The most interesting developments were not on the agenda. Commissioners approved dollar amounts for two purchase orders that were completely different from the ones they were quoted the morning before, with no discussion: the County Attorney quoted the new figures, asked for approval, and immediately got it. Commissioner Richard Raines still didn’t want to enforce a neighborhood covenant yet it was Commissioner Raines who made the motion last fall to let an Exclusive Franchise with Advanced Disposal Services; a covenant the county is now trying to enforce by having the County Attorney sue local business Deep South Sanitation. They said nothing about that 100 foot wide pipeline barrelling through the county. They could have the County Attorney investigate that, but they aren’t. They approved meeting for millage rate approval 8:30 AM Friday 26 July 2013: that’s for the property taxes they collect, which presumably partly go to pay the County Attorney. And the Chairman refused to let a citizen speak on a technicality.

Here’s the agenda with links to the videos and a few notes. See also videos of the previous morning’s Work Session.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, JULY 8, 2013, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, JULY 9, 2013, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2^nd Floor

1. Call to Order
2. Invocation

   Commissioner Raines said “there is a lot we disagree on as citizens” and proceeded to tell us what we agree on.

   
3. Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag
4. Minutes for Approval

   No changes. Unanimous approval.

   1. Work Session — June 24, 2013
   2. Regular Session — June 25, 2013
5. Public Hearing — REZ-2013-07 Leatherwood, 2402 or 2406 James Rd. R-1 and R-21 to R-10, LC Water and Sewer, ~0.71 acres

   “All right, we’ll take one more!” said County Chairman Bill Slaughter in a public hearing; not even that many would he take in Citizens Wishing to Be Heard. See separate post for details about this rezoning.

6. For Consideration
   1. Video Arraignment for Magistrate and Juvenile Court Contract
   2. Enterprise and Backup Storage Solution Scope of Work

   Chairman Slaughter said they would “conjoin a and b together”. The County Attorney read out a different set of prices from the previous morning, and the Commissioners promptly voted to approve them. See separate post for details.

7. Reports-County Manager

   County Manager Joe Pritchard reminded Commissioners they were required to set a date to set tax millage. See separate post for what Finance Director Stephanie Black said and what the Commissioners said.

8. Citizens Wishing to be Heard Please State Name And Address

   One citizen wanted to be heard, “Miss Dear”, but the Chairman refused to let her speak because the form hadn’t been turned in before the meeting. He promised to talk with the citizen after the meeting. Not quite the same, is that? And we know he can waive that requirement whenever he wants to, because he, like Ashley Paulk before him, has done so before. Maybe the Chairman having the freedom to stop citizens from speaking whenever he wants to is the “freedom” Commissioner Raines prayed about.

   Here’s video of what Idelle Dear said to the Commission back in January.

Here’s the video of the 9 July 2013 Regular Session:

Videos: Attorney set different prices, Commissioners set millage date
Regular Session, Lowndes County Commission (LCC),
Video by Brett Huntley for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE), Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 9 July 2013.

-jsq

Short Link: