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Oglethorpe Echo
Softball/girls basketball
coach Brianna Dickens
(left) and football coach
Mike Holland will share
the athletic director
duties at OCHS.
...Page 13
To start your subscription or to donate to The Oglethorpe Echo, see Page 13.
Volume 149, Number 36
June 8, 2023 ■ Oglethorpe County, Georgia
$1
New school projected
to cost $44-45 million
Staff Report
The Oglethorpe County Board of Education
has up to $49 million to spend on construc
tion of the new elementary school, but school
board chair Becky Soto expects the final cost
to be about $44-45 million.
The BOE approved $41,501,765 as the
guaranteed maximum to pay Parrish Con
struction Group, the project contractor, at a
called board meeting on June 1. The compa
ny's cost could be less than that, depending on
the variables of construction.
Soto said the amount includes the demoli
tion of Oglethorpe County Primary School,
new driveways and construction of a pavil
ion that will honor the history of OCPS, which
was the consolidated school before integration.
See SCHOOL, Page 10
SUBMITTED PHOTO
This is a rendering of the front of the new Oglethorpe County Elementary School,
which is projected to be finished in January 2025.
LANDEN TODD/THE OGLETHORPE ECHO
Owen Bullard, who was named the chairman of the Oglethorpe County Chamber of Commerce in February, has
made it a priority to reinvigorate the organization.
He's all
business
Bullard adds events,
social media to build
chamber of commerce
Bramlett
sentenced
to 20 years
probation
Former court clerk pleads
guilty to 64 total counts
By AvniTrivedi
The Oglethorpe Echo
Angel Bramlett, a former Oglethorpe County Pro
bate Court clerk, received 20 years of probation — the
first year on house arrest — after entering into a nego
tiated plea deal last week.
She pleaded guilty to 17 counts of computer forgery,
18 counts of computer trespass and 29 counts of theft
by taking — 64 total counts during
an appearance in Oglethorpe Coun
ty Superior Court on June 1.
Bramlett paid $18,240 in restitu
tion at sentencing, Northern Judi
cial District Chief Assistant District
Attorney Jeff C. Lee wrote in an
email. She also must pay $10,000
in fines and $3,703 in court fees.
Since this is Bramlett’s first ar
rest, Judge R. Chris Phelps imple
mented the First Offender Act. Her
Angel Bramlett
plea agreement also includes a behavioral incentive
that means she would be off probation after three years.
According to the plea agreement, Bramlett received a
$5,000 fine and 10 years probation for pleading guilty to
one count of computer forgery and another $5,000 fine
and 10 years probation for pleading guilty to one count of
computer trespass. They are to run as consecutive terms.
She received five years probation for the theft by
taking counts, five years for the remaining computer
trespass counts and another five years for the remain
ing counts of computer forgery. They run concurrently
with the first count of computer forgery.
She was arrested by the Georgia Bureau of Investi
gation in November 2021, after an investigation into
missing funds from the Oglethorpe County Probate
Court that dated to August 2019.
By Jesse Wood
The Oglethorpe Echo
Owen Bullard, the new chairman
of the Oglethorpe County Chamber
of Commerce, has several ideas to re
vamp the chamber, including establish
ing a women’s networking group.
This will be geared toward women
who are small business owners, leaders
within the community, or women who
just want to expand their network.
“I'm trying to find a woman leader
who wants to take on that role to head
line it,” he said.
That’s just one of his ideas for the
chamber.
Bullard, who took over as the chair
man in February, said one of his top
priorities is to increase public partici
pation with the chamber, which holds
about two meetings every month.
Bullard's goal is to hold more
events, such as weekly morning coffee,
monthly after-hours socials and a char
ity golf tournament. By adding more
events, the community will have more
opportunities to mingle and more busi
ness owners will be able to showcase
their businesses, said Bullard, who is a
financial adviser for Edward Jones.
“The biggest challenge right now
is getting more opportunities for our
members to network, meet and advo
cate for each other,” he said.
Bullard also hopes to promote en
gagement with the chamber by mod
ernizing its social media, such as Ins-
tagram and Facebook. Bullard also has
plans to revamp the chamber’s web
site, allowing for it to be utilized as an
advertising platform for its 160-170
members and various events.
“I want to utilize our Facebook page
better, (and) we're already starting
an Instagram,” Bullard said, “When
someone sees all these things happen
ing, that’ll hopefully entice them to
participate.”
See BULLARD, Page 3
WESLEY CHAPEL FD SEPARATES
Chris Dickens, the
chief of the Wesley
Chapel Volunteer Fire
Department, speaks
to the Oglethorpe
County Board of Com
missioners on Mon
day. The commission
approved his request
for the department to
be independent.
Story, Page 5.
DINK NESMITH/
THE OGLETHORPE
ECHO
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