Oconee County Board Of Commissioners To Consider New Debt for Hard Labor Creek Regional Reservoir

Loan Documents To Be Reviewed

The Oconee County Board of Commissioners is scheduled to review Georgia Environmental Finance Authority loan documents on Tuesday night as the first step toward approval of an additional $20 million of indebtedness for the Hard Labor Creek Regional Reservoir in Walton County.

It will be the first opportunity for citizens of the county to comment on the loan, and the first real chance for them to review the decision of the Hard Labor Creek Regional Reservoir Management Board to seek state funding to continue work on the project.

Caterpillar Decided To Send Sewage to Athens-Clarke, Not Oconee County, For Treatment

Oconee Building New Line

Caterpillar has decided to send its sewage from its plant under construction near Bogart to Athens-Clarke County for treatment, rather than to Oconee County, as had been planned.

Oconee County Utility Department Director Chris Thomas told me on Monday that Caterpillar made the decision after looking at the limits that would be imposed on it in Oconee County, where the amount of metals that can be handled is quite low because of the size of the county’s treatment plants.

Presbyterian Homes of Georgia Could Be Required To Build New Sewage Line Along Barber Creek As Condition Of Rezone

Other Options Rejected

The Oconee County Planning Department is recommending that Presbyterian Homes of Georgia be required to build a gravity sewer line along Barber Creek as a condition for rezone of 96 acres on Rocky Branch Road for a proposed continuing care retirement community.

That sewer line would cost an estimated $1.2 million and would require PHG to get easements from 31 property owners, some of whom have been vocal opponents of the rezone request.

Oconee County Planning Commission Grants Presbyterian Homes of Georgia Request for Delay

Come Back In June

The Oconee County Planning Commission voted tonight to accept the request of Presbyterian Homes of Georgia for a postponement of consideration of its request for a rezone of 96 acres on Rocky Branch Road for a continuing care retirement community.

Smith Planning Group, 1022 Twelve Oaks Place, just east of Butler’s Crossing, sent a fax to the Oconee County Planning Department seven minutes before official closing time today asking for the delay on behalf of his client Frank McElroy, president and CEO of PHG.

Oconee County Planning Staff Recommends Against Presbyterian Homes of Georgia Rezone Request

Proponents And Opponents Are Many

The Oconee County planning staff has recommended against approval of the requested rezone by Presbyterian Homes of Georgia for 96 acres on Rocky Branch Road and against the special use request to construct a continuing care retirement community on the site.

The staff report, completed on Nov. 30, states that the request to rezone the Autumn Glen subdivision across from Old Waverly for the PHG facility “appears to conflict with the development goals and strategies” the county has established for the area.

County Submitted Application For Federal Funds To Extend Oconee Veterans Park Trail

End Dead End

Hardly a day goes by when someone doesn’t ask him when the walking trail at Veterans Park will be completed, Oconee County Parks and Recreation Department Director John Gentry told the Board of Commissioners at its meeting on Nov. 6.

That trail now dead ends abruptly behind the soccer fields on the eastern side of the popular park on Hog Mountain Road west of Butler’s Crossing.

Oconee County Commissioners Call For Drafting Of Resolution Supporting Overhaul Of House Redistricting

Davis Skeptical

Oconee County commissioners last night asked County Attorney Daniel Haygood and Administrative Officer Jeff Benko to draft a resolution for next week’s meeting that would call for the county to be reunited in a single district in the Georgia House of Representatives.

While Board of Commissioners Chairman Melvin Davis expressed doubts about the initiative, Commissioners Chuck Horton and Jim Luke made strong statements of support for such a resolution. Commissioner Margaret Hale also said she wants the county to have a single representative.