Category Archives: Health Care

Videos: Abandon Beaver Lane, Aging Development Appointments, Kinderlou Lift Station Pump @ LCC 2016-05-23

Will they take longer to vote this evening at 5:30 PM than the 8 1/2 minutes for yesterday morning’s Work Session with a full agenda?

No questions yesterday from Commissioners about that $55,979.00 in two no-bid items, although the County Manager did say “quotes” about the . lift station pump. The County Manager’s Report did say he’d received an annexation request from Hahira for the W. Main St. property and he indicated no grounds for the county to protest.

The only question from a Commissioner was about which one of them might be picked to serve with “Ms. Andrea Schuijer” on the South Regional Joint Development Authority. Answer: maybe Clay Griner. Nobody asked why the county’s web page on that Joint Authority says Andrea Schruijer is already on it. Is this a reappointment? And which slots are vacant? Also, what does this Joint Authority do?

For the Southern Georgia Area Agency on Aging, yes it’s Commissioner Joyce Evans for reappointment.

County Engineer Mike Fletcher said the Beaver Lane closing previously came up in 2002 and was denied, but now some of the opponents from then are for it. Tonight is not the public hearing: merely a determination on scheduling a public hearing. Continue reading

Abandon Beaver Lane, Aging Development Appointments, Kinderlou Lift Station Pump @ LCC 2016-05-23

This morning’s 8:30 AM $45,600.00 for new grounds for four radio towers: was it in the budget, or is this another emergency no-bid item? Ditto the $10,379.00 for the Kinderlou Lift Station Pump? Each item names only one company quoting.

After abandoning Beaver Lane, will the county vote to fix it as a private road, 4689 Mt. Zion Road, parcel 0061 01 like they did with Carter Way? And from whom did the county receive the abandonment request? Will the County Manager’s Report include the Hahira W. Main St. annexation?

Also on the Lowndes County Commission agenda for discussion Monday morning and vote Tuesday evening, appointing “Ms. Andrea Schuijer and a Commissioner” to the Continue reading

Videos: Attorneys v Carter Way tar baby, Appointment, big subdivision, Hwy 84 lift station @ LCC 2016-05-10

Multiple attorneys (ka-ching!) were needed to negotiate access for the county to fix private Carter Way, which the Lowndes County Commission approved unanimously at its 10 May 2016 Regular Session. This is the same Commission that signed an easement with Sabal Trail because they didn’t want to spend attorney fees to defend a lawsuit. The same Sabal Trail that wants to put its three-foot pipe only three feet deep just downhill from where Carter Way washed out.

County Planner Jason Davenport showed an updated site plan for 6.a. REZ-2016-10 Freedom Heights, 4301 Bemiss Rd, C-H to P-D, but as usual it’s not posted on the county’s website, and you had no way of seeing it before the meeting unless you filed an open records request three days before.

Commissioner Clay Griner remembered flooding, fence, and forgot the third thing a constituent asked him for about 6.b. REZ-2016-11 Creekside West Subdivision, 7551 GA Hwy 122 W. Developer Young Tillman said the changes were because Continue reading

Videos: Carter Way tar baby, Appointment, big subdivision, Hwy 84 lift station @ LCC 2016-05-09

The County Manager asked for Carter Way to be on the agenda for tonight’s 5:30 PM Regular Session. At yesterday morning’s Work Session the County Attorney reminded us that in a previous episode (March 25th Work Session) we learned that the Loretta B. Moore irrevocable living trust owns half of the access to the damaged part of the road. Since then he’s learned that the trustee is the Loretta Anne Ruth, who lives in Panama City, Florida. He has contacted her, and has a copy of the trust formation document. He says Ms. Ruth has signed an agreement with the county, and he expected Charles Cowart of Cowart and Sons to sign an agreement that same morning.

Below are LAKE videos of yesterday morning’s Work Session, followed by a video playlist. See also the agenda and the LAKE videos of the Greater Lowndes Planning Commission meeting at which the two rezoning cases were discussed. The County Commission votes tonight at 5:30PM. Continue reading

Appointment, big subdivision w of Hahira, Hwy 84 lift station pump @ LCC 2016-05-09

This morning, coyly considering appointing “an elected official” (I’d bet Joyce Evans) to the South Georgia Community Service Board and reappointing Mr. Shamb Purohit, at the Lowndes County Commission, 9 May 2016. A 7-acre subdivision REZ-2016-10 Freedom Heights, 4301 Bemiss Rd and a 173-acre subdivision west of Hahira on Franks creek, and a pump fo the Hwy. 84 Lift Station, all also on the agenda to be voted on tomorrow evening. Continue reading

Videos: Animals, CAC on Skipper Bridge, 3 board appointments, alcohol @ LCC 2016-03-08

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

Videos: CAC on Skipper Bridge, 3 board appointments, lots of alcohol @ LCC 2016-03-07

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

CAC on Skipper Bridge, 3 board appointments, lots of alcohol @ LCC 2016-03-07

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

APP-2016-01, Crunk Engineering for Greenleaf Hospital, Valdosta, GA @ ZBOA 2016-03-01

One case at ZBOA today at 2:30 PM, a variance on parking spaces for Greenleaf Hospital so it can add a new wing. Tax Parcels Aerial A ZBOA member (Gretchen) provided the packet materials, which are all on the LAKE website.

Here’s the agenda, followed by the summary by city staff.

Valdosta-Lowndes County Zoning Board of Appeals

Carmella Braswell,
Lowndes County Zoning Administrator
327 North Ashley Street, Valdosta, Georgia
(229) 671-2430

Matt Martin,
Valdosta Planning and Zoning Administrator
300 North Lee Street, Valdosta, Georgia
(229) 259-3563

AGENDA
March 1, 2016
2:30 p.m.

  1. Call to Order

    CITY OF VALDOSTA CASE:

  2. APP-2016-01 Crunk Engineering (2209 Pineview Drive)
    Variance to LDR Section 222-2(A)
    as it pertains to the minimum required number of parking spaces for a hospital use
  3. OTHER BUSINESS:
  4. Approval of Minutes: January 5, 2016 & February 2, 2016
  5. Adjournment

Here’s the staff summary:

ZBOA Agenda Item #2
MARCH 1, 2016

Variance Request by Crunk Engineering
File #: APP-2016411

Crunk Engineering, on behalf of Greenleaf Hospital, is requesting a variance to LDFl Section 222-2 as it pertains to the number of spaces for a hospital. The subject property is zoned Residential Professional (RP) and consists of 6.35 acres located at 2209 Pineview Drive. The subject property contains a 36,968 psychiatric/substance abuse hospital.

Continue reading

Natural gas leak so bad VDT notices it

Sempra Energy’s California leak stinks so bad the VDT smelled it from 3,000 miles away. But GA Gov. Nathan Deal still can’t smell Sabal Trail over campaign contributions from Sempra and from Spectra Energy.

Brian Melley, AP, 25 November 2015, Utility plans to mask awful odor from uncontrolled gas leak,

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A utility trying to stop a monthlong leak at a massive natural gas storage facility near a Los Angeles neighborhood said it planned to use a mist to mask the sickening stench as work continues — possibly for three more months — to plug the well.

Even the 9-inch pipeline to Berrien County Continue reading