Oconee County Democrats are going forward with plans to hold a Town Hall Meeting on Tuesday evening, even though they acknowledge invited Republican 10th Congressional District Rep. Mike Collins has said he will not attend.
The meeting will begin at 5:30 p.m. at the Athens Clarke-County Library Auditorium, according to an email message sent out by Harold Thompson, Oconee County Democratic Party Chair, on Friday (March 14).
The Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) is considering allowing its contractor to close the Oconee Connector interchange with SR 316 for 45 days during reconstruction of that intersection.
Construction of the three-interchange bundle consisting of Jimmy Daniell Road, Virgil Langford Road, and the Connector is expected to begin later this year with the Virgil Langford Road flyover of SR 316.
Oconee County Schools has collected 99 percent of its projected revenue from ad valorem taxes and from title taxes, two-thirds of its funding from the state Quality Basic Education (QBE) formula, and 28 times the budgeted amount for investment income.
Oconee County Schools Chief Financial Officer Peter Adams made that report to School Board on Monday, saying that, in the eighth month of the school year “we are on target for the period, maintaining a well balanced financial position.”
The Oconee County Board of Education on Monday approved a state-required five-year facilities plan that projects growing enrollment through the 2028-2029 school year and calls for expanded high school instructional space to address that growth.
The total cost of the construction in the plan is $67.1 million, with $16.2 million of that listed as eligible for state funding and the remaining $50.9 million coming from local sources.
Oconee County Schools is planning the addition of seven instructional units to North Oconee High School in the next five years as well as substantial renovations and modifications of the facility.
The school system is telling the state that the changes at North Oconee High School are its top construction priority for the next five years and asking the state to contribute $4.5 million to those changes. Total costs are expected to exceed $13 million.
The Oconee County Board of Elections and Registration on Tuesday turned down the Application Petition of a group of Bishop residents that would have been the first step in initiating a recall election for the mayor and three members of the Bishop Council.
The Elections Board took that action after reviewing the application documents submitted the day earlier and determining that Greg Montgomery, designated as the Petition Chairperson on the four Recall Application Petitions, is not a registered voter in Bishop or in Oconee County and had not actually signed the petitions.
Oconee County commissioners, in quick succession on Tuesday night, approved rezone plans for a car wash and oil change shop at Epps Bridge Centre II, for a small office complex just north of Watkinsville, and for a hotel on Parkway Boulevard near Epps Bridge Centre.
No one other than the applicants or their representatives spoke in favor of any of the three rezone requests, and no one spoke in opposition. With almost no discussion, the commissioners approved all three unanimously.
