The Madison Athens-Clarke Oconee Regional Transportation Study (MACORTS) Policy Committee on Wednesday morning is scheduled to formally add the four-laning of U.S. 441 from Watkinsville to the Apalachee River to the FY 2015– 2018 Transportation Improvement Program.
The action is a necessary step for the reactivation of the project, which includes a bypass of the city of Bishop.
The problems at Oconee County’s two sewage treatment plants began in the second half of 2013, according to records at the Georgia Environmental Protection Division, which has the mandate to monitor operation of the plants.
Until that time, the Environmental Protection Division had identified only minor problems with the operation of the county’s two treatment plants.
The Oconee County Board of Commissioners agreed to spend nearly $300,000 last night to remove solids that have built up on the bottoms of the ponds at the Rocky Branch Land Application System sewage treatment facility.
Consultant Bob Sheldon told the Board that, as far as he knew, solids had never been removed from the ponds at the LAS site, which opened in 2002.
The Georgia Department of Revenue on Thursday issued a policy bulletin to define alternative fuel vehicles for the purposes of imposing the new fee on these vehicles dictated by the transportation bill passed by the Georgia General Assembly in late March.
The policy bulletin also determines which vehicles are eligible for the special alternative fuel license plate. Vehicles with the alternative fuel license tag can travel in the High Occupancy Vehicle lanes in Atlanta even if only one person is in the car.
Bob Sheldon, the consultant who is spearheading cleanup operations for the county’s two troubled sewage treatment facilities, is scheduled to give an update on Tuesday night on his progress so far and discuss his plans for the future.
Sheldon will provide specifics on sludge removal at the county’s Land Application System facility on Rocky Branch Road, according to the agenda released by County Clerk Jane Greathouse on Friday afternoon for Tuesday night’s Board of Commissioners meeting.
Sen. Bill Cowsert told a small group of Oconee County Republicans last month that he was glad county Tourism Director Peggy Holcomb was not present as he gave his justification for adding $5 to the daily bills at hotels, bed and breakfast establishments, and motels around the state.
Cowsert knew how Holcomb felt about the transportation bill that Cowsert supported and the General Assembly passed late in this year’s session that added the $5 hotel fee and increased the gasoline tax in the state, effective July 1.
Only two months after the Oconee County Board of Commissioners turned down two Daniells Bridge Road projects after a lengthy discussion, Commission Chairman Melvin Davis earlier this month brought them brought up again for consideration.
Davis made only oblique reference to the two roadway projects in his comments, but Commissioner John Daniell, whose negative vote was key on April 7 when the Board rejected Davis' push for the roadwork, understood and responded.
