Update 2022-06-23: Videos: Process for non-profit applications for ARPA funds 2022-05-27.

Update 2022-06-21: Valdosta Watergoat installed in Sugar Creek 2022-06-21.

Council Sonny Vickers was welcomed back warmly after abscence due to illness (I welcomed him before the meeting). Later, he thanked staff and council for their assistance.

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Mayor Scott James added two council members each as observers to each of the ARPA fund disbursment committees, for non-profits and for for-profit businesses.

After Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman asked for action about trash, Council Andy Gibbs and Mayor James vied for who would get to announce what the city had already done. Mayor James in Council Comments announced the city had ordered its first trash trap, for Sugar Creek below the Salty Snapper, and more were planned. Afterwards, Public Works Director Richard Hardy told me the trash boom is a WaterGoat. See also Videos: Valdosta Mayor announces first trash trap @ VCC 2022-05-19.

And Thomas Henderson III asked for something to be done about a wooden bridge on Lamar Street over Browns Canal. Council Vickers and City Manager Barber said they had called in GDOT, which was working up a plan.

Below are links to each LAKE video of each agenda item, with a few notes, followed by a LAKE video playlist. See also the agenda, and the board packet, received in response to a LAKE open records request.

• Welcome Back, Sonny Vickers, 1. Opening Ceremonies

  Video.

• 2.a. Employee of the Month Award (Nathanial McKinnon, Public Works).

  Video.

• 2.b. Presentation of the Municipal Audit for Fiscal Year 2021.

  Video.

• 3.a. Minutes Approval: Valdosta City Council – Regular Meeting – May 5, 2022

  Video.

• 4.a. Purchase Hydrogen Generator for Valdosta-Lowndes Regional Crime Laboratory.

  Video.

• 5.a. Appointments to ARPA Non-Profit Grant Selection Committee.

  Video.

• 5.a. Mayor appoints Andy Gibbs and Vivian Miller-Cody to observe

  Video.

• 5.b. Tim Carroll, Eric Howard to observe, ARPA Small Business Grant Selection Comm.

  Video.

• 6. CTBH Thomas Henderson III, wooden bridge, Lamar Street, Browns Canal

  Video. Thomas Henderson III of 2122 Amberley Trail (in Foxborough subdivision, which is outside Valdosta, south of US 41 and west of the Withlacoochee River), about a wooden bridge across Browns Canal, between 710 and 714 Lamar Street. He thinks it’s raggedy, dangerous, and “not too far from S.L. Mason Elementary School”. He said he had heard it was called historic, but it’s old, it’s not fitting. He said personally he thought that “if it was located in another area of the city, it would have been fixed long ago.” He asked Council to go examine the bridge and allow him to come back and speak on it again.

  BridgeReports.com has it as LAMAR STREET over SUGAR CREEK, Structure number: 000000018550330, Wood or timber bridge, built 1970, one span, 22 feet long, roadway 23.6 feet wide, deck width edge-toedge 24.9 feet. Also, “Bridge is not eligible for the National Register of Historic Places.” That’s the only wooden bridge they show in Lowndes County, Georgia.

  Also, they say condition Poor, tolerable to be left in place as is, but:

  Deck geometry appraisal: Basically intolerable requiring high priority of corrrective action.

  Channel protection: Bank protection is being eroded. River control devices and/or embankment have major damage. Trees and rush restrict the channel. [5]

  Scour condition: Bridge with “unknown” foundation that has not been evaluated for scour. [U]

  Sufficiency rating: 31.4

  Recommended work: Replacement of bridge or other structure because of substandard load carrying capacity or substantial bridge roadway geometry. [31] Estimated cost of work: $129,000

  Council Sonny Vickers said he had been told GDOT has that bridge on a list to fix, and he had previously told the speaker that. City Manager Mark Barber said he had asked GDOT for help, and they were working on that request.

• 6. Council Vickers and Manager Barber about that Lamar Street Bridge

  Video.

• 6. CTBH Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman asks for action about trash

  Video.

• 7. City Manager’s Report

  Video.

• Sonny Vickers thanks staff and council

  Video.

• 8. Mayor Scott James announces first purchase of a trash trap, Sugar Creek

  Video.

• 8. More Mayor Comments

  Video.

• 8. Council Comments 9. Ajourn into Executive Session

  Video.

Here’s a LAKE video playlist:

Videos: Mayor announces first trash trap, committees for ARPA funds @ VCC 2022-05-19
Valdosta City Council, Regular Session, Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia.
Video by John S. Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE),

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