Oconee County Utility Department Director Successfully Kept His Comments About Calls Creek From Being Recorded

Oconee County Utility Department Director Wayne Haynie told the Northeast Georgia Branch of the American Society of Civil Engineers that he would help them understand “the fuss” over the county’s plans to put a sewer pipeline down Calls Creek.

Cindy Mitchell McGarvey, who lives on the creek and is one of the organizers of Friends of Calls Creek, was interested in sharing what Haynie had to say at the engineering group’s regular meeting on Feb. 16, so she borrowed a video camera and attended the meeting.

Haynie objected to the camera when he stood up to talk, however, saying he was hoping to have “safe space” among the civil engineers to talk about the controversy over the county’s plans to expand its Calls Creek wastewater treatment plant and run a discharge pipeline through the neighborhoods along the creek.

Haynie went forward with his talk–and explanation of the controversy the pipeline had raised–only after the engineering group voted to ask McGarvey to turn off the camera and she complied.

For more on the story, including a video of the exchange that led to the vote of the engineers not to allow recording of Haynie’s talk, go to Oconee County Observations.

Pictured: Slide From Haynie's Presentation.