They added and agenda item for 7.p. Solicitor-General’s VOCA Grant Renewal; yes, really, the agenda was so long that’s sub-item letter P and the meeting was 51 and a half minutes long.

Longest at seven minutes was 6a. REZ-2017-11 Arrow Engineering, in which the County Commissioners ignored the Planning Commission’s recommendation to deny, and the County Planner’s observation the previous morning that the applicants would accept one acre. Instead they approved 2.5 acres with no conditions as Office Institutional (OI) in an area with no other instances of that.

At six minutes, 7.n. Georgia Power- VisionFirst was about putting $25,000 to hire an unnamed consultant for a joint project for unspecified results.

Update 2017-11-22: According to Chairman Bill Slaughter, the consultant is VisionFirst Advisors out of Tallahassee.

Did they mean the sinkhole-infested Mission Creek instead of 7.k. Grant of Easement for Utility Right of Way Moody-Mission Point?

Five minutes included questions from the Chairman and resulted in a split vote and a stern warning on 7.i. Beer, Wine & Liquor License – Liquor Barn, 3990 N. Valdosta Rd.

One of the two road abandonments, 7.a. Abandonment of Lane Road and a Portion of Sheavette Road, got a very rare split vote, with Commissioner Clay Griner voting alone against.

Below are links to each LAKE video, followed by a LAKE video playlist. See also the LAKE videos of the previous morning’s Work Session, and the agenda in the previous post, especially about 7.l. North Lowndes and Spring Creek Interconnection, which they approved Tuesday as yet another no-bid single-source contract.

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

  Video.

• Addition of an item to the agenda

  Video.

• 4. Minutes for Approval

  Video.

• 5 a. Lowndes County Board of Health Appointment

  Video. As predicted, they reappointed Dr. Mark J. Eames. The Chairman nominated him. Can he do that? Chairman can’t vote unless there’s a tie, but can he nominate? They decided by their usual silent “acclamation”.

• 6 a. REZ-2017-11 R-A and E-A to O-I ~2.5 acres

  Video. Despite the Planning Commission’s recommendation to deny, the Lowndes County Commission approved 2.5 acres to be O-I without conditions. So, if someone else buys this property in the future, they can use it as any O-I listed in the ULDC. I guess now they’ll have to add more purple for OI, Office Institutional District, on the zoning map. And where else will these start popping up?

  
  Lowndes County Zoning Map December 2015 found on the web page for Unified Land Development Code (ULDC).

• 6 b. Abandonment of Old Valdosta Lakeland Road

  Video. As always, they approved a road abandonment. Commissioner Scottie Orenstein wondered what would happen at each end: would property owners fence it? County Engineer Mike Fletcher said at the north end the property owner was building a commercial establishment and would fence it. To the south he wasn’t sure; he thought the county might continue its road ditch through there.

• 7 a. Abandonment of Lane Road and a Portion of Sheavette Road

  Video. An unusual split vote. Commissioner Griner voted alone against the motion that these roads had ceased to be used by the public and that their closure was in the best public interest.

• 7 b. Resolution for the Hazardous Waste Trust Fund (HWTF)

  Video.

• 7 c. Grant Re-Application for the Rural Transportation Program

  Video.

• 7 c. Grant Re-Application for the Rural Transportation Program (part 2)

  Video. Including urban to urban outside the city limits.

• 7 d. Request to Purchase (3) Sets of Demo Extrication Tools

  Video.

• 7e. Request to Purchase 10 New Automatic External Defibrillators (AED)

  Video.

• 7 f. Tyler Electronic Filing Participation Agreement

  Video.

• 7 g. Tyler Merchant Payment Card Processing Agreement

  Video.

• 7 h. Section 125 Plan Document Renewal for 2018

  Video.

• 7 i. Beer, Wine & Liquor License – Liquor Barn, 3990 N. Valdosta Rd.

  Video. This is a complicated case. Liquor stores and mini marts often have change of ownership which are allowed by law but have the added benefit of a 2 year tax break. Apparently the sale of this establishment was never completed, the state and local liquor licenses were not in agreement and the state issued a cease and desist to the store.

  Again a split vote 3-2 with Commissioners Evans and Wisenbaker voting against the issuance of the license. The license was issued and the Chairman put the owner on notice that this case took extraordinary staff time and he did not want that to happen again.

• 7 j. Continued Environmental Services – AECOM Technical Services, Inc.

  Video. Project Manager Chad McLeod said it’s a proposal for $106,450 in services for monitoring of the former service station behind the county palace. He seemed to recommend moving to a risk-based closure, which would cost less, because it would not include on-going monitoring and remediation. They approved the proposal.

• 7 k. Grant of Easement for Utility Right of Way Moody-Mission Point

  Video. Maybe they meant Mission Creek, which is the Moody AFB housing with the sinkholes off Val Del Road. Can’t tell from what they said in the meeting, nor from the agenda sheet.

• 7 l. North Lowndes and Spring Creek Interconnection

  Video. Another no-bid single-source contract, paid for with SPLOST funds. Three miles of water interconnection. See agenda in the previous post for more background.

• 7 m. DA’s Federal VOCA Grant Application Renewal

  Video. Annual continuation request for Victim witness program for the five-county area of the DA’s office. They approved it.

• 7 n. Georgia Power- VisionFirst

  Video. County Manager Joe Pritchard said this was about the Chamber, Development Authority, SGMC, City of Valdosta, and the county “to identify opportunities for economic development in our community” including hiring a consultant, with the Lowndes County contribution being “up to $25,000”.

  County Chairman Bill Slaughter spoke up for it; he also referred to “stakeholders as well as citizen groups”. Are citizen groups not stakeholders? Don’t the citizens elect the Commissioners and pay for the county government’s operations through taxes?

  Commissioner Scottie Orenstein referred to “this consultant”, but neither he nor anyone else (nor the agenda sheet) named who is getting this sole-source contract.

  Update 2017-11-22: According to Chairman Bill Slaughter, the consultant is VisionFirst Advisors out of Tallahassee.

  I can bet what a contract initiated by Georgia Power will not recommend: helping finance solar power on house and business rooftops.

• 7 o. Agreement with CSRA Probation Services

  Video. CSRA is a private company with offices all over the state. They approved the agreement, with no discussion about reducing the need for it.

  

• 7 p. Solicitor-General’s VOCA Grant Renewal

  Video. About advocating for victims. Match is met with volunteers, so no cost to county. Approved unanimously.

• 8 a. Bid for Grounds Maintenance at County Facilities

  Video. I wonder how much fertilizer they use, and how much of it runs off. Commissioners approved the low bid $118,000 from Strick Landscaping, of three recited by Finance Director Stephanie Black, switching from previously doing it in-house after several employees retired recently.

• 9. Reports – County Manager (no additional report)

  Video.

• Chairman Comments

  Video.

• Recognition of Leadership Lowndes 11. Meeting Adjournment

  Video.

Here’s a LAKE video playlist:

Videos: Office rezoning, Georgia Power, Alcohol, and road abandomnent
Regular Session, Lowndes County Commission (LCC),
Video by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, November 14, 2017.

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