Here are videos of last month’s event organized by
VDT editor Jim Zachary, director of the Transparency Project of Georgia,
and Holly Manheimer, director of the Georgia First Amendment Foundation,
adding to
the still picture we already posted.
Category Archives: Lowndes County Commission
Opposes Sabal Trail pipeline in any portion of Lowndes County –Lowndes County Commission
Escalating from the Chairman’s letter of 11 April 2014, perhaps after listening to requests from citizens, the Lowndes County Commission passed a resolution wanting no part of Sabal Trail in the county or in the state of Georgia.
Update 2014-11-25: Well, according to Joe Adgie in the Valdosta Daily Times today, “Even though the missive has already been mailed [to FERC], the resolution will not be formally voted on until the county commission’s next meeting in December [9th].”
Filed with FERC in docket CP15-17 on 21 November 2014 as Accession Number: 20141121-5242, but that was a Friday and FERC doesn’t work on weekends, so it actually appeared Monday 24 November 2014.
RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, Spectra Energy of Houston, Texas has proposed to build a $3.7 Billion, 460mile natural gas line known as Sabal Trail, and;
WHEREAS, The Lowndes County Board of Commissioners has concerns regarding personal property rights Continue reading
LAKE in the VDT @ LCC 2014-11-21
First time ever the VDT mentioned LAKE, so far as I can recall.
And we’ll see if the new VDT editor’s honeyed approach works this
time with the Lowndes County Commission.
Joe Adgie, VDT, 23 November 2014, Watchdogs use open government laws to the fullest,
Not everyone at the Open Government Symposium on Friday were affiliated with a government.
Some of them, like John and Gretchen Quarterman, serve as watchdogs for the government. These watchdogs attend the open, public meetings held by governing bodies, acquire the documents and records of these meetings and other governmental affairs, and serve to make sure our local governments behave like they should.
The Quartermans run the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE), a repository of Continue reading
Lake Park R-P, Lowndes County C-G, Valdosta R-M @ GLPC 2014-11-24
Thanks to the City of Valdosta for the agenda for tonight’s Planning Commission meeting. It’s all small cases, but how would you know whether one of them might affect you, since Lowndes County still doesn’t post Planning Commission agendas or minutes or board packets? And is there a second page? If the county did post these agendas regularly on their own website, this sort of omission would be less likely to occur.
Greater Lowndes Planning CommissionContinue readingLowndes 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 AvenueMonday, November 24, 2014* 5:30 P.M. * Public Hearing
Volunteers for Lowndes County Board of Equalization
Update 2014-11-21: Brad Shealy from the District Attorney’s office called back. The reason there was no decision at day before yesterday’s Grand Jury meeting was there were no applicants. He said qualifications include you must be 18, a high school graduate, and a property owner, presumably meaning real estate. Plus you have to go to Tifton or Athens for a 40 hour course. Which he said is better than it used to be when the only location for the course was Athens: Tifton is close enough to drive up and back daily. If you want to serve, please contact the Clerk of Court (see below for her number).
When will new members be appointed to the Board of Equalization, who are the candidates, and how are people to know? Maybe you’d like to volunteer. If so, send your resume to the Clerk of Court (not the County Clerk). Apparently you have about two weeks.
As public comment on facebook by Becky Vaughn Herndon today:
Lowndes County is looking for volunteers to be members of the Board of Equalization (BOE). The purpose of the BOE is to hear property tax disputes between the Lowndes County Board of Assessors (BOA) and property owners. The board must not be biased towards the Lowndes County Assessor’s office or the taxpayer. It hears evidence from both sides and decides, based on the evidence presented, what the value of the contested property should be. The board may:
- Find the Continue reading
Board Packet @ LCC 2014-11-11
Here is the board packet for the 11 November 2014 Regular Session and 10 November 2014 Work Session of the Lowndes County Commission.
Although the County Clerk once again provided this packet only on paper
and only in black and white, we got via CD-ROM color maps for
REZ-2014-17 Grand Bay Estates
and
REZ-2014-18 White
from County Planner Jason Davenport in response to a separate Open Records Request.
The request to the County Clerk also asked for
electronic copy, but once again she chose not to honor that part of the request.
But who can say? Perhaps things will be different after the Open Government Symposium this Friday, 21 November 2014.
Meanwhile, I have already filed an Open Records Request for the board packet for the next County Commission meeting, which is in December.
-jsq
Open Government Symposium @ LCC 2014-11-21
Not the Onion: VDT front page Saturday 15 November 2014, County plans open government meeting Friday,
VALDOSTA — An Open Government Symposium this Friday in Valdosta will be hosted by the Lowndes County Board of Commissioners.
Valdosta Daily Times Editor Jim Zachary, director of the Transparency Project of Georgia, will be joined by Hollie Manheimer, executive director of the Georgia First Amendment Foundation, for the open government training event.
Lowndes County leaders approached Zachary and Manheimer about bringing the symposium to Valdosta after they attended the first in a statewide series of open government training sessions held in Macon at the Center for Collaborative Journalism Oct. 17.
The article noted that Commissioner Clay Griner was among the attendees at the previous symposium in Macon and had asked for this local meeting.
All the events are Continue reading
Pass a resolution against the Sabal Trail pipeline –Michael Noll @ LCC 2014-11-11
Repeat speaker Dr. Michael Noll asked the Commissioners
to do what Dougherty County has done and pass a resolution
against the unnecessary and hazardous Sabal Trail pipeline,
in
the 11 November 2014 Lowndes County Commission Regular Session.
Video. Like the previous speaker, Dr. Noll asked everyone there about this topic to stand up, and about 30 people did. Continue reading
People are concerned and you have a voice –Robbie Dixon @ LCC 2014-11-11
A first-time speaker against the Sabal Trail pipeline
demonstrated there was opposition and reminded us all we have
a voice, and asked the Lowndes County Commission to speak up as well,
in
the 11 November 2014 Lowndes County Commission Regular Session.
Video. Robbie Dixon said he had been approached by their contractors asking to reroute the pipeline onto his property, which would take about half his property. He asked anybody in the audience who was there about Sabal Trail to stand up. About 30 people did. He said he did that because there are a lot of rumors that only a few people were concerned. He said there was no local benefit to landowners, and any potential tax benefit to the county shouldn’t be considered without consideration of the ill effects to landowners. Continue reading
Agriculture or residential: Whitewater compromise @ LCC 2014-11-11
The county staff and Commission listened at length to opponents and proponents of a rezoning back to agriculture with no conditions, and came up with a compromise, in the 11 November 2014 Lowndes County Commission Regular Session. It’s curious to me that people are more concerned about a few cows of very minimal effect, rather than about a yard-wide pipeline that could adversely affect the whole county.
7.b. Public Hearing REZ-2014-18 White, Whitewater Rd
Video. Here’s the board packet item, thanks to County Planner Jason Davenport in response to an open records request. In response to a question from Commissioner Demarcus Marshall he said he though the Planning Commission 6 to 0 recommendation for denial would have been different if Continue reading