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
Category Archives: Transportation
Monday August 10th deadline to appeal tax valuations –VLCoC
Valdosta-Lowndes County Chamber of Commerce members just got a message from Bruce Allred, Government Affairs Council Chairman, saying:
MONDAY IS DEADLINE TO APPEAL PROPERTY TAX ASSESSMENTS!
You can look up your property on the Tax Assessors’ website: www.qpublic.net/ga/lowndes.
See also the LAKE Videos: Rural revaluation meeting at Farm Bureau 2015-08-04.
That Chamber message includes this useful information: Continue reading
County and news media digging deeper on Shiloh sinkhole story
Will nearby buildings fall into this 120-foot sinkhole?
Will Shiloh Road have to be moved like Snake Nation Road was?
What about sinkhole insurance?
If there are “fault lines” causing sinkholes heading westwards in Lowndes County,
wouldn’t they cross the proposed path of the Sabal Trail fracked methane pipeline?
What will Lowndes County do if that thing goes in and a sinkhole opens under it?
What if Sabal Trail declares such a sinkhole force majeure and doesn’t pay?
More on the usual detour on Shiloh Road. Joe Adgie, VDT, 6 August 2015, Sinkhole threat to Shiloh Road, Continue reading
Videos: Rural revaluation meeting at Farm Bureau 2015-08-04
See for yourself the Tax Assessor response to local landowners, in these
LAKE videos of
last night’s meeting at Farm Bureau.
Do you think there’s a problem?
If so, what do you think we should do to fix it?
The attendees appointed Gretchen to take notes. Here are her notes, followed by the videos.
Accessibility is not about access, it’s about geographic location…. That was done by one of our appraisers on staff. —Chief Appraiser Silas Hrobar
Rural and commercial land owners got surprises in the mail in July when they received the updated assessments of their properties. Lowndes County Assessors engaged a contractor last year to help with the reassessments of approximately 10,000 properties. Rural properties were categorized as small (under 20 acres) and large (over 20 acres) but complaints were the same, inconsistent and confusing application of criteria.
On Tuesday evening, Farm Bureau hosted Continue reading
Rural revaluation meeting at Farm Bureau 2015-08-04
Are Bill Gates and subdivisions really more important than agriculture
or rivers or public transportation?
Come to Farm Bureau tomorrow evening
and find out what’s
going on with the rural land revaluation. facebook event.
When: 7PM, Tuesday, 4 August 2015
Where: 3296 Greystone Way, Valdosta, GA, (229) 242-7876
By: Farm Bureau board member Buddy Coleman called this meeting.
What: Compare the Comprehensive Plan to this revaluation here (PDF).
Sprawl: sprawling residential growth is a certain ticket to fiscal ruin (Or at least big tax increases). PDF of the report by UGA Prof. Jeffrey H. Dorfman Lowndes County paid for in 2007, The Local Government Fiscal Impacts of Land Use in Lowndes County.
Who: At least some of the Lowndes County Tax Assessors Continue reading
Videos: MAZ tabled + 2 small rezonings @ GLPC 2015-07-27
Once County Planner Jason Davenport admitted the
MAZ ULDC text amendments
weren’t ready (as he had indicated might happen at the same morning’s
County Commission Work Session),
and the Planning Commission recommended tabling it 4:1,
the meeting was very brief, even with the
SGRC Transportation presentation (which they weirdly heard after
adjourning the meeting, even though it was on the agenda).
The
David Brown Melody Lane rezoning
and the
Ron Borders Bemiss Road rezoning
flew through to 5:0 unanimous recommendations, with three Planning
Commissioners absent.
The county rezoning isn’t on the County Commission agenda yet, and they will probably table the ULDC MAZ item at its meeting 5:30 PM tonight.
See the Continue reading
MAZ again + 2 small rezonings @ GLPC 2015-07-27
Planning Commission agenda is finally on county’s website
after this morning’s Lowndes County Commission Work Session,
which included
an item saying “The current public hearing/meeting timeline
is as follows: July 27th GLPC and July 28th LCBOC.”
Is it a public meeting if there’s no public agenda until a few hours before?
Yes, the notorious TXT-2015-01 Moody Activity Zoning Districts (MAZ) ULDC text amendments are back on the GLPC agenda, along with two small rezonings. Plus an SGRC Transportation presentation.
Greater Lowndes Planning Commission
Continue reading
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, July 27, 2015 * 5:30 P.M. * Public Hearing
Rural tax revaluation: Bill Gates and subdivisions more important than agriculture and public transportation?
Does this
rural land revaluation map
resemble the
Comprehensive Plan Future Development map?
Why not?
And why were rivers and public transportation not considered either
by the Lowndes County Tax Assessors
while tracts with road frontage were considered the
“highest market area”
and
land purchases by Bill Gates
were considered
“benchmark sales” instrumental in pricing large tracts?
This rural land revaluation is yet another vehicle to drive development straight north into the agricultural areas of the county, not even stopping at the Withlacoochee River.
That way lies sprawl, which as Dr. Jeffrey H. Dorfman of UGA has said, “is a certain ticket to fiscal ruin* * Or at least big tax increases.”
The City of Valdosta better watch out! Much of this Continue reading
Transportation and electrical presentations plus officer elections @ VLCIA 2015-07-21
VLMPO’s Corey Hull presents today at 5:30 PM to the Valdosta Development Authority. 
Their agenda doesn’t say about what, but one can guess about the proposed studies for public transit and for trucking around Valdosta. Don’t forget to go to the VLMPO Open House on 2040 Transportation Vision tomorrow.
Electrical Test Labs of Georgia, located in Lake Park, will talk about themselves.
And the Authority will elect officers, which I predict will be the same ones they’ve got now since that’s what their nominating committee recommended last month, plus the bylaw amendment I predict will be Roy Copeland’s recommendation to extend officer terms to two years.
Valdosta-Lowndes Development Authority
Tuesday, July 21, 2015 5:30 p.m. Continue reading
Live Oak bus service starts Monday 2015-07-20
How come Live Oak (pop. 6,974) in Suwannee County (43,734), Florida can do
what mighty Valdosta (56,481) in Lowndes County (112,916), Georgia can’t?
Amber Vann, Suwannee Democrat, 17 July 2015, Live Oak bus route starts Monday,
The Suwannee Valley Transit Authority’s Live Oak bus route will begin operating on Monday, July 20, running continuously from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. throughout every direction of the city, Monday through Friday. The route’s unofficial stops include apartment complexes and other residential neighborhoods, public schools, grocery stores, parks, government offices, nursing homes, the library and the hospital.
The route starts at the intersection of Walker Avenue and US 90 West Continue reading