Lowndes County Commissioners and staff are meeting for two days to discuss strategy, as they do every year.
They didn’t post an agenda on lowndescounty.com, but Gretchen photographed the one they had at Chairman Bill Slaughter’s pond house, so here it is:
Lowndes County
Georgia
lowndescounty.com
Annual Planning Meeting
6926 Simpson Road ~ Hahira
February 7-8
8:30 a.m.
Agenda
Audit Continue reading
The same Val Del Road subdivision on today’s agenda for the third time was tabled at the applicant’s request the second time it came up, a month ago.
The longest item was 6 h/i/j Tyler Technology Repository/Processing/E-filing, in which Georgia is catching up to Florida.
Below are links to each LAKE video of the 13 November 2018 Regular Session, with a few comments. See also the agenda, the LAKE videos of the 12 November 2018 Work Session, and the LAKE blog of the county’s own videos of its 9 October 2018 Regular Session.
Video. Planning Technician Molly Stevenson said the applicant asked to table until Continue reading
The same Val Del Road subdivision on today’s agenda for the third time was tabled the second time it came up, a month ago. Here it is in the LAKE videos in the Work Session of November 12, 2018, when the applicant hadn’t even responded to the Commissioners’ previous request to consider 1.5 acre lots.
By far the longest thing that day, at half an hour, was 7. Reports – Special Presentation ABM Industries Inc..
Below are links to each LAKE video of the 12 November 2018 Work Session, with a few comments. See also Continue reading
Back on the agenda for Monday morning is the subdivision that does not match any of the criteria the Lowndes County Commission is supposed to consider, so will they approve REZ-2018-17 The Settlement North, 5999 Val Del Road?
The Planning Commission recommended denying that one, but has since recommended approving this one: REZ-2018-18 Knights Landing, Phase III, 3982 Bemiss Knights Academy Road.
County staff want ABM to help reduce energy costs. How about add some solar panels to the roof of the county palace and over its parking lot, while you’re at it?
As ABM says:
With the cost of solar installations rapidly declining, and the number of government and utility incentives increasing, solar has undergone a radical evolution from a feel good environmental story to a source for businesses to gain a financial advantage over their competitors.
See ABM Energy Vice President Ted O’Shea, Leveraging Solar to Gain a Competitive Financial Advantage: Why go Solar at Your Facility: White Paper.
The rest of the agenda is Continue reading
On the agenda for this morning, a public hearing for a beer, wine, and liquor license for Roy E. Taylor Sr., with merely “For Consideration” for for beer and wine licenses for Daniel K. Smith. and Kalpeshkumar B. Patel.
Also continuation of the Solicitor-General's VOCA Continuation Grant and Bid on Two Motor Graders with Rome Sloper for Public Works.
LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
Continue reading
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2018, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2018, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor
The county held a ceremony for departing Lowndes County Planner Jason Davenport. I asked the person sitting in his former seat, Engineering/Planning Technician Molly Stevenson, if she was confirmed yet. She would only say it was confirmed that she was sitting there right then.
They also had a 911 CALEA Re-Accreditation Presentation and the Chairman recognized Leadership Lowndes.
Citizens Bob Harlan and Fred E. Blanton Jr complained about road conditions. I thanked Utilities Director Steve Stalvey for sending information about recent Lowndes County sewage spills (two in July), and I thanked him advance for sending the NPDES-permit-required followup testing (not yet received).
On the REZ-2018-16 Stovall rezoning, the applicant revealed the reason for the previous restriction when Continue reading
News about the Naylor Boat Ramp in an Engineering Projects Report! Chad McLeod also reported about the 911 center, the North Lowndes Soccer Complex, the fire warehouse classroom, the animal shelter, and the courthouse renovation project, all still to be completed from SPLOST VII funds, which run out next year. Even with that three-and-a-half-minute special engineering report, the whole meeting took ten minutes Monday morning.
Also not on the agenda, HR has a new employee. Also there will be a new traffic signal.
Should the County Manager and the Finance Director be able to approve Continue reading
The most exciting thing last month was the new fire truck, on display outside, seen here driving off with its lights flashing:
See
LAKE video.
This was the most recent Regular Session, because the Lowndes County Commission meetings for the end of August were cancelled.
County Manager Joe Pritchard again said he wanted higher staff approval limits for items in the budget. There was some question about campaign contributions on the Hahira rezoning and annexation; they didn’t know, but they approved it anyway. The longest discussion was on the Intrado phone system, which will have Lowndes County be the first south of Atlanta with text to 911. A suprising number of and variety of Commissioner questions on the 911 radios. The only question on the three utilities items was whether they were in the budget; they are. As usual, they rubberstamped the three Valdosta State Prison work details, with the only question being whether they were getting enough for the money. A: Yes, because prisoners work cheap.
Below are Continue reading
Should the County Manager and the Finance Director be able to approve 2.5 times as much in dollar value on budgeted items as they currently can?
Also a rezoning to reconfigure for two parcels and another to permit personal care homes, plus a 911 CALEA Re-Accreditation Presentation are on the agenda for 8:30 AM this morning at the Work Session and tomorrow evening’s voting Regular Session.
The rezoning REZ-2018-16 Stovall, 6002 N. Oak St. Ext. to permit personal care homes is “as a result of a potential buyer’s interest in developing the property into an assisted living facility”. This same Tuesday, the same property is on ZBOA’s agenda for a variance on the buffer condition.
The 2015-03-10 agenda for the earlier rezoning from R-21 to C-G, Well & Other did not say anything specifically about private care facilities, nor did the Continue reading
As Lowndes County Finance Director Stephanie Black always reminds everybody, of the total 8.814 county millage, 1 mil goes to the Development Authority, and 1.25 mils to Valdosta-Lowndes Parks and Recreational Authority. Here is a table from the PDF of her presentation slides.
Property Tax Example City of Valdosta Resident Unincorporated Resident Property Value $200,000 $200,000 Assessed Value (40%) $80,000 $80,000 Homestead Exemption $(6,000) $(6,000) Net Taxable Base $74,000 $74,000 Tax Calculation: Lowndes County — 8.814 PY 8.974 $652 $652 Development Authority — 1.00 $74 $74 Parks & Recreation Authority — 1.25 $93 $93 Lowndes County Schools — 16.541 PY 16.839 $1,224 City of Valdosta — 8.001 PY 8.001 $592 Valdosta City Schools — 16.980 PY 16.980 $1,257 Total Estimated Taxes $2,668 $2,043
Since she made that table, Valdosta actually lowered its millage to 7.916, which in the above example would mean $50.32 less per year, for an example of how little difference these minor millage rollbacks or increases actually mean to taxpayers. The Valdosta Board of Education wants to increase its tax rate (but not its millage).
Last year the Lowndes County Commission voted on the millage during a Regular Session, Tuesday, August 22, 2017.
This year Continue reading