They finally made a decision onG the Bailey rezoning: the one the applicant liked least. They accepted the Creekwood Subdivision detention ponds; and the Glen Laurel infrastructure; will all that be maintained any better than the one at Hamilton Circle? Dr. Michael Noll spoke for WACE against the Sabal Trail fracked methane pipeline.

Agenda item 6.i. is changed in the county’s online agenda from Rural to Commercial without the agenda being marked as amended.

See agenda, the LAKE videos of the previous morning’s Work Session, and the board packet obtained via open records request by LAKE and scanned and posted on the LAKE website. Here are videos of events as they transpired, followed by a video playlist.

• 1. Call to Order 2. Invocation 3. Pledge

  Video. Very religious invocation by Crawford Powell, but at least not political.

• 4. Minutes for Approval

  Video.

• 5. Public Hearing – REZ-2014-16 Bailey, Madison Hwy

  Video. County Planner Jason Davenport summarized “Ultimately and at the end of the day” that M-2 was the current rezoning request, but M-1, C-C, C-H were all still being considered to convert a legal nonconforming use into something conforming (see agenda item in board packet).

  Interchange between Commission Demarcus Marshall and Davenport noted Outdoor storage is not allowed in C-C but allowed in C-H. But C-H allows other uses that might be too intense. See ULDC extracts and more ULDC extracts in the board packet LAKE got by open records request.

  Applicant spoke for, and in interchange with Commissioner Marshall indicated preference for M-1, but agreement with all the possibilities including C-H (with limitation excluding “adult establishment”) except C-C, which she termed “totally inappropriate”.

  Gretchen Quarterman also spoke for the rezoning because without it applicant might end up seeking a variance at the Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBOA) on which Gretchen serves.

  Seems like the Chairman forgot to ask for anyone who wanted to speak against.

  Marshall moved to rezone C-H with conditions as recommended by staff. Motion failed for lack of a second.

  Powell asked to go back to staff for qeustions, but Chairman wouldn’t allow it. Commissioner Clay Griner moved to rezone to C-C. Commissioner Joyce Evans seconded. Without further discussion it passed 3 to 1 with Marshall voting against.

• 6.a. 2014 Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention Grant

  Video. Passed unanimously.

• 6.b. Property Acquisition for Booster Pump

  Video. Going by the survey plat in the board packet, apparently this 0.09 acres is to be split out of Parcel 0079A 004 at 3366 VAL TECH ROAD, VALDOSTA, GA 31602. Also, it’s to connect Kinderlou and Stone Creek subdivisions. The survey plat says it was done for Langdale Corp., so apparently at some point it was split out of the adjoining Langdale land just to the north.

• 6.c. Resolution and Approval of GEFA Loan Application

  Video. Commissioner Demarcus Marshall wanted to know what any surplus loan funds would be used for. Chairman said it was like a credit line, so any amount not used could be closed out and never used.

• 6.d. Accept Quit Claim Deeds for Creekwood Subdivision Detention Ponds

  Video. Supposedly this is so the county will maintain it. Somebody ought to go look at the detention pond in the middle of Hamilton Circle and also to review former Chairman Ashley Paulk’s repeated assertion that county code enforcement works only on complaints, so if nobody calls in a request to maintain, it’s unlikely to happen.

• 6.e. Adopt Resolution accepting infrastructure for Glen Laurel Phase III

  Video.

• 6.f. Cost for Emergency Repairs to Shiloh Road

  Video. County Engineer Mike Fletcher said the cause was heavy rain; no mention of the quality of the original construction. You can see what Scruggs charged the county in the board packet LAKE obtained by open records request.

• 6.g. Y 2013 CDBG – Lowndes County Second Harvest Renovation

  Video.

• 6.h. Approval to replace the batteries in the Uninterruptable Power Supply

  Video. At least one Commissioner thought spending to replace batteries with known lifespans was funny, although none of them found anything unusual about yet another unbudgeted emergency road repair.

• 6.i. Agreement for Commercial and Industrial Valuation Service

  Video. This is the item that got updated in the county’s online agenda from Rural to Commercial without the agenda being marked as amended. Unanimously approved.

• 7.a. Bids for Alapaha Water Treatment Plant (WTP) Upgrade

  Video. Low bid $392,700 unanimously approved. Details in the board packet obtained by LAKE via open records request.

• 8.a. Quarterly Financial Report

  Video. No presentation and no discussion, but 15 pages of tables are in the board packet obtained by LAKE via open records request.

• 9. CWTBH

  Video. Dr. Michael Noll spoke for WACE against the Sabal Trail fracked methane pipeline. Among other things, he mentioned escalating threats to landowners from the pipeline company including attempts to invoke Georgia eminent domain. He noted Dougherty County had just passed a resolution against the pipeline and Lowndes County could, too.

• Meeting Adjournment

  Video. Chairman announced a blood drive sponsored by Lowndes County Wed. Oct 29th 2014. They adjourned at 5:59 with no executive session. So that’s 29 minutes: quite long for them.

Here’s a video playlist:

Pipeline, road repair, Bailey, water, and Commercial Tax Schedules
Regular Session, Lowndes County Commission (LCC),
Video by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 28 October 2014.

-jsq

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