Oconee Farmers Market Launches 10th Season Saturday In Front Of Courthouse In Watkinsville

Expanded Vendor List

Vegetable grower, egg gatherer, farm promoter and market vender Dana Bradford is really looking forward to Saturday.

That’s when the Oconee Farmers Market launches its 10th season in front of the courthouse in downtown Watkinsville.

County Attorney Haygood Told Oconee County Commissioners That Prezoning Raises Significant Issues They Will Need To Address

Possible Appearance of Conflict Of Interest

Oconee County Attorney Daniel Haygood told the Board of Commissioners last night that he has a list of at least 22 issues that he feels the commissioners need to address before the county can move forward with prezoning of property for development.

Haygood said the county should consider the consequences of abandoning the current approach of reviewing individual zoning requests and reflect on the method that will be used to select properties for prezoning.

Oconee County Units Request Nearly 20 Percent Increase In Funding For Fiscal Year 2014

Sheriff Cites Shopping Center

Oconee County departments and governmental units have requested $24.1 million from the general fund for fiscal year 2014, up $3.9 million from the budget for the current fiscal year.

The 19.2 percent increase in funding was spelled out in budget hearings before the Board of Commissioners last week and will have to be reconciled with revenue projections for the county by the time the BOC approves the county’s budget by the end of June.

Oconee County Will Remain Divided Between State House Districts Until At Least 2014

Committee Not Receptive

All of Oconee County’s 13 precincts will not be reunited in a single district in the Georgia House of Representatives this legislative session, though both of the county’s representatives say they believe there may be receptivity to revisiting the issue in the 2014 session.

Rep. Regina Quick from the 117th House District and Rep. Chuck Williams from the 119th District told me they came away from a meeting with House Speaker David Ralston the week before last encouraged.

Oconee County Board of Commissioners Ignoring, Discussing Zoning Policy

TDR (No); Prezoning (Yes)

The Oconee County Board of Commissioners is avoiding the discussion of one significant change in zoning law while launching into consideration of another.

Though the county has advertised for qualified persons or organizations to help it develop a proposal for a Transfer of Development Rights program, it has not followed up by seeking actual proposals and has given no indication it plans to do so.

Traffic Counters Reflect Changes Underway In SR 316 and Mars Hill Road Area

No Permit Required

Traffic counters popped up around the busy Mars Hill Road-Daniells Bridge Road intersection early last week and then disappeared nearly as quickly.

Oconee County Public Works Director Emil Beshara said he had “never seen so many traffic counters in one area in my life.”

Oconee County Commissioners Decide To Seek Citizen For Hard Labor Creek Management Board

Voting Or Alternate Unclear

The Oconee County Board of Commissioners decided last night to advertise for a citizen to join the Hard Labor Creek Regional Reservoir Management Board, though it left unspecified how that advertisement would read and whether the citizen would be a voting or a nonvoting alternate member.

Commissioner Jim Luke indicated he preferred that the citizen be a nonvoting member, but Commissioner John Daniell said that the advertisement could leave open the possibility that the citizen be appointed as one of the county’s three voting members or as one of the three alternates.