Oconee County Farmers Market To Launch 11th Season On Saturday, April 5, At Courthouse

Tuesday Launch May 13

Oconee Farmers Market will launch its 11th season with the opening of the Saturday market on April 5 and the Tuesday evening market on May 13.

The Saturday market will once again be in front of the courthouse in downtown Watkinsville.

Oconee County Representatives Joined House Majority In Vote For Omnibus Gun Bill

Safe Carry Protection Act

Oconee County’s two members of the Georgia House of Representatives voted with the Republican majority on Tuesday to pass an omnibus gun bill that would allow, among other things, licensed holders of guns to enter county government buildings that do not have security restrictions in place.

The bill is wide ranging, dealing with the rights of persons to carry guns in a variety of settings.

Clear Cutting To Start Monday For Hard Labor Creek Reservoir in Walton County

Log Trucks On Roadways

Residents of southeastern Walton County as well as others traveling through the area will soon get a clearer sense of the scope of the 1,400 acre Hard Labor Creek Regional Reservoir project.

Construction crews on Monday will begin clear cutting the area that will be filled by the lake, Project Manager Jimmy Parker told the Reservoir Management Board at its regular meeting yesterday afternoon at the Walton County Government Building in Monroe.

Oconee County Commissioner Hale Asks For Delay In SPLOST Vote

No Evidence Of Support

Oconee County Commissioner Margaret Hale tonight asked her fellow Commissioners to delay the vote on the Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax referendum from May to November, but none of them expressed any support for her request.

“I think the Board is rushing the projects to get them through,” Hale said during the section at the front of tonight’s agenda for comments from Commissioners. “I think we need to take more time and vet out these projects more.”

Rezone For Garden Center On Mars Hill Road Before Oconee County Planning Commission

At Oconee Preschool Academy

A request by Flo Wilkes to rezone property she owns on Mars Hill Road so she can build a nursery and garden center will be before the Oconee County Planning Commission tomorrow night for a first public hearing.

Wilkes, in partnership with Chad Forehand, is asking to change the zoning of the nearly eight acre tract from agriculture and residential to business so they can build the garden center and nursery.

Oconee County Residential And Commercial Building Permits In 2013 Above Pre-Crash Levels

Thanks To Athens Ridge

The Oconee County Code Enforcement Office issued 502 single family and town home permits in 2013, exceeding the number issued for residential construction in 2006--before the housing collapse of a year later.

The county also issued 105 commercial permits in 2013, again exceeding the number in 2006.

Oconee County Made Its Final Payment To Williams And Associates for Caterpillar Work, Development Authority Told

Less That Budgeted

The Oconee County Industrial Development Authority has made its last payment to Williams and Associates, an engineering and land planning company, under that firm’s contracts for the Caterpillar project, county Finance Director Wes Geddings reported on Monday afternoon.

Geddings told those attending the regular meeting of the county IDA that actual payments to Williams and Associates by the Oconee County and Athens-Clarke County industrial development authorities was $146,808 less than the $870,079 budgeted to cover the firm’s services.