Politics & Government
Civil War Memorial To Be Placed At Watkinsville Cemetery
The Sons of the Confederate Veterans discussed plans with Watkinsivlle city council members Wednesday to install a monument honoring dozens of confederate soldiers buried in Watkinsville and throughout Oconee County.
city council members agreed on Wednesday to support a proposal to install a monument to recognize and honor confederate soldiers at the Watkinsville Cemetery.
At the city council's monthly meeting, Syd Johnson, a member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, asked for permission to install a marble stone marker and 25-foot flagpole near the cemetery, located off Simonton Bridge Road.
The memorial will honor 34 known soldiers who are buried in the cemetery, along with 230 others with confirmed burial sites in Oconee County, Johnson said.
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Robert N. Hale, a local genealogist, will also be remembered on the marker for his work documenting and marking the final resting place of the soldiers, Johnson said.
"He was the driving force behind four historic heritage organizations," Johnson said after the meeting. "He was an experienced genealogist and knew the ancestral family history of just about everyone who was living in this area."
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In recent months, a number of different groups - from the Daughters of the American Revolution to local boy scouts - have volunteered their time to cleanup the cemetery and mark burial sites in an effort to get the 200-year-old cemetery on a list for the National Register of Historic Places, according to the Athens Banner-Herald.
A in the summer also raised money for the entrance sign.
"This is just another group that has come forward to help," said.
The city was not asked to pay for the monument.
In other news, council members:
- Approved a business licenses for Fresh Baked Home LLC, a custom pillows and silk shop, at 13 1/2 Main Street, Watkinsville Clipper Cuts at 52 N. Main Street, Ste. B., and CIRCA, an antique Southern furniture store, located at 17 N. Main Street.
- Approved a city ordinance to collect a state mandated 75-cent charge to prepaid cellular devices and prepaid minute cards to support local 911 call centers. The Georgia Department of Revenue will collect the fee next year, and distribute the funds based on population to local municipalities. The changes do not affect billed wireless customers, who are already charged the fee.
- Discussed an update to a city Nuisance Ordinance covering the enforcement for removing overgrown weeds and vegetation.