Oconee County Magistrate Court Judge Eric Norris on Friday found Matt Elder in violation of a county zoning ordinance when Elder began operating his Oconee Waste Transport business before 6 a.m. on July 11 of this year.
Though Elder plead not guilty to the charge, he admitted operating his trucks on his lot before the allowed opening time. Elder’s attorney contended that since Oconee Waste Transport had not opened the business office, it was not in violation of the zoning restriction.
The Oconee County Industrial Development Authority and its counterpart in Athens-Clarke County last week decided to take an option on 204 acres of land in what is called the Orkin tract in the hopes that the land will be used either by Caterpillar or some of its suppliers.
The optioned land is in addition to the 263 acres the two counties purchased from the Orkin tract earlier this year and that is being used by Caterpillar for the plant under construction on the eastern edge of Bogart.
In a surprise move tonight, the Oconee County Board of Commissioners appointed Jeff Benko to serve as county administrative officer and Wes Geddings as finance director, effective tomorrow.
Benko currently is serving as finance director, and Geddings is assistant finance director.
Although nothing can be certain until the state provides the loan contracts, Hard Labor Creek Reservoir Project Manager Jimmy Parker said he does not expect the state to require that Oconee and Walton counties share water from the reservoir with Atlanta as a condition for the $32 million in loans the state is offering.
“I don’t anticipate any language in there to that effect,” Parker told me by telephone last Tuesday. He said he expects the state to issue a standard Georgia Environmental Finance Authority loan that will not include any state involvement in the project.
Regina Quick, the unopposed Republican candidate in Georgia House District 117, has taken initial steps to fulfill one of her primary campaign promises: to introduce legislation that would overturn the redistricting passed by the General Assembly in its special session in 2011 splitting Oconee County between two House Districts.
Quick is scheduled to meet with Chuck Williams, the unopposed Republican candidate in Georgia House District 119, and with Oconee County Board of Commissioners Chairman Melvin Davis on Tuesday and to discuss her campaign promise at that session
The Oconee County Code Enforcement Office has cited Matt Elder for violation of the ordinance that rezoned 6.2 acres south of Watkinsville from Agricultural to Office Business Park in 2010 so Elder could locate his Oconee Waste Transport business there.
The county claims in the citation that Elder operated his business before 6 a.m. despite the specification in the ordinance that the hours of operation should only be from 6 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. on weekdays and from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturdays.
The Hard Labor Creek Reservoir Management Board today accepted without comment a schedule that calls for the Oconee County Board of Commissioners to approve on Nov. 6 two loans for $32 million from the state of Georgia for construction of the dam that will create the reservoir in the very south of Walton County.
The issue will be approved by the Management Board itself on Oct. 16, according to the schedule, and come to the Oconee County BOC on Oct. 30 for first reading. The Walton County Board of Commissioners is scheduled to approve the loan on Nov.6, when the Oconee County BOC also takes final action.
