Oconee County, GA Politics

In a largely uneventful regular meeting for the month of September, it was announced that Gary Crider, who has pretty much been in on everything with Watkinsville Woods from day one, will be paid $16.00 an hour for 20 hours a week to officially get paid as a 1099 Contractor (not a city employee). Gary Crider using his trail saw. Pardon me if I editorialize much earlier than usual in these newsy reports, but this may be the best possible hire for the ambitious Watkinsville Woods with photographer and weed warrior Gary Crider, living adjacent to the property to begin with, been pulling long hours for months yanking invasive shrubbery and keeping the rare plants,  and has an army of volunteers of all ages at his rarely needed assistance. He has worked on many areas in Athens and surrounding areas as a volunteer.  Among others who have worked long hours on the Watkinsville Woods project that I have been profoundly grateful to meet is Walt Cook, who has the trail named afte...

LAD Trucking let the City of Watkinsville officially know Wednesday evening at the meeting at the Community Center of the urgent need to expand after an ultra-successful partnership with Carrier truck lines had made every inch of the expansive property on Barnett Shoals Road used as far as storage for the refrigerator front end of the cooler big rigs you see carrying frozen goods down the road.  Mack Guest IV of LAD Trucking With Caterpillar keeping the economic boom going locally, the need for trucking will continue to expand for a while, and Watkinsville will remain a hub in transit, metal, pottery, and glass for the foreseeable future. Watkinsville City Council September 11, 2013 The City Council listened to engineer Mark Campbell before approving the less than one acre disturbance on the back end of the old Southwire property. Some discussion was exchanged about storm water run off and the tributaries of the the nearby Oconee River, and the motion contained languag...

AGENDA CITY OF WATKINSVILLE September 11, 2013 CALL TO ORDER QUORUM CHECK PRESENTATION OF THE WATKINSVILLE BEAUTIFUL YARD AWARD MINUTES August 14, 2013 August 22, 2013 Called Meeting APPEARANCES April Harder – business license – Main Street Consulting, Inc. – 46 S. Main Street Sharon Ivey – business license – Southeast Floral Design Center, LLC dba Creative Edge – 1410 Greensboro Highway, Suite C & D Mitchell Powell – business license – SCP Business Solutions, LLC – 1070 Christian Court Ken Beall – LAD Truck Lines Phase 3 – 109 Barnett Shoals Road  ADMINISTRATION August 31, 2013 Reconciliation Reports – General & SPLOST Funds MAYOR’S REPORT CITIZEN’S COMMENTS OLD BUSINESS NEW BUSINESS ADJOURN

The Pilots ROTARY (thanks Chuck Toney) Club in Oconee County worked hard to put this new handicap access ramp on Rocket Field in Watkinsville, according to Mayor Charles Ivie at the recent city council meeting. He praised their resourcefulness, skill and craft in difficult and challenging pitch and grade of the popular area for Little League baseball games, softball practices, and the Fall Festival.

Mayor Dunked to Benefit Extra Special People

Got this in the mail yesterday; not sure if this is being put on by the City of Watkinsville or Curbside or both: Recycle Awareness Celebration Come celebrate with the City of Watkinsville with free crafts, games, food, and family food. Sunday, September 30, 2012 2:00 to 4:00 pm Harris Shoals Park with bounce house, hot dogs, recycle craft, recycle games, and for $1 donation to ESP (Extra Special People), a chance to dunk Mayor Charles Ivie For more information, call Curbside Services, Inc. at 706-769-1822 or email curbsideserv@bellsouth.net

Video: Bells Ring, Cannons Boom on Constitution Day in Watkinsville

The Watkinsville City Council had a full slate of members to go with a distracted Mayor Wednesday evening at the Community Center in the county seat of Oconee County. Business was slight as 2/3rds the appearances failed to show up on time, but the remaining appearance was approved as Corey Davis received approval for his Core Blend Training and Wellness at 1410 Greensboro Highway with a testimonial on his application from recent Olympic Bronze Medal shot putter Reece Hoffa, who came back to Northeast Georgia from London with the hardware. Davis intends to train "regular people" in addition to elite athletes in the business he purchased recently. He will have early morning boot camps at 5:30 and 7:30 am as well as 9:30 am as well as zumba and yogi classes later in the day. Those not arriving in time included Kevin Pike of Pike Gas Services at 75 Barnett Shoals Road and Bindhumol John for J&B Food Mart for a beer and win retail license at 1461 Greensboro Highway. Counci...

Two deteriorating buildings between Ashford Memorial Methodist Church and Ashford Manor Bed and Breakfast have been added to the clean up job Mayor Charles Ivie as far as tearing down old properties around Watkinsville. The house slated to be razed The Pink House as it was known and an adjacent structure were a building used by the church for years but has fallen into disrepair recently. The council joylessly approved the demolition permit unanimously without Brian Brodrick or Toby Smith present at the July meeting. Former City Attorney R. Judson Huff made an appearance before the council representing the church and clearly it was an issue longf nagging at the local congregation. Mike Link advised Huff to contact Georgia Power to get a cuff on the power line near there in case of accidental contact with the equipment necessary for the destruction of these historic but seldom used properties. Huff also inquired as to whether or not there was a gas line in the building. ...

AGENDA CITY OF WATKINSVILLE July 11, 2012   CALL TO ORDER QUORUM CHECK WATKINSVILLE BEAUTIFUL YARD AWARD             Jean & Daniel Moye – 10 Second Street MINUTES                 1.   June 13, 2012 APPEARANCES                 1.   Albert Ward – proposal for Watkinsville Cemetery Monument             2.   Frank Reynolds – business license – Tweetie Industries – 1360 Greensboro Hwy             3.   Debbie Andrews – business license – Zaxbys Franchising, Inc. - 1031 Business Blvd.             4.   Harriet Mathews – business license – Stoneflowe...

It was back to the future at the Watkinsville City Council as Mayor Charles Ivie reminisced about 1974 which was the year he was last on the council with his former council mate now Representative Chuck Williams and his brother David dominating the meeting as only they know how. It was also the first year of the Fall Festival, when it started about the size of the current Farmers Market downtown on Saturday mornings. They managed together to keep the semi-destroyed barbecue pits high enough for the Rotary to cook their 750 chicken halves properly and the Rocket Field was declared the official venue for insurance principals for the Fall Festival as run by the Chamber of Commerce, even without an official vote (although there was a Motion and 2nd) for approval although I might've been blinded by the brilliance and radiance of the convergent Williams brothers. There were several other glitches or reminders of parliamentary procedure needed by Mayor Ivie, none of which were the lea...

Brian Brodrick and Henry Norman The future of domesticated fowl inside the city limits was briefly considered near the end of the new business section of the Watkinsville City Council meeting Wednesday evening at Community Center, but the biggest news might be what the executive session yielded in terms of possible future litigation against the city. Council members Toby Smith and Samantha Purcell listen to a business license request Speculation abounds as to whether the much ballyhooed problems in a section of downtown businesses could be the source of concern, or could it be something much more nefarious and or insidious? We will find out and report shortly. Watkinsville will apparently allowed chicken and roosters in the yard if they are contained, and a sinkhole remains in the back of yard on Katie Lane. A boilerplate tattoo ordinance was inked from Oconee code with no tattoo and body piercing places on the horizon out here after a second public hearing. Victoria Al...

Charles Ivie seemed a little rusty in his first night as Mayor of Watkinsville Watkinsville Mayor Charles Ivie did not waste any time in tearing through the agenda, but did raise a few eyebrows by wanting to ban construction vehicles over 15,000 pounds at houses with home business licenses on an update to the city business license. The recently elected Mayor seemed somewhat stunned and agog at how rapidly he plowed through the small agenda, making a joke on the record about receiving a $50.00 bribe from council member Henry Norman to finish early. He changed the manner with which the council members approve the motions twice in one brief meeting, getting a gentle verbal nudge or two from City Attorney Joe Reitman to right the ship of city business when the former city councilman from 1974 forgot a point of order or some other trapping of government. Whether with uplifted hands or the council members saying "aye," the agenda was attended to in quick succession and with ...