Oconee County Chairman Thwarted In Attempt To Control Slot on Hard Labor Creek Management Board

The Hard Labor Creek Regional Reservoir Management Board Tuesday turned aside an attempt by Oconee County Board of Commissioners Chairman Melvin Davis to gain control of one of the three Oconee County slots on the Management Board. 

Oconee County Commissioner Jim Luke, who chairs the Management Board, said he did not think his fellow commissioners would support Davis' proposed change in the language of the intergovernmental agreement creating the Management Board.

With that, the Management Board voted unanimously to approve instead changes proposed by Board Attorney Chris Atkinson that modified the qualifications of alternates for each of the seven members of the Board.

The adopted change would allow both Oconee and Walton counties to appoint citizens as alternates. Current requirements for both counties are that alternates must be county employees or BOC members.

The changes endorsed by the Management Board leave in place the provision in the current intergovernmental agreement that allows Oconee County to appoint a citizen as a sitting member.

Davis’ proposal would have eliminated that possibility.

For more on the Davis proposal and the Management Board decision, go to Oconee County Observations.