Hard Labor Creek Loan Put Forward For January Vote at Oconee County Board of Commissioners Meeting

The Oconee County Board of Commissions took the first step Tuesday night toward acceptance of $5.8 million in new debt for construction of the Hard Labor Creek Regional Reservoir in Walton County.

The action followed approval earlier in the day by the Hard Labor Creek Regional Reservoir Management Board of loan documents from the state of Georgia that will allow Oconee County and Walton County to receive a $20 million loan from the Georgia Environmental Finance Authority (GEFA) for construction of the reservoir dam.

The boards of commissioners of the two counties are scheduled to give final approval to those loan documents at their separate meetings on Jan. 8.

After hearing an outline of the loan terms at the meeting last night by County Administrative Officer Jeff Benko, the Oconee County BOC agreed to put the final approval on its agenda for the January meeting.

For details and video of Tuesday night's meeting and of the Hard Labor Creek Regional Reservoir Management Board meeting earlier in the day, go to Oconee County Observations.