Category Archives: Economy

Retreat at Jekyll Island Club @ LCC 2021-02-25

Lowndes County Commissioners and staff are meeting tomorrow where those pesky taxpayers won’t be “distraction to strategically address community needs and set goals for the next year.”

Tripadvisor says: “A Historic Treasure not just for “Millionaires” of Jekyll Island Club Resort”, with rooms from $207 to $220 per night.

Cherokee Cottage

I do congratulate the newish Lowndes County Public Information Officer for putting out a press release, and for promising a daily “synopsis of discussions” to be posted on the county’s website.

How about a daily video, such as LAKE has posted for several years? Or livestream the meetings via facebook live, YouTube, or Zoom?

Meghan Barwick, Lowndes County Press Release, February 18, 2021, Lowndes County Board of Commissioners Host Annual Planning Meeting,

Lowndes County, Georgia- The Lowndes County Board of Commissioners will hold their annual planning meeting on Jekyll Island February 25-26, 2021 at the Jekyll Island Hotel, Cherokee Cottage, 371 Riverview Dr., Jekyll Island, Georgia. The planning meeting will begin on Thursday, February 25 at 8:30 a.m.- 5:00 p.m. and resume Friday, February 26 at 8:30 a.m. wrapping up at 12:00 noon.

The purpose of the annual planning meeting is Continue reading →

Roads, Water, and Taxes @ LCC 2021-02-22

Four million dollars in tax money discussed this morning, to be voted on at 5:30 PM tomorrow (Tuesday) by the Lowndes County Commission.

Table: Four Million Dollars

Yet their video cameras seem to be broken and I haven’t seen anything about paying to fix them or buy new ones. Meanwhile, Valdosta City Council started online through an iphone, and numerous other counties in Georgia and Florida have made their meetings accessible online.

Cost	What
$1,974,139.00	Georgia Environmental Finance Authority (GEFA) Loan Application for the Lake Park Bellville Road Widening Project
$1,875,000.00	Georgia Environmental Finance Authority (GEFA) Loan Application for Lift Station & Manhole Rehab Project
$219,000.00	Approve Purchase of West Savannah Avenue and Briggs Street Properties
$168,880.00	Purchase of Wetland and Stream Credits for Old US 41 North Widening Project
$59,500.00	Contract with Condrey and Associates, Inc.
$34,024.64	Request for the Purchase of Motorola Radios for Public Works
$19,167.00	Approval of the Solicitor General’s VAWA Competitive Grant Award
$10,195.00	Approval of Hightower Road and Cooper Road Right of Way Purchases
$6,000.00	GMASS Rural Land Maintenance Contract
$339.00	Just Compensation – Right of Way Parcel 10 Hightower Road and Cooper Road, TSPLOST Project
$4,366,244.64	Total

We don’t know where are the lift stations or manholes to be financed through a GEFA loan for $1,875,000, but I’d say that’s a good use of funds. Not so sure about the $1,974,139 for relocating utilities for widening Lake Park Bellville Road, because I’m not clear on why that road needs widening. I do wonder why sewer and drinking water improvements have to be funded through loans while road building gets tax funds.

Here is the agenda. The board packet is on the LAKE website, received Friday in response to a LAKE Open Records request.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2021, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2021, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor
Continue reading →

Packet: Clyattstone Road rezoning yet again, Decorative lighting, Transportation, Alcohol, Taxes, Law, Cybersecurity, Pandemic @ LCC 2021-01-25

After discussion Monday morning, on Tuesday evening the Lowndes County Commission will approve spending $2 million tax dollars, mostly in $1.6 million on Lake Park Bellville Road, including relocating water and sewer lines. There’s another $90,000 on Hightower Road and Cooper Road NE, Right of Way Purchases.

Cost	What
$1,655,975.00	Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) Contract Item Agreement/Memorandum of Understanding Lake Park Bellville Road
$280,193.75	FY 2020 Hazard Mitigation Assistance Grant Application
$90,670.31	Approval of Hightower Road and Cooper Road NE, Right of Way Purchases
$29,400.00	Cybersecurity Maturity Tier 1
$12,500.00	Agreement with SGRC to Develop 2021 Lowndes County Comprehensive Plan Update
$20,000.00	FY 2020 Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention Grant (to be fully reimbursed)
$2,068,739.06	Total

REZ-2020-20 Ballyntyne 6712 Clyattstone Road is back yet again, this time probably to be improved. The agenda sheet says no cost for that rezoning, but remember last time we added up more than $3 million the county has already spent on Clyattstone Road and water and sewer infrastructure.

The least expensive item with dollars listed is FY 2020 Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention Grant, because it will be fully reimbursed.

Also inexpensive and probably cost-effective is Agreement with SGRC to Develop 2021 Lowndes County Comprehensive Plan Update.

Subdivisions in northwest Lowndes County, GA

Listed at no cost to the county is Addition to Basic Decorative Street Lighting District – Creekside West, Ph. 6 & 7 and Val Del Villas, which includes maps of subdivisions in northwest Lowndes County, allowing you to see the extent of sprawl so far in that direction.

The board packet is on the LAKE website, received Friday in response to a LAKE open records request.
http://www.l-a-k-e.org/govt/loco/2021-01-25–lcc-packet/

We look forward to board packets being on the county’s own website along with the agenda.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, JANUARY 25, 2021, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, JANUARY 26, 2021, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor
Continue reading →

COVID-19, Ballyntyne Subdivision, County expenses for Hightower Road, Sewer, Moody AFB, Fire Pumper @ LCC 2021-01-11

The agenda sheet for rezoning REZ-2020-20 Ballyntyne (back again from last month) claims no budget impact, but that ignores the many thousands of county tax dollars already spent on Clyattstone Road, as well as followup maintenance of roads, sewer, and water, not to mention School Board expenses for sending buses, as well as Fire Department and Sheriff Department expenses whenever called.

WRPDO Site Map

This is what I’ve found the Lowndes County Commission has already spent on Clyattstone Road, and I may have missed some.

Cost	What	When
$1,681,770.84	Grading, Drainage, Base, and Paving of Clyattstone Road and Simpson Lane.	2020-09-21
$1,417,333.98	Clyattstone Water Main Extension	2020-09-21
$43,245.50	The stated ROW cost in the agenda	2020-02-24
$23,590.50	Approval of Clyattstone Rd.-Simpson Ln. ROW and Easement Purchases (Parcels 26 and 34)	2020-07-14
$20,000.00	For wetland credits acquisition	2020-04-28.
$11,535.00	and the other stated ROW cost in the agenda
$2,916.00	Up to that amount for an acre of drainage for Simpson Lane	2020-04-16.
$1,085.00	Approve Purchasing ROW and Drainage Easement for Clyattstone Rd.-Simpson Ln. TSPLOST Paving Project	2020-05-27
$3,201,476.82	County tax dollars so far spent on Clyattstone Road

So that’s more than $3 million tax dollars the county has already spent subsidizing subdivision developers on Clyattstone Road, before getting into maintenance and later School Board and Fire and Sheriff Department expenses. Remember that when somebody says public transportation has to be subsidized.

Here are the expenses acknowledged in agenda sheets for this coming week’s Commission meetings:

Cost	What
$351,115.00	Bid for a Pumper for the Fire Department
$315,557.58	Approval of Railroad Agreement for Hightower Road Project
$96,556.75	Low Pressure Sewer Force Main Upgrade on Old Bemiss and Bemiss Knights Academy Road
$28,000.75	Approval of Hightower Road and Cooper Road NE, Right of Way Purchases
$2,500.00	Moody Water Treatment Plant Emergency Repair
$793,730.08	Total

The board packet, received in response to a LAKE open records request, is on the LAKE website:
http://www.l-a-k-e.org/govt/loco/2021-01-11–lcc-packet

Here is the agenda.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, JANUARY 11, 2021, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, JANUARY 12, 2021, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor
Continue reading →

Tax Assessors appointed, sworn in, Lowndes County, Georgia 2020-01-05

After many years of rising sentiment, the voters in November 2019, approved changing Lowndes County from being one of only two of 159 Georgia counties that elected its Tax Assessors to appointing them, and the legislature agreed. Finally in September 2020 the Lowndes County Commission appointed three new Assessors, and on January 5, 2021, they were sworn in. Their first official meeting is tomorrow.

Vote, Swearing, Judge, Assessors

Applying for the Board of Tax Assessors according to the agenda for the 21 September, 2020, Work Session and the Tuesday, 22 September Regular Session were Mr. Gene Felts and Mrs. Gretchen Quarterman. The Tuesday voting was a bit more complicated. Continue reading →

Solar power is beating fracked methane like the Internet won over BITNET

Why am I so sure that I will live to see fracked methane pipelines shut down, along with their tar sands and petroleum partners in crime? Because I’ve seen it before, a quarter century ago, when the Internet won over all other networks, including BITNET.

BITNET in the U.S. and Worldwide and the Internet, in Matrix News 4.10 October 1994.

The exponential growth of the Internet sucked users away from all the other networks. Coal is already crashing so fast that cleaning up coal ash is the biggest issue. Nukes are closing left and right. “Natural” gas is still growing, but not as fast as solar and wind, which produced more new electricity than any other source in 2020. Soon, fracked methane will peak, and then it will fall fast, just like coal did. The bigger they are, the harder they fall.

Solar, wind, batteries and other storage will continue to soar until almost all electricity comes from them. A cleaner world, with profit for those who buy in, and lower power charges for everyone: it’s coming fast.

Vote for clean energy and help it arrive faster.

Remember FidoNet? Probably you’ve never heard of it, and this is why. Remember BITNET? Maybe not, but one of its neologisms lingers on: Continue reading →

FFA, Appointments, Liquor, Rezonings, Roads, Forestry, DUI, Holidays, Insurance, Calendar, Trucks @ LCC 2020-12-07

Update 2020-12-15: Board packet is on the LAKE website.

A million and a half dollars, mostly for insurance, on the agenda for the final Lowndes County Commission session of 2020, and that’s not counting the many-years-long ramifications of rezoning for new subdivisions and acquiring right of way for a new road.

Rezonings: REZ-2020-17 3833 Inner Perimeter Road; REZ-2020-19 3435 Bemiss Knights Academy; REZ-2020-20 6712 Clyattstone Road

Cost	What
$1,240,297.00	2021 Stop Loss Insurance Coverage Renewal Through Symetra Life Ins. Company
$174,759.00	2021 ACCG Workers’ Compensation Insurance Renewal
$60,862.00	Bid for 2 – Three Quarter Ton Trucks for the Engineering Department
$27,367.00	Bid for a Sport Utility Vehicle for the 911 Center
$920.50	Georgia Forestry Commission Services [LAS prescribed burns] Agreement
$381.00	Office of the Governor Criminal Justice Coordinating Council Accountability Court Lowndes County DUI Court- State Court
$1,504,586.50	Total

Lowndes County Development Authority Terms are up for Brooks Akins, Gary Cannon, and Jerome Tucker. Cannon and Tucker want reappointment, and the Commission almost always reappoints.

Resolution Rejection Quitclaim Deed; Affidavit Regarding Title- Branch Point. The County has laid out the right-of-way for a county road known as Fender Road between Williams School… Trading a parcel to William Q. Touchton, Jr. for another parcel for the road.

REZ-2020-20 Ballyntyne 6712 Clyattstone Road (0071 008) R-1 to R-10, Water & Sewer, ~40.3 acres . For 105+ house lots. In 2006, for a more complicated plan on the same site, GLPC recommended denial 7:0, County Commission denied 2:0. What did GLPC vote this time? And how about factoring in all the costs of paving Clyattstone Road over many previous Commission meetings? Continue reading →

Videos: Finance, WM absorbed ADS, Meetings by zoom, Valdosta assistant manager @ DSSWA 2020-11-18

The most interesting parts were not on the agenda at the DSSWA meeting Wednesday evening.

Richard Hardy, Elizabeth Backe, Steve Edwards, DSSWA

Steve Edwards explained that the WM acquisition of Advanced Disposal Services (ADS) Continue reading →

Waste Management bought ADS, finances, officers, DSSWA 2020-11-18

The Deep South Solid Waste Authority (DSSWA) disburses grant money from landfill tipping fees to participating local governments.

This meeting will be in the new Southern Georgia Regional Commission (SGRC) office, 1937 Carlton Adams Dr., across from the Lowndes Board of Education and next to the Goo Goo Car Wash.

Agenda and WM acquisition schedule for ADS

I’m of a mind to zoom the meeting.

Here is the agenda. The entire board packet is on the LAKE website, thanks to Elizabeth Backe of SGRC.

DEEP SOUTH
REGIONAL MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT AUTHORITY
Meeting of the Board of Directors
Deep South Regional Municipal Solid Waste Management Authority
November 18, 2020
6:00 PM
Southern Georgia Regional Commission
Valdosta, Georgia
AGENDA

Welcome and Introduction
Minutes of July 15, 2020 Meeting e Draft attached for review and motion
Financial Report Jan-September 2020
Financial Audit Engagement Letter
Royalty Disbursement for Period of Jan 1 — June 30, 2020
Grinding Reimbursement Request — City of Valdosta
New application format for future grinding reimbursement requests
Appointment of Nominating Committee for Election of Officers in January 2021
Other Business e Waste Management letter for review and discussion
Adjourn
Next regular scheduled meeting will be on January 20, 2021 at 6 p.m.

Phone: (229) 333-5277
Fax: (229) 333-5312
1937 Carlton Adams Drive
Valdosta, Georgia 31601

-jsq

Investigative reporting costs money, for open records requests, copying, web hosting, gasoline, and cameras, and with sufficient funds we can pay students to do further research. You can donate to LAKE today!

Public Facilities Authority, Water tank, dump trucks, VOCA, VAWA, road abandonment @ LCC 2020-10-26

This morning the Lowndes County Commission will discuss abandoning a driveway, er road, a couple of grants for legal purposes, relining a drinking water tank for a fancy subdivision, dump trucks for Public Works, and reappointing Michael Walker, Crawford Powell, and Scott Purvis to the Public Facilities Authority, plus a vacant seat. They will vote Tuesday evening at 5:30 PM.

What does PFA do?

Created via Resolution 05-1130, the general purpose of the authority is declared to be that of providing through the acquisition, construction, installation, renovation, expansion, modification or rehabilitation, any buildings, structure, facilities, improvements, furnishings, fixtures, machinery, equipment and services for the citizens in the county. Members are appointed to three year terms and meet as needed. For more information, contact the Office of the County Clerk, 229-671-2400, or email the County Clerk.

Map: Road to be Abandoned

Cost	What
$464,196.00	Bid for Four 10-Wheel Dump Trucks for the Public Works Department
$148,000.00	Stone Creek Elevated Tank Coating
$17,326.00	Solicitor-General’s Office 2021 VAWA Competitive Application
$6,000.00	Solicitor-General’s VOCA Continuation Grant
$635,522.00	Total

How the Abandonment of Artherman Lane can be considered not to affect the budget is mysterious, since Public Works will no longer need to spend to maintain that driveway.

On the Solicitor-General's VOCA Continuation Grant, VOCA is the Victims of Crime Act. The $6,000 cost is health insurance premiums for the two Victim Advocates ($3,000 each).

On the Solicitor-General's Office 2021 VAWA Competitive Application, VAWA is the Violence Against Women Act. The $17,326 is for Cash Match, about $2,000 lower than last time. Lowndes County funnels grant money for five counties, by delegating the District Attorney (DA) to receive and distribute the funds.

Here is the agenda. The board packet is on the LAKE website due to a LAKE open records request. Continue reading →

On the LAKE front

Citizen dialog for transparent process by the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange