Three rezonings are back from
last month
on
the agenda for the Lowndes County Commission Work Session
this morning at 8:30 AM.
LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
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PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, JANUARY 9, 2017, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, JANUARY 10, 2017, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor
Bill Branham’s
Copeland Road development
got six minutes of discussion, the longest in yesterday morning’s Work Session,
with others of the seven rezonings also getting discussion,
plus, surprisingly, the
proposed VOCA grant, because the outgoing DA spoke.
They vote tonight at 5:30 PM.
I would like to compliment the Commissioners on asking questions and
having discussion in the Work Session.
Even ever-silent Joyce Evans spoke up about
the MIDS on-call bus system grant re-application.
They’re going to reappoint Dr. Randy Smith to the Board of Health. Chairman Bill Slaughter said: “Inside your packets you have a letter from Dr. Grove supporting Dr. Smith.”
But we the citizens, taxpayers, and recipients of health care didn’t get to see that letter. The Chairman went on to recommend Dr. Smith, and I thank him for making that recommendation in public where we could all see and hear it. Dr. Smith is probably a fine board member: that’s not the point. The point is if the public could see these things they might have useful input, not to mention it’s the public’s business the Commission is doing. Similarly Commissioners had a quarterly financial report “before you”, but the public couldn’t see it. If tiny Effingham County can publish its County Commission packets, mighty Lowndes County could to it, too.
Below are links to each of the LAKE videos, with Continue reading
Longest agenda in recent memory, for this morning’s Work Session
and tomorrow evening’s Regular Session of the Lowndes County Commission.
For the rezonings, see also the LAKE videos of the preceding Planning Commission meeting. For the abandonment of unopened right of way on Avenue I, see the LAKE videos of last month’s Lowndes County Commission meeting.
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LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
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PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2016, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2016, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor
They tabled the
Withlacoochee River Flood Inundation Map Project,
which is better than rejecting the idea of spending $40,000 to match Valdosta
for a composite 50% match for a USGS grant.
As expected from the previous morning, they appointed Chairman Bill Slaughter to the South Georgia Community Service Board, after he got that board to change the time of its meetings to be different from this Commission’s time.
They approved the REZ-2016-12 Salami, 3320 Bemiss Rd community well for a home school science facility.
Below are links to each LAKE video of the Monday June 12th 2016 Lowndes County Commission Regular Session, followed by a video playlist. See also the LAKE videos of the previous morning’s Work Session, and the agenda.
Video. A Commissioner after the vote appointing Chairman Slaughter asked what this board did. Chairman’s answer: mostly behavioral health, and they used to hold their meetings the same time as the Lowndes meetings, but they have moved them to Adel at 1PM presumably also on Tuesday.
Video. They reappointed Randall Crews.
Video. They reappointed Paul Alvarado.
Video. Nobody spoke against. The applicant spoke for, summarizing what had already been said in the LAKE video of the June 27th 2016 Planning Commission review of this rezoning request. The County Commission unanimously approved the rezoning.
Video. “The old country store location which has been out of business for a few months.” They unanimously approved.
Video. See the LAKE videos from the previous morning’s Work Session for more background.
Video. For quite a bit more background, see the LAKE video from the previous morning’s Work Session. Chairman asked for timeline. Ashley Tye said federal year starts October 1st, so Valdosta would like to have and agreement ready to sign before then. Also they could come back at a later time, but could lose out on the federal funding match.
Chairman asked for timeline to get agreement ready by then. Tye said agreement with USGS would be with Valdosta, and he would check back with them for a more firm date, and would probably be best to decide at next Lowndes County Commission meeting.
Commissioner Demarcus Marshall asked confirmation that waiting until the next meeting would work. Answer: tabling until next meeting would work. And that’s what they did.
Video. Same summary as in Work Session. They unanimously approved the low bid from Astro Exterminating Services.
Video. “No additional report.”
Video. No citizens wished to be heard, so they adjourned.
Here’s a video playlist:
Videos: 3 appointments, 1 well public hearing, Withlacoochee River Flood Map
Regular Session, Lowndes County Commission (LCC),
Video by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, July 12, 2016.
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They vote Tuesday 5:30 PM.
Monday morning at the Work Session,
after some resistance from a Commissioner, surprisingly Chairman Bill Slaughter
argued for
paying the $40,000 to match Valdosta on the LiDAR flood maps
to prevent loss of life and property damage.
He even said “folks that live in our cities are Lowndes County Citizens as well.”
Emergency Management Director Ashley Tye answered questions the Commissioners didn’t think to ask about Continue reading
Monday morning, will Lowndes County match Valdosta with $40,000 for LiDAR for the Withlacoochee River Flood Inundation Map Project? They vote Tuesday 5:30 PM.
A bit more information about the
REZ-2016-12 Salami, 3320 Bemiss Rd community well for a home school science facility;
see also
the LAKE video of the June 27th 2016 Planning Commission review
of this rezoning request.
No explanation of why there’s a vacancy on the South Georgia Community Service Board nor why Chairman Bill Slaughter is who they’re going to appoint. Reappointing Randall Crews to the Valdosta- Lowndes County Construction Board of Adjustments and Appeals and Paul Alvarado to the Valdosta/Lowndes County Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBOA). Continue reading
For an authority that gets 1.25 mil of your property tax dollars,
the Commissioners didn’t even know who was wanting to be reappointed,
none of them asked what happened during a year when one of them
was apparently serving on that board without a formal appointment,
not all of the Commissioners were present even voted,
and none of the candidates for any of the board appointments even shhowed up, much less spoke.
The Lowndes County Commission at its June 28th 2016 Regular Session also
unanimously adopted the budget for what the Chairman repeatedly called
“the physical year”, despite only perfunctory public hearings in advance,
and no draft budget available on their website for the public to see.
After they approved the budget to spend the money
(and according to County Manager Joe Pritchard after earlier that same morning the Tourism Authority approved their budget),
the Lowndes County Commissioners
unanimously approved a hotel/motel tax rate increase.
Odd order, eh?
About the 1.25 mil property tax Parks and Rec Authority, the Chairman finally got around to saying Continue reading
Not on
the agenda for
Monday morning’s Work Session,
but added back for Tuesday evening’s Regular Session,
the Brookwood Place Subdivision tabled two weeks ago
popped up in
Reports.
Where is it? Who owns it? How did they get it? Who’s the developer? No, really, who’s the developer?
8. Reports – County Manager – the reappearance of Brookwood water
Video. County Manager Joe Pritchard said he was bringing back the trust indenture for “the Brookwood Place subdivision off of Mt. Zion.” He can’t have meant Mt. Zion Road, which is in the southwest part of the county, not near the Valdosta City limits, Continue reading
County Planner Jason Davenport said at Monday morning’s Work Session that the
Comprehensive Plan Update should be a Public Hearing,
so it needs to be listed as such for Tuesday evening’s Regular Session.
I guess that is more than 24 hours notice, but did they send a notice to the newspaper?
How were people to know, and why was this left to the day before when this
schedule has been known for months to all the local planners?
Not on the agenda, the Brookwood Place Subdivision tabled two weeks ago popped up in Reports.
The county has had a board member listed for VLPRA for a year after his term actually expired.
Plus a special Continue reading
Sheriff or VLPRA? Invisible budget, visible Comp Plan Update, 1 road abandonment + apparently another, and sewage not getting sprayed. All Monday morning 8:30 AM at the Lowndes County Commission Work Session.
The
LAS Pump Control Panel
is for the sewage spray field, aka Land Application Site: cost $18,500.
Lowndes County does not have a wastewater treatment plant, just
an LAS,
east of Moody Air Force Base’s Grassy Pond west of I-75 and Lake Park.
The Update for the 2016 Greater Lowndes Comprehensive Plan has gone through quite a process of community input, thanks to SGRC.
Can’t say the same for the Adoption of Fiscal Year 2017 Budget, for which the county had a budget meeting with less than 24 hours notice, followed by two budget hearings that those who attended say lasted fifteen minutes each with six slides presented. And the most recent budget document on the county’s website is from 2016.
There’s only one road abandonment listed as such on the agenda (a Portion of Beaver Lane), but Continue reading