Category Archives: Government

MAZ again, Lake Alapaha, Emergency Management and Liability, but no Sabal Trail @ LCC 2015-07-27

While Dougherty County, Albany, and their state and federal reps plan a joint opposition meeting to the Sabal Trail fracked methane pipeline invader, there’s nothing about that pipeline on Monday’s 8:30 AM agenda of the Lowndes County Commission. Three items on emergency response, emergency planning, and 911 operations, plus one on liability, but nothing about the invading pipeline soft target.

The highly controversial Moody Activity Zoning Districts (MAZ) are back, despite massive opposition. The Planning Commission will hear MAZ again Monday evening, and because there’s only one day from then until the County Commission can vote on MAZ Tuesday, the County Planner says: Continue reading →

Videos: Development Authority’s BRAT @ VLCIA 2015-06-16

They meet again tonight with a bylaw amendment scheduled, which is probably for extending officer terms to two years as Roy Copeland proposed. (He first suggested that at least several years ago when he was re-elected Chairman.) And their nominating committee nominated the same officers again.

Lots of dials showing targets and where they are in reaching them, which is good, because I keep getting questions about what they’re doing with all that tax money and are they doing enough to justify it.

One citizen asked about the airport and another (OK, me) handed out Alapaha River Water Trail brochures and once again suggested solar panels at the airport to turn that otherwise-unusable space into profit.

Here’s the agenda and below are LAKE videos, followed by a playlist. Continue reading →

Transportation and electrical presentations plus officer elections @ VLCIA 2015-07-21

VLMPO’s Corey Hull presents today at 5:30 PM to the Valdosta Development Authority. Their agenda doesn’t say about what, but one can guess about the proposed studies for public transit and for trucking around Valdosta. Don’t forget to go to the VLMPO Open House on 2040 Transportation Vision tomorrow.

Electrical Test Labs of Georgia, located in Lake Park, will talk about themselves.

And the Authority will elect officers, which I predict will be the same ones they’ve got now since that’s what their nominating committee recommended last month, plus the bylaw amendment I predict will be Roy Copeland’s recommendation to extend officer terms to two years.

Valdosta-Lowndes Development Authority
Tuesday, July 21, 2015 5:30 p.m. Continue reading →

Airport Authority Budget Request discussed and approved @ LCC 2015-07-14

Not on the agenda, discussed for fifteen minutes, then suddenly approved: more funding for the Airport Authority, at the 14 July 2015 Regular Session of the Lowndes County Commission. Which was similar to the previous morning’s transportation study discussion, except the Commission didn’t vote that time on any possibility of funding that one.

TSA has reduced the amount of money it gives to small airports like Valdosta and in order to have Continue reading →

Videos: Airport, appointments, well and septic, road naming, and evidence @ LCC 2015-07-14

Tuesday’s surprise report was on airport funding, followed by an unscheduled vote for funding.

They also reappointed Dr. Martha Giddens to the Lowndes County Division of Family and Children Services Board, approved two well and septic rezonings, passed Lowndes County Road Naming Resolution and Procedure that they haven’t published even though it’s because a Commissioner said citizens requested it, and the latest in the long-running Juvenile Justice Court diversionary program grant contract.

See also Continue reading →

Transportation explained to Lowndes County Commission @ LCC 2015-07-13

The county asked SGRC a bunch of questions about the $15,957 public transit and trucking studies at yesterday morning’s Work Session that they didn’t ask about the $16,915 they spent two weeks ago to upgrade a water main to subsize a developer. Commissioners seemed to think VLMPO hadn’t involved them in planning the study proposals, when in fact their own Chairman and County Manager and Engineer had been involved all along, plus five county-appointed citizens.

300x225 Corey Hull, in Public Transportation and Trucking Studies Explained, by Gretchen Quarterman, 13 July 2015 County Manager Joe Pritchard said Commissioner Joyce Evans and Chairman Bill Slaughter had asked him to get the Southern Georgia Regional Commission (SGRC) to explain its proposed transportation studies. He also introduced Lisa Crib, whom he said was the new SGRC Executive Director.

Corey Hull spoke for SGRC, saying he first wanted to know their questions. Chairman Bill Slaughter asked: Continue reading →

Videos: Transportation, appointments, well and septic, road naming, and evidence @ LCC 2015-07-13

A surprise report on public transportation trucking by VLMPO Corey Hull yesterday morning at 8:30 AM. They vote today at 5:30 PM on this agenda for reappointing Dr. Martha Giddens to the Lowndes County Division of Family and Children Services Board, two well and septic rezonings, Lowndes County Road Naming Resolution and Procedure that they haven’t published even though it’s because a Commissioner said citizens requested it, and the latest in the long-running Juvenile Justice Court diversionary program grant contract. Continue reading →

Videos: Moody MAZ, Agriculture, Church @ GLPC 2015-06-29

At a very well attended June 29th meeting, the notorious TXT-2015-01 Moody Activity Zoning Districts (MAZ) ULDC text amendments got tabled again by the Planning Commission, but the Lowndes County Commission could take them up anyway at their meeting a month later. The Valdosta-Lowndes Chamber of Commerce did oppose these changes in person (both their President and Chairman) after voting a resolution of opposition. Meanwhile, LAKE has laid out the board packet item from last time so you can get an idea of what’s going on and why, including links to the LAKE videos of the previous GLPC and Lowndes County Commission meetings where these MAZ changes were discussed.

REZ-2015-12 Martha Russ wants to Continue reading →

Appointments, well and septic rezonings, road naming, and evidence @ LCC 2015-07-13

This morning at 8:30 AM, with voting Tuesday at 5:30 PM, on this agenda, for reappointing Dr. Martha Giddens to the Lowndes County Division of Family and Children Services Board, two well and septic rezonings, Lowndes County Road Naming Resolution and Procedure that they haven’t published even though it’s because a Commissioner said citizens requested it, and the latest in the long-running Juvenile Justice Court diversionary program grant contract.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, JULY 13, 2015 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, JULY 14, 2015 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor

Continue reading →

County and landowners still paying for failed 2007 James Road mega-mall boondoggle @ LCC 2015-06-22

Back again: the James Road subsidy for a failed mega-mall that we just keep on paying, eight years later!

Five companies showed up at the May 27th pre-bid meeting, but only one bid for $71,192 was received from Rountree Construction for the Commercial Driveway for Raceway on James Road, said County Engineer Mike Fletcher at the 22 June 2015 Lowndes County Work Session. The Commission at their 23 June 2015 Regular Session approved that yet another fix-up payment caused by the county’s 2009 widening of James Road “from a two-lane local road with ditches to a five-lane road with curb and gutter” for the never-happened Market Street mall and subdivision project. And local elected officials say bus systems need subsidies? Every road and bridge is a subsidy for private developers. And James Road is a subsidy we just keep on paying year after year.

The county spent SPLOST VI funds and $587,000 in GDOT funds on this subsidy for private developers, some of them from Tampa, while requiring local James Road property owners to Continue reading →