Category Archives: Valdosta City Council

Valdosta Farm Days starts today

9AM to 1PM Valdosta Farm Days at the old Lowndes County Courthouse, first and third Saturdays, starting today.

City of Valdosta Pr 24 April 2014, Downtown Valdosta Welcomes Back Farm Days,

On market Saturdays, vendors offer a variety of goods for sale such as locally-grown, locally-raised, locally-produced fruits and vegetables, plants, herbs, meats, farm-fresh eggs and dairy products, organic produce, baked and prepared foods, snacks and coffee. Patrons will also find a variety of artisan and natural products including products made from recycled goods, birdhouses, handmade soaps and body products, candles, and honey products. Those who arrive early to shop have the advantage of beating the heat and getting the best picks of the season.

The market also serves as a venue to educate the community on healthy local options. Cooking demonstrations and Continue reading →

One Hahira rezoning and annexation and Two Valdosta Conditional Use Permits @ GLPC 2014-04-28

It seems unlikely the Hahira rezoning and annexation will go anywhere tonight, due to the Lowndes County Commission letter of objection of 22 April 2014, even though that may be based on a misunderstanding. Hm, somebody wants to establish a recycling center. And Langdale Ford wants to establish a minor automotive repair facility.

Here’s the agenda, which arrived as a PDF actually convertable to text!

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, April 28, 2014* 5:30 P.M. * Public Hearing

Continue reading →

Board appointments by Lowndes County

Here’s Lowndes County’s list of Boards, Agencies & Commissions. Unfortunately, unlike Valdosta’s list, most of the names in the county’s list have no links to further information, and there’s no indication of which positions might be open or how to apply for them.

Update: 4:30 PM 24 April 2014: And there’s the Board of Elections which is decided by a completely different process with a quicker deadline of 28 April 2014.

We do know there’s a vacancy on the Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority (VLCIA), which presumably will be filled after the upcoming Special Election May 20th, but the county has given no indication of when. The only way the county usually announces open positions is when they appear on the County Commission’s agenda, which usually shows up online Friday for voting on Tuesday. For example, the county has appointed: Continue reading →

You can apply to serve on a board or commission

You can apply to be appointed by Valdosta to a local board or authority that decides or recommends on issues that affect everyone: do interesting work and serve your community. Dealine: April 30th. You don’t even have to live in Valdosta: anybody in Lowndes County can apply. If you want to run for a city council or county commission seat someday, this is a good way to start. And if you want to run for the state legislature or higher office, that’s the most common path to get there.

Update: 4:30 PM 24 April 2014: And there’s the Board of Elections which is decided by a completely different process with a quicker deadline of 28 April 2014.

Winnie Wright wrote for WCTV 23 April 2014, City Of Valdosta Looking To Fill 15 Vacancies In Boards, Authorities, and Commissions, Continue reading →

Sewage into the Withlacoochee again –WCTV

Although the Withlacoochee Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) didn’t overflow in the rains earlier this week, and apparently not yesterday, either, there were manhole sewage overflows then and according to the Florida Department of Health there were similar overflows yesterday, from Valdosta into the Withlacoochee River.

WCTV posted yesterday a News Release: Florida Department of Health,

TALLAHASSEE- The Florida Department of Health today issued an advisory to residents in counties surrounding the Withlacoochee and the downstream Suwannee River. The City of Valdosta has reported a spill, made up of a combination of storm water and untreated sewage, that has overflowed into the One-Mile Branch, Two-Mile Branch, Sugar Creek and Cherry Creek which flow into the Withlacoochee River. Lab test results received April 18, 2014, indicate higher than normal levels of fecal coliform bacteria in the river waters.

Oddly, there doesn’t seem to be anything about this on the city of Valdosta’s own website yet, but no doubt there will be. More in later posts about what that.

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Valdosta sewage PR reaches Florida

Valdosta sure has an effective PR mechanism, famous all the way to Florida again, for the second time this month. Most cities wouldn’t think to dump stuff into the river to get in the news! But Valdosta buried the solution at the end of a traditional press release:

“The city has planned, designed and bid a force main project and will award a $32 million contract in May that will prevent the majority of these overflows from occurring in the future.”

That would be one of the projects Valdosta will use the $36.7 million GEFA loan to fund. Other projects are related to the Withlacoochee Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP), which wasn’t the culprit this time. This sewer spill came from manholes overflowing.

Winnie Wright wrote for WCTV yesterday, Over 1 Million Gallons Of Wastewater Spills Into Local Waterways,

The Florida Department of Public Health is warning residents to avoid contact with water from the Withlacoochee River.

Continue reading →

Manhole overflows –City of Valdosta

Maybe that SPLOST money will build that force main and stop this. Meanwhile, they don’t call it Sugar Creek for nothing. And Twomile Branch flows into Sugar Creek, which flows into the Withlacoochee River, which flows into the Suwannee River through Florida into the Gulf of Mexico. Today we’ll probably see stories from Florida about river water warnings.

Winnie Wright wrote for WCTV 18 March 2014, National Flood Preparedness Week Comes to Valdosta, Along With The Rain,

It’s pretty ironic that National Flood Preparedness Week has come right alongside 5 inches of rain in South Georgia, but for residents of Valdosta who remember the flood of 2009, that much rain can be a real problem if you don’t have flood insurance.

“Many people don’t realize that flood is not covered in their homeowners policy. It’s important to know what is and isn’t covered in your homeowners policy”, says Christi Marsh, a State Farm Agent based in Valdosta.

Winnie Wright reports homeowner Carrie Eager found flood insurance preferable to evacuating by boat like before.

Continue reading →

Government 101 deadline extended by City of Valdosta

Remember, you don’t have to live in Valdosta to apply! Plus now high school seniors can apply (with conditions; see below).

City of Valdosta PR today, Deadline for Government 101 Extended,

The deadline to apply for the 5th annual Government 101 Citizens Orientation Program has been extended to March 21.

Citizens who are considering a career or public service role in local government, or who just want an inside look at the services provided by the city departments, are encouraged to enroll. The program will meet on six consecutive Mondays, from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m., beginning April 7, 2014, in various facilities of the city.

A maximum of 25 people will be selected for the class from citizens who submit a completed application by the March 21 deadline and pass the required background checks. This year the program has been modified to include up to five high school seniors who have a parent or legal guardian also enrolled in the program.

Citizens may pick up an application at Valdosta City Hall, at the city’s Customer Service Center, or may download the application form at Continue reading →

Valdosta City Council member Tim Carroll files with FERC

Tim Carroll, District 5, has filed a request based on property rights and water issues for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to deny the Sabal Trail Transmission methane pipeline that Spectra Energy wants to run through Lowndes County. Here’s the letter: Property rights and water: please deny the Sabal Trail methane pipeline –Tim Carroll, Valdosta City Council, 5th District

Valdosta is the county seat of Lowndes County, Georgia, and at least one landowner with land in the path of that proposed pipeline lives in the City of Valdosta in Council Carroll’s district.

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Florida tired of Valdosta’s WWTP spills

Once again, Valdosta famous into Florida again for wastewater spill, and Florida residents are tired of it.

WCTV 1 March 2014, Georgia Spill Leads To Warning In Florida

[Matt] Meersman and his friends enjoy visiting the Suwannee River to train for canoe races. According to the City of Valdosta, heavy rains have caused about 7.5 million gallons of highly treated waste water to wash into the Withlacoochee River, which connects to the Suwannee. Signs are posted around the Suwannee River State Park to let people know about the possible dangers of swimming in the water.

“When it’s impacted by stuff like this, it makes it hard on us to think about it as the pristine place that we like to think of it as,” said Meersman.

Meersman says there are other rivers around the area they can practice on in the meantime, but he says he’s tired of the spills.

“It’s bad enough Continue reading →