Candidates For Lieutenant Governor, State School Superintendent Ask For Support Of Oconee County Republicans

***Business Meeting Closed***

Geoff Duncan, a former Republican member of the Georgia House of Representatives, told Oconee County Republican Party members last month that they should vote for him for lieutenant governor in the party’s primary in May because he will focus on policy over politics.

Incumbent Georgia Superintendent of Public Instruction Richard Woods told the 20 at the regular meeting of the local Republican Party that they should vote for him in the party primary next year because of the job he has done during the three years he has held that position.

Westminster Christian Academy Asking Oconee County To Approve Plans For Expansion

Fire Station Also On Agenda

Westminster Christian Academy is asking the Oconee County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday night to approve plans for expansion of its campus on New High Shoals Road to allow the school to grow from its current enrollment of 350 students to 500 students in the next 10 years.

The private school is proposing to invest $18 million in a number of buildings and facilities. The building expansion would nearly triple the size of the existing campus to 90,900 square feet.

Draft Of Update To Oconee County Comprehensive Plan Proposes Changes To Land Use Map

***Development On U.S. 78***

Citizen members of the Stakeholders Committee working on an update to the Oconee County Comprehensive Plan have received a draft of the plan for review that makes a number of changes to the county’s land use map.

Included in those changes is an increase from 12 to 20 in the number of Character Areas for the county.

Mars Hill Road Phase I Widening Is On Schedule, Oconee County Citizen Committee Members Told

***Next Phase Also Progressing***

Construction of Phase I of the Mars Hill Road/Experiment Station Road project is on schedule, and county leaders are hopeful that construction on Phase II will begin as work on Phase I is completed at the end of May of next year.

Oconee County Public Works Director Emil Beshara gave that report to the Citizen Advisory Committee for Land Use and Transportation Planning last week.

Fishing Enthusiasts And Paddlers Will Have Access To Hard Labor Creek Reservoir In January

***Date Not Yet Set***

Area fishermen and fisherwomen as well as kayakers and canoeists will have a new lake to explore early next year.

The Hard Labor Creek Regional Reservoir in southeastern Walton County is still filling, but Project Manager Jimmy Parker told the reservoir Management Board last week that he expects the lake will be open for allowed recreational use shortly after the first of the year.

Oconee County Development Authority Subcommittee Not Unified On How To Respond To Prospect For Gateway Park

***Sell Land Or Lease Building?***

The Oconee County Industrial Development Authority Subcommittee on the Gateway Technology and Business Park met for nearly an hour on Monday without producing any sign of consensus on how to respond to an expression of interest for land in the Gateway property.

Rick Waller, who is chair of the IDA, favors constructing a building to sell or lease to the possible tenant as a way for the IDA to make money.

Oconee County Board Of Education Gives Final Approval To Redistricting Plan For System’s Elementary Schools

***No Parents Showed Up To Protest***

The Oconee County Board of Education voted unanimously tonight (Monday) to approve the redistricting plan put forward by school administrators on Sept. 18 to accommodate the new Dove Creek Elementary school set to open next academic year.

None of the parents of students currently in Malcolm Bridge Elementary School who will be moved to Rocky Branch Elementary School next year spoke up at the meeting, though they registered their unhappiness with the plan at a meeting with the Board on Oct. 10.