The Lowndes County Commission plans to vote tomorrow evening
to privatize waste disposal in the unincorporated areas of the county,
after numerous discussions at meetings the public were unaware of,
without any public hearings, and regardless of whether the people want it.
County Manager Joe Pritchard talked about
“a long, long process”
they’d been through, including at the Commissioners’ retreat.
That was after they discussed solid waste disposal at
their backroom closed meeting
24 May 2011.
Then they cancelled their 21 May 2012 Work Session
and instead held an unscheduled 4 June meeting in which according to the VDT
they decided that waste disposal site cards would be for six months,
instead of the former 12 months.
Fewer speakers at the Regular Session
than at the
previous morning’s Work Session
of the Lowndes County Commission.
The longest item was
a citizen wishing to be heard, who only spoke for 3 and a half minutes.
Up until then, the meeting took five minutes, as the Chairman noted.
And everything was adopted unanimously, with little or no discussion.
Bevel Creek Lift Station Repair —Mike Allen
The total for the wastewater lift station
was still $38,969 with the budget impact being
the insurance deductible.
Unanimously approved.
Dell Lease Agreement for Sheriff’s Office Laptops —Aaron Kostyu
Six years ago the Sheriff’s Dept. leased some laptops;
plan was always to roll new laptops into the lease;
that will be done using drug seizure funds.
Unanimously approved.
Contract with Corporate Health Partners
County Manager Joe Pritchard said they had started looking
into wellness plans several years ago,
$260,000 in savings in health care expenses so far;
partnership with SGMC and YMCA.
Commissioner Joyce Evans wanted to know how regularly
it would be monitoried.
Answer: quarterly.
Commissioner Richard Raines moved to approve
Corporate Health Partners,
except instead of a three year contract,
an initial one year with two one-year extensions.
Unanimously approved.
Reports-County Manager
Joe Pritchard had no report.
Citizens Wishing to be Heard Please State Name And Address
Chairman Ashley Paulk noted it was 5:35, and then
Ken Klanicki spoke
for 3 and a half minutes, the longest item in the meeting,
after which
they adjourned.
Video Playlist
Regular Session, Lowndes County Commission (LCC),
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE), Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 25 September 2012.
A rezoning for well and septic,
Bevel Creek is back with a lift station pump repair,
and something about an Alapaha waterline:
water, water, water.
Plus a beer license, refunding revenue bonds, and
the long-awaited waste management RFP.
And an employee health fair, whatever that is,
and apparently this is community planning month.
All that at the Lowndes County Commission, Monday morning
and Tuesday evening.
LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2012, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2012, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street — 2nd Floor
Here are videos of all the presentations from the
Meet the Candidates
event at VSU Monday.
This adds to the previous
LAKE videos,
and also includes a different perspective from George Boston Rhynes.
Update 4:40 PM 5 October 2012:
Toma Hawk has supplied
a third viewpoint.
The Valdosta-Lowndes County Chamber will host a Meet the Candidates
event on Tues. Oct. 2 from 5-7 p.m. at the VSU Continuing Education
Building located on 903 N. Patterson Street.
The event is an opportunity for the public to meet and hear from
contested candidates running in the Nov. 6 general election.
Attendees can speak one-on-one with candidates and candidates will
be given three minutes to discuss his or her main initiatives.
“The election is quickly approaching and it is important to
know who i s on the ballot and their stance on key issues. This
event provides a way for the public to have personal interaction
with the future decision-makers of our community,” said Chair
of the Chamber’s Government Affairs Council, Ron Borders (Real
Living Realty Advisors).
Attendees should look forward to meeting the following candidates:
Rubberstamping library architect
Regular Session, Lowndes County Commission (LCC),
Video by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE), Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 24 July 2012.
It would be easier for people to vote for SPLOST VII if they knew
what they were getting.
So far, that’s difficult to tell from what’s been published.
Many questions remain to be answered.
The county projects penny sales tax collections through SPLOST VII
to total at least $150 million during a six-year period, a sum that
could fund a library complex, an auditorium, the installation of a
mandated public safety radio system, an array of municipal water and
sewage improvements, new equipment for police officers and
firefighters, and road maintenance projects.
There is not adequate funding for these projects if the SPLOST
referendum does not pass, according to city and county planners.
$150 million is not $35 million.
$150 million divided by six is $25 million, not $35 million.
Update 2012-09-27 8:50AM: Added video, stills, and notes about the County Palace and Internet access.
The seventh Special Local Option Sales Tax, SPLOST,
will be on the November ballot.
Not to be confused with the just-defeated
bogus regional transportation T-SPLOST,
or last year’s successful
educational ESPLOST,
or the
currently renegotiating property-tax-relief LOST,
SPLOST VII will follow up on SPLOST VI
in supporting local infrastructure projects.
There is a campaign in Lowndes County to rally for the tax called
SPLOST, or the Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax. It could
bring in as much as $35 million, but that is only if voters say it’s
worth the extra pennies.
A parade of speakers not on the agenda extended yesterday morning’s
Work Session of the Lowndes County Commission.
They spoke about the
conference center,
about
South Georgia Partnership for Homelessness,
and about
health
and
life insurance.
Commissioners heard from staff about
repairs to a sewage lift station
and
laptops for the Sheriff’s office.
They vote on all these things at their Regular Session
tonight at 5:30 PM.
Bevel Creek Lift Station Repair
MR Systems’ quote for
SCADA control panel was $13,775,
plus another control panel $25,194, for a total of $38,969.
Utilities Director Mike Allen said making an addition (presumably
of the $25,194 control panel) would save four weeks of downtime.
Contract with Corporate Health Partners
County Manager Joe Pritchard said they had achieved
$260,000 in savings towards projected $300,000 savings
in health care expenses.
He introduced
Chris Park(?) with Park(?) Group and
Jack Curtis with
Corporate Health Partners.
Pritchard said the county Wanted to add a wellness program to improve
employee quality of life and wellbeing.
Chris Park(?)
spoke first.
He introduced Jack Curtis,
who spoke about
a wellness program proposal.
Agreement with Basic Life
Chris Park(?) spoke again, saying what he was proposing would save
$10,000 or 23% over the current plan while preserving all the current benefits.
Citizens Wishing to be Heard Please State Name And Address
That’s only for the Regular Session.
Video Playlist
Work Session, Lowndes County Commission (LCC),
Videos by Brandon Livingston for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE), Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 24 September 2012.
The Lowndes County Commission plans to vote tomorrow evening
to privatize waste disposal in the unincorporated areas of the county,
after numerous discussions at meetings the public were unaware of,
without any public hearings, and regardless of whether the people want it.
retreat at an undisclosed location back in March.
