In a very unusual move, they tabled
trust deed or a well system
that a developer wants because he does not want to have property annexed into the city of Valdosta. Valdosta services are across the street.
The Chairman said he asked the Engineer who asked the developer first.
Citizens Lawrence and Helen Williams expressed concern about dogs and a gun at a neighbor’s house.
They unanimously approved everything else Continue reading
Only the smoke stack remains, yet Remerton Mills still took up most of the
Remerton City Council agenda when Gretchen videoed there this month.
The Humane Society wants to house dogs temporarily and house an adoption site for cats. This also requires a variance.
Yes, apparently Remerton has more room for animals than Valdosta.
Here are links to the LAKE videos of each item, from the agenda. Also notice Remerton has Citizens to Be Heard first, like both Lowndes County and Valdosta used to have only a few years ago. Continue reading
In these LAKE videos you can see the Commissioners and staff didn’t mention the contractor for the emergency no-bid $67,822
to fix the
Carter Way Culverts
owns property on Carter Way.
They never said how much the no-bid
Old US 41N paving project would cost.
Citizen
Judy Havercamp thanked the Commission for the recent
animal ordinance.
She clapped, but did not get shouted down by the deputy;
I guess his instructions only apply to people not complimenting the Commission.
Citizen
John S. Quarterman, president of WWALS Watershed Coalition, Inc.,
asked for
wastewater spills to be posted on the county’s website and sent out by their alert system,
and with a written letter updated the Commission on many recent pipeline
developments and asked them to rescind their recent Sabal Trail easement
or to help in other ways to stop that boondoggle.
See also Continue reading
The
reading of the Animal Welfare Ordinance
drew two citizen speakers:
Jim Sharpe
and
Dr. Amanda Hall.
Chairman Bill Slaughter remarked on the 5 March 2016 death of former Lowndes County Coroner Charles Exum.
See also the LAKE videos of the previous morning’s Work Session and the agenda for that meeting and this Regular Session for the three board appointments, the two Copeland Road items related to water, sewer, pavement, and Lowndes Middle School students, the two Tax Assessor items, others, and, last but not least, the four alcohol items. See also Continue reading
Work Session 8:30 AM this morning,
and Tuesday evening finally voting on the
Animal Services Ordinance
including tethering, and (who knew about this?)
appointing Christina Bennett to the Animal Control Board.
Renewing the annual Section 5311 Rural Transportation Program Capital Contract for the MIDS bus service is on the agenda, as is appointing three people to the Valdosta Lowndes County Metropolitan Planning Organization (VLMPO) out of these four: Ronald Skrine, Tammy Greenway, Floyd Rose, Bob Wilburs. As usual, how were people supposed to know? And where are the applications of those named? Continue reading
See also the previous post for
LAKE videos of the preceding Planning Commission Work Session and Regular Session.
County Manager Joe Pritchard brought up in
his Report yesterday morning
the annexation request that is part of the
Valdosta proposed rezoning for a development on Bemiss Road;
see the
packet materials for that item obtained by LAKE through open records request.
They heard the long-awaited animal tethering ordinance,
and will vote on it this evening, as part of an
Animal Welfare Ordinance.
See agenda posting
for the three board appointments, the two Copeland Road items
related to water, sewer, pavement, and Lowndes Middle School students,
the two Tax Assessor items,
others, and, last but not least,
the four alcohol items.
See also the previous post for
LAKE videos of the preceding Planning Commission Work Session and Regular Session including
the CAC item on Skipper Bridge Road, with a link to the
board packet materials for that item
that LAKE obtained by open records request.
Below are Continue reading
The long-awaited animal tethering ordinance will be heard Monday morning
and voted on Tuesday evening, as part of an
Animal Welfare Ordinance.
They’re going to reappoint Joyce Evans and Frank Morman to the
Landbank Authority.
They last
reappointed those two 27 March 2012,
so apparently they serve four-year terms.
Despite the public not knowing there was an opening on the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities Board, they’ve already picked who they’re going to appoint: Chris Yarbrough. What he sent in his application, we don’t know, but his LinkedIn profile says he’s a “Community Supervision Officer III Mental Health Specialist, Georgia Department of Community Supervision, May 1996 – Present (19 years 11 months) Valdosta, Ga.”
Per LAKE open record request, here are the packet items for the Children’s Activity Center (CAC) rezoning on Skipper Bridge Road, REZ-2016-06, as sent to the Continue reading
Suing local businesses
helps run up fees to the county attorney, says County Manager Joe Pritchard.
He didn’t mention that continuing to promote sprawl for example through the county’s thoroughfare plan also runs up fees that property taxes will never meet.
Commissioners seemed
very concerned about “stakeholders” whom they said were “the development community, the real estate community” and “the construction and homebuilder industries”.
Maybe somewhere they mentioned the agricultural and forestry industries,
or sales tax payers even if they don’t own real estate; if so I missed it.
At least they’re thinking about the Comprehensive Plan
and the general direction of the county in a public forum.
And the County Planner did talk about quality of life.
Plus it seems business prospects bringing that up got the attention of the County Manager.
They said they have a responsiblity to set the direction of the county.
How about instead of continuing to drive sprawl outwards,
which is a fiscally (and environmentally) irresponsible path,
turn to directing development to be more dense in already-developed areas?
They continue this morning at 8:30 AM, and Gretchen is there again with the LAKE video camera.
Here’s the agenda followed by links to each LAKE video with a few notes. See also two previous pictures.
We are looking forward to the improved communication that was touted in the VDT headline. Jason Stewart, VDT, 4 February 2016, Slaughter wants to strengthen communication, Continue reading
The county government is less clear about animals than it asks citizens to be. Tonight the Lowndes County Democratic Party is doing what the county has never done: holding a public forum on animal rights. Apparently there are some human rights involved, too, given recent allegations of a deputy with gun drawn and arson.
Last month two more citizens complained to the Lowndes County Commission about
treatment of dogs, including
about three dogs that may not have shelter
and
barking dogs and apparent retaliation through arson.
That second speaker, as he said, had
already spoken up back in June about animal control taking his grandson’s dog out of a kennel, yet he said when he complained about a barking dog a deputy came out with gun drawn to demand he come out of his house “like a common criminal”.
At the time the Chairman asked citizens to be “clear and direct”.
Yet it’s not clear what the county has done about any of this, nor about Continue reading
A month ago, nobody on the County Commission or staff
knew how much the extra equipment might cost for the
three Sheriff’s pursuit vehicles,
but they awarded the bid to Langdale Ford anyway.
The automobile dealer on the Commission did have some computations
on why the higher bid might be more cost-effective.
“We have the bids in the room” said the County Engineer,
recommending awarding $1,188,500 to the Scruggs Company
for
Graded Aggregate Base, Curb-and-Gutter and Asphalt.
He also noted “they will come in and place the curb and gutter”.
The County Engineer also announced
flashing and then regular traffic lights
at Tillman Crossing on Old US 41 North.
Two citizens talked about dog problems: three dogs perhaps without shelter and barking dogs and arson.
Commissioner Demarcus Marshall is holding a Town Hall December 15th.
Here’s the agenda. See also the LAKE videos of the previous morning’s Work Session. Below are links to each of the videos of the Regular Session, followed by a video playlist. Meanwhile, they already met again this morning and will vote again Tuesday evening. Continue reading