Oconee County Officials Optimistic Settlement Near in Pinewood Estates Water and Sewer Dispute

BOC Meeting Planned

Oconee County officials told residents of Pinewood Estates South mobile home park tonight that the county is “cautiously optimistic” that it has reached a settlement with the owners of the park that will keep water flowing beyond the proposed Jan. 13, 2012, shutoff date.

Commissioners To Be Asked to Grant Variances to Settle Disagreement Over Oconee County Connector Access

Hearing a Formality

The Oconee County Board of Commissioners will hold its official public hearing tomorrow night on a variance request by the estate of Dave R. Knowlton for a piece of property in the busy intersection of Daniells Bridge Road and the Oconee Connector.

Citizens who are in favor of or opposed to the requested waiver or modification of requirements regarding buffers on the property will have a chance to speak.

Dispute Over Sewage Upgrades in Oconee County at Center of Pinewood Estates Mobile Home Controversy

Deadline for Cutoff Jan. 13

A sewage pump station tucked behind a shopping center on Epps Bridge Parkway is playing a key role in a controversy that threatens to cut off water and sewage services to residents of Pinewood Estates South mobile home park in Oconee County.

The pump, or lift, station, doesn’t even serve the residents of the mobile home park, though it lies between the shopping center and the park.

Oconee County Commissioner Daniell Pushing for Changes in County’s Enabling Legislation

Dates Back to 1917

Oconee County Commissioner John Daniell plans to ask his colleagues tomorrow night to begin the process of changing the enabling legislation that defines the government structure in the county.

Daniell’s goals are limited.

Watkinsville Mayoral Race Boosted Turnout for Oconee County Education Tax, Precinct Analysis Shows

Bogart Not So

The mayoral race in Watkinsville produced a higher voter turnout for Oconee County’s Educational Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax referendum than would have been the case without it, an analysis of precinct votes for the Nov. 8 election indicates.

Overall, 10.1 percent of the county’s eligible voters cast a ballot on the education tax, putting the turnout just behind the 10.2 percent figure when the county voted on a general SPLOST issue in November of 2003. That year, as this, no other county-wide or state issues were on the ballot.

President Obama Signs Agriculture Bill That Lacks Funds for Watkinsville Research Station

Closing Date Not Released

Both Houses of Congress passed and President Barack Obama signed late last week an agriculture appropriations bill for the current fiscal year that presumes the closing of the J. Phil Campbell Sr. Natural Resource Conservation Center outside Watkinsville.

A spokesman for the Department of Agriculture confirmed today that plans are underway for the closing of the Agricultural Research Service facility but refused to provide any details about when or how that will take place.

Oconee County Takes First Step Tomorrow In Effort to Turn Off Water and Sewer to Mobile Home Park

Jan. 13 Deadline

Oconee County Utility Department Director Chris Thomas said he is a bit concerned about a “show cause” hearing he is scheduled to conduct at 10 a.m. tomorrow in his office in the Government Annex on Greensboro Road in Watkinsville.

“There is a lot of interest in this,” he told me yesterday. He reminded me that his office isn’t very large.