Two new GLPC members, half a million dollars to Motorola for some unexplained acronym, and the Val Del Road rezoning, which breezed through the preceding Planning Commission meeting with no opposition, is on the agenda for the Work Session Monday morning and the voting session Tuesday evening of the Lowndes County Commission.

Notice of Public Hearing

The Greater Lowndes Planning Commission will have two new members soon:

The appointment of Mr. Ed Hightower to the Greater Lowndes Planning Commission (GLPC) expired on September 9, 2019 and the appointment of Mr. Jody Hall (resigned) will expire October 13, 2019. Keith Jackson, Bryan Inman, James Warren, Sharah Denton, Paul Alvarado, and Vicky Biles, have all expressed interest in being appointed to the GLPC.

Uncharacteristically, the agenda sheet does not say whether the incumbent Ed Hightower wants to be reappointed, although we can guess, that since his name is not among those who have expressed interest, that he does not. As usual, there is no detail as to who those people are. Paul Alvarado at least we remember was two months ago not reappointed to ZBOA. Maybe, in response to the LAKE open records request, the county will return the board packet before the Commission votes Tuesday evening.

Half a million dollars a year Motorola SUAII (Evergreen), whatever that is. The agenda sheet says:

The Motorola System Upgrade Agreement, or SUAII, will allow Lowndes County to maintain a current system by providing system upgrades every two years. Subscriber maintenance and infrastructure maintenance is also covered under the SUAII agreement, along with 24/7 support. Lowndes County will pay Motorola a monthly amount of $40,776.

That’s $489,312.00/year (or $489,310.00, as the sheet says under “BUDGET IMPACT”).

But upgrade of what? The opaque wording was identical two years ago.

Glynn County, GA did this in January 2018, for $4,003.30/month or $48,039.60/year and was more forthcoming:

Motorola, through Hasty Communications East, Inc., provides infrastructure repair/support services to the Joint Public safety Communications Department (the “JPSCD”) for the Public Safety Communications System (the “Radio System”). The System Upgrade Agreement (the SUAII) is a separate contract from the existing maintenance contract because of the necessity for specific language regarding equipment and software upgrades/replacements that are not used in maintenance contracts, as well as, the specific two-year time frame that is not applicable to the maintenance contract.

So it’s for public safety radio communications.

Dothan, Alabama, did this back in November, 2016, for $3,988.04/month or $47,856.48/year, and included an itemized list from Motorola of what the money pays for.

Why does Lowndes County, Georgia, which pays Motorola ten times as much as Glynn County, GA, or Dothan, AL, not tell us what the money is for?

And the Ivandale Circle abandonment teed up last time has a Public Hearing this time.

Here is the agenda. See also the LAKE videos of the preceding Planning Commission for the rezoning case.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2019, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2019, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor

1. Call to Order
2. Invocation
3. Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag
4. Minutes for Approval
   1. Work Session – August 26, 2019
      
   2. Regular Session – August 27, 2019
      
5. Appointments
   1. Greater Lowndes Planning Commission
      

      Documents:GLPC.pdf

6. Public Hearing
   1. Abandonment of Unopened Right of Way Off Ivandale Circle
      

      Documents:Abandonment of Unopened ROW off Ivandale Circle.pdf

   2. Rezoning Case REZ-2019-12 Val Del 61, Val Del Road R-1 to P-D, County Water and Sewer, ~28.436 acres
      

      Documents:Rezoning Case REZ-2019-12 Val Del Road.pdf

7. For Consideration
   1. Motorola SUAII (Evergreen)
      

      Documents:Motorola SUAII.pdf

8. Reports – County Manager
9. Citizens Wishing to be Heard-Please State Your Name and Address
   
10. Adjournment

This Sold sign a few feet from the rezoning Public Notice has a slightly smaller number of acres, but I’m guessing it refers to the same property.

Sold sign, 27.6+/- acres

And this For Sale sign is a bit south on Val Del Road, still on NATCO LLC parcel 0072 061:

56 acres for sale just to the south

At least development is moving back towards already-developed areas.

-jsq

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