Oconee County Commissioners Set To Approve Agreement For Roadway In Gateway Industrial Park

State paying $172,000

The Oconee County Board of Commissioners is set to give formal approval tomorrow night to an agreement whereby the county will pay John W. Rooker and Associates nearly $250,000 to build a roadway to property Rooker Properties LLC bought from the county in its Gateway Business Park.

The Georgia Department of Transportation gave the county a $172,000 grant to pay for the bulk of the cost. The county, through its Industrial Development Authority, will pay the remaining $75,674 from the money it earned from the sale of the property to Rooker.

Cheddar’s Files Planning Documents, Joining Other Development In Oconee County’s Expanding Commercial Corridor

Yogurt Too

The Oconee County Planning Department has approved the final construction planning documents for the proposed Cheddar’s Restaurant on Epps Bridge Parkway at the front of Epps Bridge Centre, signaling that the project is moving forward even without the certainty of liquor sales.

Engineers for Cheddar’s submitted the documents on June 25, and the Planning Department stamped them as compliant with county requirements that same day. The next step is the application for and issuance of actual construction permits.

Oconee County Republican Party Hosting Debate Tuesday Between Congressional Candidates

At Library

The Oconee County Republican Party Tuesday night will host the second of three scheduled debates between Mike Collins and Jody Hice, candidates seeking the Republican Party nomination for Congress from the 10th District.

The debate is scheduled to take place from 6 to 7:30 p.m. in the library on Experiment Station Road in Watkinsville.

Oconee County Code Enforcement Decides To Enforce Ordinance For New Signs While Ignoring Ordinance For Old

SR 316 Intersection

The Oconee County Code Enforcement Office issued a sign permit on Friday for two temporary signs on the property being listed for sale at the southeast corner of SR 316 and the Oconee Connector.

In issuing the signs, the Code Enforcement staff noted in the accompanying documents that the signs must be set back 5 feet from the roadway right of way.

Candidates For Oconee County Commission In July 22 Runoff Offer Different Views On Role Of Chairman

2009 Changes Debated

Oconee County Post 3 Board of Commissioners candidates Margaret Hale and W. E. "Bubber” Wilkes take similar stands on some of the issues facing the county, but they differ markedly on one important one.

Hale wants to keep in place the current organizational chart for the county in which the administrative officer and the finance director report to all five Commission members equally and in which all other department heads report to the county administrative officer.

Wilkes wants to revert to the old system in which all county administrators report to the BOC chairman alone, who then reports to the other four commissioners.

Discussion of Subdivision Amenity Illustrates Aspects Of Oconee County’s Approach To SPLOST Spending

”Bridges” Of County

In March of 2009, voters in Oconee County overwhelmingly approved a 1 percent Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax referendum setting aside $1.1 million for spending on “recreational, historic and scenic facilities” in the county.

More than three years later, in May of 2012, the Oconee County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously to spend $90,000 from that “recreational, historic and scenic facilities” category of SPLOST 2009, with most of that money going to replacement of a damaged “bridge” in Northwest Woods.

Benson’s Bakery And Thomas’ Tower On Oconee County Planning Commission Agenda

The Oconee County Planning Commission is set to take up tomorrow night a request for an industrial rezone in the urban north of the county and a request for a new cell tower in the county’s rural south.

The Commission will be reviewing a rezone application from Benson’s Bakery in the city of Bogart.