Got a pipeline aimed at your house?
The county takes no responsibility.
And videos are good for juvenile court, but still not for the Commission.
Lots more; see below.
Here’s the agenda, with links to the videos and a few notes. See also the videos of the previous morning’s Work Session.
LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERSContinue reading
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, JUNE 24, 2013, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, JUNE 25, 2013, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor
You’re on your own if that pipeline company wants your property;
the county government chooses to stay completely out of it,
so said Lowndes County Chairman Bill Slaughter
at
the 25 June Regular Session of the Lowndes County Commission.
He read a prepared statement about a proposed natural gas pipeline.
Why the county couldn’t put it on their
website as a press release is mysterious.
I’ve added the links:
Lowndes County has been contacted by representatives of McKenna, Long, Aldridge law firm of Atlanta regarding a proposed project expected to impact property owners of Lowndes County.
Spectra Energy Company and its subsidiary, Sabal Trail Transmissions LLC anticipates construction of a 465 mile interstate natural gas pipeline from Anniston, Alabama extending through Georgia and coming through Lowndes County, terminating in Orlando, Florida.
This project is for the benefit of and is the responsibility of Florida Power and Light. Lowndes County has been Continue reading
Hm, if video saves the county all this money,
how about video of the County Commission’s own meetings to
save the public money keeping track of what the Commission is up to?
7.h. Video Arraignment for Juvenile and Magistrate Court
IT Director Aaron Kostyu said at the 25 June Regular Session of the Lowndes County Commission:
As discussed yesterday morning, this is the video arraignment solution for the magistrate juvenile court. This solution will save tens of thousands of dollars a year for staffing and transportation that will not be required. It will save us quite a bit of money, and time as well. This solution will allow for the video presentation, signature, and certification of warrants and the carrying out of video arraignments and first appearances as well for Magistrates and Juvenile. And this will benefit the Magistrate Court, Juvenile Court, and all the local law enforcement agencies. As noted yesterday, the city of Valdosta is awaiting your approval, and they will purchase a portion of this to go in their facilities as well that will allow them to speak in the video warrants portion.
Commissioners had no questions. County Manager Joe Pritchard recommended Continue reading
Didn’t know the county had a bus system?
It does; you can call
316-2153 and they’ll pick you up for a flat fee.
The county’s contract with the state Department of Transportation
and with the contractor
MIDS, Inc. was reapproved
at
the 25 June Regular Session of the Lowndes County Commission.
7.b. Section 5311 Rural Transportation Operating Contracts
The contract is with GADOT, and the contractor is MIDS, Inc. Per Commissioner Joyce Evans’ request of the previous morning, County Engineer Joe Pritchard said there had been 12,322 trips with six buses over the past 5 months.
The County Engineer referred to some discussion of the previous morning, The Engineer said the federal government put in the first $220,000, and while the county had to pick up any shortfalls, there have been no shortfalls over the past twelve years. This is different from County Manager Joe Pritchard’s answer of the previous morning that it “has been budgeted”. At least staff managed to come up with budget detail after being asked in public by Commissioners. No questions. Unanimous approval.
Here’s Part 1 of 2:
Continue reading
The road previously known as Corbett or George, part of which may or may not have been closed at some previous data, was renamed to Caney Branch Road after a creek that flows into the Alapahoochee River, at the 25 June Regular Session of the Lowndes County Commission.
6.1. Public Hearing Renaming George Road (CR #105)
This time County Engineer Mike Fletcher said the residents
wanted to rename George Road to be Caney Branch Road after
Caney Branch, “a small creek that runs through this area, localized”.
because
EMS, 911, and postal services have an issue with locating the correct houses because there are two George Roads in Lowndes County.
He referred to the previous morning, when Commissioner Crawford Powell wanted to know Continue reading
The political appointee was replaced by a librarian,
and the marketing guy by a marketing guy,
at
the 25 June Regular Session of the Lowndes County Commission.
5.a. Lowndes County Library Board
Back
on June 10th
Library Director Kelly Lenz brought
candidates
Jack Hartley, Linda Most, and Matt Lawrence,
who spoke, and
at the June 24th Work Session
Commissioner Joyce Evans submitted the name of Mr. Robert Jefferson,
who did not speak.
This time County Manager Joe Pritchard mumbled behind his monitor and did not deign to name any of the candidates, referring to “a list” that Commissioners could see but the public could not. He did say that the openings were for the board slots previously occupied by Kay Harris and Ray Devery.
Previous political appointee Kay Harris
failed to get the new library at Five Points approved
in
last year’s failed SPLOST VII vote
and
resigned as Library Board Chair and from that board 15 March 2013.
Here are
some related points she never seemed to discuss.
And while she and the County Commission and the Valdosta City Council
and Mayor pointed fingers about who lost SPLOST, Continue reading
I recommend people go to
tonight’s budget “hearing”
and see what’s said, and maybe even try to ask some questions.
I’m staying home; here’s why.
Since
Ashley Paulk is apparently still running the County Commission,
I’m going by
Ashley Paulk’s stated theory
that citizens provide input to the budget process at every meeting.
I already provided mine
14 May 2013: Continue reading
Tonight you can go be told what the county’s budget will be,
5PM at the county palace.
If you want to see the proposed budget,
you’ll have to go their beforehand and view the one paper
copy they are
required by law to show you.
They say they’re short of money,
so why are they
wasting taxpayer funds suing a legitimate business?
On the county’s online calendar: Budget Public Hearing (6/18/2013)
PUBLIC NOTICE
The Lowndes County Board of Commissioners will hold a public hearing for the purpose of considering
the Fiscal Year 2014 proposed budget on the following dates:
June 18, 2013 at 5:30 p.m.
June 25, 2013 at 5:00 p.m.
Location:
Lowndes County Commission Chambers
327 N. Ashley St.
Valdosta, GA
A copy of the proposed budget is available for public review in the office of the County Clerk.
For questions please call 671-2400.
Kay Harris wrote for the VDT 19 June 2013, Lowndes County facing budget woes,
Continue readingThree unscheduled candidates for the Lowndes County Library Board set examples for informative applications to an appointed board.
At the
10 June 2013 Work Session
the Chairman did clearly say library board appointments were not on the agenda
but would be at their next meeting.
He didn’t define “next meeting”, but he meant two weeks later,
when it is indeed
on the agenda for this morning and tomorrow evening.
Back two weeks ago,
South Georgia Regional Library Director Kelly Lenz
said two nominees were present for two vacant positions.
Then she named three people: Jack Hartley, Linda Most, and Matt Lawrence.
Jack Hartley’s LinkedIn profile says he is “Franchsie Owner of Home Instead Senior Care, Valdosta, Georgia”. He said: Continue reading