Category Archives: Lowndes County Commission

Hear Sabal Trail Transmission answer questions from the Lowndes County Commission

PDF

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Valdosta, December 5, 2013
—Representatives from Spectra Energy or its LLC Sabal Trail
Transmission will speak at the Monday morning Lowndes County
Commission Work Session and answer questions from
Commissioners.



When: 
8:30 AM
Monday, December 9th, 2013

Where:
Commission Chambers
327 North Ashley Street, 2nd Floor
Valdosta, GA 31601
229-671-2442

Questions:
commissioner@lowndescounty.com

Why: Spectra Energy
proposes a hundred-foot-wide gash through our lands for
their huge 36 inch Sabal Trail gas pipeline from
Alabama through Georgia to feed Florida Power and Light
(FPL) for no benefit to local citizens. A one-time payment
is nowhere near adequate for permanent destruction and
hazards when FPL and Spectra would continue to profit
forever.

Property values: A
pipeline through your property isn’t Continue reading →

Lowndes County can’t make a monopoly –Judge Harry J. Altman on DSS in VDT

Maybe filing the lawsuit in the first place was “premature”,
to use Chairman Bill Slaughter’s word in the VDT yesterday
about a possible appeal.
Commissioner Demarcus Marshall
had the common courtesy on WCTV to

apologize to DSS for the

unnecessary lawsuit.
How much did the Commission spend on that waste of time and effort?

Editor Kay Harris wrote on the front page of the Valdosta Daily Times yesterday,

Company wins fight to stay in business:
Deep South wins case brought by County,



Southern Circuit Judge Harry J. Altman issued a ruling Monday in the
civil action filed by Lowndes County against Deep South Sanitation,
LLC to enjoin Deep South from continuing its garbage business.
Advanced Disposal Services was later added as an intervenor
plaintiff in the case against Deep South as well.

In the ruling, Altman denied the County’s request for an injunction
to put Deep South out of business. The order addresses the County’s
ordinance passed in 2012, saying that to “simultaneously
invoke an exclusive franchise agreement with one company would, in
effect … permit Lowndes County to construct a monopoly while
simultaneously putting pre-existing companies out of
business.”

Well, it appears the judge thought it was

about right or wrong.

The county Chairman’s view now? Continue reading →

DSS on WCTV

The WCTV reporter interviewed Lowndes County Commissioner
Demarcus Marshall at yesterday’s

Chamber of Commerce Legislative Lunch
because Chairman Bill Slaughter was not there.

Winnie Anne Wright wrote yesterday for WCTV,

Deep South Sanitation Will Continue Work In Lowndes County,
quoted Cary Scarborough about winning
the lawsuit the Lowndes County Commission brought against his
company,
and then:



He has invested quite a bit of money in his only truck that you can
see here. Despite all of the litigation, he is proud to be born and
raised in Lowndes County.

One of the Commision’s newest representatives, Demarcus Marshall,
says he hopes the County and private businesses will be able to
negotiate out of court, if an issue like this comes about again.

“I commend him for his efforts. Commend his family. And I just
really apologize to them that they had to undergo this. And I hope
that in the future, don’t be afraid to do any business here in
Lowndes County”, says Marshall.

Residents of Lowndes County will now be able to choose between Deep
South Sanitation and Advanced Disposal, as well as any other
sanitation service for their trash collection.

-jsq

Tybee Island will not scan tourist license plates

Maybe Lowndes County could also welcome tourists instead of using
them as a ticketing revenue stream
that’s costing us $200,000 to process.
And maybe both Lowndes County and Valdosta could put their

agenda packets online like tiny
(population 3,067) Tybee Island does.

Jim Galloway wrote for the AJC today,

Your daily jolt: Tybee Island nixes license plate surveillance,



Tybee Island has decided that the National Security Agency isn’t a model worth following. On Monday, The coastal city’s council retracted its approval of a pair of license plate scanners intended to greet tourists. From

the Savannah Morning News:

Citing mostly negative feedback from the public and concerns over how the information from the scanners would translate to a tourism study being conducted by a local professor, the council instead voted to purchase a higher quality model of the current hose-like vehicle counter the city has stretched over U.S. 80.

Meanwhile,
the Lowndes County Sheriff’s office last year was Continue reading →

Agenda! yes Nottinghill and new chair and vice-chair, 1 Hahira, 4 Valdosta @ GLPC 2013-11-25


Agenda page 2 @ GLPC 2013-11-25
How would you as a citizen have known
Nottinghill
is on the real agenda
they’re using right now in the Planning Commission meeting?
What if you wanted to speak for or against in that public hearing?

The one in the last post wasn’t the real agenda,
and even some people who work for local governments didn’t know that.

Here is the real agenda, photographed by Gretchen just now,
followed by text version.
It also contains an additional item about
election of a new Chair and Vice Chair.


Agenda page 1 @ GLPC 2013-11-25

Update: I had the date of this meeting wrong in the transcription; fixed now to November 25, 2013. If the county published the agendas and minutes of the Planning Commission, nobody would have to be transcribing by hand….

Greater Lowndes Planning Commission

Lowndes County City of Valdosta City of Dasher City of Hahira City of Lake Park

REGULAR MONTHLY MEETING


AGENDA


Lowndes County South Health District Administrative Office

325 West Savannah Avenue

Monday, November 25, 2013* 5:30 P.M. * Public Hearing



CALL TO ORDER, INVOCATION, PLEDGE


  1. Approval of the Minutes: October 28, 2013



CITY OF HAHIRA CASE:


FINAL ACTION by the City of Hahira Mayor-Council

Thursday, December 5, 2013

Hahira City Hall, 102 S. Church Street, Hahira, Georgia

7:30 p.m.


  1. HA-2013-05 Wendy Black


    Property Location: 7495 Union Road

    Request for Variance from Section 10-6 of the Hahira Zoning Ordinance pertaining to size requirements for signs



CITY OF VALDOSTA CASES:


FINAL ACTION by the City of Valdosta Mayor-Council

Thursday, December 5, 2013

Valdosta City Hall, 216 E. Central Avenue, Valdosta, Georgia

Council Chambers, 2nd Floor

5:30 p.m.


  1. CU-2013-04 Cynthia McDougle


    Property Location: 808 Bethune Street

    Request for a Conditional Use Permit to establish a personal care home for 4-6 residents in a Single-Family Residential (R10) zoning district


  2. CU-2013-05 Jessie Marshall, III


    Property Location: 625 East Gordon Street

    Request for a Conditional Use Permit to establish a church in a Single-Family Residential (R-6) zoning district


  3. CU-2013-06 Theresa Patterson


    Property Location: 108 East Adair Street

    Request for a Conditional Use Permit to establish a personal care home for 4-6 residents in a Residential Professional (R-P) zoning district


  4. VA-2013-16 Mac Mackey


    Property Location: 103 B Avenue

    Request to rezone 2.2 acres from Manufacturing/Distribution (M-2) to Wholesale Light Industrial (M-1)


Agenda page 2 @ GLPC 2013-11-25




LOWNDES COUNTY CASES:


FINAL ACTION by the Lowndes County Board of Commissioners

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Lowndes County Judicial and Administrative Complex

Commission Chambers, 2nd Floor

327 North Ashley Strcet, Valdosta, Georgia

5:30 p.m.



  1. REZ-2013-11 Nottinghill


    Location: Orr Road, Valdosta, Georgia

    Request to rezone 14.99 acres from R-A (Residential Agricultural) to R-21
    (Medium Density Residential)

    *Note: This case was tabled from the GLPC’s
    September 29th
    and
    October 28th,
    2013, regular mtg.



    REZ-2013-11 Nottinghill was tabled by GLPC
    30 September 2013
    and again

    28 October 2013    .


    REZ-2013-11 was also tabled by the Lowndes County Commission

    8 October 2013
    and

    12 November 2013    , specifically
    until the County Commission’s 10 December 2013 meeting.

OTHER BUSINESS




  1. Attendance policy for appointed Boards

  2. Election of 2014 GLPC Chair and Vice Chair


  3. GLPC 2014 Meeting Schedule


ADJOURNMENT

-jsq

No public agenda for Planning Commission today @ GLPC 2013-11-25



Why so secretive, planning board that recommends on
issues that affect citizens all over Lowndes County?
Where is your agenda for your meeting at 5:30 PM today?
Sure, Gretchen only asked for it today, but why
does LAKE have to wheedle it out of somebody?
Why don’t you or the county publish it so the
public can see?
Do you, the affected public, agree with
Lowndes County Chairman Bill Slaughter that

transparency is not a problem?

We can guess the proposed Nottinghill subdivision will be back,
since it got tabled (again) at GLPC’s

October meeting.


Also probably the

attendance policy, since last time the GLPC Chairman wasn’t there
and only 6 of 11 Commissioners showed up.
But what else?
And why should have to guess what public business a public board
is taking up tonight?
Why do we have this Planning Commission if it doesn’t take its
responsibilities to the citizens of this county seriously enough
to show up or to tell us what it’s doing?

Lowndes County doesn’t even have today’s meeting

on its public calendar.
The City of Valdosta

does;
here’s

Valdosta’s GLPC listing for today: Continue reading →

SpectraBusters Informational Meeting 2013-11-16



Standing room only while

Ellis Black (GA Dist. 174),
Bill Slaughter (Lowndes County Chairman),
and
Tim Carroll (Valdosta City Council) spoke after
Gretchen Quarterman
gave an introduction
at the

first SpectraBusters Informational Meeting last Saturday.
A second meeting is scheduled for

this Saturday morning at 10AM at the Valdosta City Hall Annex.



Video.

Gretchen asked if there were any representatives from the pipeline
company present.
Nobody spoke up.
Several affected landowners did speak:
Beth Gordon from Levy County, Florida
and Larry Rodgers and Carol Singletary from Lowndes County, Georgia.




Video.

Elected officials spoke.

Bill Slaughter (Lowndes County Chairman) said Continue reading →

Why south Georgia actions start in Lowndes County and Valdosta

The biggest population center for 80 miles around is Valdosta and Lowndes County.


Map of population around Valdosta and Lowndes County
Albany to the northwest actually has more people than Valdosta, but Dougherty County
has fewer than Lowndes County.
Beyond Albany it’s Columbus and then Auburn is about the same size as Valdosta.

Farther north it’s Warner Robins and Macon.
Due west Dothan it’s Dothan.
The closest bigger place is Tallahassee and Leon County, Florida
to the southwest.
Farther south it’s Gainesville, then Orlando and Tampa.
East it’s Savannah, and of course Jacksonville.


History of population around Valdosta and Lowndes County

On this handy

interactive google population comparison chart,
you can see
in the 3-6,000 range:
Adel, Ashburn, and Lakeland.

14-20,000:
Americus,
Brunswick,
Moultrie,
Thomasville,
Tifton,
and
Waycross.

55-60,000: Auburn and Valdosta.

67-80,000: Continue reading →

Maybe county should check its work about other budgets @ LCC 2013-11-14



Who’s responsible for the recent partiality in budget reports?
The newspaper, or its source of information, namely the county government
at its secretive retreat on the Chairman’s private property that even the VDT reporter had trouble finding?

When

the Coroner
and

the Sheriff
(often

at odds lately)
agree that

the VDT’s version
of

the county government’s remarks about their budgets
was at best partial,
where is the source of that partiality?
Who’s responsible for budgeting for the county, reporter Matthew
or editor Kay Harris or Dean Poling?
Or is it the local government our taxes pay to do that job,
namely the Lowndes County Commission and its staff,
which is managed by County Manager Joe Pritchard?



Maybe somebody down at the county palace should,

as Gretchen suggested recently,
“check our work”.

-jsq

More sinkholes in Florida.



Just a few cracks a couple of years ago turned into a 90 foot wide
and 60 foot deep sinkhole Thursday.
At least six houses affected in north Florida,
above the same Floridan Aquifer that produces sinkholes here in south Georgia.
Here in Lowndes County Michael McCormick has more than a few cracks:
he has a sinkhole in his garage.
Will Lowndes County do something before we wake up to news of
man’s house fell into a sinkhole overnight?

ABC News Blogs 14 November 2013,

Florida Sinkhole Swallows Home

Six other homes have been evacuated as a precaution and Duke Energy has shut down power to the area.



A growing sinkhole in Florida has swallowed Continue reading →