The MACORTS Policy Committee meeting on Wednesday morning took an unusual turn when Oconee County’s citizen representative said it was his intention to vote against a request for a scoping study of a truck bypass linking SR 15 and U.S. 441 south of Watkinsville.
Dave Henson said his goal was to keep the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) from considering any route that put additional traffic on U.S. 441 through Bishop.
Oconee County’s legislators in the Georgia General Assembly will find themselves with rather different districts when the legislation they and fellow Republicans passed on Monday and Wednesday takes effect for the November 2022 elections.
Marcus Wiedower, who represents the county from the 119th House District, will gain a new Oconee County precinct while losing two precincts in Clarke County if he seeks re-election.
Houston Gaines, who represents the county in the 117th House District, will lose a precinct in Oconee County, one in Clarke County, and a precinct in Barrow County, and he will gain a precinct in Jackson County--if he seeks to stay in the Georgia House.
Bill Cowsert will continue to have all of Oconee County in his Senate District 46, but he will have fewer precincts in Clarke and Walton counties and add precincts in Gwinnett and Barrow counties, provided he decides to run again for his seat.
The MACORTS Technical Coordination Committee has approved modifications to the transportation group’s documents, moving plans forward for a scoping study of a truck bypass linking SR 15 and U.S. 441 south of Watkinsville.
The action now goes to the MACORTS Policy Committee, which meets virtually on Nov. 10, for final action.
The 10-county Northeast Health District added 561 new cases of COVID-19 in the week ending on Friday, up from 459 added a week earlier, and 18 new confirmed deaths from the disease, down from 21 last week.
The average number of added cases in the District was 80.1 per day, compared with 65.6 per day in the week ending Oct. 29.
This was the first increase in the average number of cases per week since cases per week peaked on Sept. 3.
Georgia House Republicans released their version of new House District boundaries on Wednesday as the legislature assembled in Atlanta to create new maps for the state House, Senate, and U.S. Congress.
Oconee County would continue to be split between two Districts, numbered 120 and 121, if the Republican map is approved, but Clarke County would be split between four districts, 120, 121,122, and 124, rather than the three at present.
Oconee County voters Tuesday turned down a new Transportation Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax in a low-turnout election.
Watkinsville voters selected incumbent Mayor Brian Brodrick over Rebecca Billings and incumbent Post 2 Council Member Connie Massey over Carolyn Maultsby.
In North High Shoals, voters selected Meagan Cundiff over Jared Strickland to fill the open Post 5 seat.
In Bogart, incumbent Jenny Bridges was defeated by challenger Greg Maddox. David Kilpatrick was re-elected to Council.
The Democratic Caucus of the Georgia House of Representatives on Friday released a draft redistricting map that would radically change how Oconee County is represented in the Georgia House.
The Georgia Senate Democratic Caucus on Wednesday released its map for redistricting of the state Senate, and that plan would keep Oconee County whole in Senate District 46, as is the case at present.
On Oct. 21, both Democratic Caucuses released a plan for U.S. House Districts, and it, like the map released by the Georgia Senate Republican Caucus in late September, would put Oconee and all of Clarke together at the center of a district stretching from Walton County to the Savannah River.
