They vote tomorrow evening on paying for an emergency road fix
and several discrepencies.
James Road
dropped 10 inches in 48 hours in front of Westside Elementary School,
due to faulty road construction in 2008.
Also due to that same hasty 2008 James Road widening and realignment
for the
James Road second mall and massive subdivision mega-project
that never happened,
there is
Excess Right of Way on James Rd & Riverside Dr.
that the County Engineer wants to quit claim and give back to the neighboring
landowners.
In other discrepencies, MIDS, Inc. found three in its contract of last year
and wants a
Transportation Service Contract Addendum
to fix the work the county didn’t check.
A Commissioner wanted to know why
the three bids for a lift station pump varied so much.
Airport Authority Chairman Steve Everett wants to be reappointed for another four-year term. The 911 center has surplus items out back it wants to sell off. County staff want to abandon Old Statenville Road SE because they say only seven cars a day use it and there are no houses on it. Nobody had any questions about the a beer license.
Here’s the agenda.
LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, MAY 12, 2014, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, MAY 13, 2014, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street — 2nd Floor
- Call to Order
- Invocation
Only in the Regular Session, Tuesday at 5:30 PM
- Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag
Only in the Regular Session, Tuesday at 5:30 PM
- Minutes for Approval
- Appointment
- Valdosta-Lowndes County Airport Authority
Video. County Manager Joe “Mr. Mumbles” Pritchard said (you can hear him if you crank the sound way up) Steve Everett wants to be reappointed to VLCAA, and it’s a four year term. Commissioners had no questions. Mr. Everett, whom Mr. Mumbles did not mention is the Chair of the Airport Authority, did not appear.
- For Consideration
- Water and Sewer Service Requested from Calvary Baptist Church
Video. Utilities Director Mike Allen said the church wants to add an addition to their existing building which would take away the septic tank, so they need to be connected to county services. He said “Mr. Harrington” was in the audience for questions, but Commissioners had no questions for him. Presumably that’s Robbie Harrington, pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in Lake Park, but why should we have to go look that up?
- Declaration of Surplus Items and Authorization to Dispose
Video. 911 Director Danny Weeks said he wanted “permission to get rid of a bunch of stuff we’ve had stored out behind the 911 center for a while.” The Chairman told the Commissioners they had a list of the stuff in their packets. I guess the public can wait for the yard sale to find out what the stuff is.
- Transportation Service Contract Addendum
Video. It’s for the 311 contract with MIDS, Inc. MIDS found three inconsistencies in the contract the county approved last year, and he was proposing to fix those inconsistencies at no cost to the county. He didn’t say, but they approved it 12 November 2013. It’s a good thing MIDS checked the County Engineer’s work. Maybe somebody at the county should check our work. These discrepencies didn’t cost anything, but all those change orders do.
- Abandonment of Old Statenville Road SE
Video. County Engineer said there are no houses on that part of the road and it’s owned by Langdale Company on both sides.
Commissioner Joyce Evans asked if there was traffic on that road. Answer: “Last traffic count… seven cars a day.”
Commissioner Demarcus Marshall asked if when Boring Pond Road was paved would more traffic appear on Old Statenville Road? Answer: Engineer thought the paving would cause people to stay on Boring Pond Road.
- Abandon Excess Right of Way on James Rd & Riverside Dr.
Video. Yes, it is because of that failed James Road development. County Engineer Mike Fletcher said:
When James Road was realigned a couple of years back, along with Riverside, there was some excess right of way that was left on.He proposed quit-claiming the excess and giving it back to the adjoining landowners, the Payne and Smith families.
- Beer License — OMHARI Corp. — 4593 N. Valdosta Rd.
Video. Finance Director Stephanie Black said it was the usual. No questions.
- Bid
- Griffin Lift Station Force Main Replacement
Video. Utilities Director Mike Allen said they got three bids, and Randy Plumbing had low bid of $131,059.68.
Commissioner Demarcus Marshall wanted to know why there was “such a gap” in the bids. We have no idea what that gap is, since he didn’t say what the other bids were, and we don’t get to
- Reports-County Manager
Video. James Road in front of West Side School dropped 10 inches in about 48 hours. Originally thought it might be a link in the sanitary sewer, but digging in there was no leak in the sanitary sewer, storm sewer, or water main, and it was due to unsuitable materials in the hole.
They did a compaction test in 2008, but it didn’t detect that. Recent rains caused it to settle. “Scruggs is out there right now”, expecting to have it paved today for one entrance to the school, and the other tomorrow.
County Manager said they were declaring it an emergency situation and they’d have a cost tomorrow. Maybe the county could check road contractors’ work better. There was a one-year guarantee by the contractor, but 2008 was more than one year ago, so the county gets to pay for it. County Manager said it would come out of the contingency fund.
It might also be worth checking more before signing up for big projects for out-of-state developers like that 2007 James Road second mall and massive subdivision mega-project.
- Citizens Wishing to be Heard Please State Name And Address
Only in the Regular Session, Tuesday at 5:30 PM
Here’s a video playlist:
Videos: airport appointment, water, sewer, alcohol, and surplus right of way
Work Session, Lowndes County Commission (LCC),
Video by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 12 May 2014.
-jsq
Short Link: