Commissioners, in a 3 to 1 vote, on Tuesday night turned down a request to build a contractor’s office/showroom/warehouse building with outdoor storage on Jimmy Daniell Road at the entrance to Silver Leaf subdivision.
Oconee Medical Properties LLC, owned by Gavin Griffith and Tim Burgess, was asking the Commission to grant it a special use to build the 25,000 square foot facility without rezoning the land from its current Agricultural District (AG) classification.
Democratic State Rep. Eric Gisler began his second Town Hall meeting on Saturday with an update on legislation under consideration in the Georgia House of Representatives and a summary of his position on the legislation.
Gisler said he will vote against House Bill 1116, which is designed to eliminate local property tax for homesteaded property in 2032, because local governmental leaders in both Oconee and Clarke counties are opposed. His House District 121 includes parts of both counties.
The Oconee County Board of Education does not have any plans to add a third high school in the near future, given the current decline in enrollments in the Oconee County Schools system.
The Board is anticipating some future growth in enrollments and is monitoring the zoning and the issuance of building permits, but both high schools are under capacity and can absorb some growth.
