Oconee County, GA Politics

I am saddened but not terribly surprised that some BRAG bicyclists were injured on New High Shoals this morning . I hope that they recover from their injuries and that the driver will be a little more careful next time they pull out into traffic. It may be premature Wednesday morning quarterbacking, but I really hate it that Watkinsville and Oconee County would be besmirched with the distressing distinction of being the only place where bike riders have been injured in the history of this bike ride across the state.

People's pets are an important investment, both emotionally and financially. It sucks big time when they are removed from us with little or no warning. A neighbor of mine flagged me down today after lunch today to tell me that he had been the victim of a hit and run with his pup passing on this morning. Stopped to chat and add as much sympathy as I could from an idling pick-up truck. Come to think of it I did see two girls in a big blue SUV speeding very fast this morning through my subdivision cut through. Did not think anything about it then but I hope they get caught if indeed they are the perpetrators. We might need some speed humps after all in our neighborhood. I think the Mayor Jim Luken would approve if we got a consensus from all those in our subdivision since it is essentially the issue he rode into office as well. There are speed humps on Third street between the ridiculously dangerous Whitehall-Simonton Bridge and the wide Barnett Shoals in Watkinsville where he lives ...

The weather was not particularly hazardous last night but on the way to and from basketball practice I saw a pair of multiple car pile-ups on Oconee County roads. The first was a five car (looking like a) chain reaction crash on 316 between the By-Pass and the Oconee Connector in the left lane where a couple of the vehicle were partially lifted off the road from the ferocity of the multiple impacts. The Georgia State Patrol and the Oconee County Sheriff's Department and Volunteer Fire Departments were on hand right away to get traffic flowing as smooth as possible during the rush hour. The second accident was at Hog Mountain Road (State Route 53) and View Larger Map ">the cut through at Burr Harris and Jamestown Boulevard near those new shopping centers en route to Herman C. Michael Park. That looked like three cars at least at that non-signaled intersection. We were driving carefully to the Georgia men's basketball game. Be careful out there people, especially with the...

Just in case you wish to focus more locally Tuesday evening during our historic General Election, Lee Becker once again reports about the "roadway to not here" that should hang around this new Board of Commissioners' necks as an albatross unless some serious revision and planning repair and road reformatting is done in a big hurry to the horrible curve on Daniells Bridge Road in what will be our second huge traffic congestion point without any real consideration of the impact in the adjoining neighborhoods and subdivisions. ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Lee Becker < lbbecker@mindspring.com > Date: Sun, Nov 2, 2008 at 4:55 PM Subject: Tuesday Night BOC Meeting To: lbbecker@mindspring.com Dear Friends, The Oconee County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday night will vote once again on a rezone request that is linked to a roadway that does not exist. The county's legal advisors have recommended approval of the rezone for property just east of a...

Subject: Daniells Bridge Rezone Again Date: Thu, 16 Oct 2008 23:17:59 -0400 From: Lee Becker <lbbecker@mindspring.com> Reply-To: lbbecker@mindspring.com To: lbbecker@mindspring.com Dear Friends, A rezone request is back before the Planning Commission (Oct. 20) and the Board of Commissioners (Nov. 4) because the county has decided not to fight a suit filed against it in Oconee Superior Court by owners of land on Daniells Bridge Road who want to build yet another office park. The BOC turned down the rezone request in May of 2007 after more than 400 homeowners in subdivisions on Daniells Bridge Road opposed it. As part of the agreement, the county agreed to bring the rezone request back before the Planning Commission and before the BOC. The rezone is predicated on yet another roadway that does not exist. For details, go to my blog at http://...

There was a horrific accident this Tuesday afternoon on the Athens 10 Loop, otherwise known as the By-Pass or Paul Broun, Sr. Memorial Highway. My son's mother witnessed a gold SUV veer in and out of traffic, over correct and then flip several times before coming to rest on its nose. Needless to say, she was momentarily traumatized by watching such destruction and was grateful our son was not in the car to watch the crash. She was even more astonished that she could call 9-1-1 and the call was not answered! The area of the wreck was in the part of the Loop between 316 and 441 that is part Clarke and part Oconee, but still, perhaps the Emergency Response people were flooded by calls. I hope whoever was in the accident survived, but it did not look promising from her almost tragically close viewpoint. The gold SUV was crumpled and mangled so badly that she could not even see if there was more than one person inside. So please drive carefully out there. We have volunteer firemen in Oc...

I coach in the Oconee County Recreation Department's U10 soccer league. Last night after a particularly awful practice, one of my players wanted to walk from the field we were practicing on in Herman C. Michael Park maybe 150 yards to the north to the new Oconee County Community Complex and the new soccer fields, as his mom may have been watching one of their other children practice soccer on the new park's many fields. The young player asked me if it was OK to cross the highway and I said "NO WAY!" and offered him a ride in my truck across the busy thoroughfare. Luckily for him his mother had driven over herself thus abrogating the need for this lad to take his life into his own hands and those of drivers hauling booty 60 miles per hour plus down State Route 53. Some one will be involved in an accident at this extremely busy intersection if no traffic calming measures are installed quickly. I hope the members of the Board of Commissioners will contact the State Dep...

Anyone (except 3 BOC members and most of the Planning Commission) with a little bit of foresight and knowledge would quickly realize the curvy Daniells Bridge Road cut-through will see a hundred fold traffic increase with each new massive development thoughtlessly shoved down our throat. At least it looks like a traffic light is going into where it meets Experiment Station Road - most Gainesville State College kid drivers know this traffic route now. I wrote the preceeding paragraph but I got the rest of this from Lee Becker via Charlie Baugh. Citizens for Oconee's Future, Inc. P. O. Box 1301 Watkinsville, GA 30677 Following is a message from Lee Becker with information about a rezone on Daniells Bridge Road. More of the same, rezones creating more traffic on narrow unsafe roads. Just another step in our march toward "Developed Land". Those directly impacted by this may want to let our elected decision makers know of your concerns. Charles Baugh Dear Neighbors: As ...