The Oconee County Planning Commission on Monday night recommended approval a medical center as a replacement for a proposed hotel in one rezone request and the near doubling of the size of a Continuum of Care Retirement Community in another.
Both rezone requests were in the fast-developing medical area along Virgil Langford Road between SR 316 and SR 10 Loop.
The Oconee County Board of Commissioners has decided to use $1.7 million in federal relief funds the county has in hand to pay Charter Communications to build out broadband in underserved areas mostly in the central and southern parts of the county.
The county’s grant isn’t likely to be all that Charter will need to invest to reach the 1,377 addresses tentatively identified as lacking adequate broadband service, but it is the amount that Charter requested in negotiations for the grant from the county.
The 10-county Northeast Health District added 290 new cases of COVID-19 in the week ending on Friday, down sharply from the 561 cases added a week earlier, and 11 new confirmed deaths from the disease, down from 18 added last week.
Three of the confirmed deaths in the last week were in Clarke County.
The average number of added cases in the District was 41.1 per day, about half of the average of 80.1 for the week ending Nov. 5.
The average number of cases was down from the 65.5 average on Oct. 29.
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.
