Oconee County, GA Politics

The golf course at the nexus of Clarke, Oconee and Oglethorpe counties has been in and out of the news more times than I can remember. This article does a decent job of refreshing our memories as to the evolution and possible future of Creekside/Green Hills Country Club. No bids, so investors gain country club site | News | OnlineAthens.com Shared via AddThis

Pat Priest worked very hard to gather a wide variety of leaders in the community to direct walking tours around Watkinsville. I will try to go on as many as possible before the soccer season starts again in earnest. Daniel J. Matthews, Jr. From: ppriest@charter.net Date: Wed, 8 Jul 2009 22:38:01 -0400 Subject: [oconee] New "Saturday Strolls" series in Watkinsville Hi! Wanted to let people know about something the Oconee Democrats have been working on that will debut on Saturday, July 18th! We're starting a series of "Saturday Strolls" of guided walks around Watkinsville with experts and with some of the area's citizens who make Oconee County a special place to live and visit. The strolls will start at 9 AM in front of the County Courthouse -- right across from the Saturday Farmers Market at the Eagle Tavern. People can pick up some delectable fresh produce and baked goods such as sweet...

Watkinsville resident Dwayne Wilkes has beautifully restored an old historic farm home (for sale) with a split rail fence on Barnett Shoals Road, but now he wants to cram seven houses in a two acre farm field with a private driveway access on the narrow street that is crumbling old Wilson Road in his big backyard. The Watkinsville City Council stewed a long time before Joe Walter motioned and Samantha Purcell seconded approval of the sketch plat as presented by landscape architect Kenneth Beall by a 3-2 vote at their July meeting Wednesday evening. Council members Brian Brodrick and John Walsh, Jr. voted against the approval of the motion, and initially firefighter and council member Mike Link neither voted for it or against it, but then realized his lack of vote was pivotal in a 2-2 tie and he caved to the approval side upon second consideration by Mayor Jim Luken. Approval of the sketch plat does not necessarily mean approval of the preliminary plat or construction plans or final ...

Oconee County BOC Mtg. 7-7-2009 from Oconee County IT on Vimeo .

Welcome back Julie Sanders! AGENDA CITY OF WATKINSVILLE July 8, 2009 CALL TO ORDER QUORUM CHECK PRESENTATION OF THE WATKINSVILLE BEAUTIFUL YARD AWARD MINUTES 1. June 10, 2009 Council Meeting 2. June 24, 2009 Called Council Meeting APPEARANCES: 1. Dwayne Wilkes – sketch plat – Barnett Shoals Road/Wilson Road Property 2. Richard Jenkins – business license – Richard Jenkins Construction – 1231 Christian Drive 3. Sherry Cox – business license – Details Design Center – 17 S. Main Street 4. Jake Rowe – business license – Jake Rowe Taxidermy – 1461B Greensboro Highway 5. Micah Redden – business license – Future Extreme, LLC – 1031 Business Boulevard ADMINISTRATION MAYOR’S REPORT CITIZEN’S COMMENTS OLD BUSINESS NEW BUSINESS 1. First reading – Franchise Fee Ordinance – Walton EMC 2. _____________________________________________________________________ ADJOURN Updated 7/7/2009

Oconee Rotarians help Bishop resident with a new ramp | Oconee | OnlineAthens.com Shared via AddThis

Brad Thompson, CFA, New Chief Investment Officer at Stadion Money Management, Directs $1.5 Billion in Assets Under Management | SYS-CON CANADA Shared via AddThis

Oconee County BOC Mtg. 6-30-09 from Oconee County IT on Vimeo .

Swine flu meets its match in a Oconee County teenage girl. Save the softball player, save the world. There is some X-Files reference I cannot come up with either right now. Swine flu case baffles | News | OnlineAthens.com Shared via AddThis

Thank goodness for Chief Lee O'Dillon and the Watkinsville City Police Department have the ways and means to stop speeders and DUI violators. Was it me or was this First Friday kind of barren and lame this time around. My friend Paige and her son Jalen said it was dead on Friday around the county seat. For as much hype as this edition got, I was underwhelmed to say the least. Maybe things got a little more exciting later on in the evening. Minivan interrupts Watkinsville fair | Cops | OnlineAthens.com Shared via AddThis

Read or attend tonight's meeting to see what you can find out about the government shuffle. G. Melvin Davis does not like it, but the rest of the Board of Commissioners seem to back it. Law redefining Oconee chairman's role to get first read | News | OnlineAthens.com Shared via AddThis

Secretary of State candidate and north Athens resident Brian Kemp came out with an amazingly long list of endorsements in his 2012 race for the nomination and at this point looks like a shoe-in to be Karen Handel's Republican replacement. Among many of the local endorsers were Watkinsville Mayor Jim Luken and city council member Brian Brodrick. Brian was the lone city council member amongst a long list of other elected officials which makes me wonder if he had something to do with its gathering, and if he did (or if he didn't and to whomever did) job well done. I am sure he will let me know in a comment mere minutes after I post this. For being some damn young, Brian has a long history as a partisan political activist of the utmost ethical and well scrutinized behavior and knows PR inside out and backward. He is even friends with multiple Democrats and has been known to sweat with them too.I think he is fixing to father child number three as I sometimes see his wife Susan Well...

Former Oconee County Commissioners Bubber Wilkes gets a couple hundred dollars for letting the county use his well. As usual with a lot of the Banner-Herald articles, the comments are more amusing then the article itself. Oconee to pay for use of well | News | OnlineAthens.com Shared via AddThis

Sounds like it could be an interesting meeting. Schuster to speak at Dem breakfast | News | OnlineAthens.com Shared via AddThis

As a last stupid vestige of the long by-gone segregation era, Oconee County has no public swimming facility. I shook my head to this ignorance in the late 1980s and early 1990s working in the John T. Brannen building of the Herman C. Michael park as redneck white kids who listen to rap music somehow thought they were keeping their KKK street cred "because I don't swim with them" meaning black people. Last time I checked the skin tone of African Americans does not wash off, even in chlorine. Morgan County has public swimming facilities (at least the city of Madison does) and so does Clarke County, but now because of a lack of swimming facility at Veterans Park (and despite an anonymous donor's attempted donation of $10,000.00 to build a pool first) we have no functioning truly public swimming facility to go with the two parks on Highway 53 along with other facilities. Oconee County does have a proliferation of private swim clubs where kids who do not even live near th...

I am sure that the Farmer's market crowd will mix quite well with a lot of the patriotic bunting and chairs set up for activities later on in the day at 10 am with the James Hunter band and free watermelon, popcorn, lemonade and cotton candy. Apparently they will be charging for the ice cream and Bar-B-Q, which is fine. Woven brightly, Daniel J. Matthews, Jr. EMAILING FOR THE GREATER GOOD Join me Date: Fri, 3 Jul 2009 07:29:56 -0700 From: oconeefm@yahoo.com Subject: Saturday's Market To: oconeefm@yahoo.com Hello,  Hope everyone is well. This week we will have : sweet potato pie , many different kinds of pound cakes , banana bread , assorted pies, fresh baked breads and cinnamon buns, fresh eggs,  blueberries, jams , jellies, handmade soaps & lotions, tomatoes, green onions , sweet onions , cucumbers, lettuce, potatoes, various greens, chard,several kinds of squash, zucchini, green beans , herbs, root vegetables , fresh cut flowers, gourds, woolens, among o...

Not sure if I can bribe my son to attend yet, but in a very few hours I hope to attend the first Art Tour of Watkinsville leaving from Rocket Field at 6 pm. There are two vans from the Oconee Senior Center which will be toting people around to a variety of artsy places in our lovely city. I hope some of the Oconee County Democratic Committee will attend as this was something they are attempting to replicate in the ensuing weeks on Saturday mornings and it would be a good place to find out what does and does not work in a brief tour of the city. There will also be tons of stuff for the kids to do up and and down Main Street. Come to Watkinsville as well tomorrow on the 4th of July for various goings on and lots of happenings at Eagle Tavern and surrounding areas. There will be a Van Morrison cover band featuring Greg Hester at Ashford Manor Bed and Breakfast tomorrow evening as well. I do not think James Brown will be rising from the dead, but it might be a wonderful night for a Moondan...

I like the pristine basketball courts in the Oconee Veterans Park' brand spanking new gymnasium facility. They have two cross courts and one full size regulation court with three point lines adorned to all of them, with a good safe clean wooden floor and a track above it all. It shall be interesting to contrast with the North Oconee camp. Woven brightly, Daniel J. Matthews, Jr. Date: Wed, 1 Jul 2009 15:52:46 -0400 Subject: OCHS Basketball Camp - change of location Parents,   This is a reminder that the Oconee County Parks and Recreation Department's OCHS Coed Basketball Camp will be held Monday, July 6 – Thursday July 9, from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.  The location for this camp has been changed from its originally advertised location.  OCHS basketball camp will be held at the Oconee Veterans Park Gym , please do not go to the Oconee County High School gym for camp.  Coach Michael Youngblood will be the lead instructor.   Please contac...

Great photos by David Manning of the Athens Banner-Herald today of this fire yesterday afternoon. Saw the smoke from the fire from a far and did not realize it is so close to my neighborhood (we were running errands yesterday evening. Saw some of our volunteers rapidly responding to the piles of garbage besides the tracks. I had told the city code enforcement officer of the many piles of garbage along the tracks long ago. Glad we have a very good fire department. One day soon we are going to have to pay those people. Passing train apparently sparks Oconee blaze | News | OnlineAthens.com Shared via AddThis