Developer of Oconee County Commercial Building at Daniells Bridge Road and Connector Seeking State Environmental Permit

Box Culvert for Bank

An Athens dentist is asking the state Environmental Protection Division to allow him to encroach on the 25-foot buffer of a tributary of Barber Creek so he can build a commercial building at the corner of Daniells Bridge Road and Mars Hill Road across from QuikTrip.

Dr. James J. McDonald Jr., whose office is on Price Avenue, is asking for permission to pipe the tributary of the stream so he can put fill on to the 1.6 acre triangular lot and build a 3,500 square foot commercial building and associated parking lot.

Oconee County Commissioners Get First View of SPLOST Spending for Recreational, Historic and Scenic Facilities

Pond in Herman C. Michael to be Drained

John Gentry, director of the Oconee County Parks and Recreation Department, last week gave members of the Board of Commissioners the first view of a proposed spending plan for funds being collected as part of the 2009 Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax.

The plan calls for improvements to all four of the county’s parks, but Oconee Veterans Park will be the big winner, with $590,000 of the $880,000 budgeted through June 30, 2016, going to that park.

Oconee County Utility Department Director Proposes Water and Sewer Rate Increases

Base Rate Up 3 Percent

Oconee County water and sewer rates, which have gone up each of the last three years, will go up again this year if the Board of Commissioners approves the budget request submitted tonight by Utility Department Director Chris Thomas.

The rate increases would be more modest than those proposed last year, and Thomas termed them an adjustment that simply reflected his increased costs of running the Utility Department.

AmeriPride Seeking State Discharge Permit As Part of Cleanup of Toxics at Watkinsville Site

Need Access Agreement from Elders

As part of its efforts to clean up chemical contamination from a phased-out dry cleaning operation, AmeriPride Services Inc. is seeking a permit to begin discharging 72,000 gallons per day of treated water from four wells near its Watkinsville plant on Experiment State Road into the county wastewater treatment system.

Water in the wells contains tetrachloroethylene, also known as perchloroethylene or PCE, and its degraded products, and these also have been found in nearby Tanyard Branch, a tributary of Calls Creek.

Many Oconee County Republicans and Democrats Bypassed March 6 Presidential Primaries

2008 Primary as Standard

Only 27.7 percent of the registered voters in Oconee County turned out for the March 6 Presidential primaries, down from 48.6 percent four years ago, the official Statement of Votes Cast filed by the county Board of Elections and Registration office late last week shows.

Almost all of the votes cast—97.7 percent—were in the Republican primary, but even Republicans showed limited interest in the race.

Oconee Farmers Market to Launch New Season in Front of Courthouse

Lexi Expands Product Line

Oconee Farmers Market will launch its ninth season on April 14 at a new venue–in the parking area in front of the courthouse in downtown Watkinsville.

The Board of Directors of the Market made the move to increase exposure for the market and its vendors.

Oconee County Commissioners Ask Again for More Communication from Chairman

Agenda Questioned

An issue that has presented problems for the Oconee County Board of Commissioners–communication between the chairman and the other four commission members–surfaced again last week.

At the Feb. 28 agenda-setting meeting, Commissioner Chuck Horton and Commissioner Jim Luke complained that they had not been given sufficient advance notice of plans by the Oconee County Industrial Development Authority to purchase additional land for the undeveloped Gateway Business Park on SR 316.