Videos: Naylor Boat Ramp, approval limits, CALEA, personal care home @ LCC 2018-09-10

News about the Naylor Boat Ramp in an Engineering Projects Report! Chad McLeod also reported about the 911 center, the North Lowndes Soccer Complex, the fire warehouse classroom, the animal shelter, and the courthouse renovation project, all still to be completed from SPLOST VII funds, which run out next year. Even with that three-and-a-half-minute special engineering report, the whole meeting took ten minutes Monday morning.

Also not on the agenda, HR has a new employee. Also there will be a new traffic signal.

Should the County Manager and the Finance Director be able to approve Continue reading →

Videos: fire truck, radios and phones, Hahira annexation, prison details @ LCC 2018-08-14

The most exciting thing last month was the new fire truck, on display outside, seen here driving off with its lights flashing:

Lights flashing, Fire Truck
See LAKE video.

This was the most recent Regular Session, because the Lowndes County Commission meetings for the end of August were cancelled.

County Manager Joe Pritchard again said he wanted higher staff approval limits for items in the budget. There was some question about campaign contributions on the Hahira rezoning and annexation; they didn’t know, but they approved it anyway. The longest discussion was on the Intrado phone system, which will have Lowndes County be the first south of Atlanta with text to 911. A suprising number of and variety of Commissioner questions on the 911 radios. The only question on the three utilities items was whether they were in the budget; they are. As usual, they rubberstamped the three Valdosta State Prison work details, with the only question being whether they were getting enough for the money. A: Yes, because prisoners work cheap.

Below are Continue reading →

CALEA, personal care home, and county manager approval limit @ LCC 2018-09-10

Should the County Manager and the Finance Director be able to approve 2.5 times as much in dollar value on budgeted items as they currently can?

Also a rezoning to reconfigure for two parcels and another to permit personal care homes, plus a 911 CALEA Re-Accreditation Presentation are on the agenda for 8:30 AM this morning at the Work Session and tomorrow evening’s voting Regular Session.

2015-03-09 rezoning for Stovall property

The rezoning REZ-2018-16 Stovall, 6002 N. Oak St. Ext. to permit personal care homes is “as a result of a potential buyer’s interest in developing the property into an assisted living facility”. This same Tuesday, the same property is on ZBOA’s agenda for a variance on the buffer condition.

The 2015-03-10 agenda for the earlier rezoning from R-21 to C-G, Well & Other did not say anything specifically about private care facilities, nor did the Continue reading →

Setbacks and family ties @ ZBOA 2018-09-11

ZBOA has on its agenda for Tuesday setbacks for the same Stovall property at 6002 N. Oak Street Ext., Valdosta, that is on the Lowndes County Commission agenda the same day for removal of the prohibition on personal care homes.

Stoval rezoning 2015-03-10

Plus a family ties variance in the county and a church setback in Valdosta.

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 11, 2018
2:30 p.m.

Continue reading →

Church, manufacturing, subdivisions, Hahira annexation @ GLPC 2018-08-27

The Hahira annexation and rezoning from the Lowndes County Commission meeting two weeks ago (and see comment below) was on the agenda for the Greater Lowndes Planning Commission (GLPC) last night, along with another subdivision, a church expansion, and some industry, in Valdosta and Lowndes County. I did not go, and Gretchen is out of the county, so there is no LAKE video.

You may ask yourself, as I do: why doesn’t the county video GLPC meetings? Or the city of Valdosta? Both have the facilities to do so.

Hahira annexation and rezoning HA-2018-03, HA-2018-02
On the LAKE website, Hahira annexation and rezoning HA-2018-03, HA-2018-02.

LAKE received this comment yesterday on the Hahira case:

Here is more info on this project which I am proud to bring to the community and which I believe will be a wonderful addition to it that all will feel proud to have. It ties into the community roots, it honors those that came before, and it meets a need today in north Lowndes County and does so in a wall all can feel proud of. I am a concerned citizen like anyone else and that is a big part of why I have gone out of my way with my engineer and planners to create something not only compliant, but that goes well above the line to bring something truly beautiful, that reflects both my family and my community in a way I can hold my up about when I walk around the community. Thank you for your interest. Sincerely, Chris Connell http://www.mcnealestates.com

LAKE does not have a position on this case. We will be happy to publish other comments for or against.

Greater Lowndes Planning Commission
Lowndes County City of Valdosta City of Dasher City of Hahira City of Lake Park
REGULAR MONTHLY MEETING
AGENDA
Monday, August 27, 2018 * 5:30 P.M. * Public Hearing
Lowndes County South Health District Administrative Office
325 West Savannah Avenue

Continue reading →

No Lowndes County Commission meetings this week @ LCC 2018-08-27

Apparently due to lack of agenda items: Lowndes County website News Flash, 21 August 2018, Commission Meetings Cancelled- August 27/28, 2018,

The Lowndes County Commission Meetings scheduled for Monday, August 27, 2018, at 8:30 am and Tuesday, August 28, 2018, at 5:30 pm, have been cancelled.

-jsq

Investigative reporting costs money, for open records requests, copying, web hosting, gasoline, and cameras, and with sufficient funds we can pay students to do further research. You can donate to LAKE today!

Lowndes County rolled back millage @ LCC 2018-08-17

As Lowndes County Finance Director Stephanie Black always reminds everybody, of the total 8.814 county millage, 1 mil goes to the Development Authority, and 1.25 mils to Valdosta-Lowndes Parks and Recreational Authority. Here is a table from the PDF of her presentation slides.

Property Tax Example
City of Valdosta ResidentUnincorporated Resident
Property Value$200,000$200,000
Assessed Value (40%)$80,000$80,000
Homestead Exemption$(6,000)$(6,000)
Net Taxable Base$74,000$74,000
Tax Calculation:
Lowndes County — 8.814 PY 8.974$652$652
Development Authority — 1.00$74$74
Parks
& Recreation Authority — 1.25$93$93
Lowndes County Schools — 16.541 PY 16.839$1,224
City of Valdosta — 8.001 PY 8.001$592
Valdosta City Schools — 16.980 PY 16.980$1,257
Total Estimated Taxes$2,668$2,043

Since she made that table, Valdosta actually lowered its millage to 7.916, which in the above example would mean $50.32 less per year, for an example of how little difference these minor millage rollbacks or increases actually mean to taxpayers. The Valdosta Board of Education wants to increase its tax rate (but not its millage).

Last year the Lowndes County Commission voted on the millage during a Regular Session, Tuesday, August 22, 2017.

This year Continue reading →

Homerville, GA pipeline explosion 2018-08-17

A pipeline much smaller than Sabal Trail destroyed a business in Homerville, Georgia yesterday.

Coffee Corner demolished, Homerville, GA, Picture
Photo: GA Insurance and Fire Commissioner, of Coffee Corner demolished, Homerville, GA.

So small the U.S. agency supposedly responsible for safety doesn’t even show it in its maps. A pipeline is owned by Southern Company, and apparently originates on my property, starting from another pipeline half-owned by Southern Company.

That SONAT pipeline in 2014 was snagged by a dirt road ditch puller, sending a plume of dust 300 feet into the air. If there had been a spark, people I’ve known all my life might not have had homes to go back to.

So why does Sabal Trail claim its 500-mile-long IED is safe? And why is Southern Company wasting our resources and risking our safety by buying into pipelines while ramping down its new investments in solar power?

Brunswick Daily News, 17 August 2018, The Latest: Leaking gas blamed for coffee shop explosion, Continue reading →

Hahira annexation, Orvis McNeal Estate, 2018-08-01 @ LCC 2018-08-14

The board packet materials for the proposed Hahira annexation and rezoning of the Orvis McNeal Estate on US 41 at the north edge of Hahira are on the LAKE website. Sabrina Denson sent them at 2:18 PM today. All I asked for was before the County Commission meeting today, so this is what County Clerk Paige Dukes agreed to do when I asked her yesterday morning.

[Tax Parcels Aerial]
Tax Parcels Aerial
PDF

Or is it? The agenda “Amended Aug 13, 2018 9:04 AM” has both the annexation and rezoning in item 6.k, and another item 6.l about extraterritorial water and sewer. Nothing was received from the county about Continue reading →

Videos: Surprise Hahira annexation items @ LCC 2018-08-13

County Manager Joe Pritchard said he had two new agenda items for tomorrow night, both to do with a proposed annexation by Hahira. County Chairman Bill Slaughter said he atteneded the recent Hahira City Council meeting where that annexation was discussed, which was last Thursday, so I don’t follow why this wasn’t on the Lowndes County Commission agenda Friday with all the other items.

7. Reports â?? County Manager: two new agenda items about a Hahira annexation, Joe Pritchard, County Manager

A new voice was heard for Planning on Continue reading →