Category Archives: Lowndes County Commission

Gaines Lane into county road system? Little chance for ordinary citizens @ LCC 2013-09-10



Citizen Anita L. Armstrong wants help with Gaines Lane,
but it’s a private road, and it would have to be paved to state
highway standards to get accepted into the county’s road system.
She spoke at

the Lowndes County Commission Regular Session 10 September 2013.

I come before you again asking to see if we can get some help with our road.
It is so bad and we don’t have the money.
If we could get just a little help, maybe we could get it kind of
straightened out so we could get in and out.
The last bad weather that we had, we had to be pulled out of the road
for at least five times.
And each time that we pulled out, we have to pay someone to do it….
And we are asking your help.

Her problem is that Gaines Lane is a private road, not county maintained.
To get it into the county road system, right of way would have to be
donated to the county, because some years ago the county made a policy
(try to find it in writing) that it would no longer pay for rights of way.
Some of the landowners on Gaines Road have not agreed to donate.
And even if they do, the county also has a policy (try to find that one
in writing, while you’re at it) that it only accepts roads that are
up to county standards, which means already paved to state highway standards.
So basically unless you’re a developer, you’re not going to get a road
into the county road system.

Ms. Armstrong spoke in the previous session, 13 August 2013, about

garbage trucks damaging her road.

A Bess Armstrong
11 May 2010

according to the minutes:

Bess Armstrong, Gaines Lane, thanked the Commission for their help in
assisting with road improvements made on Gaines Lane. Mr. Armstrong
added that he needed some guidance on how to maintain the road in the
future. Chairman Paulk stated that the credit should be given to Reames
Construction, since the county was unable to work on the private road.

There was extensive discussion in the 23 February 2010 meeting,

according to the minutes: Continue reading →

Visible Option 3 for sewer for middle school @ LCC 2013-09-10



In a surprise move, Commissioner Crawford Powell insisted
on showing the audience what the Commission was voting on
regarding extending sewer service for the Lowndes County Board of Education,
at

the Lowndes County Commission Regular Session 10 September 2013.

8.b. Sewer Service Requested for Lowndes County Board of Education

Utilities Manager Mike Allen said LCBOE wants sewer service for
Lake Park Elementary to help out their failing septic tank;
he recommended Option 3.

Commissioner Crawford Powell asked for Option 3 to be displayed
or read.
IT Director
Aaron Kostyu noted that if there was a copy it could be projected.
Allen moseyed over to the table by the podium with a copy, pictured here,
with transcript below.


Option 3) Direct county attorney to draft two documents: Continue reading →

Decently and in order? Prayers do not match Commission behavior @ LCC 2013-09-10



The invocation didn’t match what the Commission did
at

the Lowndes County Commission Regular Session 10 September 2013,
or at many another session, for that matter.

The invocation included this:

…we can gather here and not have to face the fear arrest or threat.
That we can express our opinions openly.


I guess Minister Commissioner John Page hasn’t heard of

Ashley Paulk’s Greatest Hits
which include

a not-so-veiled threat of arrest right there in that
same chamber Continue reading →

Videos: SPLOST VII Resolution and mystery proclamation and appointment @ LCC 2013-09-09


Charlie Clark
The big surprise in the eleven-minute meeting
was they called up former
County Engineer Charlie Clark to explain the Utility Director’s
comment about making a profit on wastewater to Lake Park Elementary School.
Yes,

the SPLOST VII Resolution is to put it on the ballot in November,
“to reimpose the tax”.
So much for those

town halls that never happened.
Yep, it’s Mac McCall for

reappointment to ZBOA.

No Proclamation this morning, so
it could still be for

South Georgia Pride
like

Valdosta Mayor John Gayle refused to proclaim last year.
And they vote tomorrow night at 5:30 PM.

Here’s

the agenda, with links to the videos and a few notes.



LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS

PROPOSED AGENDA

WORK SESSION, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2013, 8:30 a.m.

REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2013, 5:30 p.m.

327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor

Continue reading →

September LAKE meeting Tuesday 10 September 2013



Same agenda as usual, local governance: Water (sinkholes, aquifer recharge,
runoff,
drinking water, and wastewater), trash (how about that Exclusive Franchise!),
and money (no-bid contracts and plus SPLOST VII).
If you want to help, we have a little list of tasks you can do.

What: Monthly LAKE Meeting
When: about 6:30PM Tuesday

(after the County Commission meeting)

10 September 2013
Where:


Michael’s Deli

1307 N Ashley St.

Valdosta, GA 31601

If you're on Facebook,
please Like the

LAKE facebook page.
You can sign up for

the meeting event there,
Or just come as you are.

-jsq

SPLOST VII Resolution and mystery proclamation and appointment @ LCC 2013-09-09

Presumably the SPLOST VII Resolution is to put it on the ballot in November.
So much for those

town halls that never happened.
I’m guessing the ZBOA appointment is for the finally-expired term
of Dave Kirk;
they appointed

John “Mac” McCall last December to the unexpired part of Kirk’s term,
so McCall would be the odds-on reappointment.


Maybe the Proclamation is for

South Georgia Pride
like

Valdosta Mayor John Gayle refused to proclaim last year.
Why do we have to guess what all those items are for, anyway?
Why don’t they just make the agenda items descriptive,
or, even better,

link the board packet items in with the agenda?
The two
For Consideration
items are more intelligible, but would still make more sense
with those board packet materials.

Here’s

the agenda.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS

PROPOSED AGENDA

WORK SESSION, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2013, 8:30 a.m.

REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2013, 5:30 p.m.

327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor

Continue reading →

Where is the Alapaha Water Treatment Plant?

Where is the Alapaha Water Treatment Plant
that has had

20 violations in the past 10 years,
for which the Lowndes County Commission

had Lovell Engineering write a letter to GA EPD
and then

approved
a

no-bid contract to the same firm?
April Huntley supplied this pictorial answer. -jsq

Take Highway 84 east from Valdosta GA:


Take Highway 84 east from Valdosta GA.

After passing through Naylor GA look for this neighborhood on your right (Lake Alapaha Hidden Cove):

Continue reading →

Moody Family Housing is in aquifer recharge zone @ LCC 2013-08-27

The

Moody Family Housing just rezoned is in a recharge zone for



our drinking water supply, the Floridan Aquifer.
What will keep runoff from this subdivision from feeding through
the wetlands and sinkhole into the aquifer?
Should we depend on county engineering, which never put in

the traffic calming measures
required for nearby Nelson Hill, or other county staff,
who gave waivers for other required items there, or just didn’t
require them to be implemented?
What assurances can we get from our county government that Moody Family
Housing won’t pollute our drinking water?


WRPDO Title Alone
The above map is a detail from

Lowndes County’s own
Water Resource Protection Districts
Ordinance (WRPDO) overlay Map.
Here’s an even more detailed view courtesy

VALOR GIS (turn on Streams and Waterbodies, NWI Wetlands, Muncipal Boundaries, and Groundwater Rechard Areas): Continue reading →

Citizens sue city about sewage

I wonder who else is sick of

sewage?

AP, today,

Sick Of Spewing Sewage, Georgia Neighbors File Lawsuit,



The Georgia Environmental Protection Division responded to a
Rochelle resident’s complaint of waste spewing across portions of a
10-block area in March. The agency concluded there had been a major
spill of more than 10,000 gallons of raw sewage. A March 29 letter
from state regulators says Rochelle city officials were aware of
“frequent spill events” in the past but had made “minimal to no
progress” in fixing the problems.

The complaint and the lawsuit both started with 67-year-old John
Jackson, a retired Rochelle city maintenance worker who reached out
to state regulators and the nonprofit environmental law firm
Earthjustice. The firm filed suit on behalf of him and seven
co-plaintiffs.



Well, of course our local

county seat
and county
here are working on fixing their sewage problems…. Continue reading →

Videos: New judge, river gauge, park deed, personnel costs, pest control, and retirement @ LCC 2013-08-27



Unanimous approval for
a third no-bid contract this month for Lovell Engineering, this time for

for a sports complex in Hahira,
but surprisingly
the
opaque pest control bids
were tabled indefinitely.
Also unanimously approved were
three new fine-processing positions for the Clerk of Court,
the
Little River stream gauge,
The special presentation was for
the retirement of Gene Roberts from Public Works.
No mention of the previous morning’s presentations by
Judge John Kent Edwards Jr.

asking for a new State Court Judge
or

about fines moving from Sheriff to State Court.
Dr. Michael Noll said

Moody AFB once again couldn’t get access
to the site for the Moody Family Housing the Commission already approved,
despite the sinkhole on the adjoining land.

Here’s

the agenda, with links to the videos and a few notes.
See also

videos of the previous morning’s Work Session.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS

PROPOSED AGENDA

WORK SESSION, MONDAY, AUGUST 26, 2013, 8:30 a.m.

REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, AUGUST 27, 2013, 5:30 p.m.

327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor

Continue reading →