Oconee County Commissioners To Consider Recommendation That They Allow Rezone And Special Use For QuikTrip With Truck Fuel Bays

***Citizens Opposed Inclusion Of Truck Bays***

Eric Eberhardt, representing QuikTrip, was emphatic in telling the Oconee County Planning Commission last month that the gas station and convenience store his company wants to build opposite the intersection of North Main Street and U.S 441 Bypass north of Watkinsville has truck bays but is not a truck stop.

Ben Qualls, real estate manager for QuikTrip, told the Commission that QuikTrip knows what a truck stop is since it operates them elsewhere, and what is being proposed at that site is not a truck stop.

COVID Case Count In Northeast Health District Drops Sharply After Three Weeks Of Slight Increases

***Oconee Reports Confirmed Death From Disease***

The Georgia Department of Public Health reported that the Northeast Health District added 32 new cases of COVID-19 in the week ending on July 5, based on the Department’s electronic tracking system.

The number of cases added a week earlier in the Northeast Health District had been 74. The number of cases had increased just slightly in each of the last three weeks prior to the July 5 report.

Oconee Library Board To Decide On Citizen Complaint From March, Discuss Issues From June Program At Monday Meeting

***Town Hall Meeting Exchange Plays Role***

The Oconee County Library Board of Trustees, in its meeting on Monday, is scheduled to respond to a citizen request from March that the Oconee County Library reclassify or relabel a book because of its discussion of sex and use of language.

Board Chair Mark Campbell also anticipates that the Board will discuss possible responses to a controversy regarding programming at the Watkinsville Library in June that included a reading from the children’s series Little People, Big Dreams about RuPaul.

Oconee County Commissioners Set To Approve Big Cut In Property Taxes

***Drop Greater Than Promised Before Sales Tax Referendum***

Oconee County commissioners are set to approve a new millage rate for the vast majority of property owners in the county that represents an 8.4 percent cut in property taxes.

The millage rate of 4.824 reflects a larger cut than the 1 mill drop in property taxes the commissioner promised when voters approved the Transportation Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax last November.

COVID Case Count In Northeast Health District Shows Small Increase For Third Week Running

***No Deaths From Disease Reported In District***

The Georgia Department of Public Health reported that the Northeast Health District added 74 new cases of COVID-19 in the week ending on June 28, based on the Department’s electronic tracking system.

The number of cases added a week earlier in the Northeast Health District had been 42. The number of cases has increased in each of the last three weeks.

Updated Comprehensive Plan Includes Statistical Description Of Oconee County

***Appendices Paint Picture Of County***

Median household income in Oconee County in the last Census was $95,064, up from $74,352 in 2010.

A third of those 16 years and older in the county holding jobs were in professional and related occupations (33.4 percent), up from 30.1 percent 10 years earlier.

Only 190 of the employed in the county were in farming or forestry (1.0 percent), but the figure was an increase from 96 (0.6 percent) in 2010.

COVID Cases in Northeast Health District Increase Just Slightly; Oconee Shows Tiny Increase; Clarke Reports Drop In Cases

***No Deaths From Disease Reported In District***

The Georgia Department of Public Health reported that the Northeast Health District added 42 new cases of COVID-19 in the week ending on June 21, based on the Department’s electronic tracking system.

The number of cases added a week earlier in the Northeast Health District had been 39. The number of cases has increased just slightly in both of the last two weeks.