Council’s votes to assist Fair-Oak are inconclusive

Oconee County Council tried a number of votes last night to bring to an end the nasty situation involving Fair-Oak’s inability to schedule athletic games with three municipal recreation departments. Whether it was to float a financial incentive or to meet again within a couple of weeks, council’s votes came out 2 to 2, with an abstention that gutted it all. District Two’s Wayne McCall said, “Absolutely not” when asked whether he intended to vote. That left Chairwoman Edda Cammick and District Five’s Glenn Hart on one side and District Three’s Paul Cain and District Four’s Julian Davis on the other. After they stopped a near 50-minute debate, mainly between Davis and Cammick, County Attorney David Root said the matter can re-surface at a future meeting. In some sense, what played out last night in council chambers was further evidence that adult leaders are struggling trying to put to rest a dicey controversy in which Fair-Oak children who’ve signed up for soccer and volleyball are victims. Can compromise settle what began as a boundary dispute involving Westminster and Townville over where certain Oconee children may sign up for recreation sports? That was a question for which no definite answers were offered last night.