Petition drive at halfway point

The drive to collect enough signatures of property owners to force a referendum on whether an Oconee volunteer fire station may enact a tax district has reached the halfway point, according to Chief Kevin Christenbury of the Corinth-Shiloh Fire Department.  Today he said, “We are at 50% of the required petitions, we count we need 800 and we are 407 and we are still receiving petitions.”  Christenbury says the feedback has been positive from communities within the fire station coverage area, including what he called “great feedback and support” Monday night from the Bayshore Community.  Only one rural Oconee fire department benefits from the authority to tax.  That is, the Keowee Fire Department, based at Keowee Key.