Written 1/13/2008
Decide First, Then I'll Tell You What I Wanted You To Do
The Oconee County Board of Commissioners, saying it does not want to tell the Georgia General Assembly in advance how it feels about key water issues in the state, has refused to take action on a resolution presented to it by the Board of Directors of Friends of Barber Creek.
At the January 3, 2008, meeting, the Commissioners said they were not ready to tell the legislature how they feel about comprehensive regional and statewide water planning and monitoring.
They also said they were not ready to ask the legislature to pass a statute that prevents the transfer of water from one basin to another to the detriment of current and future downstream economic growth or to the detriment of the natural health of the stream.
And they were not even ready to tell the legislature whether it was important that elected local government officials should be represented on regional water councils that will decide how water resources are allocated in the state.
"I certainly believe there needs to be local representation on those committees, otherwise the state is left to pass down any kind of mandate to local government," Commissioner Chuck Horton said. "I’m a little bit reluctant to say I want to vote tonight because I haven’t seen the initial part of what I think probably will happen in Atlanta."
"I might be prepared to pass the strongest of these resolutions," Commissioner Jim Luke responded. "But with the information I have, I am not prepared to vote for any of them before I see more about what is going to happen at the state level."
"It is entirely too much uncertainty to proceed at this time and make decisions," Commissioner Don Norris said.
"I agree," said Commissioner Margaret Hale. "It is nice to have the resolutions in front of us that have been worked on. But I think we are all in agreement that it is just too early. We need to wait and see what the state is going to do. I propose that we delay this, delay a vote on this."
"I think with no motion that in effect squares with what the Board desires to do at this particular time," Board of Commissioners Chairman Melvin Davis said in conclusion.
With that, the Board dismissed the resolution presented to it by the Friends of Barber Creek as well as two others that had been prepared by County Administrative Officer Alan Theriault.
Twenty-nine governments around the state, including Athens-Clarke County, have passed resolutions of the sort Oconee County refused to consider.
The Board of Directors of Friends of Barber Creek first asked the Board to consider the draft resolution, written by the Georgia Water Coalition, of which Friends of Barber Creek is a partner, in a letter of November 23, 2007.
I appeared at BOC meetings of November 27 and December 4, asking that the Board at least put the issue on its agenda for discussion.
On December 13, 2007, Chairman Davis wrote me a letter, saying that the "Board of Commissioners appreciates" my bringing the resolution before it, but "we respectively believe it is not in the best interest of Oconee County to consider this proposed resolution..."
That letter provided me with the tip about the unposted BOC meeting on December 7 in Madison, Georgia. My open records request subsequently uncovered the meeting and indicated that the Board had discussed the Georgia Water Coalition resolution at that time.
At the December 18 meeting or the BOC, I challenged the Board to "take action in public on this issue." I also said the Board was free to modify the original resolution to reflect local concerns.
At 11:10 a.m. on December 28, I filed my open records request regarding that meeting. County Clerk Gina Lindsey sent out an agenda for the January 3 meeting at 2:42 p.m.on December 28 that did not contain the Georgia Water Coalition resolution. She sent out a revised agenda at 4:57 p.m. on that date that did.
County Administrative Officer Theriault drafted two alternate resolutions. One eliminated the interbasin transfer references and simply called on the state to fully fund comprehensive regional and statewide water planning and monitoring.
The other also eliminated the interbasin transfer references and added two options regarding local representation on the regional water and planning councils.
The Athens Banner-Herald ran a story on January 3 about those resolutions, but it never followed up to indicate that the Board refused to consider any of them at that meeting.
Chairman Davis raised the issue of interbasin transfer with me in a telephone conversation on November 29, two days after my initial appearance before the BOC regarding the resolution.
He said the Hard Labor Creek Reservoir Project–a collaboration between Walton and Oconee Counties–was an example of an interbasin transfer and had been approved by the state Environmental Protection Division.
Chairman Davis reiterated this position in his letter to me of December 13. He wrote:
"We also have concerns with the Interbasin Transfer portion of the resolution. Currently, there are over 25 permits issued by EPD permitting Interbasin Transfers. Oconee currently has voted to participate in the Hard Labor Creek Reservoir project (approved by EPD), which is also an Interbasin Transfer."
On 12/19, I sent this e-mail message to Davis:
"Perhaps it would be easier for me and other members of our Board to understand your concern, and the concern of the other commissioners, over the interbasin transfer language of the Georgia Water Coalition draft resolution if we saw the application for the permit the County has for drawing water from the Apalachee and the permit itself. Would you be willing to make these available to me for review and copying?"
Davis never responded to that request, so I asked for these materials in a separate open records request I filed on December 28 with the open records request regarding the December 7 meeting.
The permit, which I received on January 3, shows that Oconee County lost its 2003 permit to withdraw 1.8 million gallons per day of water from the Apalachee River when it decided to join the Hard Labor Creek project.
If water from the Apalachee is to be pumped to the Hard Labor Creek Reservoir, as is planned, the counties will need a new permit from the state EPD to do so.
"If Oconee County elects to participate in Hard Labor Creek Reservoir, this permitted withdrawal allocation will become void once the reservoir project is completed and in service," the 2003 permit states.
Because Walton County straddles the Ocmulgee and Oconee river basins, the transfer of water from the Apalachee, a part of the Oconee basin, to Walton County is an interbasin transfer. In addition, the reservoir will be built on Hard Labor Creek, which drains into the Oconee basin.
Water transferred to western Walton County from Hard Labor Creek and from the Apalachee and not returned represents a transfer of water from the Oconee basin.
This is the kind of interbasin transfer that robs downstream communities of water and was opposed by the Georgia Water Coalition resolution.
On January 8, the Georgia Water Council–the state governmental body dealing with water–created 11 regional water planning districts.
Walton County became a part of the Metro Atlanta district, while Oconee County is in the Upper Oconee district.
The Metro Atlanta district also includes Hall and Gwinnett counties. In each case, a part of the county is in the Oconee basin, giving Atlanta access to Oconee River basin water upstream from Oconee County.
Bear Creek, on which lies the reservoir which currently serves Barrow, Clarke, Jackson and Oconee counties, is in the Oconee basin.
Had the Oconee Commissioners been more willing to have an open discussion of the Georgia Water Coalition resolution, some of these issues might have come to light.
That does not seem to be what Chairman Davis and the Commissioners wanted.
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Saturday, January 12, 2008
Written 1/12/08
A Story, an Apology, an Editorial, a No Comment
The posting of Sunday (1/6/08) about the December 7 meeting of the Board of Commissioners in Madison has generated some informative reactions.
Board of Commissioners Chairman Melvin Davis posted an apology of sorts on the County web site on Tuesday (1/8/08) saying "an error was made" in giving "notice to the press of a facilitated retreat of the Oconee County Board of Commissioners scheduled for December 7, 2007, in Madison, Georgia."
According to the apology, in an "Open Letter to Oconee County Citizens," Davis and others ("we") discovered the error on Monday (1/7/08) as a result of the open records request I filed on 12/28/07. I picked up the requested materials on 1/3/08 and filed my report on my blog about 6 p.m. on Sunday (1/6).
I also sent that posting to the three local newspapers and WGAU radio. The Athens Banner-Herald contacted Chairman Davis on Tuesday (1/8) for a story it was preparing for Wednesday’s paper on the meeting.
Chairman Davis said in his apology letter that proper notice had been posted at the courthouse but that The Oconee Enterprise had been given less than 24-hour notice.
"I accept full responsibility for the error and apologize," Davis said.
In my open records request that forced the County to acknowledge the meeting, I had asked explicitly for all notices given, including any posted at the courthouse. All I received was a copy of a fax to the Enterprise.
In fact, the County legally could have given less than 24 hours notice for an emergency meeting.
Here, is what the law says:
"Whenever any meeting required to be open to the public is to be held at a time or place other than at the time and place prescribed for regular meetings, the agency shall give due notice thereof. ‘Due notice’ shall be the posting of a written notice for at least 24 hours at the place of regular meetings and giving of written or oral notice at least 24 hours in advance of the meeting to the legal organ in which notices of sheriff's sales are published in the county where regular meetings are held or at the option of the agency to a newspaper having a general circulation in said county at least equal to that of the legal organ."
All Board of Commission meetings are required by the law to be open to the public. The "agency" is the Board of Commissioners. The "legal organ" is The Oconee Enterprise.
The law goes on to say:
"When special circumstances occur and are so declared by an agency, that agency may hold a meeting with less than 24 hours' notice upon giving such notice of the meeting and subjects expected to be considered at the meeting as is reasonable under the circumstances including notice to said county legal organ or a newspaper having a general circulation in the county at least equal to that of the legal organ, in which event the reason for holding the meeting within 24 hours and the nature of the notice shall be recorded in the minutes."
So the County did not violate the law in giving less than 24 hours notice. What the County did not do was explain in the minutes the reason for holding the meeting within 24 hours, and it did not record in those minutes the nature of the notice given. It violated the law in not doing that.
Davis’ apology, of course, focuses on a technicality–albeit the wrong one–rather than the real issue. The County planned a meeting at least three weeks in advance but didn’t tell people about it. It also held the meeting more than 20 miles from the Courthouse, making it unlikely citizens would have been able to attend even if they had known about it.
And that was the goal.
It is legal to give minimal notice. It is not what one does if one wants to involve the citizens in the discussion. Clearly Davis did not want citizens involved. For that, he has not apologized.
In the Banner-Herald story, Commissioners Margaret Hale, Chuck Horton and Jim Luke criticized Davis for not getting the notice right, since he called the meeting. They didn’t criticize him for setting up the retreat in a way to keep citizens from being involved.
Commissioner Don Norris said the importance of the whole issue was being exaggerated.
The Board of Commissioners could have met at the Library, at the Civic Center, at the Daniells House off Daniells Bridge Road, or at a number of other local venues. It paid $250 for the meeting room at the James Madison Inn & Conference Center, plus another $433 for food service and taxes.
The Banner-Herald story said that the Board of Commissioners traditionally meets about once a year for a retreat, though two retreats were held in 2007. No source is given for that statement.
The Banner-Herald on Thursday (1/10) followed its coverage of the day before with a stinging editorial. The paper challenged Davis’ apology and suggested he make a donation of $500 to a charity–the amount of the fine for violating the open meetings law–to show his sincerity.
Banner-Herald reporter Adam Thompson told me the newspaper also has informed the County it wants to be put on the list of media to be notified in the future for Board of Commissioner meetings. Georgia law allows the paper to make that request and requires the County to honor it.
The Oconee Leader did not contain anything about the controversy in its January 10 edition.
The Oconee Enterprise, however, ran three stories on the December 7 meeting on the front page of its edition of January 10.
One dealt with the discussion at the December 7 meeting of the request by the Chamber of Commerce that the Board of Commissioners approve beer and wine sales at restaurants.
Another dealt with the discussion at the December 7 meeting of a possible extension of the Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST).
The third dealt with the County’s apology for not giving proper notice of the December 7 meeting.
In that third story, the paper said that "county did send out notices of the meeting, but they went out less than 24 hours in advance of the gathering." The information is attributed to County Administrator Alan Theriault.
The County has not claimed it notified any media other than the Enterprise. No where in the paper did the Enterprise confirm–or deny–that it received the fax notifying it of the December 7 meeting.
What is clear is that the Enterprise never wrote about the December 7 meeting–until after I posted my blog.
I received an invoice on Tuesday (1/8) from the County, dated the day before--the day the County said it learned of its error as a result of my open records request.
It was for $37.24 to cover search and retrieval expenses the County said it incurred doing my open records search. According to the invoice, the County invested 2.5 hours @ $16.55 per hour. It reduced the bill by $4.14 to give me the first 15 minutes free.
I paid the bill on Friday, 1-11. I think it was money well spent.
A Story, an Apology, an Editorial, a No Comment
The posting of Sunday (1/6/08) about the December 7 meeting of the Board of Commissioners in Madison has generated some informative reactions.
Board of Commissioners Chairman Melvin Davis posted an apology of sorts on the County web site on Tuesday (1/8/08) saying "an error was made" in giving "notice to the press of a facilitated retreat of the Oconee County Board of Commissioners scheduled for December 7, 2007, in Madison, Georgia."
According to the apology, in an "Open Letter to Oconee County Citizens," Davis and others ("we") discovered the error on Monday (1/7/08) as a result of the open records request I filed on 12/28/07. I picked up the requested materials on 1/3/08 and filed my report on my blog about 6 p.m. on Sunday (1/6).
I also sent that posting to the three local newspapers and WGAU radio. The Athens Banner-Herald contacted Chairman Davis on Tuesday (1/8) for a story it was preparing for Wednesday’s paper on the meeting.
Chairman Davis said in his apology letter that proper notice had been posted at the courthouse but that The Oconee Enterprise had been given less than 24-hour notice.
"I accept full responsibility for the error and apologize," Davis said.
In my open records request that forced the County to acknowledge the meeting, I had asked explicitly for all notices given, including any posted at the courthouse. All I received was a copy of a fax to the Enterprise.
In fact, the County legally could have given less than 24 hours notice for an emergency meeting.
Here, is what the law says:
"Whenever any meeting required to be open to the public is to be held at a time or place other than at the time and place prescribed for regular meetings, the agency shall give due notice thereof. ‘Due notice’ shall be the posting of a written notice for at least 24 hours at the place of regular meetings and giving of written or oral notice at least 24 hours in advance of the meeting to the legal organ in which notices of sheriff's sales are published in the county where regular meetings are held or at the option of the agency to a newspaper having a general circulation in said county at least equal to that of the legal organ."
All Board of Commission meetings are required by the law to be open to the public. The "agency" is the Board of Commissioners. The "legal organ" is The Oconee Enterprise.
The law goes on to say:
"When special circumstances occur and are so declared by an agency, that agency may hold a meeting with less than 24 hours' notice upon giving such notice of the meeting and subjects expected to be considered at the meeting as is reasonable under the circumstances including notice to said county legal organ or a newspaper having a general circulation in the county at least equal to that of the legal organ, in which event the reason for holding the meeting within 24 hours and the nature of the notice shall be recorded in the minutes."
So the County did not violate the law in giving less than 24 hours notice. What the County did not do was explain in the minutes the reason for holding the meeting within 24 hours, and it did not record in those minutes the nature of the notice given. It violated the law in not doing that.
Davis’ apology, of course, focuses on a technicality–albeit the wrong one–rather than the real issue. The County planned a meeting at least three weeks in advance but didn’t tell people about it. It also held the meeting more than 20 miles from the Courthouse, making it unlikely citizens would have been able to attend even if they had known about it.
And that was the goal.
It is legal to give minimal notice. It is not what one does if one wants to involve the citizens in the discussion. Clearly Davis did not want citizens involved. For that, he has not apologized.
In the Banner-Herald story, Commissioners Margaret Hale, Chuck Horton and Jim Luke criticized Davis for not getting the notice right, since he called the meeting. They didn’t criticize him for setting up the retreat in a way to keep citizens from being involved.
Commissioner Don Norris said the importance of the whole issue was being exaggerated.
The Board of Commissioners could have met at the Library, at the Civic Center, at the Daniells House off Daniells Bridge Road, or at a number of other local venues. It paid $250 for the meeting room at the James Madison Inn & Conference Center, plus another $433 for food service and taxes.
The Banner-Herald story said that the Board of Commissioners traditionally meets about once a year for a retreat, though two retreats were held in 2007. No source is given for that statement.
The Banner-Herald on Thursday (1/10) followed its coverage of the day before with a stinging editorial. The paper challenged Davis’ apology and suggested he make a donation of $500 to a charity–the amount of the fine for violating the open meetings law–to show his sincerity.
Banner-Herald reporter Adam Thompson told me the newspaper also has informed the County it wants to be put on the list of media to be notified in the future for Board of Commissioner meetings. Georgia law allows the paper to make that request and requires the County to honor it.
The Oconee Leader did not contain anything about the controversy in its January 10 edition.
The Oconee Enterprise, however, ran three stories on the December 7 meeting on the front page of its edition of January 10.
One dealt with the discussion at the December 7 meeting of the request by the Chamber of Commerce that the Board of Commissioners approve beer and wine sales at restaurants.
Another dealt with the discussion at the December 7 meeting of a possible extension of the Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST).
The third dealt with the County’s apology for not giving proper notice of the December 7 meeting.
In that third story, the paper said that "county did send out notices of the meeting, but they went out less than 24 hours in advance of the gathering." The information is attributed to County Administrator Alan Theriault.
The County has not claimed it notified any media other than the Enterprise. No where in the paper did the Enterprise confirm–or deny–that it received the fax notifying it of the December 7 meeting.
What is clear is that the Enterprise never wrote about the December 7 meeting–until after I posted my blog.
I received an invoice on Tuesday (1/8) from the County, dated the day before--the day the County said it learned of its error as a result of my open records request.
It was for $37.24 to cover search and retrieval expenses the County said it incurred doing my open records search. According to the invoice, the County invested 2.5 hours @ $16.55 per hour. It reduced the bill by $4.14 to give me the first 15 minutes free.
I paid the bill on Friday, 1-11. I think it was money well spent.
Sunday, January 06, 2008
Written 1/6/08
It's an Emergency: We Need to Get Out of Town to Talk
In a meeting Oconee County Board of Commissioners Chairman Melvin Davis has tried to keep out of the public eye, the five-member board, the County attorney, five staff members and two County consultants met on December 7 in Madison, Georgia, to discuss a variety of issues, including water and sewage services and the sale of beer, wine and alcohol by the drink in the County.
Northeast Georgia Regional Development Center Executive Director Jim Dove and Executive Assistant Mott Beck also attended the meeting to serve as "facilitators."
The meeting took place at the James Madison Inn & Conference Center in Morgan County. The Inn invoiced Oconee County the day before the meeting $250 for the meeting room, $36 for coffee services, $144 for continental breakfasts, and $180 for lunches. The total bill, including taxes, was $683.20, payable on the day of the meeting.
Chairman Davis used emergency procedures to give minimal public notice of the meeting, which actually was planned at least three weeks in advance. Georgia law stipulates that the meeting had to be open to the public.
The announcement of the agenda for the December 7 meeting did not appear on the County’s web site, though meetings, even unscheduled or "called" meetings, are usually announced on the site. The minutes of the meeting also have not been posted on the site and were not approved by the full Board when it approved the minutes of the meetings of December 4 and 18 at its regular meeting on January 3, 2008.
The existence of the December 7 meeting was revealed in documents the County released to me on January 3, 2008, in response to an open records request I filed with the County on December 28, 2007.
Georgia law requires that meetings of the Board of Commissioners be scheduled and open. If a meeting is "to be held at a time or place other than at the time and place prescribed for regular meetings, the agency shall give due notice thereof. ‘Due notice’ shall be the posting of a written notice for at least 24 hours at the place of regular meetings and giving of written or oral notice at least 24 hours in advance of the meeting to the legal organ" of the County, which is The Oconee Enterprise.
The law further states that "When special circumstances occur and are so declared by an agency, that agency may hold a meeting with less than 24 hours’ notice." In that case, the agency (Board of Commissioners) must give notice "of the meeting and the subjects to be considered at the meeting as is reasonable under the circumstances." This includes informing the newspaper that is the legal organ of the County.
The law also requires the Board to have an agenda of the meeting prior to the meeting itself, a summary of the subjects acted on and a list of those present available within two business days after the meeting, and minutes of the meeting no later than immediately following the next regular meeting of the Board.
In my open records request, I asked to see "A copy of the written notice posted in advance of any meeting or meetings of the Board of Commissioners held after December 4, 2007, and before December 18, 2007, and any evidence available indicating that the notice was posted "at the place of regular meetings" of the Board of Commissioners as required by Georgia Code Section 50-14-1 (d)."
I received two sheets of paper. One was a single paragraph notice of the meeting. Attached to it was a fax cover sheet directed to Vinnie Williams, the publisher and editor of The Oconee Enterprise. A hand written note indicated that the two pages were faxed at noon on December 6, or less than 24 hours before the meeting began.
The Enterprise has not written a story about the meeting.
I also asked for written and e-mail correspondence "between the Chairman of the Oconee County Board of Commissioners and/or his representative(s) and other members of the Board of Commissioners, appointed officials and department heads, employees of the County, and/or consultants to the County regarding a meeting or meetings of the Board of Commissioners held after December 4, 2007, and before December 18, 2007."
I received a memorandum from Gina Lindsey, County clerk, addressed to the Board of Commissioners, Dan Haygood, the County attorney, Alan Theriault, the County’s administrative officer, and Jeff Benko, the County finance director.
It was dated December 4 and indicated that "We have scheduled the BOC Retreat at the James Madision Inn in Madison, GA on Friday, December 7th from 8:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
I also received a copy of an e-mail message from Lindsey to Chairman Davis written on November 16 indicating that "Tricia stopped by the James Madison Inn and Conference Center yesterday. She said it was beautiful...If this is satisfactory with you, we should go ahead and book it now. Please advise."
Davis wrote back three hours later–at 1:49 p.m. on November 16, or three weeks before the meeting–saying: "OK with me."
Commissioner Chuck Horton sent an e-mail to Chairman Davis at 8:16 a.m. on December 5, saying "I see that we have not been provided an agenda for the retreat on Friday. It is now Wed morning and if I am to have any thoughts on any issue it would be nice to at least know what the topics are in advance. I see no need for me to drive to Madison if I don’t know what you want us to hear. To be honest, I don’t want to go to Madison. I don’t know why we couldn’t find something closer. If an agenda is not provided by this afternoon I will not be in attendance."
Chairman Davis wrote back about a half hour later:
"I thought the attached draft agenda was in your packet last night. We will need to add the requested Water Coalition Resolution as well as pending litigation. As you know retreat sessions by Boards have normally been held in out of county locations. Madison is about as close as we can get."
In my open records requests, I also asked for the agenda, a summary of the subjects acted upon and the names of persons present, and the minutes. I received a copy of the agenda and the minutes, which indicated that all five commissioners attended, as did Haygood, Theriault, Benko, Lindsey, Strategic and Long-Range Planning Director Wayne Provost, and Planning Director B.R. White.
In addition, Gary Dodd, former Utility Department director and now a County consultant, and Jimmy Parker, from Precision Planning Inc. and also a County consultant, attended.
Parker and PPI are working with the County on the Rocky Branch sewage plant upgrade, which will result in the discharge of 1 million gallons per day of treated sewage water into Barber Creek. The County has received bids on the project, but it has refused to open the bids for public inspection. (See my posting of 12/28/2007 below.)
I also asked in my open records requests for correspondence with the operator of any possible venue for the meeting, for requests for reimbursement of expenses submitted by the owner of the venue, by County employees, and by County consultants, and for records of actual disbursements.
All I received was the invoice from the conference center.
The County also provided copies of at least some of the documents distributed at the December 7 meeting.
The December 7 meeting covered some topics that were then repeated at the December 18 public meeting. Water and sewage were discussed at both, supplemented by a largely similar PowerPoint presentation by Parker in both cases.
The December 7 meeting included a discussion of a "potential SPLOST referendum" by Theriault. The current SPLOST, or Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax, ends in July of 2009, and, according to the minutes of the meeting, "Commissioners do not want lag in collections." Among the "ideas for future projects funded by SPLOST, according to the minutes, were courthouse space, "water, sewer, roads," community center facilities, new fire stations, and library expansion.
"Educate public as soon as feasible as to need for another SPLOST," the minutes say. "Attendees suggested a minimum of six months is needed to prepare for a successful referendum."
According to the minutes, Parker told the BOC that the Calls Creek and Rocky Branch sewage plants both can be upgraded to 2 million gallons per day. He also suggested that the Board should consider an upgrade of the Land Application System, which is now used at Rocky Branch, "as compared to cooperation with neighboring county regarding plan on Middle Oconee River." The minutes contain the following note: "LAS may ‘fill gap,’ (8-10 years) but begin planning toward cooperative effort."
The minutes contain the following report on the discussion of beer, wine and alcohol by the drink:
"SPLOST referendum should not be ‘tainted’ with this issue.
"Letter from Chamber of Commerce requesting a vote on the sale of beer and wine by the glass be placed on BOC agenda was discussed.
"Members offered comment and considerable discussion on this matter.
"Economic issue.
"Chamber might gather enough signatures to request referendum.
"Public needs to be engaged.
"A strong, restrictive ordinance would have to be in place.
"Legal Counsel was asked to continue work on ordinance."
I did not receive a copy of the letter from the Chamber of Commerce.
Chairman Davis has been struggling with the beer and wine issue since the summer, when the Chamber of Commerce began putting pressure on the Board to approve the sale of beer and wine in County restaurants. The Board held two public meetings on the issue, one in May and the other in June.
For the issue to pass, two commissioners would have to support it, allowing Chairman Davis to break the tie. If Chairman Davis does not want to vote, he would need three votes in support of the beer and wine ordinance.
The Athens Banner-Herald contained a story on December 28–after the meeting in Madison--in which Chairman Davis is quoted as saying he has no immediate plans to ask Commissioners to vote on the issue.
The Banner-Herald story reports that Chamber of Commerce President Charles Grimes sent a letter to the Commission in late November asking it to take action and contains a link to that letter. The letter is dated November 19, 2007, and asks Davis to "schedule a vote on the sale of beer and wine by the glass" on the December 4, 2007, meeting of the Board of Commissioners.
The Banner-Herald story contains the following statement, that is not attributed to anyone: "Since those June hearings, though, commissioners haven’t discussed the ordinance." The minutes of the December show otherwise.
The likelihood that a meeting had taken place between the December 4 and 18 regular meetings was suggested in a letter Chairman Davis wrote to me and the three others members of the Board of Directors of Friends of Barber Creek on December 13.
In that letter, Mr. Davis said that the members of the Board of Commissioners "respectively believe it is not in the best interest of Oconee County to consider" a resolution we had asked the Board to adopt.
That resolution, drafted by the Georgia Water Coalition, asks the Georgia General Assembly to fund regional and statewide water planning and monitoring and to prevent the transfer of water from one basin to another.
The Board of Directors of Friends of Barber Creek had presented the draft resolution to the Board of Commissioners on November 27 and again on December 4. No action was taken at either meeting.
At the meeting on December 18, I made the following public statement:
"I am well aware that Georgia law requires only minimal notification by posting of a notice in this courthouse of an emergency meeting. Your letter suggests that such a meeting took place, though there is no record of minutes of that meeting posted on the County web site."
Following my prepared comments, Mr. Davis responded:
"I believe in my letter to you it did appear that we had made a vote. That is incorrect. I had conversation with various members of the commission and that is my perception of how the commission felt at that particular time."
The Georgia Water Coalition resolution was the 9th item on the 10-item agenda for the December 7 meeting. The minutes indicate the issue was discussed.
The Board of Commissioners did consider the Georgia Water Coalition resolution at its January 3 meeting, but it did not vote on it.
Chairman Davis’ tactics made it unlikely that any citizens could attend the December 7 meeting in Madison, and, in fact, the record shows none did.
By law, even an "emergency" retreat leaves behind a record. It is good fortune that Chairman Davis dropped his guard in his letter to the Board of Directors of Friends of Barber Creek.
Without that, the meeting might never have come to light.
Georgia law says that governments must conduct their business in public, since it is the public’s business. This case shows, however, how easy it is to keep the public in the dark if that is what the County leaders want.
It's an Emergency: We Need to Get Out of Town to Talk
In a meeting Oconee County Board of Commissioners Chairman Melvin Davis has tried to keep out of the public eye, the five-member board, the County attorney, five staff members and two County consultants met on December 7 in Madison, Georgia, to discuss a variety of issues, including water and sewage services and the sale of beer, wine and alcohol by the drink in the County.
Northeast Georgia Regional Development Center Executive Director Jim Dove and Executive Assistant Mott Beck also attended the meeting to serve as "facilitators."
The meeting took place at the James Madison Inn & Conference Center in Morgan County. The Inn invoiced Oconee County the day before the meeting $250 for the meeting room, $36 for coffee services, $144 for continental breakfasts, and $180 for lunches. The total bill, including taxes, was $683.20, payable on the day of the meeting.
Chairman Davis used emergency procedures to give minimal public notice of the meeting, which actually was planned at least three weeks in advance. Georgia law stipulates that the meeting had to be open to the public.
The announcement of the agenda for the December 7 meeting did not appear on the County’s web site, though meetings, even unscheduled or "called" meetings, are usually announced on the site. The minutes of the meeting also have not been posted on the site and were not approved by the full Board when it approved the minutes of the meetings of December 4 and 18 at its regular meeting on January 3, 2008.
The existence of the December 7 meeting was revealed in documents the County released to me on January 3, 2008, in response to an open records request I filed with the County on December 28, 2007.
Georgia law requires that meetings of the Board of Commissioners be scheduled and open. If a meeting is "to be held at a time or place other than at the time and place prescribed for regular meetings, the agency shall give due notice thereof. ‘Due notice’ shall be the posting of a written notice for at least 24 hours at the place of regular meetings and giving of written or oral notice at least 24 hours in advance of the meeting to the legal organ" of the County, which is The Oconee Enterprise.
The law further states that "When special circumstances occur and are so declared by an agency, that agency may hold a meeting with less than 24 hours’ notice." In that case, the agency (Board of Commissioners) must give notice "of the meeting and the subjects to be considered at the meeting as is reasonable under the circumstances." This includes informing the newspaper that is the legal organ of the County.
The law also requires the Board to have an agenda of the meeting prior to the meeting itself, a summary of the subjects acted on and a list of those present available within two business days after the meeting, and minutes of the meeting no later than immediately following the next regular meeting of the Board.
In my open records request, I asked to see "A copy of the written notice posted in advance of any meeting or meetings of the Board of Commissioners held after December 4, 2007, and before December 18, 2007, and any evidence available indicating that the notice was posted "at the place of regular meetings" of the Board of Commissioners as required by Georgia Code Section 50-14-1 (d)."
I received two sheets of paper. One was a single paragraph notice of the meeting. Attached to it was a fax cover sheet directed to Vinnie Williams, the publisher and editor of The Oconee Enterprise. A hand written note indicated that the two pages were faxed at noon on December 6, or less than 24 hours before the meeting began.
The Enterprise has not written a story about the meeting.
I also asked for written and e-mail correspondence "between the Chairman of the Oconee County Board of Commissioners and/or his representative(s) and other members of the Board of Commissioners, appointed officials and department heads, employees of the County, and/or consultants to the County regarding a meeting or meetings of the Board of Commissioners held after December 4, 2007, and before December 18, 2007."
I received a memorandum from Gina Lindsey, County clerk, addressed to the Board of Commissioners, Dan Haygood, the County attorney, Alan Theriault, the County’s administrative officer, and Jeff Benko, the County finance director.
It was dated December 4 and indicated that "We have scheduled the BOC Retreat at the James Madision Inn in Madison, GA on Friday, December 7th from 8:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
I also received a copy of an e-mail message from Lindsey to Chairman Davis written on November 16 indicating that "Tricia stopped by the James Madison Inn and Conference Center yesterday. She said it was beautiful...If this is satisfactory with you, we should go ahead and book it now. Please advise."
Davis wrote back three hours later–at 1:49 p.m. on November 16, or three weeks before the meeting–saying: "OK with me."
Commissioner Chuck Horton sent an e-mail to Chairman Davis at 8:16 a.m. on December 5, saying "I see that we have not been provided an agenda for the retreat on Friday. It is now Wed morning and if I am to have any thoughts on any issue it would be nice to at least know what the topics are in advance. I see no need for me to drive to Madison if I don’t know what you want us to hear. To be honest, I don’t want to go to Madison. I don’t know why we couldn’t find something closer. If an agenda is not provided by this afternoon I will not be in attendance."
Chairman Davis wrote back about a half hour later:
"I thought the attached draft agenda was in your packet last night. We will need to add the requested Water Coalition Resolution as well as pending litigation. As you know retreat sessions by Boards have normally been held in out of county locations. Madison is about as close as we can get."
In my open records requests, I also asked for the agenda, a summary of the subjects acted upon and the names of persons present, and the minutes. I received a copy of the agenda and the minutes, which indicated that all five commissioners attended, as did Haygood, Theriault, Benko, Lindsey, Strategic and Long-Range Planning Director Wayne Provost, and Planning Director B.R. White.
In addition, Gary Dodd, former Utility Department director and now a County consultant, and Jimmy Parker, from Precision Planning Inc. and also a County consultant, attended.
Parker and PPI are working with the County on the Rocky Branch sewage plant upgrade, which will result in the discharge of 1 million gallons per day of treated sewage water into Barber Creek. The County has received bids on the project, but it has refused to open the bids for public inspection. (See my posting of 12/28/2007 below.)
I also asked in my open records requests for correspondence with the operator of any possible venue for the meeting, for requests for reimbursement of expenses submitted by the owner of the venue, by County employees, and by County consultants, and for records of actual disbursements.
All I received was the invoice from the conference center.
The County also provided copies of at least some of the documents distributed at the December 7 meeting.
The December 7 meeting covered some topics that were then repeated at the December 18 public meeting. Water and sewage were discussed at both, supplemented by a largely similar PowerPoint presentation by Parker in both cases.
The December 7 meeting included a discussion of a "potential SPLOST referendum" by Theriault. The current SPLOST, or Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax, ends in July of 2009, and, according to the minutes of the meeting, "Commissioners do not want lag in collections." Among the "ideas for future projects funded by SPLOST, according to the minutes, were courthouse space, "water, sewer, roads," community center facilities, new fire stations, and library expansion.
"Educate public as soon as feasible as to need for another SPLOST," the minutes say. "Attendees suggested a minimum of six months is needed to prepare for a successful referendum."
According to the minutes, Parker told the BOC that the Calls Creek and Rocky Branch sewage plants both can be upgraded to 2 million gallons per day. He also suggested that the Board should consider an upgrade of the Land Application System, which is now used at Rocky Branch, "as compared to cooperation with neighboring county regarding plan on Middle Oconee River." The minutes contain the following note: "LAS may ‘fill gap,’ (8-10 years) but begin planning toward cooperative effort."
The minutes contain the following report on the discussion of beer, wine and alcohol by the drink:
"SPLOST referendum should not be ‘tainted’ with this issue.
"Letter from Chamber of Commerce requesting a vote on the sale of beer and wine by the glass be placed on BOC agenda was discussed.
"Members offered comment and considerable discussion on this matter.
"Economic issue.
"Chamber might gather enough signatures to request referendum.
"Public needs to be engaged.
"A strong, restrictive ordinance would have to be in place.
"Legal Counsel was asked to continue work on ordinance."
I did not receive a copy of the letter from the Chamber of Commerce.
Chairman Davis has been struggling with the beer and wine issue since the summer, when the Chamber of Commerce began putting pressure on the Board to approve the sale of beer and wine in County restaurants. The Board held two public meetings on the issue, one in May and the other in June.
For the issue to pass, two commissioners would have to support it, allowing Chairman Davis to break the tie. If Chairman Davis does not want to vote, he would need three votes in support of the beer and wine ordinance.
The Athens Banner-Herald contained a story on December 28–after the meeting in Madison--in which Chairman Davis is quoted as saying he has no immediate plans to ask Commissioners to vote on the issue.
The Banner-Herald story reports that Chamber of Commerce President Charles Grimes sent a letter to the Commission in late November asking it to take action and contains a link to that letter. The letter is dated November 19, 2007, and asks Davis to "schedule a vote on the sale of beer and wine by the glass" on the December 4, 2007, meeting of the Board of Commissioners.
The Banner-Herald story contains the following statement, that is not attributed to anyone: "Since those June hearings, though, commissioners haven’t discussed the ordinance." The minutes of the December show otherwise.
The likelihood that a meeting had taken place between the December 4 and 18 regular meetings was suggested in a letter Chairman Davis wrote to me and the three others members of the Board of Directors of Friends of Barber Creek on December 13.
In that letter, Mr. Davis said that the members of the Board of Commissioners "respectively believe it is not in the best interest of Oconee County to consider" a resolution we had asked the Board to adopt.
That resolution, drafted by the Georgia Water Coalition, asks the Georgia General Assembly to fund regional and statewide water planning and monitoring and to prevent the transfer of water from one basin to another.
The Board of Directors of Friends of Barber Creek had presented the draft resolution to the Board of Commissioners on November 27 and again on December 4. No action was taken at either meeting.
At the meeting on December 18, I made the following public statement:
"I am well aware that Georgia law requires only minimal notification by posting of a notice in this courthouse of an emergency meeting. Your letter suggests that such a meeting took place, though there is no record of minutes of that meeting posted on the County web site."
Following my prepared comments, Mr. Davis responded:
"I believe in my letter to you it did appear that we had made a vote. That is incorrect. I had conversation with various members of the commission and that is my perception of how the commission felt at that particular time."
The Georgia Water Coalition resolution was the 9th item on the 10-item agenda for the December 7 meeting. The minutes indicate the issue was discussed.
The Board of Commissioners did consider the Georgia Water Coalition resolution at its January 3 meeting, but it did not vote on it.
Chairman Davis’ tactics made it unlikely that any citizens could attend the December 7 meeting in Madison, and, in fact, the record shows none did.
By law, even an "emergency" retreat leaves behind a record. It is good fortune that Chairman Davis dropped his guard in his letter to the Board of Directors of Friends of Barber Creek.
Without that, the meeting might never have come to light.
Georgia law says that governments must conduct their business in public, since it is the public’s business. This case shows, however, how easy it is to keep the public in the dark if that is what the County leaders want.
Friday, December 28, 2007
Written 12/28/2007
Citizen Involvement Could "Taint" the Bidding Process
Back in early September, when an analysis of the bidding process for the upgrade of the Rocky Branch sewage plant raised a number of questions about procedures, Oconee County officials promised to modify the process and rebid the project.
County officials, who rebid the upgrade work for the sewage plant on November 16, did change the process, though not in the way they indicated they would in September.
The changes are designed to make it impossible for anyone to do the analysis that revealed the questions about procedures that were raised in September.
The County is refusing to open up the bids for public scrutiny and refusing to allow the public to observe or see records of the evaluation of those bids.
County Administrative Officer Alan Theriault has determined that "The mere fact that a member of the general public is in anyway involved may taint and compromise the entire process," according to an e-mail message he sent me on December 21, 2007.
Theriault elaborated in an e-mail message of December 26, 2007, that "The proposals will be available to the public at such time as the final award of the contract is made or the project is terminated or abandoned."
The Board of Commissioners is expected to let a contract for the $8-10 million project in January. The project will result in the upgrade of the sewage plant under a permit granted by the State Environment Protection Devision allowing for the discharge of 1 million gallons per day of treated wastewater into Barber Creek.
Despite what Theriault wrote on December 26, the recommended bid, but not the competing bids or the details of the evaluation, must be presented in an open meeting. The Board of Commissioners can go into executive session and exclude the public for specified reasons, such as to discuss the future acquisition of real estate or to discuss or deliberate upon personnel issues involving a public officer or employee. Discussing bids is not listed as a justification for a closed session.
State law allows the County to close access to the bidding process, but it does not require it to do so. So the decision to close the process this time is a major change in procedures.
"I...hope you understand that we must abide by the non-disclosure requirements of the competitive sealed proposal (RFP) process," Theriault wrote in his e-mail of December 21, 2007.
Neither the first nor the second RFP stated that there were any "non-disclosure requirements." Georgia Code (50-18-72 (a)(6)(B) states: "Public disclosure shall not be required for records that are: Engineers’ cost estimates and pending, rejected, or deferred bids or proposals..."
In response to an open records request I filed on August 16, 2007, the County granted full access to the submitted bids in the first round of competition and to the records of the evaluation.
As I reported in my blog of September 2, 2007, then County Utility Department Director Chris Thomas recommended that the contract go to Jordan Jones & Goulding, with headquarters in Norcross but a branch office on South Milledge avenue in Athens. JJ&G submitted a bid of $680,580.
Keck & Wood Inc. of Duluth had the low bid of $643,000, and Carter & Sloope, located in Butler’s Crossing in Oconee County, bid $690,000.
JJ&G had partnered with Precision Planning Inc. (PPI) of Lawrenceville in preparing the Design Development Report (DDR) the County submitted to the EPD with its application for its Rocky Branch discharge permit.
JJ&G also was in charge of construction of the existing Rocky Branch facility, which sprays treated sewage water onto hayfields on site and does not have a permit to discharge into any stream.
Thomas had asked two people from PPI to evaluate the three bids submitted on July 26 and included their scores for the bids in reaching his decision to recommend JJ&G.
The analysis of the September bids showed that bidders were given a side tip after the initial Request for Proposals was written. The tip, given at the a pre-submittal meeting of interested bidders, indicated that the County was interested in receiving bids that specified alternatives to the membrane filtration system that was specified in the formal bid documents.
JJ&G proposed as alternatives to the membrane filtration system an "oxidation ditch process" and a "fill-and-decant activated sludge system." Neither can treat water to the level possible with the membrane filtration system, according to the proposal.
After the September 4 meeting, the County announced it would start the bid process over. As I explained in my posting of September 10, 2007, Theriault sent me an e-mail message on September 7, saying he plans "to meet with Utility Department personnel in the next several days to discuss particulars of moving forward and develop a rough time-line."
Theriault said he expected the initial step to be a "Request for Qualifications" advertisement "to identify design firms or teams that have specific experience with membrane filtration wastewater systems and that would be interested in this project."
There is no evidence the County ever did that.
Advertisements for the new Request for Proposals appeared in The Oconee Enterprise on November 21 and 29 and again on December 6 and 13. As with the earlier bid, interested parties were required to participate in a pre-submittal conference. That conference was held on December 4, making the last two advertisements in the Enterprise meaningless, at least in terms of soliciting proposals.
Nine firms attended the conference. Deadline for filling a proposal was December 20, and the County listed the names of bidders (minus identifying addresses) that day. The nine listed were: O'Brien & Gere, Wiedeman & Singleton, Inc., Carter & Sloope, Inc., HDR, Inc., HSF Engineering, Inc., Stantec Consulting Services, Inc., Pendergrass & Associates, Inc./Woodard & Curran, Inc., Stevenson & Palmer Engineering, Inc., and Brown & Caldwell.
That is all the County intends for its citizens to know until the Board of Commissioners votes to spend citizen money on the engineering design and support contract in January. The contract will probably be for between $600,000 and $700,000, based on the last bids.
The Request for Proposals issued on November 16 (and made available to me by PPI, which handled the distribution in response to inquiries) is identical to the June 29, 2007, RFP in stipulating that a "Selection Committee appointed by the Oconee County Board of Commissioners" will evaluate the submitted proposals.
The Board did not appoint the Selection Committee in June, and it did not appoint the Selection Committee for the November bidding.
At the December 18 meeting of the BOC, Jimmy Parker of PPI announced that he was putting together a committee consisting of the head of the County Utility Department, the head of the County Public Works Department, Theriault and some number of people from PPI.
"What we generally do is allow everybody to rate those independently so we don’t skew the results," Parker said. "Then we’ll meet to compile and sort of average the results, total those up and get a consensus of the committee on a recommendation back to this Board."
Commissioner Jim Luke asked Parker "to notify us when that meeting will take place in case any of us want to join."
"Yes sir, be glad to," Parker said.
That agreement does not appear in the draft minutes of the meeting posted on the County’s web site on December 27.
I sent an e-mail to Board of Commissioners Chairman Melvin Davis, to current Utility Department Interim Director John Hatcher, and to Luke shortly after the BOC meeting asking to be notified of the review committee meeting. I also wrote that evening to Davis and Hatcher asking for access to the bids as soon as they were submitted.
Theriault’s e-mail to me of December 21 was in response to both of those requests.
"I assume that your request concerning the meeting notification involves your desire to attend that meeting," Theriault wrote. "I am afraid that we must respectfully decline."
Nothing I can find in Georgia’s Sunshine Laws allows for denial of notification of a scheduled meeting. Participants in a meeting can vote to go to a closed session, but only after giving notice of the meeting and under limited circumstances.
Thomas, then Utility Department director, handled the evaluation of the three bids submitted back in July. No mention was made of a meeting for that evaluation.
The actual RFP issued in November is much like the RFP issued in June, but the more recent RFP asks bidders to submit a base design and an alternate design. The base design should follow the Design Development Report submitted to the Georgia EPD as part of the application for the permit to discharge treated sewage water into Barber Creek.
The alternate design calls for membrane filtration as a tertiary step, rather than the use of a membrane biological reactor.
The implications of these design options for the quality of water that will be produced by the plant cannot be known without a review of the bids, and that is precisely what the County has said it will not allow.
Another change in the RFP is the specification that the County plans to use Construction Management at Risk to let the actual bid for building of the plant. Such a procedure requires the construction manager to complete the work at a fixed maximum cost.
The November RFP also specifies that construction of the plant should begin in October of 2008 and that the plant should be operational–and begin discharging into Barber Creek–in July of 2009.
Despite the lag in time between the two RFPs and the small number of changes, PPI had to issue two addenda to the RFP, one on December 10 and the other on December 18, or two days before the filing deadline. The addenda deleted items from the original RFP, offered clarifications, and added requirements.
I asked Theriault for updates on the rebidding process in September, October and November. In each case, he informed me he had nothing by way of new information to provide me.
In the end, it seems it took the County three months to make two big changes in the bidding.
The first was to allow an alternative to the membrane filtration technology proposed to the EPD when the County received the permit for the discharge into Barber Creek.
The second was to close citizens out of the review process so they cannot know the implications of that change.
***
Here are the e-mail addresses of the members of the Board of Commissioners:
Melvin Davis, (Chairman), mdavis@oconee.ga.us
Margaret Hale, margarethale@oconee.ga.us and marghale@aol.com
Chuck Horton, chorton@oconee.ga.us
Jim Luke, jluke@oconee.ga.us
Don Norris, dnorris@oconee.ga.us.
The telephone number for all of them is 706 769-5120.
Citizen Involvement Could "Taint" the Bidding Process
Back in early September, when an analysis of the bidding process for the upgrade of the Rocky Branch sewage plant raised a number of questions about procedures, Oconee County officials promised to modify the process and rebid the project.
County officials, who rebid the upgrade work for the sewage plant on November 16, did change the process, though not in the way they indicated they would in September.
The changes are designed to make it impossible for anyone to do the analysis that revealed the questions about procedures that were raised in September.
The County is refusing to open up the bids for public scrutiny and refusing to allow the public to observe or see records of the evaluation of those bids.
County Administrative Officer Alan Theriault has determined that "The mere fact that a member of the general public is in anyway involved may taint and compromise the entire process," according to an e-mail message he sent me on December 21, 2007.
Theriault elaborated in an e-mail message of December 26, 2007, that "The proposals will be available to the public at such time as the final award of the contract is made or the project is terminated or abandoned."
The Board of Commissioners is expected to let a contract for the $8-10 million project in January. The project will result in the upgrade of the sewage plant under a permit granted by the State Environment Protection Devision allowing for the discharge of 1 million gallons per day of treated wastewater into Barber Creek.
Despite what Theriault wrote on December 26, the recommended bid, but not the competing bids or the details of the evaluation, must be presented in an open meeting. The Board of Commissioners can go into executive session and exclude the public for specified reasons, such as to discuss the future acquisition of real estate or to discuss or deliberate upon personnel issues involving a public officer or employee. Discussing bids is not listed as a justification for a closed session.
State law allows the County to close access to the bidding process, but it does not require it to do so. So the decision to close the process this time is a major change in procedures.
"I...hope you understand that we must abide by the non-disclosure requirements of the competitive sealed proposal (RFP) process," Theriault wrote in his e-mail of December 21, 2007.
Neither the first nor the second RFP stated that there were any "non-disclosure requirements." Georgia Code (50-18-72 (a)(6)(B) states: "Public disclosure shall not be required for records that are: Engineers’ cost estimates and pending, rejected, or deferred bids or proposals..."
In response to an open records request I filed on August 16, 2007, the County granted full access to the submitted bids in the first round of competition and to the records of the evaluation.
As I reported in my blog of September 2, 2007, then County Utility Department Director Chris Thomas recommended that the contract go to Jordan Jones & Goulding, with headquarters in Norcross but a branch office on South Milledge avenue in Athens. JJ&G submitted a bid of $680,580.
Keck & Wood Inc. of Duluth had the low bid of $643,000, and Carter & Sloope, located in Butler’s Crossing in Oconee County, bid $690,000.
JJ&G had partnered with Precision Planning Inc. (PPI) of Lawrenceville in preparing the Design Development Report (DDR) the County submitted to the EPD with its application for its Rocky Branch discharge permit.
JJ&G also was in charge of construction of the existing Rocky Branch facility, which sprays treated sewage water onto hayfields on site and does not have a permit to discharge into any stream.
Thomas had asked two people from PPI to evaluate the three bids submitted on July 26 and included their scores for the bids in reaching his decision to recommend JJ&G.
The analysis of the September bids showed that bidders were given a side tip after the initial Request for Proposals was written. The tip, given at the a pre-submittal meeting of interested bidders, indicated that the County was interested in receiving bids that specified alternatives to the membrane filtration system that was specified in the formal bid documents.
JJ&G proposed as alternatives to the membrane filtration system an "oxidation ditch process" and a "fill-and-decant activated sludge system." Neither can treat water to the level possible with the membrane filtration system, according to the proposal.
After the September 4 meeting, the County announced it would start the bid process over. As I explained in my posting of September 10, 2007, Theriault sent me an e-mail message on September 7, saying he plans "to meet with Utility Department personnel in the next several days to discuss particulars of moving forward and develop a rough time-line."
Theriault said he expected the initial step to be a "Request for Qualifications" advertisement "to identify design firms or teams that have specific experience with membrane filtration wastewater systems and that would be interested in this project."
There is no evidence the County ever did that.
Advertisements for the new Request for Proposals appeared in The Oconee Enterprise on November 21 and 29 and again on December 6 and 13. As with the earlier bid, interested parties were required to participate in a pre-submittal conference. That conference was held on December 4, making the last two advertisements in the Enterprise meaningless, at least in terms of soliciting proposals.
Nine firms attended the conference. Deadline for filling a proposal was December 20, and the County listed the names of bidders (minus identifying addresses) that day. The nine listed were: O'Brien & Gere, Wiedeman & Singleton, Inc., Carter & Sloope, Inc., HDR, Inc., HSF Engineering, Inc., Stantec Consulting Services, Inc., Pendergrass & Associates, Inc./Woodard & Curran, Inc., Stevenson & Palmer Engineering, Inc., and Brown & Caldwell.
That is all the County intends for its citizens to know until the Board of Commissioners votes to spend citizen money on the engineering design and support contract in January. The contract will probably be for between $600,000 and $700,000, based on the last bids.
The Request for Proposals issued on November 16 (and made available to me by PPI, which handled the distribution in response to inquiries) is identical to the June 29, 2007, RFP in stipulating that a "Selection Committee appointed by the Oconee County Board of Commissioners" will evaluate the submitted proposals.
The Board did not appoint the Selection Committee in June, and it did not appoint the Selection Committee for the November bidding.
At the December 18 meeting of the BOC, Jimmy Parker of PPI announced that he was putting together a committee consisting of the head of the County Utility Department, the head of the County Public Works Department, Theriault and some number of people from PPI.
"What we generally do is allow everybody to rate those independently so we don’t skew the results," Parker said. "Then we’ll meet to compile and sort of average the results, total those up and get a consensus of the committee on a recommendation back to this Board."
Commissioner Jim Luke asked Parker "to notify us when that meeting will take place in case any of us want to join."
"Yes sir, be glad to," Parker said.
That agreement does not appear in the draft minutes of the meeting posted on the County’s web site on December 27.
I sent an e-mail to Board of Commissioners Chairman Melvin Davis, to current Utility Department Interim Director John Hatcher, and to Luke shortly after the BOC meeting asking to be notified of the review committee meeting. I also wrote that evening to Davis and Hatcher asking for access to the bids as soon as they were submitted.
Theriault’s e-mail to me of December 21 was in response to both of those requests.
"I assume that your request concerning the meeting notification involves your desire to attend that meeting," Theriault wrote. "I am afraid that we must respectfully decline."
Nothing I can find in Georgia’s Sunshine Laws allows for denial of notification of a scheduled meeting. Participants in a meeting can vote to go to a closed session, but only after giving notice of the meeting and under limited circumstances.
Thomas, then Utility Department director, handled the evaluation of the three bids submitted back in July. No mention was made of a meeting for that evaluation.
The actual RFP issued in November is much like the RFP issued in June, but the more recent RFP asks bidders to submit a base design and an alternate design. The base design should follow the Design Development Report submitted to the Georgia EPD as part of the application for the permit to discharge treated sewage water into Barber Creek.
The alternate design calls for membrane filtration as a tertiary step, rather than the use of a membrane biological reactor.
The implications of these design options for the quality of water that will be produced by the plant cannot be known without a review of the bids, and that is precisely what the County has said it will not allow.
Another change in the RFP is the specification that the County plans to use Construction Management at Risk to let the actual bid for building of the plant. Such a procedure requires the construction manager to complete the work at a fixed maximum cost.
The November RFP also specifies that construction of the plant should begin in October of 2008 and that the plant should be operational–and begin discharging into Barber Creek–in July of 2009.
Despite the lag in time between the two RFPs and the small number of changes, PPI had to issue two addenda to the RFP, one on December 10 and the other on December 18, or two days before the filing deadline. The addenda deleted items from the original RFP, offered clarifications, and added requirements.
I asked Theriault for updates on the rebidding process in September, October and November. In each case, he informed me he had nothing by way of new information to provide me.
In the end, it seems it took the County three months to make two big changes in the bidding.
The first was to allow an alternative to the membrane filtration technology proposed to the EPD when the County received the permit for the discharge into Barber Creek.
The second was to close citizens out of the review process so they cannot know the implications of that change.
***
Here are the e-mail addresses of the members of the Board of Commissioners:
Melvin Davis, (Chairman), mdavis@oconee.ga.us
Margaret Hale, margarethale@oconee.ga.us and marghale@aol.com
Chuck Horton, chorton@oconee.ga.us
Jim Luke, jluke@oconee.ga.us
Don Norris, dnorris@oconee.ga.us.
The telephone number for all of them is 706 769-5120.
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Written 12/16/2007
Rocky Branch on BOC Agenda Again
The upgrade to the Rocky Branch sewage treatment plant, which will result in the discharge of up to 1 million gallons per day of treated wastewater into Barber Creek, is back on the agenda of the Board of Commissioners for its meeting on Tuesday, December 18.
The BOC will be updated by Precision Planning’s Jimmy Parker and Oconee Utility Department Director John Hatcher on "Wastewater Planning and RFP Update."
The deadline for submission of proposals for the upgrade of the Rocky Branch plant is 5 p.m. the day before the BOC meeting.
In addition, the BOC will hear from Parker and Hatcher about "water resources" at the Tuesday meeting.
I’ll also ask for the third time that the Board pass a resolution drafted by the Georgia Water Coalition. The resolution asks the Georgia General Assembly to fund water resource study and monitoring and to oppose interbasin transfers of water. The Board has refused to take any action on the resolution despite two earlier requests by me that it do so.
After promising to follow a different course of action, the County essentially reissued the Request for Proposal it had issued in June for engineering and design work on the Rocky Branch sewage plant. That request had produced three bids, and the Utility Department wanted to give the project to Jordan Jones and Goulding.
JJ&G was not the low bidder and had been involved in initial planning work for the plant. Precision Planning, which had partnered with JJ&G on County projects, also participated in the review that led to selection of the JJ&G bid.
JJ&G, on a tip from the County, proposed that the County abandon its commitment to membrane filtration for the plant and use a more primitive treatment method. That method cannot meet the standards that membrane filtration is capable of meeting.
The BOC refused to go along with the recommendation of the Utility Department after I pointed out the nature of the bidding and review. You can read details of that meeting in my posting of 9/10/2007.
Alan Theriault, administrative officer for the County, sent me an e-mail message on September 7, three days after the Board of Commissioners (BOC) voted to upgrade the Rocky Branch plant, saying he expected the initial step in the rebidding process to be a "Request for Qualifications" advertisement "to identify design firms or teams that have specific experience with membrane filtration wastewater systems and that would be interested in this project."
Although I have asked Theriault twice since that September message to keep me updated on discussions about Rocky Branch, he did not inform me about the new bidding for the plant upgrade.
Advertisements for the project appeared in The Oconee Enterprise on November 21 and 29 and again on December 6 and 13. The advertisements are nearly identical to those used for the earlier bid.
As with the earlier bid, interested parties were required to participate in a pre-submittal conference. That conference, according to the advertisements, was held on December 4, making the last two advertisements in the Enterprise meaningless, at least in terms of soliciting proposals.
My efforts to get the BOC to pass the Georgia Water Coalition resolution have produced nothing. The issue is the interbasin transfer prohibition, Chairman Melvin Davis has confirmed.
The County has a permit for an interbasin transfer for the Hard Labor Creek reservoir project. Water will be pumped out of the Oconee River basin and discharged, at least partially, into the Ocmulgee River basin. In addition, Oconee County sold water to Walton County for many years, and that water came out of the Oconee River basin. Walton County straddles the Oconee and Ocmulgee basins.
If the County would discuss the Water Coalition resolution, its stand on future interbasin transfers might become known. Even if the County does not pass that part of the resolution dealing with interbasin transfers, it could pass the other part, dealing with funding for the study of water issues.
My blog posting of 11/23/2007 explains the resolution.
By the way, if you missed the lead story in today’s Athens Banner-Herald about a broken promise to citizens in Clarke and Olgethorpe Counties about a landfill, you might want to take a look. It tells how important it is for citizens to watch what government officials do, and how hard it is to control those actions.
If you can attend the meeting tomorrow night, please do so. It always helps to have a crowd.
Rocky Branch on BOC Agenda Again
The upgrade to the Rocky Branch sewage treatment plant, which will result in the discharge of up to 1 million gallons per day of treated wastewater into Barber Creek, is back on the agenda of the Board of Commissioners for its meeting on Tuesday, December 18.
The BOC will be updated by Precision Planning’s Jimmy Parker and Oconee Utility Department Director John Hatcher on "Wastewater Planning and RFP Update."
The deadline for submission of proposals for the upgrade of the Rocky Branch plant is 5 p.m. the day before the BOC meeting.
In addition, the BOC will hear from Parker and Hatcher about "water resources" at the Tuesday meeting.
I’ll also ask for the third time that the Board pass a resolution drafted by the Georgia Water Coalition. The resolution asks the Georgia General Assembly to fund water resource study and monitoring and to oppose interbasin transfers of water. The Board has refused to take any action on the resolution despite two earlier requests by me that it do so.
After promising to follow a different course of action, the County essentially reissued the Request for Proposal it had issued in June for engineering and design work on the Rocky Branch sewage plant. That request had produced three bids, and the Utility Department wanted to give the project to Jordan Jones and Goulding.
JJ&G was not the low bidder and had been involved in initial planning work for the plant. Precision Planning, which had partnered with JJ&G on County projects, also participated in the review that led to selection of the JJ&G bid.
JJ&G, on a tip from the County, proposed that the County abandon its commitment to membrane filtration for the plant and use a more primitive treatment method. That method cannot meet the standards that membrane filtration is capable of meeting.
The BOC refused to go along with the recommendation of the Utility Department after I pointed out the nature of the bidding and review. You can read details of that meeting in my posting of 9/10/2007.
Alan Theriault, administrative officer for the County, sent me an e-mail message on September 7, three days after the Board of Commissioners (BOC) voted to upgrade the Rocky Branch plant, saying he expected the initial step in the rebidding process to be a "Request for Qualifications" advertisement "to identify design firms or teams that have specific experience with membrane filtration wastewater systems and that would be interested in this project."
Although I have asked Theriault twice since that September message to keep me updated on discussions about Rocky Branch, he did not inform me about the new bidding for the plant upgrade.
Advertisements for the project appeared in The Oconee Enterprise on November 21 and 29 and again on December 6 and 13. The advertisements are nearly identical to those used for the earlier bid.
As with the earlier bid, interested parties were required to participate in a pre-submittal conference. That conference, according to the advertisements, was held on December 4, making the last two advertisements in the Enterprise meaningless, at least in terms of soliciting proposals.
My efforts to get the BOC to pass the Georgia Water Coalition resolution have produced nothing. The issue is the interbasin transfer prohibition, Chairman Melvin Davis has confirmed.
The County has a permit for an interbasin transfer for the Hard Labor Creek reservoir project. Water will be pumped out of the Oconee River basin and discharged, at least partially, into the Ocmulgee River basin. In addition, Oconee County sold water to Walton County for many years, and that water came out of the Oconee River basin. Walton County straddles the Oconee and Ocmulgee basins.
If the County would discuss the Water Coalition resolution, its stand on future interbasin transfers might become known. Even if the County does not pass that part of the resolution dealing with interbasin transfers, it could pass the other part, dealing with funding for the study of water issues.
My blog posting of 11/23/2007 explains the resolution.
By the way, if you missed the lead story in today’s Athens Banner-Herald about a broken promise to citizens in Clarke and Olgethorpe Counties about a landfill, you might want to take a look. It tells how important it is for citizens to watch what government officials do, and how hard it is to control those actions.
If you can attend the meeting tomorrow night, please do so. It always helps to have a crowd.
Friday, November 23, 2007
Written 11/23/2007
Georgia Water Coalition Petition
The Board of Directors of Friends of Barber Creek has asked the Oconee County Board of Commissioners to support a resolution drafted by the Georgia Water Coalition to respond to the current drought crisis.
Here is the text of a letter I sent to Mr. Melvin Davis, chairman of the Oconee County BOC, asking for BOC support.
November 23, 2007
Mr. Melvin Davis, Chairman
Oconee County Board of Commissioners
Oconee County Courthouse
23 N. Main Street
Watkinsville, GA 30677
Dear Mr. Davis:
The Georgia Water Coalition, a group of individuals and organizations working to ensure that the waters of the state continue to belong to the people of the state, has drafted a resolution regarding water policy in Georgia. Friends of Barber Creek, one of the 149 Georgia Water Coalition partners, is asking the Board of Commissioners of Oconee County to pass this resolution on behalf of the citizens of Oconee County. A copy of the resolution is below.
The purpose of the resolution is to guarantee fair apportionment of Georgia's waters to all portions of the state. This resolution asks the General Assembly to provide full funding for water planning on a regional and state level. It also asks for legislation prohibiting future transfers of water across the 14 river basins in the state.
The ongoing drought has made citizens of Oconee County and of the state aware of the precious nature of our water resources. The response to the drought indicates that the state currently lacks the information it needs to ensure that this resource will be managed sustainably in the future to balance the needs of natural systems, downstream economies, and other uses such as recreation, power generation and industry.
Because much of the population growth to date has occurred in the northern part of the state, where numerous rivers have their headwaters, water historically has been transferred from one river basin to another to meet increasing human demands. These transfers unfairly rob the donor basin of water that should flow downstream to support other economies and uses. More and larger transfers may occur in the future if this pattern is not halted by the legislature.
Through its partners, the Georgia Water Coalition is presenting this resolution to governing authorities across the state. The following entities already have passed the resolution: Putnam County, LaGrange, Liberty County, Chatham County, Rome, Floyd County, City of Tybee, Brantley County, City of Metter, Evans County, Hart County, City of Lavonia, City of Hartwell, Bryan County, Troup County, Ware County and the Satilla Regional Water and Sewer Authority.
The Board of Directors of Friends of Barber Creek urges the Oconee County Board of Commissioners to pass this resolution expeditiously so Oconee County can offer its support for the Georgia Water Coalition’s efforts to ensure that water is managed fairly for all Georgians, with the interest of all citizens, businesses and farms in mind.
I will attend the Board of Commissioners Agenda Meeting on November 27 to ask you either to pass this resolution or schedule it for discussion at your December 4, 2007 meeting.
Sincerely,
Lee B. Becker
President, on behalf of the Board of Directors of Friends of Barber Creek
Lee B. Becker, President (1050 Scott Terrace)
Tim Price, Vice President (1240 Hollow Creek Lane)
Mailing Address for Friends of Barber Creek:
1050 Scott Terrace
Athens, GA 30606 (Oconee County)
Tel. 706 548-1525
RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, there is increased pressure on the surface and ground water resources within the State of Georgia, but a lack of information as to the natural quantities of water in its rivers and aquifers, and
WHEREAS, the Oconee County Board of Commissioners believes that the surface and ground waters of the state should continue to be managed in the public interest and in a sustainable manner to protect natural systems and meet human and economic needs, and
WHEREAS, protection and restoration of water resources requires regional water planning, based on assessments of watersheds, river basins, and aquifers, that is tied to implementation, including a comprehensive management process, and
WHEREAS, protection of river basins must be strengthened to reflect scientific knowledge and respect natural systems, and
WHEREAS, downstream communities in Georgia rely on certain flow levels in river basins for current and future economic development, recreation, and environmental quality, and
WHEREAS, decisions on new water supplies for growing communities should recognize that efficiency and the wise use of current resources are the best course for taxpayers, and
WHEREAS, transferring water from one basin to another can adversely affect downstream communities and unfairly redistribute economic growth,
NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Oconee County Board of Commissioners supports and adopts the principles outlined above and urges the General Assembly of Georgia to fully fund comprehensive regional and statewide water planning and monitoring,
AND, BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT the Oconee County Board of Commissioners urges the General Assembly of Georgia to pass a statute that prevents the transfer of water from one basin to another to the detriment of current and future downstream economic growth or to the detriment of the natural health of the stream.
Duly adopted the _____day of __________, 2007.
Georgia Water Coalition Petition
The Board of Directors of Friends of Barber Creek has asked the Oconee County Board of Commissioners to support a resolution drafted by the Georgia Water Coalition to respond to the current drought crisis.
Here is the text of a letter I sent to Mr. Melvin Davis, chairman of the Oconee County BOC, asking for BOC support.
November 23, 2007
Mr. Melvin Davis, Chairman
Oconee County Board of Commissioners
Oconee County Courthouse
23 N. Main Street
Watkinsville, GA 30677
Dear Mr. Davis:
The Georgia Water Coalition, a group of individuals and organizations working to ensure that the waters of the state continue to belong to the people of the state, has drafted a resolution regarding water policy in Georgia. Friends of Barber Creek, one of the 149 Georgia Water Coalition partners, is asking the Board of Commissioners of Oconee County to pass this resolution on behalf of the citizens of Oconee County. A copy of the resolution is below.
The purpose of the resolution is to guarantee fair apportionment of Georgia's waters to all portions of the state. This resolution asks the General Assembly to provide full funding for water planning on a regional and state level. It also asks for legislation prohibiting future transfers of water across the 14 river basins in the state.
The ongoing drought has made citizens of Oconee County and of the state aware of the precious nature of our water resources. The response to the drought indicates that the state currently lacks the information it needs to ensure that this resource will be managed sustainably in the future to balance the needs of natural systems, downstream economies, and other uses such as recreation, power generation and industry.
Because much of the population growth to date has occurred in the northern part of the state, where numerous rivers have their headwaters, water historically has been transferred from one river basin to another to meet increasing human demands. These transfers unfairly rob the donor basin of water that should flow downstream to support other economies and uses. More and larger transfers may occur in the future if this pattern is not halted by the legislature.
Through its partners, the Georgia Water Coalition is presenting this resolution to governing authorities across the state. The following entities already have passed the resolution: Putnam County, LaGrange, Liberty County, Chatham County, Rome, Floyd County, City of Tybee, Brantley County, City of Metter, Evans County, Hart County, City of Lavonia, City of Hartwell, Bryan County, Troup County, Ware County and the Satilla Regional Water and Sewer Authority.
The Board of Directors of Friends of Barber Creek urges the Oconee County Board of Commissioners to pass this resolution expeditiously so Oconee County can offer its support for the Georgia Water Coalition’s efforts to ensure that water is managed fairly for all Georgians, with the interest of all citizens, businesses and farms in mind.
I will attend the Board of Commissioners Agenda Meeting on November 27 to ask you either to pass this resolution or schedule it for discussion at your December 4, 2007 meeting.
Sincerely,
Lee B. Becker
President, on behalf of the Board of Directors of Friends of Barber Creek
Lee B. Becker, President (1050 Scott Terrace)
Tim Price, Vice President (1240 Hollow Creek Lane)
Karen Kimbaris, Secretary-Treasurer (1031 Willow Ridge)
Joe Block, Member (1281 Founders Lake Drive)
Mailing Address for Friends of Barber Creek:
1050 Scott Terrace
Athens, GA 30606 (Oconee County)
Tel. 706 548-1525
RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, there is increased pressure on the surface and ground water resources within the State of Georgia, but a lack of information as to the natural quantities of water in its rivers and aquifers, and
WHEREAS, the Oconee County Board of Commissioners believes that the surface and ground waters of the state should continue to be managed in the public interest and in a sustainable manner to protect natural systems and meet human and economic needs, and
WHEREAS, protection and restoration of water resources requires regional water planning, based on assessments of watersheds, river basins, and aquifers, that is tied to implementation, including a comprehensive management process, and
WHEREAS, protection of river basins must be strengthened to reflect scientific knowledge and respect natural systems, and
WHEREAS, downstream communities in Georgia rely on certain flow levels in river basins for current and future economic development, recreation, and environmental quality, and
WHEREAS, decisions on new water supplies for growing communities should recognize that efficiency and the wise use of current resources are the best course for taxpayers, and
WHEREAS, transferring water from one basin to another can adversely affect downstream communities and unfairly redistribute economic growth,
NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Oconee County Board of Commissioners supports and adopts the principles outlined above and urges the General Assembly of Georgia to fully fund comprehensive regional and statewide water planning and monitoring,
AND, BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT the Oconee County Board of Commissioners urges the General Assembly of Georgia to pass a statute that prevents the transfer of water from one basin to another to the detriment of current and future downstream economic growth or to the detriment of the natural health of the stream.
Duly adopted the _____day of __________, 2007.
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Written 10/17/2007
Rare Chance to See Elder Mill, Other Sites
Oconee County residents will get a rare chance on Saturday to tour a part of southern Oconee County that, to date, has been spared from development and that contains a number of important historical sites.
Unfortunately, the area is threatened, and the Board of Commissioners has yet to take any action to protect it.
The Elder family will be directing people to family sites in the County, such as the Elder Mill Covered Bridge on Rose Creek, Elder Mill, and two family cemeteries. Maps for the sites will be available Saturday at the Elder shop, between the courthouse and the Haygood House on Main Street in Watkinsville.
Watkinsville is the site of the Saturday’s Oconee Fall Festival, and the Elder family will hold a reunion at the Watkinsville shop. The public is invited.
Cokey Elder, a senior member of the family, said the mill, located on Rose Creek near the covered bridge, will be open for viewing as part of the tour.
Only the bridge, which carries limited traffic across Rose Creek on Elder Bridge Road just south of SR15, is owned by the County. The surrounding land and the mill are in private hands.
The BOC discussed creating a park that would include the bridge and at least some surrounding property in a closed-door session on September 4. No details of the discussion or of the proposed park have been released to the public.
After returning to regular session from the closed-door discussions on September 4, the BOC voted to continue to pursue a grant from the Georgia Land Conservation Program to help create the park, but the BOC refused to allocate any funds to support the application.
Following that closed-door session, according to the minutes, "On motion by Commissioner (Chuck) Horton and second by Commissioner (Jim) Luke, the Board voted unanimously to continue with the GLCP grant request for the proposed Elder Mill Park as originally submitted, providing no monetary funding obligation from the County, only in-kind funding."
According to the historical marker at the Elder Bridge, it was built in 1897 and carried the Watkinsville-Athens road across Calls Creek, which flows from Watkinsville to the Middle Oconee River north of Watkinsville.
The 99-foot-long bridge was moved to its present location in 1924. The bridge is made entirely of wood, and its planks are held together with wooden pegs.
The grist mill, just downstream from the bridge, was built about 1900 and stopped operating in 1941, according to the marker at the bridge. It contains many of the original inner workings of the mill.
Rose Creek between the bridge and mill flows over large rocks, creating a shoal, and is surrounded by large hardwoods.
Some of the key tracts of land surrounding the bridge and mill are designated by the County as protected in the proposed new land use map. The County largely ignores its current land use map, and it could ignore the new one should it be adopted.
Any development along Elder Bridge Road or Saxon Road would be a threat to the bridge, as it can handle very limited traffic.
Some of the property is certainly attractive for development. A subdivision already has been laid out on SR 15 between Watkinsville and the site.
According to Georgia open meeting laws, the BOC was allowed to go into a secret session if it was "discussing the future acquisition of real estate."
The BOC is still required to prepare "minutes of such a meeting; provided, however, the disclosure of such portions of the minutes as would identify real estate to be acquired may be delayed until such time as the acquisition of the real estate has been completed, terminated, or abandoned or court proceedings with respect thereto initiated."
According to the law, the minutes of the closed session "shall reflect the names of the members present and the names of those voting for closure, and that part of the minutes shall be made available to the public as any other minutes."
If the closed meeting is devoted only in part to discussion of land acquisition, "any portion of the meeting not subject to any such exception, privilege, or confidentiality shall be open to the public, and the minutes of such portions not subject to any such exception shall be taken, recorded, and open to public inspection."
The law states that "Any person knowingly and willfully conducting or participating in a meeting in violation of this chapter shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction shall be punished by a fine not to exceed $500.00."
So far, the County has not released the minutes of the closed session, nor has it indicated who joined the BOC in the session.
Rare Chance to See Elder Mill, Other Sites
Oconee County residents will get a rare chance on Saturday to tour a part of southern Oconee County that, to date, has been spared from development and that contains a number of important historical sites.
Unfortunately, the area is threatened, and the Board of Commissioners has yet to take any action to protect it.
The Elder family will be directing people to family sites in the County, such as the Elder Mill Covered Bridge on Rose Creek, Elder Mill, and two family cemeteries. Maps for the sites will be available Saturday at the Elder shop, between the courthouse and the Haygood House on Main Street in Watkinsville.
Watkinsville is the site of the Saturday’s Oconee Fall Festival, and the Elder family will hold a reunion at the Watkinsville shop. The public is invited.
Cokey Elder, a senior member of the family, said the mill, located on Rose Creek near the covered bridge, will be open for viewing as part of the tour.
Only the bridge, which carries limited traffic across Rose Creek on Elder Bridge Road just south of SR15, is owned by the County. The surrounding land and the mill are in private hands.
The BOC discussed creating a park that would include the bridge and at least some surrounding property in a closed-door session on September 4. No details of the discussion or of the proposed park have been released to the public.
After returning to regular session from the closed-door discussions on September 4, the BOC voted to continue to pursue a grant from the Georgia Land Conservation Program to help create the park, but the BOC refused to allocate any funds to support the application.
Following that closed-door session, according to the minutes, "On motion by Commissioner (Chuck) Horton and second by Commissioner (Jim) Luke, the Board voted unanimously to continue with the GLCP grant request for the proposed Elder Mill Park as originally submitted, providing no monetary funding obligation from the County, only in-kind funding."
According to the historical marker at the Elder Bridge, it was built in 1897 and carried the Watkinsville-Athens road across Calls Creek, which flows from Watkinsville to the Middle Oconee River north of Watkinsville.
The 99-foot-long bridge was moved to its present location in 1924. The bridge is made entirely of wood, and its planks are held together with wooden pegs.
The grist mill, just downstream from the bridge, was built about 1900 and stopped operating in 1941, according to the marker at the bridge. It contains many of the original inner workings of the mill.
Rose Creek between the bridge and mill flows over large rocks, creating a shoal, and is surrounded by large hardwoods.
Some of the key tracts of land surrounding the bridge and mill are designated by the County as protected in the proposed new land use map. The County largely ignores its current land use map, and it could ignore the new one should it be adopted.
Any development along Elder Bridge Road or Saxon Road would be a threat to the bridge, as it can handle very limited traffic.
Some of the property is certainly attractive for development. A subdivision already has been laid out on SR 15 between Watkinsville and the site.
According to Georgia open meeting laws, the BOC was allowed to go into a secret session if it was "discussing the future acquisition of real estate."
The BOC is still required to prepare "minutes of such a meeting; provided, however, the disclosure of such portions of the minutes as would identify real estate to be acquired may be delayed until such time as the acquisition of the real estate has been completed, terminated, or abandoned or court proceedings with respect thereto initiated."
According to the law, the minutes of the closed session "shall reflect the names of the members present and the names of those voting for closure, and that part of the minutes shall be made available to the public as any other minutes."
If the closed meeting is devoted only in part to discussion of land acquisition, "any portion of the meeting not subject to any such exception, privilege, or confidentiality shall be open to the public, and the minutes of such portions not subject to any such exception shall be taken, recorded, and open to public inspection."
The law states that "Any person knowingly and willfully conducting or participating in a meeting in violation of this chapter shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction shall be punished by a fine not to exceed $500.00."
So far, the County has not released the minutes of the closed session, nor has it indicated who joined the BOC in the session.
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