Oconee County Commissioners Scheduled to Discuss Intergovernmental Agreement for Caterpillar Plant Site

Costs/Revenues Shared

The Oconee County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday night is set to discuss a proposed intergovernmental agreement with Athens-Clarke County that would split evenly both the costs and revenues from the Caterpillar project.

The agreement on how to share the costs and revenues for the Caterpillar project is an appendix to a general agreement that specifies that the two counties will work together to develop the Orkin site, which straddles the county line and includes the property to be used by Caterpillar for its new manufacturing plant.

Oconee Farmers Market Opens Season in New Venue in Front of Courthouse in Watkinsville

Move a Success

Ten vendors set up booths in front of the courthouse in downtown Watkinsville yesterday to launch the 2012 season of Oconee Farmers Market.

Vendors offered fresh greens, mushrooms, strawberries, fried and boiled peanuts, plants, eggs, jams, pound cakes, shea butter, natural candles, bird houses, squirrel feeders and T-shirts.

Oconee, Clarke Memo of Understanding with Caterpillar Provides Tax Reduction Details, Penalties for Company Nonperformance

Phantom Bonds Issued

The Oconee County Industrial Development Authority, in partnership with the Development Authority of Athens-Clarke County, has bought the 265 acres that will be used by Caterpillar for its new plant and will build the roads and other infrastructure for the plant.

To raise money to pay its part of these costs, Oconee County sold $10.4 million in general revenue bonds on Feb. 23.

The county is required to pay off the bonds by March 1, 2034, increasing property taxes for that purpose if necessary.

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.