tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30714015Sat, 28 Jan 2012 03:08:36 +0000Oconee County ObservationsNews and comments about developments in Oconee County, Georgiahttp://oconeecountyobservations.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.com (Lee Becker)Blogger401125OconeeCountyObservationshttp://feedburner.google.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30714015.post-3945520100268953267Sat, 28 Jan 2012 03:03:00 +00002012-01-27T22:05:44.671-05:00Research Center Staff at the Campbell Center Outside Watkinsville To Be Transferred by June 18Official Closing Date Not Set All of the current employees of the J. Phil Campbell Sr. Natural Resource Conservation Center outside Watkinsville received their reassignment letters last week and will be at their new jobs by June 18, a spokesperson for the Agricultural Research Service confirmed today. ARS, a unit of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, has not yet set the final closing date for http://oconeecountyobservations.blogspot.com/2012/01/research-center-staff-at-campbell.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Lee Becker)0<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/OconeeCountyObservations/~4/NQL0gMxInKU" height="1" width="1"/>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30714015.post-3735449959575808149Thu, 26 Jan 2012 02:39:00 +00002012-01-27T22:08:36.240-05:00Zoom Bait/St. Mary’s Sewer Line Likely to Be Resurrected after Oconee County Sewer Plan VoteWater for Walton Controversial The Oconee County Board of Commissioners last night gave tentative approval to a list of water and sewer projects for the next two years that included an extension of a sewer line along McNutt Creek. The Board didn’t determine which of three proposed segments of that sewer line it was funding, but Chris Thomas, Utility Department director, told me after the meeting http://oconeecountyobservations.blogspot.com/2012/01/zoom-baitst-marys-sewer-line-likely-to.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Lee Becker)1<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/OconeeCountyObservations/~4/Vcc0qGI1Ilg" height="1" width="1"/>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30714015.post-345395321965806318Mon, 23 Jan 2012 01:11:00 +00002012-01-25T21:47:59.116-05:00Oconee County Commissioners to Review Two-Year Water and Sewer Plan at Tuesday MeetingBarber Creek Sewage Plant Off List The Oconee County Board of Commissioners Tuesday night is scheduled to review water and wastewater treatment project priorities for the county as part of a proposed 2013-2014 Water and Sewer Improvements Plan. Included will be a sewage line that could serve Zoom Bait, St. Mary’s Health Care and the Gordy tract, this time as part of a larger project providing http://oconeecountyobservations.blogspot.com/2012/01/oconee-county-commissioners-to-review.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Lee Becker)0<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/OconeeCountyObservations/~4/wNKe8hLgDR4" height="1" width="1"/>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30714015.post-6971726827431404615Fri, 20 Jan 2012 03:14:00 +00002012-01-22T20:32:50.749-05:00Challenger Simpson Tells Oconee County Republicans Rep. Paul Broun is Out Of TouchAlso Uninvolved In his first formal campaign presentation in incumbent Congressman Paul Broun’s home county, challenger Stephen Simpson tonight said Broun is not representing those who elected him and is absent when important business is being conducted in the country. “We need someone who genuinely cares about his country and his constituents,” Simpson told about 30 persons attending an Oconee http://oconeecountyobservations.blogspot.com/2012/01/challenger-simpson-tells-oconee-county.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Lee Becker)1<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/OconeeCountyObservations/~4/fpUnBLJjXLA" height="1" width="1"/>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30714015.post-2510487000269328983Thu, 05 Jan 2012 20:39:00 +00002012-01-19T22:15:20.008-05:00Oconee County Less Conservative Than Its Reputation, Survey FindsNot Tea Party Heaven Oconee County has a reputation as a bastion of conservative Republicanism. WGAU newsman Tim Bryant even referred to the county as “Tea Party heaven” in an interview he did on his Newsmakers program on Dec. 15. But the characterization misses some subtleties about political sentiment in the county, a survey conducted by students in a graduate research methods class in the http://oconeecountyobservations.blogspot.com/2012/01/oconee-county-less-conservative-than.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Lee Becker)0<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/OconeeCountyObservations/~4/b4j-eyC6HcU" height="1" width="1"/>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30714015.post-6166598772519918807Fri, 30 Dec 2011 17:20:00 +00002012-01-11T13:38:41.120-05:00Oconee County Voters Split on Transportation Tax Ballot Issue on Ballot in 2012Survey Finds While many Oconee County registered voters have not yet decided how they will vote on the Transportations Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax that will be on the ballot next summer, those who have already decided are split on the issue. Voters are much more concerned about economic issues, including unemployment and the collapse of the local housing market, than they are about http://oconeecountyobservations.blogspot.com/2011/12/oconee-county-voters-split-on.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Lee Becker)2<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/OconeeCountyObservations/~4/W9Pk_o7W6kk" height="1" width="1"/>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30714015.post-6424541352062217520Sat, 24 Dec 2011 11:56:00 +00002011-12-30T12:23:11.902-05:00Oconee County Officials Did Not Want to Answer All Pinewood Estates South QuestionsPressure on Price Oconee County Administrative Office Alan Theriault did not answer one question that was central to the concerns of Pinewood Estates South residents when the residents met with county officials at the Civic Center on Dec. 12. Would the county close down the mobile home park on Jan. 13, when it proposed to cut off water and sewer services to the residents there, one resident askedhttp://oconeecountyobservations.blogspot.com/2011/12/oconee-county-officials-did-not-want-to.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Lee Becker)1<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/OconeeCountyObservations/~4/JOt7Qatqr5w" height="1" width="1"/>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30714015.post-6904037218386967128Sun, 18 Dec 2011 17:40:00 +00002011-12-24T07:16:12.840-05:00Attorney Prepared to Brief Oconee County Commissioners on Enabling LegislationTo Tinker or Not Oconee County Attorney Daniel Haygood has prepared a three-page “synthesis” of the county’s enabling legislation as a starting point for continued discussions Tuesday evening by the Board of Commissioners of changes in those documents. Haygood boiled down legislation passed by the Georgia General Assembly for the county since 1917. He broke his summary into 12 “sections” that http://oconeecountyobservations.blogspot.com/2011/12/attorney-prepared-to-brief-oconee.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Lee Becker)0<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/OconeeCountyObservations/~4/rkMKojF9stY" height="1" width="1"/>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30714015.post-6274331313219928101Sat, 17 Dec 2011 17:46:00 +00002011-12-18T12:47:44.647-05:00Decision on Disposal of Land from Agricultural Research Center In Oconee County Still PendingUniversity Made Request U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack has not made any decision yet on disposal of the land from the J. Phil Campbell Sr. Natural Resource Conservation Center outside Watkinsville and isn’t likely to do so until after the first of the year, a spokesperson in the department told me on Monday. The Campell Center is one of nine facilities around the country the http://oconeecountyobservations.blogspot.com/2011/12/decision-on-disposal-of-land-from.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Lee Becker)0<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/OconeeCountyObservations/~4/mWIhNIWVFqc" height="1" width="1"/>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30714015.post-212636211809138697Wed, 14 Dec 2011 03:20:00 +00002011-12-17T15:05:36.617-05:00Oconee County Legislators Identify Issues They Expect to Address in Upcoming Assembly SessionRedistricting Discussed Immigration. Tax reform. A rewrite of the state’s open meetings and records laws. Problems of pill mills. Mortgage fraud. Reform of the state’s criminal justice system. An initiative to amend the U.S. Constitution. These are some of the issues that Oconee County’s representatives to the Georgia General Assembly said they believe they will be dealing with when the body http://oconeecountyobservations.blogspot.com/2011/12/oconee-county-legislators-identify.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Lee Becker)2<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/OconeeCountyObservations/~4/EadO46AJ_mw" height="1" width="1"/>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30714015.post-4605767205560620981Tue, 13 Dec 2011 03:10:00 +00002011-12-13T22:21:56.739-05:00Oconee County Officials Optimistic Settlement Near in Pinewood Estates Water and Sewer DisputeBOC Meeting Planned Oconee County officials told residents of Pinewood Estates South mobile home park tonight that the county is “cautiously optimistic” that it has reached a settlement with the owners of the park that will keep water flowing beyond the proposed Jan. 13, 2012, shutoff date. County Attorney Daniell Haygood told me after the meeting that the county plans to call a meeting of http://oconeecountyobservations.blogspot.com/2011/12/oconee-county-officials-optimistic.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Lee Becker)0<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/OconeeCountyObservations/~4/jsY6Yyn9uQA" height="1" width="1"/>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30714015.post-3013819712021792987Tue, 06 Dec 2011 02:29:00 +00002011-12-13T06:39:22.594-05:00Commissioners To Be Asked to Grant Variances to Settle Disagreement Over Oconee County Connector AccessHearing a Formality The Oconee County Board of Commissioners will hold its official public hearing tomorrow night on a variance request by the estate of Dave R. Knowlton for a piece of property in the busy intersection of Daniells Bridge Road and the Oconee Connector. Citizens who are in favor of or opposed to the requested waiver or modification of requirements regarding buffers on the property http://oconeecountyobservations.blogspot.com/2011/12/commissioners-to-be-asked-to-grant.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Lee Becker)0<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/OconeeCountyObservations/~4/AT1gO0Y3zug" height="1" width="1"/>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30714015.post-3816574998880582830Mon, 05 Dec 2011 03:43:00 +00002011-12-05T21:38:34.993-05:00Dispute Over Sewage Upgrades in Oconee County at Center of Pinewood Estates Mobile Home ControversyDeadline for Cutoff Jan. 13 A sewage pump station tucked behind a shopping center on Epps Bridge Parkway is playing a key role in a controversy that threatens to cut off water and sewage services to residents of Pinewood Estates South mobile home park in Oconee County. The pump, or lift, station, doesn’t even serve the residents of the mobile home park, though it lies between the shopping center http://oconeecountyobservations.blogspot.com/2011/12/dispute-over-sewage-upgrades-in-oconee.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Lee Becker)1<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/OconeeCountyObservations/~4/lE7vtEAD7rA" height="1" width="1"/>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30714015.post-7719952399284068669Tue, 29 Nov 2011 03:08:00 +00002011-12-04T22:57:44.498-05:00Oconee County Commissioner Daniell Pushing for Changes in County’s Enabling LegislationDates Back to 1917 Oconee County Commissioner John Daniell plans to ask his colleagues tomorrow night to begin the process of changing the enabling legislation that defines the government structure in the county. Daniell’s goals are limited. He wants the Board of Commissioners to gain control over how salaries for the commissioners are determined. He also wants all five commissioners to vote on http://oconeecountyobservations.blogspot.com/2011/11/oconee-county-commissioner-daniell.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Lee Becker)0<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/OconeeCountyObservations/~4/4CtKonEfQPo" height="1" width="1"/>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30714015.post-3619269822080072873Fri, 25 Nov 2011 14:11:00 +00002011-11-28T22:28:03.532-05:00Watkinsville Mayoral Race Boosted Turnout for Oconee County Education Tax, Precinct Analysis ShowsBogart Not So The mayoral race in Watkinsville produced a higher voter turnout for Oconee County’s Educational Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax referendum than would have been the case without it, an analysis of precinct votes for the Nov. 8 election indicates. Overall, 10.1 percent of the county’s eligible voters cast a ballot on the education tax, putting the turnout just behind the 10.2 http://oconeecountyobservations.blogspot.com/2011/11/watkinsville-mayoral-race-boosted.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Lee Becker)2<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/OconeeCountyObservations/~4/hURW8CMYN9c" height="1" width="1"/>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30714015.post-5903348283577346064Tue, 22 Nov 2011 02:59:00 +00002011-11-25T09:13:27.735-05:00President Obama Signs Agriculture Bill That Lacks Funds for Watkinsville Research StationClosing Date Not Released Both Houses of Congress passed and President Barack Obama signed late last week an agriculture appropriations bill for the current fiscal year that presumes the closing of the J. Phil Campbell Sr. Natural Resource Conservation Center outside Watkinsville. A spokesman for the Department of Agriculture confirmed today that plans are underway for the closing of the http://oconeecountyobservations.blogspot.com/2011/11/president-obama-signs-agriculture-bill.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Lee Becker)2<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/OconeeCountyObservations/~4/2TVtieWcAyk" height="1" width="1"/>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30714015.post-4128077076867854046Thu, 17 Nov 2011 03:51:00 +00002011-11-21T22:27:07.756-05:00Oconee County Takes First Step Tomorrow In Effort to Turn Off Water and Sewer to Mobile Home ParkJan. 13 Deadline Oconee County Utility Department Director Chris Thomas said he is a bit concerned about a “show cause” hearing he is scheduled to conduct at 10 a.m. tomorrow in his office in the Government Annex on Greensboro Road in Watkinsville. “There is a lot of interest in this,” he told me yesterday. He reminded me that his office isn’t very large. The county distributed a press release http://oconeecountyobservations.blogspot.com/2011/11/oconee-county-takes-first-step-tomorrow.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Lee Becker)3<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/OconeeCountyObservations/~4/L5wIzBzsFAY" height="1" width="1"/>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30714015.post-8637524932998971309Wed, 16 Nov 2011 03:28:00 +00002011-11-21T22:27:40.007-05:00Congressional Agreement on Agricultural Funding Makes Closure of Oconee County Research Facility Nearly CertainUniversity Likely To Get Land A joint House-Senate Conference Committee last night agreed on an agricultural funding bill that makes closure of the J. Phil Campbell Sr. Natural Resource Conservation Center outside Watkinsville nearly certain and provides for conveyance of its property to a land grant institution such as the University of Georgia. The bill includes less money for the Agriculture http://oconeecountyobservations.blogspot.com/2011/11/congressional-agreement-on-agricultural.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Lee Becker)1<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/OconeeCountyObservations/~4/diP__i6LTbA" height="1" width="1"/>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30714015.post-6566787981253474252Sun, 13 Nov 2011 22:18:00 +00002011-11-16T06:43:35.802-05:00Fate of Oconee County’s Campbell Conservation Research Center in Hands of Conference CommitteeKingston Key A joint Congressional House-Senate Conference Committee is expected to report out early this week its version of the appropriations bill that funds Agricultural Research Service facilities such as the J. Phil Campbell Sr. Natural Resource Conservation Center outside Watkinsville. The bill is likely to seal the fate of the Center and determine the procedures for disposing of the http://oconeecountyobservations.blogspot.com/2011/11/fate-of-oconee-countys-campbell.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Lee Becker)0<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/OconeeCountyObservations/~4/Qve_-sCckgU" height="1" width="1"/>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30714015.post-5431925035718469921Mon, 07 Nov 2011 02:37:00 +00002011-11-13T22:35:38.761-05:00Advanced Voting Turnout for Oconee County Education Tax Lower Than for Most Recent Tax ElectionBogart Will Have A Turman Only 352 people, representing just 1.5 percent of those eligible, turned out during the 15 days of early voting that ended on Friday for the Oconee County Education Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax ballot issue. In March of 2009, the last time Oconee County had a tax issue on the ballot, a slightly higher 1.8 percent of registered voters cast ballots during the 21 http://oconeecountyobservations.blogspot.com/2011/11/advanced-voting-turnout-for-oconee.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Lee Becker)0<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/OconeeCountyObservations/~4/g9TiKvpy3Jk" height="1" width="1"/>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30714015.post-3121870917856938348Fri, 04 Nov 2011 02:14:00 +00002011-11-06T22:21:50.034-05:00Oconee County Board of Education Chairman Explains Board Strategy On Sales Tax VoteResponds to Criticism Oconee County schools are behind other schools in the area in terms of technology, and passage of the Nov. 8 Education Special Purchase Local Option Sales Tax would help correct that. Athletics are important to the development of the child, and the proposed athletic facilities at North Oconee High School that are part of the tax proposal will help meet the needs of students http://oconeecountyobservations.blogspot.com/2011/11/oconee-county-board-of-education.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Lee Becker)3<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/OconeeCountyObservations/~4/uokQStSgJ4M" height="1" width="1"/>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30714015.post-6295108956721566664Tue, 01 Nov 2011 01:36:00 +00002011-11-04T08:50:37.911-05:00Oconee County Commissioners Scheduled to Discuss Lease of Dolvin Property Rather Than PurchaseNov. 30 Deadline The Oconee County Board of Commissioners is scheduled to take up the Dolvin property again at its meeting tomorrow night, this time in the form of a possible renewal of its lease of the two buildings on the property that make up the Courthouse Annex in downtown Watkinsville. That does not mean that the BOC will not decide to purchase the property or to enter into a lease/purchasehttp://oconeecountyobservations.blogspot.com/2011/10/oconee-county-commissioners-scheduled.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Lee Becker)1<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/OconeeCountyObservations/~4/Qw6ANfYsa-0" height="1" width="1"/>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30714015.post-6069031071745428621Tue, 25 Oct 2011 02:20:00 +00002011-10-31T20:38:30.906-05:00Board of Commissioners Scheduled to Decide on Two Oconee County Downzone RequestsSmall Dent in Inventory The Oconee County Board of Commissioners is scheduled to review at its Nov. 1 meeting two requests for a downzone of property that would reduce the inventory of unbuilt residential lots in the county by 89. The reduction is almost trivial given the estimated 2,300 lots in the county zoned and platted for residential development. At the current rate of use–78 single familyhttp://oconeecountyobservations.blogspot.com/2011/10/board-of-commissioners-scheduled-to.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Lee Becker)3<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/OconeeCountyObservations/~4/aFsm_xjkLNo" height="1" width="1"/>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30714015.post-2223850920894772002Mon, 24 Oct 2011 01:35:00 +00002011-10-24T21:20:51.851-05:00Oconee County Commissioner Says Effort Underway To Get Citizen Back on Hard Labor Creek BoardAs Non-Voting Alternate Oconee County Commissioner Jim Luke said on Friday that he has asked Oconee County Attorney Daniel Haygood to explore how to revise the intergovernmental agreement that creates the Hard Labor Creek Reservoir Management Board so that Oconee County can once again have a citizen representative. “Daniel is researching it for me,” Luke said when I talked with him by telephone http://oconeecountyobservations.blogspot.com/2011/10/oconee-county-commissioner-says-effort.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Lee Becker)0<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/OconeeCountyObservations/~4/gvcK0k4Goj0" height="1" width="1"/>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30714015.post-5021727131896373714Thu, 20 Oct 2011 02:20:00 +00002011-10-23T21:17:06.324-05:00Small Number of Voters Likely to Decide on Big Spending Projects for Oconee County SchoolsBonds and Tax Linked Only a relatively small percentage of Oconee County’s 22,765 registered voters is likely to decide whether the current sales tax of one cent on a dollar for educational projects, which expires at the end of 2012, will be extended through the end of 2017. Early voting began on Monday, and by late afternoon today only 21 had voted, according to Carole Amos in the Oconee County http://oconeecountyobservations.blogspot.com/2011/10/small-number-of-voters-likely-to-decide.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Lee Becker)3<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/OconeeCountyObservations/~4/fEsaAl9ExtI" height="1" width="1"/>