Category Archives: Lowndes County Commission

Videos: VLPRA & DFCS appointments, two rezonings, Hazard Mitigation, $1 million Custom Pumper, $4.7 million Fire Rescue @ LCC Work 2025-06-09

Update 2025-06-11: Videos: Rascal’s, VLPRA & DFCS appointments, two rezonings, Hazard Mitigation, $1 million Custom Pumper, $4.7 million Fire Rescue @ LCC Regular 2025-06-10.

The Lowndes County Commissioners didn’t have much to say at their Work Session yesterday morning. They did discuss potential paving of dirt roads under 6.b. REZ-2025-09 All Metal Buildings, 2515 Madison Hwy, ~2 acres, C-G to C-H.

They vote this evening at their Regular Session at 5:30 PM.

Collage @ LCC 9 June 2025

This Fire Station #9 is on James Road: 7.b. Purchase of one (1) Sutphen Heavy Duty Custom Pumper.

Station Locations

This one is in Minneola, near the Stone Creek subdivision: 8.a. A New Facility for Lowndes County Fire Rescue No. 4. In which County Manager Paige Dukes revealed that the county had obtained the old Rascal’s building. That’s at 4875 US 41 South in Lake Park. More later in another post about the somewhat irregular conveyance of that former Rascal’s location to the county.

Here are LAKE videos of each Work Session agenda item, with a few notes by Gretchen Quarterman, followed by a LAKE video playlist.

See also the agenda and the board packet, received in response to a LAKE open records request. Continue reading →

VLPRA & DFCS appointments, two rezonings, Hazard Mitigation, $1 million Custom Pumper, $4.7 million Fire Rescue @ LCC 2025-06-09

Update 2025-06-10: Videos: VLPRA & DFCS appointments, two rezonings, Hazard Mitigation, $1 million Custom Pumper, $4.7 million Fire Rescue @ LCC Work 2025-06-09.

Vincent Miller wants to be reappointed to the Parks and Rec Board. Lynn Orenstein would like to be reappointed to the board of Lowndes County Division of Family and Children Services (DFCS). Samuel Clemons has applied to be on each of those boards.

Plus almost $6 million dollars will be decided this week by the Lowndes County Commission, for a pump truck and a station for Fire Rescue.

VLPRA & DFCS appointments, 2 rezonings, Hazard Mitigation, $1 million Custom Pumper, $4.7 M Fire Rescue @ LCC 2025-06-09

Cost	What
$4,767,660.00	A New Facility for Lowndes County Fire Rescue No. 4
$1,063,876.64	Purchase of one (1) Sutphen Heavy Duty Custom Pumper
$21,000.00	Service Agreement with SGRC to Perform Hazard Mitigation
$5,852,536.64	Total

About the Purchase of one (1) Sutphen Heavy Duty Custom Pumper: Continue reading →

Videos: Two Lowndes County cases, 1 Hahira, 2 Valdosta @ GLPC 2025-05-27

Nobody showed up to oppose any rezoning, and 43 minutes is lightning fast for a Greater Lowndes Planning Commission meeting.

The Planning Commissioners unanimously recommended approval of each item. The Lowndes County Commission and the Hahira and Valdosta City Councils make the actual decisions.

Collage @ GLPC 27 May 2025

Below are links to each LAKE video of each agenda item, with a few notes by Gretchen Quarterman, followed by a LAKE video playlist.

Rescheduled: Two Lowndes County cases, 1 Hahira, 2 Valdosta @ GLPC 2025-05-27

Update 2025-06-07: Videos: Two Lowndes County cases, 1 Hahira, 2 Valdosta @ GLPC 2025-05-27.

Reschedule: because there was no quorum at the originally-scheduled date, the Greater Lowndes Planning Commission (GLPC) will meet this evening at 5:30 PM, Tuesday, May 27, 2025.

I suppose it’s a coincidence that two different requests for “a Conditional Use Permit (CUP) for a reinstated machine and welding shop in a Highway Commercial (C-H) zoning district” about two Valdosta blocks apart are on the agenda for Monday’s Planning Commission meeting.

Two Lowndes County cases, 1 Hahira case, @ GLPC *Rescheduled* 2025-05-27, Two Valdosta cases, both machine and welding shops

There’s one Hahira case for “Special Exception for a financial institution in R-P zoning”.

And two Lowndes County cases, one for 10 acres from E-A to R-A, and the other for 1.9 acres from C-G to C-H.

Here is the agenda.

The board packet materials for the Valdosta and Hahira cases are on the LAKE website, because Valdosta and Hahira City Planner Matt Martin sent them.

See other post for the packet materials for the Lowndes County cases.

Greater Lowndes Planning Commission
~ Lowndes County ~ City of Valdosta ~ City of Dasher ~
~ City of Hahira ~ City of Lake Park ~ City of Remerton ~
Monday, May 12, 2025 5:30 P.M. Work Session
Monday, May 19, 2025 5:30 P.M. Regular Session
Lowndes County South Health District Administrative Office
325 West Savannah Avenue, Valdosta, Georgia
Continue reading →

Packet: Lowndes County materials @ GLPC 2025-05-19

Update 2025-06-07: Videos: Two Lowndes County cases, 1 Hahira, 2 Valdosta @ GLPC 2025-05-27.

Update 2025-05-20: There was no quorum, so there was no GLPC meeting yesterday.

In addition to the two Valdosta machine and welding shop Conditional Use Permit requests, this evening the Planning Commission will hear a C-G to C-H rezonings request for All Metal Buildings to “unifity the commercial zoning on the properties for their expanding business” across Madison Highway east of the Valdosta Airport.

Collage, Lowndes County rezoning materials @ GLPC Packet 2025-05-19

Plus there’s a county request north of Naylor for E-A to R-A near the Cherry Creek that flows into the Alapaha River a bit upstream from Old State Road in Lowndes County and Hochkiss Road in Lanier County.

Those Lowndes County packet materials, received in response to a LAKE open recor ds request, are on the LAKE website.

Two Lowndes County cases, 1 Hahira, 2 Valdosta @ GLPC 2025-05-19

Update 2025-05-19: Packet: Lowndes County materials @ GLPC 2025-05-19.

Collage @ LCC Packet 2025-05-19

There’s one Hahira case for “Special Exception for a financial institution in R-P zoning”.

And two Lowndes County cases, one for 10 acres from E-A to R-A, and the other for 1.9 acres from C-G to C-H.

Here is the agenda.

The board packet materials for the Valdosta and Hahira cases are on the LAKE website, because Valdosta and Hahira City Planner Matt Martin sent them.

The Lowndes County materials are not, because I miscalculated the date of the Greater Lowndes Planning Commission (GLPC) meeting as May 26 when it is actually May 19, so the LAKE open records request was scheduled to go out this Tuesday. I have sent an open records request to the county for the May 19 meeting. Meanwhile, the county already sent the minutes from the previous GLPC meeting, and those are on the LAKE website.

Greater Lowndes Planning Commission
~ Lowndes County ~ City of Valdosta ~ City of Dasher ~
~ City of Hahira ~ City of Lake Park ~ City of Remerton ~
Monday, May 12, 2025 5:30 P.M. Work Session
Monday, May 19, 2025 5:30 P.M. Regular Session
Lowndes County South Health District Administrative Office
325 West Savannah Avenue, Valdosta, Georgia
Continue reading →

Cancelled: Lowndes County Commission meetings 2025-05-12-13

The response to the LAKE open records request for the board packet, “The May 12-13, 2025 Commission Meetings have been cancelled due to a lack of agenda items requiring attention at this time.”

Cancelled: both meetings, Lowndes County Commission, Work Session 2025-11-12, Regular Session 2025-11-13,
according to the calendar on lowndescounty.com

-jsq

Investigative reporting costs money, for open records requests, copying, web hosting, gasoline, and cameras, and with sufficient funds we can pay students to do further research. You can donate to LAKE today!
http://www.l-a-k-e.org/blog/donate

Videos: One Hahira Case: rezoning and annexation for an access road @ GLPC 2025-04-28

This may have been the fastest Planning Commission meeting ever, at 18 minutes.

Collage @ GLPC 28 April 2025

They welcomed new Planning Commissioner Shawana Griffith, appointed by Lake Park.

The only person there who was not a Commissioner or staff (or LAKE) was to speak for the one rezoning and annexation case in Hahira. So the Greater Lowndes Planning Commission forged ahead and approved both parts unanimously.

Below are LAKE videos of each agenda item, with a few notes by Gretchen Quarterman, followed by a LAKE video playlist.

See also the agenda and the board packet, received in response to a LAKE video playlist. Continue reading →

One Hahira Case: rezoning and annexation for an access road @ GLPC 2025-04-28

Update 2025-05-04: Videos: One Hahira Case: rezoning and annexation for an access road @ GLPC 2025-04-28.

Update 2025-04-28: The minutes of the previous GLPC meeting were received this morning in reponse to a LAKE open records request reminder, and are now on the LAKE website.

The Planning Commission has only one case in two agenda items: rezoning and annexation into the City of Hahira of a triangular lot on South Hagan Bridge Road, so that a secondary subdivision access road already built can be made legal.

Collage: GLPC Packet 2025-04-28

Here is that agenda for the Greater Lowndes Planning Commission (GLPC), Monday evening at 5:30 PM.

The board packet, received in reponse to a LAKE open records request, is on the LAKE website.

Except the minutes of the previous meeting are missing, because Lowndes County did not responsd to the LAKE Georgia Open Records Act (GORA) request, which was sent more than the statutory three days ago.

Greater Lowndes Planning Commission
~ Lowndes County ~ City of Valdosta ~ City of Dasher ~
~ City of Hahira ~ City of Lake Park ~ City of Remerton ~
Monday, April 21, 2025 5:30 P.M. Work Session – CANCELLED
Monday, April 28, 2025 5:30 P.M. Regular Session
Lowndes County South Health District Administrative Office
325 West Savannah Avenue, Valdosta, Georgia
Continue reading →

Videos: Three rezonings, three tax items, Sheriff Office and Water Wells bids @ LCC Regular 2025-04-08

The Tuesday evening Regular Session two weeks ago took 28 minutes, 5 of which were a Citizen Wishing to be Heard: 10. CWTBH – Brian Cosey – 4881 Newton Circle – dangerous dogs. He was actually speaking for three people.

Collage @ LCC 8 April 2025

The Lowndes County Commissioners did not repeat 4. Georgia 811 Safe Digging Month Proclamation. For that, you’ll need to see the LAKE videos of the preceding Work Session.

There was some Commissioner discussion of the first of the three rezonings, but all three breezed through unanimously, as did everything else.

Once again, the item with the longest discussion, this time 2.5 minutes, was 8.a. Alapaha Plantation Water Treatment Plant New Wells – Water Main Ext.

Commissioner Scottie Orenstein wanted to know when.

Answer from Utilities Director Steve Stalvey: “We’re ready to roll” on approval.

He also wanted to know when it would be finished.

Answer: It’s a 180-day project. Within 3 or 4 months of completion we will know if we need to do a nanocompression or not.

Commissioner Demarcus Marshall asked about the Consent Order.

Answer: I couldn’t make out the answer.

Paige Dukes in 9. Reports – County Manager said the county’s hurricane debris collection program is finished.

Below are links to each LAKE video of each agenda item of the Regular Session, with a few comments by Gretchen Quarterman, followed by a LAKE video playlist.

See also the LAKE videos of the preceding Work Session and the agenda and board packet, received in response to a LAKE open records request.

See also the board packet and LAKE videos for the preceding GLPC meeting.