Only 11 citizens showed up at the final Oconee County Commissioners Town Hall Meeting of the year on Tuesday night, but Commission Chair John Daniell gave his usual updates on county projects before opening the floor for questions.
The Town Hall was designated as an opportunity for citizens to ask questions about the Transportation Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (TSPLOST) referendum on the Nov. 3 ballot.
Daniell gave a summary of the projects funded by the current TSPLOST, the first approved by voters, and an overview of how the projected $72 million that a new tax will generate over the next six years will be spent.
Renewal of the tax will result in continuation of the 1 mil reduction in property taxes voters have enjoyed with the current tax, continued paving of 25 to 30 miles of county roads that otherwise would not be paved, and work on what Daniell called “challenging” intersections in the county.
Included on the intersection list is Burr Harris Road at Hog Mountain Road, Hebron Church Road at Hog Mountain Road, both intersections of Rocky Branch Road and Malcom Bridge Road, and Dowdy Road at Epps Bridge Road.
The tax is expected to generate $62 million for the county and $5.5 million for transportation projects in Watkinsville, $2.2 million for transportation projects in Bogart, $950,000 for North High Shoals, and $568,000 for Bishop.
Jeanne Barsanti, the first of three citizens to address the Board, said she was disappointed that the current list of projects does not include funding for extension of the county’s Master Trails Plan.
Shelby and Ed Wiezorek asked about intersection improvements underway and planned for the future on Hog Mountain Road.
Citizen Comments
“I think TSPLOST is a great idea, so thank you for doing it,” Barsanti said. “My only concern is that the small amount that was allocated for trails, it's not in the new one.”
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| Barsanti 10/20/2026 |
“And I don't know if that's because the one you built isn't used very much,” she said. “But I would say that if you go there and try to access that trail, it's very difficult, especially if you're in Presbyterian Village.”
The current TSPLOST, approved by voters in November of 2022 with 51.3 percent voting in favor, set aside $3 million for multi-use paths. The money was used for the path from Butler’s Crossing to Wellbrook Road.
“So my thought is there's a good reason why people aren't using that trail,” Barsanti said. “But I would hope in the future that the funding for that trail...would come back.”
“I think you'll see it come back in some future TSPLOST,” Daniell said.
“The next phase would probably be connecting Hog Mountain back over to the Oconee Connector on Daniels Ridge Road,” he said. “That would kind of give us a complete (loop). There is kind of a dead spot.”
Shelby Wiezorek asked if TSPLOST funds will be used for the roundabouts on Hog Mountain Road (SR 53).
Daniell said the state has contributed funds for the roundabouts in the past but the planned roundabout at Clotfelter Road/Cole Spring Road/SR 53 “will be all our funds.”
Ed Wiezorek asked about the Hebron Church Road/Sikes Road/SR 53 intersection, and Daniell said “That's one of our intersections we want to focus on with the next TSPLOST. So we'd like to see improvement there.”
Park Updates
Daniell, at the beginning of the meeting, said that the bid has been awarded for the addition of tennis courts at Oconee Veterans Park.
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| Shelby Wiezorek 10/20/2026 |
“They should start moving some ground here shortly,” he said. “They have the staking done for that project.”
At present, the county is working on “some concepts and designs for trails” at Heritage park as part of the upgrade and expansion of the trail system at that park, Daniell said.
“We are looking to award in the first quarter of next year” a bid for construction at the new Dawson Park on Rocky Branch Road, Daniell said.
“We hope to release a bid documents in the final quarter of this year,” he said.
“I also want to put a plug in for Lights of Oconee,” he said.
“This is sponsored by Oconee County Parks and Rec,” he said. “That'll run from Nov. 2 through Jan. 5. And that will be open from 5.30 to 9.30 each night during that time.”
“I'm told there's 1 million lights there, and you get to walk a three-quarter-mile trail to take it all in. So tickets are available on the website,” he said.
At present, part of the walking trail at Oconee Veterans Park is closed in preparation for that event.
Road Updates
The roundabout at Colham Ferry Road and Astondale Road is “done except for some little touch-up work,” Daniell said. “We have one more move of a utility. And then that will be complete.”
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| Daniell 10/20/2026 |
“Cole Springs/Snows Mill at Aycock Road is currently in right-of-way acquisition,” he said. “And SR 53 at Cole Springs and Clotfelter is in design.”
“If you don't know what's going on at (SR) 316,” Daniell said, “I would not recommend going to try to see what's going on. So just try to stay away from there.”
The Watkinsville Truck Bypass “study still continues,” Daniell said. “There'll be another Public Information Open House by GDOT after their draft report is completed.”
Daniell said “the consultant's working on a schedule for data collection” as part of the Board approved study of traffic in downtown Watkinsville.
Current TSPLOST Update
“Since you're going to be going to vote, we want to talk a little bit about TSPLOST tonight,” Daniell said at the end of his updates.
“First, if you remember, our first TSPLOST that you are approved for us resulted in a one mil reduction in the property tax rate,” he said.
“In the four budget years since TSPLOST first passed, we have paved 131 miles of road, or an average of 33 miles per year,” he said. “For budget years prior to TSPLOST, we only paved 38 miles, which is an average of 9.5 miles.”
“We've made improvements to our six most challenging intersections,” he said, listing Snows Mill Road at Lane Creek, Union Church Road at New High Shoals Road, and Colham Ferry Road at Astondale Road.
“We're working on Aycock Road/Cole Springs Road at Snows Mill Road, Moores Ford Road at Lane Creek Road, and Cole Springs Road/Clottfelter Road at SR 53,,” he said.
More On SR 316
In the gap between when Barsanti and the Wiezoreks asked their questions, Commission Amrey Harden asked Daniell to elaborate on construction on SR 316.
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| Daniell And Harden (Right) 10/20/2026 |
“Have there been any conversations about any kind of public hearing on any more intersections with 316 and the streets in Oconee County?” Harden asked.
“So I think Julian Drive is the next one up,” Daniell said, “and they're trying to figure out the schedule on that. So it should happen, I think, in the first quarter of next year. You'll see a Public Information Open House for that.”
GDOT also has “to finish up Mars Hill and then McNutt Creek,” Daniell said. Those are “the three main ones left” in Oconee County.
“The last plan we saw” showed Mars Hill Road closed at SR 316, Daniell said. “They’ve still got to keep going through all the processes.”
“Well, I didn't know, with the recent opening of the Georgia State Patrol Office and Driver Services, if they've had a reconsideration of that intersection,” Harden asked, referring to the McNutt Creek Road intersection. Those new offices are on McNutt Creek Road just south of SR 316.
GDOT is proposing a right-in right-out intersection for McNutt Creek Road on both sides rather than a full interchange.
“Not yet,” Daniell said.
“Well, I'm going to keep the fingers crossed,” Harden said.
“Me too,” Daniell responded.
Voting Underway
Early voting for the Nov. 3 election is underway in the county and will continue through Oct. 30. At the end of the day on Wednesday, 7,988 of Oconee County’s 34,600 registered voters had cast a ballot, or 23.1 percent.
“Well, we had a pretty low turnout,” Daniell said, referring not to early voting but to the Town Hall meeting.
“So I hope you all get out there and talk to your friends about TPLOST,” he said. “It's been a really important thing for Oconee County, and we'd like to see it continue.”
“There's been a lot of comments, positive comments about Colham Ferry Road widening, and Simonton Bridge Road,” Commissioner Mark Thomas said.
“Both of those are successes,” he said. “And we can have more of that if we get TSPLOST passed,” he added.
Video
The video below is on the county YouTube Channel. I attended the meeting, and the still images used above are frames from video I recorded.
As of this post, YouTube registered 20 views of the video, meaning the reach of the meeting was greater than was reflected by the small turnout.
The meeting begins at 1:37 in the video.
Barsanti came to the podium at 7:18 in the video.
The Wiezorek spoke beginning at 14:46 in the video.
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