Category Archives: Lowndes County Commission

Work and Regular Sessions both Tuesday @ LCC Work 2015-09-08

Both LCC meetings Tuesday, plus Development Authority 10AM, Chamber members to be Heard 3:30PM, and Board of Elections 4:30PM, before the Commission votes 5:30 PM.

Update 2015-09-08: LAKE did what the county staff didn’t: turned a mound of paper into electronic format and posted it. The added material is for the Shiloh Road Roundabout (county has to maintain lighting and landscaping) and the bids for the Bevel Creek and Coleman Road lift stations. Except there’s no bid from Xylem for replacing the Coleman Road pump. Did they not bid, or did the Clerk’s office not supply that bid? (Also updated links to other meetings in first line of this post.)

The Lowndes County Commission will consider a church rezoning on Mullins Road that’s so close to a county water line near the Lake Alapaha development on the Alapaha River that the County staff felt they had to warn the applicant. Bid awards for the utilities extension to Lowndes Middle School is on the agenda as South Perimeter Road Utility Extension, and it appears staff may have outsourced this million-dollar decision to Lovell Engineering. Utilities also wants $38,930.50 for Bevel Creek and $35,144.20 for Coleman Road for new Wilo lift station pumps. Their one-paragraph writeups sound like a good deal with substantial savings, but they reference multiple quotes which were not included. Where are those quotes? (They were on paper; see above.)

The county staff also wants wants a roundabout for Shiloh Road! Next they’ll be wanting speed humps on county roads they’ve made unsafe by paving (don’t hold your breath).

Here’s what LAKE got online for the commission packet and the Lowndes County Commission agenda. See also the LAKE videos of the preceding Planning Commission meeting.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2015, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2015, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor
Continue reading →

Building location, front yard, and flag size @ ZBOA 2015-09-01

2:30 PM today, building location next to Southview Cemetery, a front yard setback (my that’s an impressive porch!), and maximum size of a flag.

Here’s the agenda from the City of Valdosta’s website, plus links into the board packet on the LAKE website, courtesy of ZBOA member Gretchen Quarterman. I bet the city could put the board packet on their website just as easily.

Valdosta-Lowndes County Zoning Board of Appeals

Matt Martin, Valdosta Planning and Zoning Administrator
300 North Lee Street, Valdosta, Georgia
(229) 259-3563

Carmella Braswell, Lowndes County Zoning Administrator
327 North Ashley Street, Valdosta, Georgia
(229) 671-2430

AGENDA
September 1, 2015
2:30 p.m.
Continue reading →

Videos: Moody Family Housing doesn’t want to replace trees it cut down on Val-Del @ ZBOA 2015-08-04

They meet again today 2:30 PM.

Last month, ZBOA voted 5 to 1 to let Moody Family Housing have a reduction of 25% (half of the 50% they wanted) so as to include a requirement of native trees. Gretchen Quarterman made the motion, Paul Alvarado seconded, and Satrina Plyler (filling the unexpired term of Scott Orenstein) voted against.

See for more background.

Here’s a video playlist:

Videos: Moody Family Housing doesn’t want to replace trees it cut down on Val-Del
Regular Session, Valdosta-Lowndes County Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBOA),
Video by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 4 August 2015.

-jsq

3 small rezonings: Dasher, Lowndes, Valdosta @ GLPC 2015-08-31

An automobile repair shop in Dasher, a agricultural rezoning in Lowndes County, and an office rezoning in Valdosta, in the GLPC agenda that appeared on the county’s website after Gretchen called to inquire.

Greater Lowndes Planning Commission
Lowndes County City of Valdosta City of Dasher City of Hahira City of Lake Park
REGULAR MONTHLY MEETING
AGENDA
Lowndes County South Health District Administrative Office
325 West Savannah Avenue
Monday, August 31, 2015 * 5:30 P.M. * Public Hearing
Continue reading →

Videos: Nuisance ordinance, numerous emergencies, small rezoning, and alcohol @ LCC 2015-08-11

They meet again Monday morning; here are videos from when they voted two weeks ago. There was a brief update on the Shiloh Road sinkhole, adding to the previous morning’s report; see also news reports. The rest of the meeting was rather predictable Continue reading →

Agriculture, Internet access, and Transportation driving Development @ LCC 2015-08-24

New County Extension Agent Jenna Kicklighter will introduce herself at Monday morning’s Work Session,, they’ll consider a a Beer and Wine License for Dollar General, a new secondary Internet Bandwidth Contract with Mediacom, and the US 41 N widening has already spawned further road paving to promote development:

Lowndes County Engineering has received a proposal Continue reading →

More Lowndes County news reported on an individual facebook page: US41N

It’s great that the Lowndes County Comissioner for District 2 is reporting about a highway in his district, but why isn’t the county reporting it on its own facebook page, website, twitter account, etc.? While the county doesn’t have facebook account (why not?) it does have those other things and there’s nothing on them about this news: Continue reading →

$9.40 for a mound of paper @ LCC 2015-08-10

Gretchen made an Open Records request Monday morning and it was available Tuesday 4:37 PM: mostly on paper and less than an hour before the Commission voted.

The rezoning material from the Planning office was sent by electronic mail. The rest cost $9.40 to retrieve on paper. Nevermind in the email earlier Tuesday of the old ordinance from 1992 the county staff demonstrated they can put a paper document on their copier and produce a PDF. They could have done that with the rest of the board packet. Why didn’t they?

The Work Session was Monday morning at 8:30 AM 10 Aug 2015. Gretchen was notified by telephone about 4:30 PM Tuesday 11 Aug 2015. The County Palace closes at 5PM. The Commission met at 5:30 PM Tuesday to vote. So none Continue reading →

Videos: Unknown ordinance, numerous emergencies, small rezoning, and alcohol @ LCC 2015-08-10

Here are videos of yesterday morning’s Work Session. This morning, the same day as tonight’s voting Regular Session, we got a few answers to some of yesterday’s questions about the Nuisance Abatement Ordinance:

What 1992 ordinance? Which state law? Where’s the new draft?

Here’s the old ordinance and the new draft. And the memo wrapping the new draft refers to O.C.G.A. §§41-2-7 through 41-2-17. The memo doesn’t seem to say when that Georgia law was updated.

Here’s the agenda. See also the Continue reading →

Minutes from 2006, Lowndes County Commission

Minutes aren’t on Lowndes County’s new website back more than a few years. Even on their previous website, three sets of minutes were not there. More than four years after Gretchen asked, she asked again, and today we finally got those three. Look who signed those minutes as County Clerk: K. Paige Dukes, the same County Clerk who took four years to return them in response to an Open Records request. Here’s the message, and I’ve linked in those minutes.