About Lake Oconee news. (Greensboro, GA) 199?-current | View Entire Issue (June 9, 2017)
Your official newspaper serving Greene, Morgan and Putnam counties in Georgia’s Lake Country \ www.LakeOconeeNews.us VOL. 19 NO. 23 G FRIDAY JUNE 9 2017 75 CENTS Contributed Work crews began work on new intersection sensors at the intersection of Linger Longer Road and Georgia Highway 44 on Tuesday, May 30. The sensors will help with traffic flow in the area. DOT adding traffic sensors Wil Petty Four intersections, three in Greene specialist for the East Central Georgia wil@lakeoconeenews.us County and one in Morgan County, are in office, said the loops will “aid in proper the process of being replaced with traffic vehicle detection” in the intersections. The Georgia DOT has taken action to sensor loops to ensure better flow through- The three intersections getting the address complaints about intersections out the intersections. throughout Lake Country. Kyle Collins, district communications SEE SENSORS » A6 GREENE COUNTY LOA policy opened the flood gates Mark Engel engel@lakeoconeenews.us Lake Oconee Academy’s reputation is a big reason why people from outside of Greene County want to place their children in the local charter school. In fact, this year LOA received about six times as many applications than it had openings for the 2017-18 school year. They came from families as far away as Pakistan, according to school documents. But the school ran into trouble last month because of its policy of allowing out-of-county residents to be included in the annual admissions lottery. LOA does SEE LOA » A6 LAKE COUNTRY Mclver waiting to hear ruling Lynn Hobbs lynn@lakeoconeenews.us Claud “Tex” Mclver was still in jail in Fulton County Tuesday night after spending the day in court trying to get out. After the bond hearing and ar raignment, in which Mclver formally entered a plea of not guilty, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert C. I. McBurney said he would consider what was presented before he would rule on whether or not he would set bond, said defense spokesman Jeff Dickerson. The prosecution argued that Mclver is trying to influence the outcome of the case and cited a couple of phone calls and a personal visit Mclver made to witnesses. The texts of those con versations were given to McBurney, who said he would go over them before making his decision, Dickerson said. Mclver walked into the courtroom wearing shackles and carrying a Bible in his hand. He looked like he hadn’t shaved or had a haircut in a month SEE MCIVER » A8 index Calendar B4 Churches B6 Classifieds D3 Community B1 Opinions A4 Recipes D1 Sports C1 FRIDAY 81/67 Mostly Sunny WEATHER »D6 0 94922 87855 7 Published by Smith Communications Inc. MORGAN COUNTY County commission denies conditional use application Katherine Klimt katherine@lakeoconeenews.us During the meeting of the Morgan County Commission the morning of Tuesday, June 6, the board unan imously decided against issuing a conditional use permit that had generated considerable controver sy among surrounding residents. Ginny Van Oostrom Willett’s appli cation, which would have allowed the barn at 5361 Sandy Creek Road to be used as an event facility, faced no opposition from county planning and development director Chuck Jarrell but garnered the signatures of over 40 residents in protest. The proposed permit had been previously under examination during the May 25 planning com mission meeting. According to the letter she submitted to the county, Willett sought to rezone the 9.18- acre property, called Sowhatch- et Plantation, to “allow guestfs] to rent the facility for weddings, birthday parties, reunions or cor porate events,” while preserving the location’s historic character. Her letter also stressed property devel oper Algin Properties’ reputation for “amazing renovation work” and that the rezoning would produce no excessive traffic congestion or noise pollution, and operate in a manner similar to the nearby barn owned by local resident Dan Rather, colloqui ally known as the “party barn.” The issue was up for public comment during Tuesday’s meeting, and the unusually large crowd tes- SEE COUNTY » A6 Katherine Klimt/Staff Local resident Mack Bohlen addresses the county commission to voice his opposition to a proposed barn rezoning. MORGAN COUNTY Morgan breaks ground on career academy Michael Stone michael@lakeconeenews.us Morgan County celebrated a huge milestone last week with ground breaking ceremonies for the new College and Career Academy to be built near the high school. Local dignitaries turned out for the event which heralds the arrival of a much anticipated addition to the Morgan County Charter School System. A report prepared for the school system last year identified the need for the school through research complied by Morgan County Schools, the Chamber of Commerce, Morgan County Family Connections, the Morgan County Office of Economic Development and Economic Modeling Specialists International (EMSI) utilizing labor market data for the area. “Research indicates that as Georgia continues to compete with other states for high paying, highly skilled jobs, it is imperative that an educated, skilled workforce become an integral part of K-12 education,” SEE ACADEMY » A8 OUTDATED HEATING AND COOLING SYSTEM CLEANING OUT YOUR WALLET? CALL WILSON BRYANT • Commercial • Residential • Maintenance • New Install 866 Harmony Rd. Eatonton, GA 706-485-5456 www.bryant-air.com * BBB
