Two weeks after asking Oconee County citizens if they want to include wastewater reuse in the county’s yet-to-be completed Water and Wastewater Master Plan, Oconee County Water Resources Department Director Wayne Haynie asked the Board of Commissioners last (Tuesday) night to spend $1 million for that purpose.
The commissioners took the request under advisement, with Board Chair John Daniell saying it will be on the agenda at the meeting on Feb. 6 to allow for more citizen input on the request.
Oconee County Administrator Justin Kirouac wants the Board of Commissioners to make a decision on what to do with the Animal Shelter this spring.
The Board needs to decide if it wants to retrofit the existing facility on 1171 Branch Road, south of Farmington, or if it wants to build a new facility, Kerouac told the commissioners at a strategic planning work session earlier this month.
Oconee County will need to hire a new consultant to come up with a design for improvements to its Animal Shelter, Jeff Benko, county administrator, told the Animal Services Advisory Board earlier this month.
Benko said he and Animal Service Department Director Catlyn Vickers are working with Terry Tevis of Tevis Architecture to get additional information about his proposal that the county spend $2.9 million on a replacement facility.
James Gaither, 1040 Cumberland Road, north of Watkinsville, asked the final question at the Town Hall Meeting held by the Oconee County Board of Commissioners on Thursday night.
“If you guys could have one thing off your plate right now, or tomorrow morning, what would you choose--to be done with it, don’t have to worry about it for another 10 years?” Gaither asked.
Oconee County commissioners at their meeting on Tuesday night appointed three relative newcomers to issues facing the county’s Animal Shelter as members of the Animal Services Advisory Board.
In doing so, the commissioners turned down a request for reappointment by current Board member Claire Hamilton, who often has been outspoken in her criticism of the Shelter and its operation.
Oconee County Commissioners last (Tuesday) night voted to deny the appeal by Lovett-Keller Ventures LLC of a decision by Oconee County Utility Department Director Wayne Haynie to turn down a request by the developers for a transfer of sewer capacity for a subdivision in Bogart.
Stephen Lovett and Chad Keller of Gainesville and Oconee County had negotiated with REO Funding Solutions III LLC to purchase part of the sewage capacity held by Westland, a dormant 443-acre master plan development on the south side of U.S. 78 between Hog Mountain Road and the Apalachee River.
Six people have applied for three open positions on the Oconee County Animal Services Advisory Board and will have a chance tomorrow (Tuesday) night to make their case for appointment.
The Board of Commissioners will consider appointments to the Animal Services Board as well as to three other citizen bodies, the Family and Children Services Board, the Keep Oconee County Beautiful Commission, and the Oconee County Library Board.
Oconee County Board of Commissioners Chairman John Daniell said today (Monday) he does not plan to allow citizens to comment at the Commission meeting tomorrow night on the Tevis Architects report that recommends the county build a new animal shelter.
Daniell said citizens will not be allowed to comment on the report during the citizen comment opportunity at the beginning of the meeting because the item is on the Commission agenda.
Advocates for a new Animal Shelter for Oconee County should have an opportunity on Tuesday night to lobby the Board of Commissioners for a new facility.
The Board of Commissioners is scheduled to discuss a feasibility study conducted by Tevis Architects as part of its Tuesday night agenda.
Tevis Architects’ recommendation that Oconee County replace its Animal Shelter with a new facility costing an estimated $2.9 million met with some resistance from members of the Animal Control Advisory Board at its meeting last week.
Board member Claire Hamilton said the price tag “is way too high...It is a pretty big price tag for the taxpayers.”
Tevis Architects, hired to do an assessment of the Oconee County Animal Shelter, is recommending that the county replace the entire facility, located at 1171 Branch Road in the far south of the county.
In a report dated Jan. 9, 2017, Tevis said that the while renovation of the existing facility was possible, “it would be far less costly to build a new facility.”
Oconee County Administrative Officer Jeff Benko is expecting to distribute a consultant’s report on the feasibility of renovating the animal shelter to the Board of Commissioners this week.
Benko made that statement to the Board at its work session at the Community Center in Veterans Park on Tuesday.
Marcus Wiedower said he will bring his listening skills and his planning skills to the Oconee County Board of Commissioners if voters select him for Post II in the special election on Nov 8.
“All I do all day long is plan,” said Wiedower, a custom home builder, in an hour-long interview. He said he will bring to the Commission “an educated, experienced voice” that “has a planning background.”
Chuck Horton said his experience and background will allow him to “hit the ground running” should he win the open seat on the Oconee County Board of Commissioners in the special election on Nov. 8.
Because of his service on the Board of Education, Horton said he understands the need for the Board of Commissioners to think through the implications of decisions it makes on the county’s schools.
Ben Bridges says the county is growing too fast and it is time to slow down for a little while to take stock of where things are.
He also says that water and sewer are the biggest challenges facing the county.
Robert Wyatt of 1090 Apalachee Trace in the Lane Creek subdivision in the west of the county, asked the first question at the Oconee County Election Forum on Thursday night, and he found discord among the three candidates for the open seat on the Board of Commissioners in their answers.
Wyatt noted that there has been disagreement on the Commission about the county’s organizational chart and wanted the three candidates to indicate where they stood on the issue.
Oconee County citizens will witness a change of culture in county government after Jan.1, said John Daniell, who will take over as chairman of the Board of Commissioners on that date.
The work of the government and the Commission will be “responsive to citizens...efficient in our operations, and...bring everybody in and talk about our goals and where we want to go as a community,” Daniell said.
Oconee County Administrative Officer Jeff Benko told members of the county’s Animal Control Advisory Board last week that he expects to advertise this month for a feasibility study of improvements to or replacement of the county’s Animal Shelter.
Benko said he expected the county to open bids responding to the request for proposals in August and that the Board of Commissioners likely would award a contract at its meeting on Sept. 6.
Oconee County commissioners tonight turned down the applications for appointment to the Animal Control Advisory Board of two women who have played leadership roles among volunteers at the Animal Shelter.
The commissioners instead reappointed Janet Calpin to a two-year term on the Advisory Board. Calpin has been a critic of the Animal Control Department’s adoption program run by the volunteers.
The proposed Mars Hill Road Overlay District is back on the agenda of the Oconee County Board of Commissioners tomorrow night.
The commissioners also will consider three rezone requests, two for properties in the quickly developing area surrounding the Virgil Langford Road and Oconee Connector intersection.
