Will Oconee get into the sidewalk business?

The assistant director of Oconee Public Works, Kyle Reid, says a 13-year old county ordinance effectively took Oconee County government out of the business of sidewalk construction.  But that doesn’t mean there is no interest on the part of county policymakers in sidewalks along county roads.  At a planning commission meeting this week, Reid conversed with planning commissioner Mike Johnson.  An at-large commissioner, Johnson is interested in seeing sidewalks that lead to CATBus stops.  Reid, however, says most of the passenger bus routes are run along state highways, over which the county public works department has no control. Fleshed out during their talk was the fact that most sidewalks built in the county are in the municipalities.  The planning commissioners also heard a plea from Oconee County farmer Andy Whitten for help in improving narrow, shoulderless county roads on which heavy, expensive farm machinery has trouble maneuvering.