Oconee County Schools administrators on Tuesday released an expanded list of athletic projects at the system’s two high schools to be funded if voters approve a new Education Local Option Sales Tax (ELOST) on the November ballot.
Included are video scoreboards at the North Oconee High School stadium, converting the existing two practice fields at the school to turf and adding lights, adding a wrestling room and athletic storage, and resurfacing the tennis courts.
The Oconee County Board of Education on Monday night voted to ask the Oconee County Board of Elections and Registration to put a referendum for a new Educational Local Option Sales Tax (ELOST) on the November Ballot.
The referendum, if approved by voters, would begin as soon as the current ELOST reaches its cap of $48.5 million and continue the sales tax at the current 1 percent rate.
The Oconee County Board of Commissioners, at its agenda setting meeting on Tuesday (July 29), tentatively agreed to pay the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) $184,550 for the costs of utility relocation required for reconstruction of the interchange at Dials Mill Extension and SR 316.
GDOT will include the utility relocation costs in its contract for construction of the full interchange, currently scheduled to begin 2026.
Republicans Bill Cowsert, who represents Oconee County in the Georgia Senate, and Houston Gaines, who represents one of the county’s four precincts in the Georgia House, have amassed large campaign caches that they won’t be able to use in the 2026 elections.
Cowsert had $332,226 net cash on hand in his Senate District 46 campaign fund, according to his most recent Campaign Contribution Disclosure Report for June 30.
State Rep. Marcus Wiedower brought the House Study Committee on Gaming, which he chairs, to what he called his hometown of Watkinsville on Monday where he had a personal exchange about parenting and gambling with Watkinsville attorney Pam Hendrix.
Hendrix was the last of five persons who chose to speak before the Study Committee in its two-hour-long session at the Oconee County Administrative Building, and she was the sole speaker from Oconee County.
An outside professional air evaluation team hired by Oconee County Schools has concluded that the air quality in a selected classroom and in the gym at Oconee County Elementary School closely matches the air quality outside those school facilities.
Mayah Kirson and Tyler Kelly with Geo-Hydro of Kennesaw reported that for 20 fungal spore types identified in the air inside and outside of Classroom 607 at the Elementary School, fungal spore levels inside the school did not exceed levels outside the school.
The House Study Committee on Gaming In The State of Georgia will hold the first of at least four public hearings at 10 a.m. on Monday (July 28) at the Oconee County Administrative Building, 7635 Macon Highway, north of Watkinsville.
While the agenda for the meeting has not been released, the topic of the meeting is listed as casino gambling.
