Oconee County Says It Will Not Pay Full Costs For Hard Labor Creek Reservoir Water Treatment Plant

***New Elections Director Appointed***

Oconee County has told Walton County that it will not pay its full share of the costs of building a water treatment plant at the Hard Labor Creek Reservoir that the two counties built and own in Walton County.

Oconee County Board of Commissioners Chair John Daniell told his fellow commissioners on Tuesday night that he had met with Walton County Commission Chair David Thompson on Aug. 26.

Daniell said he informed Thompson at that meeting that Oconee County is willing to pay only $12 million toward construction of the plant.

Independent Candidates Say They Rejected Both Parties In Decision To Run For Oconee County School Board

***Made Comments In Video Recorded Interviews***

The two candidates running as Independents for the Oconee County School Board said the chair of the Oconee County Democratic Party was wrong in suggesting that the petition drive that put them on the November ballot was the work of the Democratic Party.

Both said that a large number of people were involved in soliciting signatures of voters on the petitions required for them to be on ballot, and that only about a quarter of the signature collectors were affiliated in some way with the Democratic Party.

The two said they emerged as candidates from a group of parents who wanted to see some changes in the Board of Education and that they decided from the very beginning to run as Independents, rather than as Democrats or Republicans.

Oconee County Town Hall Meeting Offered Give And Take On Transportation Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax Referendum

***School Board Criticized By Speakers***

The decision by the Oconee County Board of Education to approve a 4.7 percent increase in property taxes–after first proposing a 9.8 percent increase–hung in the air at the Tuesday night Town Hall meeting of the Oconee County Board of Commissioners.

The advertised central theme of the Town Hall meeting was the decision of the commissioners to put a 1 percent Transportation Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax referendum on the ballot in November.

COVID-19 Hospital Cases Down Slightly For Third Week In Row; Northeast Health District Reports Drop In Case Count

***Six Confirmed COVID Deaths, One In Clarke***

The Georgia Hospital Association and the Georgia Emergency Management Agency reported on Friday that area hospitals had 44 COVID-19 patients, down from the 46 reported last Friday.

The number of ICU beds in use was 68, down by one from a week earlier, and the number of adult ventilators in use was 27, also down by one from Aug. 19.

Democratic Candidates For Oconee County State Legislative Seats Say Republican Incumbents Are Absent, Out Of Touch

***Focus On Reproductive Rights***

Andrew Ferguson said Sen. Bill Cowsert is not actively engaged in Oconee County.

Jeff Auerbach said much the same about Rep. Marcus Wiedower.

Mokah Jasmin Johnson said Rep. Houston Gaines is out of touch with the community he has been elected to serve.

Oconee Crossing Residents Seeking Help From Other Oconee County Citizens In Fight Against Rezone For Grocery, Drive Throughs

***Plans For Nearby Grocery Inactive

Residents of Oconee Crossing subdivision at U.S. 78 and Hog Mountain Road have made it clear from the beginning that they are not opposed to commercial development on the edge of their neighborhood.

They said they knew that development was coming when they bought their homes.

What they are opposed to is the proposed four drive through restaurants and a large grocery that will be in their back yards if Oconee County commissioners approve a rezone request at their meeting on Sept. 13.

COVID-19 Hospital Cases Drop Slightly Again At Area Hospitals; Northeast Health District Reports 12 Confirmed COVID Deaths

***One Confirmed Death In Oconee***

The Georgia Hospital Association and the Georgia Emergency Management Agency reported on Friday that area hospitals had 46 COVID-19 patients, down from the 50 reported last Friday and from the 53 reported two Fridays ago.

The number of ICU beds in use was 69, the same as a week earlier, and the number of adult ventilators in use was 28, down from 34 on Aug. 12.