Tonight's Oconee County BOC Meeting with SPLOST, sewage expansion and dead man's curve on Daniells Bridge Road

You can attend this and maybe hear the local returns quicker than anybody (although they will be on the internet just as quickly),

Daniel J. Matthews, Jr.

Thanks as always Lee for the excellent update on further possible shenanigans with the Oconee County Board of Commissioners.



 Subject: Tomorrow's BOC Meeting
 
 Dear Daniells Bridge Road Petition Signer,
 
 The Board of Commissioners is scheduled to deal with three very
 important issues at its regular meeting tomorrow night:
 
 1. A decision to put a Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax on the
 ballot in March.
 
 2. A decision on a rezone just east of the blind curve on Daniells
 Bridge Road.
 
 3. A decision on how to expand sewage treatment capacity in the county.
 
 If the Board decides to ask voters to approve the continuation of the 1
 cent on a dollar sales tax rather than let it expire at the end of 2009,
 it also will decide how it intends to spend the $40 million the Board is
 hoping the tax will produce over the six-year period it will be in place.
 
 In May of 2007, after citizens near the blind curve on Daniells Bridge
 Road protested, the BOC turned down a rezone request for construction of
 a business park just east of the curve. The land owners sued, and the
 BOC approved a settlement in one of its closed meetings without
 informing citizens of its action. On Tuesday, it must make that
 tentative settlement official in a public meeting.
 
 After citizens again protested before the scheduled public hearing on
 the evening of the Nov. 4 election, members of the BOC decided to
 postpone the hearing and review plans for improvements in Daniells
 Bridge Road west of the blind curve! At the Nov. 25 meeting, the Board
 reviewed three plans, all of which leave the blind curve as it is. The
 argument is that by putting turn lanes in the curve, the danger of the
 curve and the additional traffic created by the proposed development
 will be eliminated.
 
 Unless the BOC changes its mind again, it will hold a public hearing and
 listen to citizen concerns about safety and the blind curve tomorrow
 night. Many also see the proposed rezone as an example of spot zoning,
 since all the land around the proposed business park site presently is
 agricultural and residential, as is the site itself.
 
 The County has been considering an upgrade and expansion of the Rocky
 Branch sewage treatment plant for at least four years and has spent
 large amounts of money getting permits and designing the plant. In a
 surprise move at a specially called meeting on Nov. 20, the BOC
 discussed for the first time expanding the Calls Creek plant instead
 because it discovered it does not have the money needed to build the
 Rocky Branch plant.
 
 If you can, attend the meeting tomorrow night. If you have not signed
 the petition against the Daniells Bridge Road rezone and want to do so,
 go to http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/Daniells/
 
 If you cannot attend but want to tell the members of the BOC how you
 feel about any of these issues, send an email to them at:
 
 Melvin Davis, (Chairman), mdavis@oconee.ga.us
 Margaret Hale, margarethale@oconee.ga.us and marghale@aol.com
 Chuck Horton, chorton@oconee.ga.us
 Jim Luke, jluke@oconee.ga.us
 Don Norris, dnorris@oconee.ga.us.
 
 And yes, tomorrow is once again an election night. The polls close at 7
 p.m., which is when the BOC meeting begins. I've written about all three
 of these issues on my blog, www.oconeecountyobservations.blogspot.com.
 
 Thanks
 
 Lee
 
 
> Lee Becker
>
> Blog: www.oconeecountyobservations.blogspot.com
>
> Web: http://lbbecker48.googlepages.com/
>