Oconee County, GA Politics

OK, Oconee County activists, this is our Maginot line. We need to do everything we can to make certain this development is not built according to the plans currently laid out.  Our wetlands are more important than a huge parking lot and movie theater. Check out more at Lee Becker's blog. ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Lee Becker < lbbecker@mindspring.com > Date: Mon, Jan 12, 2009 at 10:45 PM Subject: Buffer Variance Need Explained To: lbbecker@mindspring.com Dear Friends, It really is rather simple. The property for the proposed Epps Bridge Centre on Epps Bridge Parkway really isn't suitable for the shopping center unless the state allows the developer to pipe and pave over the streams. Onsite mitigation isn't practical either, since all the streams and wetlands will be piped, paved over, filled or otherwise disturbed to build that shopping center. The reason the state should grant the variance request? We need more shopping opportunities in...

Our chance to halt impervious developers here in Oconee County. And apparently the developer of the shopping center next to Athens Acadmey is going ahead with their law suit, or at least contemplating it, according to the Enterprise website sent twice in a blast this afternoon. Woven brightly, Daniel J. Matthews, Jr. To: oconee@yahoogroups.com From: ppriest@charter.net Date: Mon, 12 Jan 2009 14:01:55 -0500 Subject: [oconee] Paving over streams and wetlands -- coming near you! Hello! I have a favor to ask. If you could find time, I think it could REALLY make a difference to write a letter (see the template below) to ask the Georgia Environmental Protection Division to NOT ALLOW a developer to pave over a half a mile of streams and another section of wetlands near the border between Athens-Clarke and Oconee. The permit is still pending. We can stop it! Your objection to such irreversible damage to wetlands has to be mailed -- and it n...

Lee Becker simplifies the concept of contempt for the Oconee County Board of Commissioners for their seemingly ignoring the desire of constituents and instead caving to legal pressure to push forward with development in a neighborhood not needing or wanting a shopping center. ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Lee Becker < lbbecker@mindspring.com > Date: Wed, Jan 7, 2009 at 10:18 PM Subject: Rezones to Remember To: lbbecker@mindspring.com Dear Friends, I didn't intend to write anything about last night's BOC meeting, but it did leave an impression I've not been able to shake all day. Since the /Enterprise/ reporter left long before the votes on the second rezone had been taken, and the /Banner-Herald/ doesn't always cover the meetings (though a reporter was present last night), I decided to share a short report with those who are interested. Here's the teaser: The developer asked for a shopping center. The board approved an office park. No...

Once again Lee Becker scoops the mainstream media with details of the environmental devastation that could be wrought by this massive development behind Lowe's at the By-Pass. Please consider writing the Georgia Environmental Protection Division to voice your opinion of the environmental impact of this development and the lack of wetlands set-asides in Oconee County. ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Lee Becker < lbbecker@mindspring.com > Date: Sun, Jan 4, 2009 at 11:15 PM Subject: Epps Bridge Centre Update To: lbbecker@mindspring.com Dear Friends, The Georgia Environmental Protection Division has given those interested in commenting on an application by the developer of the proposed Epps Bridge Centre until Jan. 19 to file statements about the environmental impact of the development. Developer Frank Bishop wants the state to set aside its requirements that streams on the site of the proposed development be protected by a 25-foot buffer. He wants to pipe a...

Subject: BOE: countdown to the election Date: Sun, 26 Oct 2008 23:16:47 -0400 From: Rich Clark <richclark32@yahoo.com> Reply-To: Rich Clark <richclark32@yahoo.com> To: <clark4boe@yahoo.com> Friends and supporters:   More than 30 percent of eligible Oconee voters have cast their ballots by this point, and in 8 days this election will be behind us.  To this point, my opponent has done very little to reach voters in our county, relying mainly on the fact that he is affiliated with the majority party.  If his low intensity effort is indicative of the effort he would put into his position as a Board member, we should all be concerned.    Because there is so little information about the BOE race available to voters, please refer anyone struggling with their decision on this race to our respective web sites: ...

I'm forwarding this email from Lee Becker regarding the contested Post 5 seat on the Oconee County Board of Education. As you likely know, this is the only local election that has carried over to the November 4th general election. Rich Clark (Dem.) is challenging Tom Breedlove (Rep.) for this open seat on the BOE. Be sure to read Lee's blog at http://www.oconeecountyobservations.blogspot.com/ for more details on the candidates. Pay particular attention to the details of their campaign contribution disclosure reports. Regards, Tony Glenn From: Lee Becker Reply-To: Date: Wed, 22 Oct 2008 22:50:47 -0400 To: Subject: BOE Post 5 Dear Friends, The two candidates running for the Post 5 seat on the Oconee County Board of Education said they learned similar lessons from the recent revelation that the outgoing Board asked former Superintendent Tom Dohrmann to retire, contrary to the earlier announcement that Dohrmann initiated the resignation. "I've learned that the public...

Once again commerce trumps concern over traffic, environment, roads, and quality of life. I guess that anyone is willing to build anything in this recession is enough to shove the public's questions aside. The following features links to Lee Becker's broadsides against the less enlightened elements of the Oconee County, Georgia government. So now we will have a third of the stores even without the much-ballyhooed road and bridge. From: Lee Becker < lbbecker@mindspring.com > Date: Wed, Oct 8, 2008 at 10:57 PM Subject: Epps Bridge Centre Vote Details Dear Friends, As I promised, I've provided some more details of the Epps Bridge Centre vote of last night on my blog. The BOC voted to approve the project despite the fact that what the developer promised to do is not doable at present because he lacks a roadway to his project and needed state and federal permits for wetland and stream destruction. The details are at http://www.oconeecountyobservations.blogspot.co...

Courtney Gale, Melvin Davis, Tony Glenn and Russ Page are just a few of the familiar faces on this preview of the film by Celestea Sharp.

The history and back story, not to mention the consequences of the "done deal" that is the new monstrosity called Epps Bridge Centre - thank to Lee Becker once again. Dear Friends, The scheduled hearing on Oct. 7 for the rezone request for the $76 million Epps Bridge Centre on Epps Bridge Parkway might seem almost to be an afterthought. The state–at the urging of the county–already has decided to build a $26 million roadway to the project. The county, in an effort to facilitate the project, has loaned the state $5 million for right of way purchase for the roadway. That's only part of the story. The county has passed a beer and wine ordinance, the federal government has granted a permit for mitigation of stream damage in Oconee by stream reparations in Greene County, and the local planning staff reviewed the project favorably despite a decidedly negative review by their regional counterparts. The reason Oconee County is so enthusiastic about the project is...

More splendid insight and opportunities for Oconee enlightened voters. From: Lee Becker < lbbecker@mindspring.com > Date: Mon, Sep 22, 2008 at 9:11 PM Dear Friends, Please mark your calendars for two important upcoming meetings: 7 p.m. Tuesday Oct. 7, Oconee County Courthouse. Meeting of the Board of Commissioners to discuss the proposed Epps Bridge Centre on Epps Bridge Parkway. See my blog of last night for details ( www.oconeecountyobservations.blogspot.com ). 7-9 p.m. Monday Oct. 13, Oconee County Library in Watkinsville. Candidate Forum. Oconee County Board of Education candidates Tom Breedlove and Rich Clark, 46th Senate District candidates Bill Cowsert and Sherry Jackson, and Tom Leach, write-in candidate for the chairmanship of the Oconee County Board of Commissioners, have agreed to take part. The Forum is being organized by members of five citizen organizations: Citizens for Oconee's Future, Citizens for South Oconee County, Friends of Barber Creek, Fr...

As has been his supreme gift to our community in terms of letting us know of our environment being pillaged by developers here in Oconee County, Lee Becker once again sets the facts straight ignored by the mainstream media. Here we will surely get what we do not need: more cars, more traffic, more pollution, more destruction of our wetlands all in the name of a few more stores. The Board of Commissioners can do correctly here and insist on wetland mitigation here in Oconee and not in Greene as a condition for this latest commercial over development. Dear Friends, The developer planning to build the $76 million shopping center on Epps Bridge Parkway expects to mitigate the damage to wetlands and streams on that site by restoring streams and wetlands in Greene County, but at least two options now exist for mitigation here in Oconee County. The Georgia Land Trust Service Center in Athens has been authorized to accept fees to compensate for the damage to streams and wetlands on development...