The Lowndes County Commission apparently
failed to pay the Airport Authority $150,000,
yet the City of Valdosta paid their part in full.
Once again the VDT did a little investigation and came up with a story.
The County Commission continues to do the peoples’ business in secret.
The solid waste exclusive franchise agreement was tabled for a month,
due to some mysterious new information,
and two citizens pleaded with the Commission to reconsider the whole thing.
The developer who got to speak at Monday’s Work Session
asked for his development to be tabled for a month, and the Commission did so.
After the meeting, three people from Moody AFB trooped into a side
room with the Chairman.
Also, if it’s a privilege to serve and an honor to be appointed,
why does the Lowndes County Commission not tell us who they are appointing?
In the
Work Session
they muttered some proposed names unintelligbly,
and in the Regular Session they didn’t say anything about who some of the
new appointees are, and none of the appointees spoke.
As near as I could tell, only one bothered to show up: VLCIA
reappointee Mary Gooding.
Update 2012-11-20: Jody Hall reminds me he was there as an appointee. He says he was ready to speak, but nobody asked him to.
Video playlist
Regular Session, Lowndes County Commission (LCC),
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 13 November 2012.
Here’s
the agenda again,
this time with links to the videos plus a few notes.
I understand … that the county has a responsibility for the solid waste….
I understand we have these big corporations, Advanced Disposal,
Veolia.
I know some of these people at Veolia, good people; they’ve got a good company,
and they pick up several thousand cans every day.
What we do offer the citizens here… we offer just a personal service.
I know a lot of these people first hand….
He told a story about a customer whose husband lost his job.
He stopped billing until the man got another job.
Cary Scarborough’s summation:
Don’t do this to private enterprise, to an individual.
If it’s done to me, it will get easier later down the road
to do it to someone else.
Yes, why is the county taking customers away from a local business
and giving them to a company that isn’t even based here?
County Manager Joe Pritchard,
once again,
was mostly not paying attention.
William Geyer expressed two widespread opinions,
keep the solid waste disposal sites open, and reprioritize SPLOST,
when he spoke at Tuesday’s
Lowndes County Commission Regular Session.
County Manager Joe Pritchard, the driving force behind the waste disposal decision,
still wasn’t listening.
Keep the solid waste disposal sites open
Saying he was William Geyer of 5474 Union Road, Hahira,
he asked the Commission to
reconsider their solid waste plan, and to keep the waste disposal sites open.
There’s people out there that can’t afford
what y’all are offering.
And with a budget as large as we got, I know there’s some way
to keep them open.
Not only that, Florida has them, and they don’t even man them.
I talk to a lot of people out there,
they don’t come here,
but I wish you really would reconsider,
because it is a plus for this county,
the elderly,
a lot of people here who are struggling, who can’t afford it.
I’m not saying I can’t; I can afford it,
but there’s a lot of people here who can’t afford it.
Reprioritize SPLOST
Geyer noted SPLOST was supposed to be for paving roads, but
lots of roads hadn’t gotten paved.
At that first SPLOST meeting, it was around 1984 or 5
they did my road, Union Road.
What happened to the rest of the roads that are dirt?
We’ve somehow lost our priorities.
We want a new library, we want a new this or that.
What about these people who live on these dirt roads
that were promised they’d be paved.
County Manager, how many miles of dirt roads do we have in this county?
County Manager Joe Pritchard obviously wasn’t listening,
“Pardon me?” he said, after the Chairman prodded him.
He didn’t know, either; he motioned
Continue reading →
The Lowndes County Commission invited a developer to speak
about his proposed rezoning at a Work Session
without inviting any opposition to speak.
Plus another rezoning, a proposed solid waste ordinance with exclusive franchise
agreement, and proposed appointments to five boards and authorities.
And at the end an animal event report.
Video playlist
Work Session, Lowndes County Commission (LCC),
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 12 November 2012.
Here’s
the agenda again,
this time with links to the videos plus a few notes.
The VDT went out and did some research and discovered that
agriculture is not only still here in Lowndes County,
it’s one of the biggest industries here, and by some
measures it’s increasing.
What if the local elected and appointed and self-appointed
boards and authorities helped promote agriculture
as a local industry?
Agriculture and forestry remain among the strongest economic engines
in South Georgia, including Lowndes County.
A look at the recent farmgate value for 2011 for Lowndes County
shows a $70 million effect on the local economy, making it one of
the strongest private-sector industries in the county following
South Georgia Medical Center.
The popularity of The Times’ bi-monthly sister publication Ag Scene
led this newspaper to look at the ag/forestry industry to see if it
has diminished in economic importance over the years.
The VDT proceeded to do som research, asking Jake Price,
Lowndes County Extension Agent, who noted there are actually
more farms in Lowndes County than in some surrounding counties,
because they tended to be smaller here, with quite a few people
farming on the side.
That and agriculture-based events have become more popular,
such as last week’s Hog Show.
(And he didn’t mention the new last year Valdosta Farm Days.)
He continued:
Monday morning the Lowndes County Commission considers and
Tuesday evening votes on members of five appointed boards.
Who are the candidates?
The agenda doesn’t say.
The two rezonings are the same ones
the Planning Commission recently considered.
Presumably the solid waste ordinance has something to do with
the recent privatization decision.
LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2012, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2012, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor
Continue reading →
As I was out campaigning, it was interesting what people are
interested in having their pennies spent on. Many want better
sidewalks and safer places to ride their bikes. One Valdosta police
officer particularly commented on the dangerous bike riding
conditions (especially on North Oak Extension). Many in the
un-incorporated areas want increased fire protection and it seems
that everyone better drainage (and I don't mean simply open ditches
for rain water) and still others would like to see some soccer
fields.
It seems like we should be able to do some prioritizations and then
save up for these things. I guess that will be up to the new
commission chairman and members and they will have to figure out how
to move forward without a SPLOST immediately in 2014.
Personally, I'd like to see a public accounting of how the previous
SPLOSTS were spent. And not in big categories, but the actual
details… But that's just me.
Thank you to everyone who voted for me, to everyone who helped me in
so very many ways. I was not successful in winning
my campaign, but
I was successful in raising issues and have a lot of fun.
Final Score: GQ:16,752 BS:19,531
When the VDT called, she added:
If the chairman-elect is for good communications,
I challenge him to be transparent.
There’s an election going on!
Here are some pictures of precincts around Lowndes County today.
I’ve seen no lines, and everything seems to be flowing smoothly.
Except there are multiple reports that when people call the Board of Elections
to ask where they vote they’re getting a “this number disconnected” message.
Apparently there are ten phone lines down there but only three people
answering them, and the phone is not rolling over properly.
Given all the recent changes in precincts, this is a problem.
Around 1PM Sara Crow said she heard at Pine Grove that about 900 people had
already voted there today.
When the Valdosta Regional Airport had hangars built on the property, both the city of Valdosta and Lowndes County pledged $900,000.
