Oconee County Parks And Recreation Department Got Approval Of SPLOST Funding For Five Projects

Including Veterans Park Trail

The Oconee County Parks and Recreation Department has received approval to spend $220,000 in Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax revenue in Fiscal Year 2014 for five projects, including completion of the paved walking trail in Oconee Veterans Park.

Also included are funds for a net and shade protective cover at the youth fields at Oconee Veterans Park, for a restroom between fields five and six at Bogart Sports Complex, for recoating of tennis courts at Oconee Veterans Park, and for emergency public address systems and equipment at all of the county’s parks.

Fairway Retains Use of Two Old Billboards Covered By Settlement With Oconee County

Sign’s Third Side Not Used

Fairway Outdoor Advertising has not removed two of the four billboards it agreed to take down as part of a legal settlement with Oconee County that allowed the sign company to erect the two huge LED signs on Epps Bridge Parkway.

One of the four signs slated for removal–at the intersection of Ruth Jackson Road and U.S. 78–won’t come down until Fairway has completed its contracts for signs at the site, according to county officials.

A Doctor’s Office, A Church And A Farm Are On Zoning Agenda For Oconee County Commissioners’ Meeting

Parking And Unpaved Roads Too

The Oconee County Board of Commissioners is scheduled to conduct public hearings on Tuesday night on zoning requests involving an office park near Butler’s Crossing, a neighborhood church near U.S. 78 in the west of the county, and a farm in the far south of the county.

If the BOC follows staff recommendations, it will allow for expansion of a doctor’s office, for conversion of a church from neighborhood scale to community scale, and for subdivision of a farm on a dirt road.

Oconee County Code Enforcement Issued Permit For First Outparcel At Epps Bridge Centre

Two New Tenants Identified

The Oconee County Code Enforcement Office has issued a permit for construction on the first of the 12 outparcels that are part of Epps Bridge Centre.

The 5,500 square-foot-building will house Vitamin Shoppe and Sleep Number, according to Utility Department records. Preliminary construction of the building is underway.

Maps Show Changes Proposed By Rep. Quick To Modify House Districts 117 And 119

Rep. Williams On Board

Oconee County’s two delegates in the Georgia House of Representatives agreed after a town hall style meeting in Bogart in April to release maps showing how their two districts could be reconfigured in the next meeting of the General Assembly to put all of Oconee County voters back into a single district.

Following that meeting, Dan O’Connor, a data analyst in the Reapportionment Office of the General Assembly, provided me the detailed maps–the first ever released–showing the changes in House Districts 117 and 119 requested before the legislative session in January by Rep. Regina Quick from the 117th District.

Hard Labor Creek Management Board Set To Consider $28 Million Budget At Meeting On Tuesday

Big Item: Dam Construction

The Hard Labor Creek Regional Reservoir Management Board is scheduled to consider on Tuesday the $28.2 million fiscal year 2014 project budget, which includes $15 million for construction of the dam and spillway for the reservoir in southeast Walton County.

The budget also includes $2.8 million for construction of the reservoir intake and pump and $3.5 million to relocate Social Circle Fairplay Road.

Oconee County Sees Population Growth Rate of 2.5 Percent From 2010 to 2012

Most Recent Estimate

Oconee County’s population increased by 804 individuals between April 1, 2010, and July 1, 2012, according to the latest estimate by the U.S. Census Bureau.

The growth rate for Oconee County of 2.5 percent is just slightly higher than the growth rate of 2.4 percent for the state as a whole.