It’s a good thing the county held these first-ever (as far as I know)
comprehensive budget sessions.
Here are videos of the first day.
Most of the departments are asking for more money,
due to increased population and increased demand for services
during a period of economic downturn.
Something needs to be done, and these sessions are one step in
getting to doing something.
Here’s the agenda.
Lowndes County Sheriff Prine
talked about
Administration,
the
Jail,
the
Commissary,
and
Enforcement
at the
first day of Budget Presentations to the Lowndes County
Commission, 10 March 2014.
Like most other county-funded departments, he asked for more personnel.
The long squeeze of the economic downturn needs to be addressed somehow.
These videos show how the Sheriff proposes to address them.
Two
speakers about
the Sabal Trail pipeline,
one about
water issues under Moody Family Housing,
One
request to do something about speeding
(good luck),
a
recognition (firefighters),
a
proclamation (purple hearts),
and
an
award (budget),
one rezoning
withdrawn,
three
others
approved,
two contracts (bus system renewal
and
software master contract),
some but not all
streets accepted in Nelson Hill,
and no mention of the
Lake Park annexation request that took up at least five minutes the
previous morning.
For why John Page is no longer on the Commission, see the previous post with the agenda. Here’s the agenda again with links to the videos and a few notes. See also videos from the previous morning’s Work Session. And see also Lowndes County becomes third purple heart county in the state, by Matthew Woody, VDT, 12 March 2014.
LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERSContinue reading
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, MARCH 10, 2014, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, MARCH 11, 2014, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street — 2nd Floor
Water issues still need to be investigated and resolved under the proposed Moody Family Housing, said Dr. Michael Noll, presenting a public comment by him and two other VSU professors about the recent evironmental assessment to the 11 March 2014 Regular Session of the Lowndes County Commission.
Here’s the video:
Regular Session, Lowndes County Commission (LCC)
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 11 March 2014.
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE).
Appended is the text of the VSU professors’ letter, and here it is in PDF.
Continue reading
An unexpected concern about
limiting someone’s ability to expand his business
was expressed by
Lame Duck Commissioner Richard Raines, the same who
made the motion for the exclusive franchise for trash collection by
ADS, and who apparently (in executive session so we don’t know for sure)
voted twice to sue local business Deep South Sanitation.
They spent five or six minutes on
an annexation request by Lake Park that was not on the agenda,
even though they received it last week.
They vote tonight at 5:30 PM,
and don’t forget
the budget hearings continue all day today.
One road in the Nelson Hill subdivision wasn’t up to snuff and will be omitted from the adoption of infrastructure; that’s better than the county’s previous practice for that development of staff waivers with no public hearings. Plus four rezonings, one for a former County Commissioner and another for a community well for a development. And the annual contract renewal for the MIDS on-call bus system, plus a master software service contract.
See
Musical chairs in local qualifying for why John Page is no longer
a Commissioner and they already
removed his picture from the entryway.
There’s more about that in
the previous post with the agenda.
And here’s the agenda again with links to the videos and a few notes.
LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERSContinue reading
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, MARCH 10, 2014, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, MARCH 11, 2014, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street — 2nd Floor
Somebody took down a Commissioner picture from the
entry way to the Lowndes County Commission Chambers.
Could it be
this one?
He did show up briefly this afternoon to collect his stuff. Continue reading
You can go to the rest of the budget meeting, which is tomorrow.
Some time after this morning when I looked for it,
today’s
budget meeting
magically appeared on
the calendar
and in
Current Events
on the Lowndes County front page.
It shows most of the day tomorrow also as budget meetings.
And at 5:30PM tomorrow (Tuesday) there’s still the
County Commission Regular Session.
Plus in the middle of all that, the Airport Authority is having a Board Meeting at the Commission Chambers. Only a little more than a year ago, Continue reading
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After this morning’s Work Session, there’s an all-day budget meeting. All county departments, including constitutional officers, are reporting.
From Gretchen on the scene:
So far we have heard Board of Elections and Public Defender. Next up the Sheriff.
This is apparently not a public meeting, and there was no public notice that I can find. Apparently it was mentioned at the February retreat. Some candidates for County Commission are there, in addition to current Commissioners and staff.
You may wonder as I do why this is not a public meeting.
-jsq
With only four voting Commissioners left, and two of those
lame ducks, it should be an interesting set of Lowndes County
Commission meetings this week.
On the agenda is adoption of infrastructure for
the Nelson Hill subdivision;
the one with
all the waivers by staff with no public hearings.
Plus four rezonings, one for
a former County Commissioner
and another
for a community well for a development.
And the annual contract renewal for the
MIDS on-call bus system.
While the VDT headline yesterday said Political shuffle continues: County commissioner resigns to run for state Senate seat, actually former Commissioner John Page didn’t resign: he vacated his seat the moment he signed the qualifying papers to run for state Senator. That’s why the Board of Elections has already called a special election that Continue reading
