Category Archives: Lowndes County Commission

Videos of entire Lowndes County Board of Education meeting of 30 August 2011

Here’s

a playlist of the entire 30 August 2011 Lowndes County


Board of Education meeting of 30 August 2011.
As you can see, it really was almost all about approving

a resolution against school consolidation.
We’ve already posted that resolution and the unanimous vote.

The actual resolution is a model of such things:
simple and easy to read, yet complete enough to cover the territory,
and leaving no doubts as to the board’s position.
Congratulations to LCBOE on that resolution!




Playlist, called meeting, Lowndes County Board of Education (LCBOE),

Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 30 August 2011.

Videos by Gretchen Quarterman and John S. Quarterman

for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.

Let me also take a moment to thank some LCBOE staff.

Continue reading →

Lowndes County Manager Joe Pritchard reviews the budget process



Here is the complete

playlist for yesterday’s (8 September 2011) Lowndes County Lunch and Learn,
in which County Manager Joe Pritchard reviewed the county’s budget process.
County Clerk Paige Dukes said she would also send the slides for posting.




County Manager Joe Pritchard presents the budget process

Lowndes County Lunch and Learn 8 September 2011

Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange

Here are last month’s Lunch and Learn playlist
and
slides.

-gretchen

T-SPLOST public meetings coming up in a few weeks



The

public meetings for Transportation Sales Tax Project List
are coming up in a few weeks.
The one in Lowndes County is:

Monday, September 19, 2011; 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.; at the Valdosta
City Hall Annex; 300 North Lee Street, Valdosta, Georgia; presentation
will begin at 10:30 a.m.

There’s a meeting in Fitzgerald later that same day,
and an earlier meeting in Waycross on Wednesdday, September 7th.



If you’re interested in saying something about

the 50% increase in the Old US 41 North widening project
or about
some of the other projects still on the constrained list,
this would be the place to do it.
You can also send in written comments.
Here’s

contact information.

-jsq

Planning Commission meets tonight



The organization that considers every rezoning request

for Lowndes County
or any of the cities of Valdosta, Dasher, Hahira, or Lake Park,
the Greater Lowndes Planning Commission,

meets tonight, 5:30 PM, 29 August 2011.
This appointed body decides nothing, but it does make recommendations to the
elected governing body of the appropriate county or city,
which does take those recommendations into account before deciding.
If you want to rezone, or if there’s rezoning near you,
you would do well to go to the Planning Commission meeting
before it gets to your local elected body.

The Planning Commission’s remit is not just rezoning cases.
According to

the City of Valdosta’s writeup:

The mission of the Greater Lowndes Planning Commission (GLPC) is to look
beyond short-term solutions in planning for the future of the Greater
Lowndes community; to improve the public health, safety, convenience and
welfare; and to provide for the social, economic and physical development
of communities on a sound and orderly basis, within a governmental
framework and economic environment which fosters constructive growth
and efficient administration.

The Planning Commission meets at the old Lowndes County Commission offices:

Continue reading →

Photographers stay to the back


After the County Commission meeting today, Chairman Ashley Paulk
and I were chatting and he mentioned that starting at the next meeting
everyone with a camera would be moved to the back of the room.

As I went out of the commission chambers,

Continue reading →

Snake Nation Decision, Lowndes County Commission, Tonight 5:30PM



Here are videos of yesterday’s Lowndes County Commission work session.
Tonight, come see the local government decide about

a change order for routing around the sinkhole at Snake Nation Road.
Agenda after the videos.

Here’s

a playlist:




Snake Nation Decision, Lowndes County Commission, Tonight 5:30PM

Work Session, Lowndes County Commission (LCC),

Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 22 August 2011.

Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.

Here’s
the agenda.


LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA

WORK SESSION, MONDAY, AUGUST 22, 2011, 8:30 a.m.

REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, AUGUST 23, 2011, 5:30 p.m.

327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor

  1. Call to Order

  2. Invocation

  3. Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag

  4. Minutes for Approval

    1. Work Session — August 8, 2011

    2. Regular Session — August 9, 2011
  5. For Consideration

    1. Change Order to Snake Nation Road Contract

    2. Assistance to Firefighters Grant

    3. James Road Water Main Repair

    4. Capacity Fee Waiver for Country View Mobile Home Park

    5. SCADA Upgrade

    6. USGS Funding Agreement for Hwy 122 Stream Gauge

    7. Declaration of Merchandise as Surplus — Fire Department and Public Works

    8. Approval of TAN and Resolution
  6. Bids

    1. Training Tower for the Fire Department

    2. Asphalt Surfacing at Naylor and Clyattville Parks

    3. Striping and Signage on 29.34 Miles of Roadway
  7. Reports-County Manager

  8. Citizens Wishing to be Heard Please State Name And Address

-jsq

Snake Nation Road at Lowndes County Commission Monday 8:30AM, Tuesday 5:30PM

No rezonings this time, but plenty of money to be spent on this and that.
The one I wonder about is

5.a. Change Order to Snake Nation Road Contract

We heard last time from Joe Pritchard that
the county had received some estimates for resurfacing on Snake Nation Road, but he needed some time to organize funding before presenting details.
OK, fair enough, but why is it a Change Order?
Didn’t they just vote on realignment of Snake Nation Road in June?
Why two months later a Change Order, which usually means
have to do it right now with no competitive bids?



Here’s a backgrounder from the VDT about
a sinkhole being discovered on Snake Nation Road last December.
And here’s the VDT in May on
costs for fixing it:

“We are purchasing the property to the north, 5.22 acres, for $40,000
to reroute the road,” said County Manager Joe Pritchard.

Rerouting the road will cost approximately $300,000 versus at least
twice that amount to reinforce the hole, put in concrete supports,
and fill it to prevent the road from collapsing again.

Here’s
the agenda for this morning and tomorrow evening.


LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA

WORK SESSION, MONDAY, AUGUST 22, 2011, 8:30 a.m.

REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, AUGUST 23, 2011, 5:30 p.m.

327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor

Continue reading →

T-SPLOST projects as of 15 August 2011

Here’s what’s still on the agenda for T-SPLOST funding for our T-SPLOST region:

Constrained Draft Project Listing, Southern Georgia


Most of Lowndes County’s boondoggle road widening
projects seem to have been bounced off the list.
This one is still on there:

$8 million to widen old US 41 North.



Some of the other projects may also be boondoggles for all I know,
but at least all the ones to widen roads right to the north edge
of the county and thus drive development all the way into
agricultural and forest areas are gone.
Here’s the list:

Continue reading →

Animal issues on facebook



For those who miss their regular daily diet of animal shelter issues,
Susan Leavens has started a facebook group called

Georgia’s Regulatory Animal Protection Division the truth behind them.

And who knows? Maybe soon we’ll hear results of

that investigation down at the sheriff’s office.
Or maybe Gary Black
will live up to his campaign promises.
Or maybe Lowndes County will let the Humane Society train animal control officers.
The more people ask for these things to happen, the more likely they will happen.

-jsq