Category Archives: Lowndes County Commission

Bemiss and Guest Rd. VA-2016-03, VA-2016-04, VA-2016-05 @ GLPC 2016-02-29

The letters from “Gusto Development LLC” have an email address of kim@hutton.build,
confirming that

it’s really The Hutton Company

Tax Parcels Aerial
doing this work for Bassford Properties LLC; the same Hutton Company
that recently did work on Wal-Marts in Chattanooga, TN and Athens, GA.

Received today at 4:17 PM EST, which was before the GLPC meeting started.
However, as I told the City Clerk when she also called on the telephone,
I was planting potatoes at that time.
I recommended to her, as I did earlier that same day

to the County Planner, that the agenda packet items go online so
neither city nor county staff nor citizens have to go through this rigamarole
just to see what Commissioners are looking at.
The actual Planning Commission meeting was quite brief; they recommended everything; LAKE videos to come.
Meanwhile, see

the LAKE videos of the previous week’s Work Session.

The materials she sent are
on the LAKE website. Continue reading →

Packet items for REZ-2016-03-06, CAC, Skipper Bridge Road @ GLPC 2016-02-29

Thanks to Lowndes County Planner Jason Davenport’s expeditious
response to my open records request with

the packet materials for REZ-2016-03-06,


for tonight’s Planning Commission meetin,
we now know
this proposed CAC rezoning is at the NW corner of Skipper Bridge Road and Stafford Wright Road, about one acre of the
113.88 acre parcel 0106 232 owned by
JEV Duck Pond LLC, in the watershed of Cherry Creek, which flows to the Withlacoochee River.
Perhaps not coincidentally, the county recently approved plans
to pave Stafford Wright Road.
The County Planner mentioned that in the agenda sheet summary that
county road classifications (local rural, minor collector, etc.)
are stated in the

Lowndes County Thoroughfare Plan.
Back in 2009 when that plan was last updated, the County Engineer said it
“…works as a guide for development and potential use changes in property.”

GREATER LOWNDES PLANNING COMMISSION

AGENDA ITEM

SUBJECT: Rezoning Case REZ—2016-06 Continue reading →

Videos: Crosspointe Church @ ZBOA 2016-02-02



In a split decision with a condition, they approved
their one case,
VAR-2016-01 (CrossPointe Church, Valdosta GA),
with all members present for the
Zoning Board of Appeals.
Not clear what are the buffer or landscape requirements they want a variance from.
If ZBOA published its board packets online, we all would be able to see that.
Same issue as for Lowndes County Commission, Valdosta City Council, and the other four cities in the county.
They did not approve

minutes of their previous meeting,
and still no decision on

name badges.
The meeting took only

45 minutes.

Agenda
below, with results from
ZBOA’s own Meeting Results Summary,
followed by the LAKE video. Continue reading →

Cancelled: Lowndes County Commission meetings this week 2016-02-22

Lowndes County website, 17 February 2016,

Commission Meetings Canceled:



Due to a lack of agenda items requiring attention at this time, the
Lowndes County Commission Meetings scheduled for Monday, February
22, 2016, at 8:30 am and Tuesday, February 23, 2016, at 5:30 pm,
have been canceled.

The

VDT 17 February 2016 quoted County Clerk Paige Dukes: Continue reading →

Videos: Rivers and Pipeline, Rehab homes, LAMP Lease, Rezonings, Alcohol, public defender, paving Stafford Wright Road @ LCC 2016-02-09



Gretchen

thanked them for putting most of the response to her open records request
on CDs, shortly after they had said at their recent planning session that
they wanted to promote interaction with the community.
Still nothing from the county attorney about the Sabal Trail documents, and it’s been well over three days.
I

invited them on behalf of WWALS to a workshop and a movie;
there’s more below.
See also the contested rezoning

5.d. REZ-2016-05 Union Rd Subdivision, E-A to R-A, ~114 acres
for more water issues.

Three citizens spoke explicitly about the pipeline,

Jim Parker,

Michael Noll,
and

Dr. Mario Bartoletti,
as also noted in
Jason Stewart, VDT, 11 February 2016,
Sabal protests continue.
As I noted

in another post,

I go to a lot of county commission meetings in Georgia and Florida. Nowhere but Lowndes County do I see Continue reading →

Why people don’t speak up: they owe their soul to the company store



Some of our elected officials wonder few people ever speak up around here.
It’s simple: they owe their soul to the company store.
If you don’t go along, you don’t get business.

As

Tennessee Ernie Ford sang in that old Merle Travis song:

You load sixteen tons, what do you get

Another day older and deeper in debt

Saint Peter don’t you call me ’cause I can’t go

I owe my soul to the company store

Continue reading →

Videos: Rehab homes, LAMP Lease, Rezonings, Alcohol, public defender, and paving Stafford Wright Road @ LCC 2016-02-08

They vote tonight at 5:30 PM.



At yesterday’s Work Session, there were two unscheduled reports.

Mark Stalvey of the county Housing Authority
said they’re working together with Habitat for Humanity
to form a nonprofit for collecting funds for rehabilitating
housing, and they’re asking for $5,000 each from Valdosta and Lowndes County
to get the nonprofit up and running, in return for which each would get
to appoint some board members; the rest would be elected by the nonprofit board.

Last,

Tina Folsom with Lowndes Associated Ministries to People (LAMP)
said their executive director left,
so they don’t need their space in the Leila Ellis building.
They’d like to be let out of their lease and have the funds applied
to another county building they’re also renting space in.

See previous post for context
and
the agenda. Below are links to each LAKE video of the Work Session, followed by a video playlist. Continue reading →

Videos: Chancy R6M, Stallings Road Cemetery, 4 County cases, one to E-A @ GLPC 2016-01-25



The Lowndes County cases
are the ones the County Commission is reviewing
this morning in their Work Session.
GLPC recommended approval for all of them, with conditions on one,
REZ-2016-03 Jacob Eckwahl on US 41 South.

See also the GLPC agenda
and the
LAKE videos of the 19 Jan 2016 GLPC Work Session.
Below are the LAKE videos of the 25 Jan 2016 GLPC Regular Session,
followed by a video playlist. Continue reading →

Videos: Chancy R6M, Stallings Road Cemetery, 4 County cases, one to E-A @ GLPC 2016-01-19



Not on
the agenda,
they started with

a public hearing on the Comprehensive Plan.
Expecting from

the email announcement about the Comprehensive Plan
that this would be a typical SGRC tables-and-easels mill-about meeting,
I didn’t show up on the dot and was quite surprised to find
the Planning Commission and staff in their usual spots.
See separate post.

Here are the LAKE videos with some notes, followed by a video playlist. Continue reading →

Rezonings, Alcohol, public defender, and paving Stafford Wright Road @ LCC 2016-02-08

Monday morning 8:30 AM, the Lowndes County Commission


will hear about
(they vote Tuesday evening)
four well and septic rezoning cases,
one of them

from R-10 to E-A,
and another

of 114 acres from E-A to R-A.
The usual wine, beer, and liquor licenses,
a
County Purchasing Card and Credit Card Ordinance,
a
2016 Public Defender Contract Renewal
and
Proposal from Lovell Engineering for Stafford Wright Road Paving Project.
I remember residents of that road asking years ago for it to be paved;
instead the county paved Quarterman Road.
Here’s

the agenda.
See also the LAKE videos of the Planning Commission Work Session and Regular Session.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS

PROPOSED AGENDA

WORK SESSION, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2016, 8:30 a.m.

REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2016, 5:30 p.m.

327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor

Continue reading →