Tag Archives: Alcohol

More developer favors at the County Commission Work Session this morning? @ LCC 2012-12-10

At the 8:30 AM Work Session this morning, will the Chairman

Clint Joyner and J.D. Yeager of Joyner Realty
Clint Joyner (speaking) and J.D. Yeager (seated on right)
of Joyner Realty at LCC Work Session 2012-11-12

invite Clint Joyner of Joyner Realty to speak like he did last month, without inviting anybody else? Will Chairman Ashley Paulk invite J.D. Yeager of Joyner Realty (and formerly Sheriff Paulk’s lieutenant at the Sheriff’s office) to speak? That plus solid waste (if privatization is bad for Moody, why is it good for a county public health and safety service like solid waste collection?), Dollar General (where’s the marketing plan to indicate whether tiny Naylor needs the area’s nineteenth Dollar General?), Library, (Houston County’s SPLOST passed in a landslide after they held public hearings; maybe Lowndes County should try that), and Alcohol (county staff say they’re coalescing previous changes into the body of the ordinance), all at the Lowndes County Commission Work Session this morning; here’s the agenda.

When he spoke 12 November 2012, Clint Joyner started by referring to a nearby subdivision “In 2007”. 2007 was the year Mr. Joyner got (according to the Commission’s minutes of 26 June 2007) $130,000 in road construction labor from the Commission because of “an unforeseen Department of Transportation requirement regarding a costly intersection improvement.” Why couldn’t the County Engineer or Mr. Joyner forsee such a requirement?

This time many people do forsee that rezoning to develop in the Moody Activity Zones would be a bad idea. Houston County is using state and local tax money to buy up houses in similar zones around Warner Robins Air Force Base. Doubtless Houston County would love it if Lowndes County encroached enough on Moody AFB that Moody’s missions moved to Robins AFB.

-jsq

Changes to the alcohol ordinance @ LCC 2012-12-10

Being curious about the changes to the alcohol ordinance, I had the opportunity to talk with a county staff member who said that the changes were to incorporate recent amendments regarding brown bagging, social hosts (serving alcohol at private events to underage drinkers), and the Sunday package sales into the body of the ordinance, rather than having those items as amendments to the document. Also, the setting of the license fees for Sunday sales will be established (from the referendum that passed 59.80% to 40.20%).

-gretchen

Solid Waste, Developer Favors, Dollar General, Library, and Alcohol: Agenda @ LCC 2012-12-10

Updates 9 Dec 2012: Marked with *.

Will the Lowndes County Commission Tuesday evening finish railroading through their non-solution to solid waste disposal, without shouldering its legal responsibility to protect the environment and the public health, safety, and well-being from solid waste, and what’s this about a vendor change? Will the Chairman once again invite a developer to speak in Monday morning’s Work Session without letting anyone else speak? Will the Commission change the zoning code and rezone inside and against the Moody Exclusion Zone for that same developer they already provided $130,000 in road construction labor to back in 2007? Does Naylor need the area’s nineteenth Dollar General, and who’s behind it, anyway? How come the Five Points library is still on the agenda even though SPLOST VII failed? And what are they doing to the Alcoholic Beverage Ordinance this time? Come Monday morning at 8:30 AM and Tuesday evening at 5:30 PM and see! Better yet, also call or write your Commissioner before then.

Trash

6.b. Solid Waste Ordinance

Will the Commissioners finish railroading through their already-failing non-solution to solid waste disposal in the last session of this Chairman? The plan for which they held zero public hearings while any of the Commissioners who voted on it this October were on the Commission, yet someone down there feels free to anonymously ridicule concerns about that plan failing? Two citizens spoke up anyway, even though Citizens Wishing to Be Heard was after the scheduled vote last time, and another on this blog, all willing to state their names, unlike the anonymous pro-trash-railroad ridiculer. What was that unspecified new information that caused them to table it last time, anyway?

8.b. Exclusive Franchise Agreement for Residential Solid Waste Collection Services with Advanced Disposal Services of Central Alabama, Inc.

What happened to Veolia; Continue reading →

Alcohol at the corner store? @ GLPC 2012-10-29

The old store at the corner of GA 122 and Cat Creek Road was the subject of debate over alcohol at the Planning Commission’s 29 October 2012 Regular Session. Here’s a playlist.

This was the rezoning item:

4. REZ-2012-16 Cook County Land Ventures
SW corner of Georgia Highway 122 East and Cat Creek Road, Hahira
Request to rezone ~2 acres from E-A (Estate Agriculture) to C-C (Crossroads Commercial)

County Planner Jason Davenport said the owner wants commercial zoning for a store, since previous conditional use had expired, and there was concern about prohibiting alcohol, especially if Continue reading →

Congratulations Dexter Sharper, Demarcus Marshall, Chris Prine, and Justin Cabral!

Congratulations to Valdosta’s new state rep for District 177 Dexter Sharper who won by 67% to 33% over opponent Glenn Gregory, who fought a spirited and clean campaign. I look forward to Representative Sharper meeting with the governor and working for our community without compromise under the gold dome in Atlanta.

I’ll come back to the other statehouse races in a separate post. Ditto the other statewide races. Meanwhile, congratulations to some local winners below.

Congratulations new Lowndes County Commissioner for District 4 Demarcus Marshall, winning 64.91% to 35.09% after spirited debate and much agreement with opponent John Gates. I look forward to Commissioner Marshall grappling with education, jobs, tourism, and personnel down at the county palace.

Congratulations on re-election, Lowndes County Sheriff Chris Prine! Challenger J.D. Yeager fought a good fight, but the voters said 63.53% to 36.47% they did not want to go back to the previous administration. I look forward to Sheriff Prine continuing to protect the safety of all the citizens of Lowndes County, including those in the cities.

Congratulations Solicitor General Justin Cabral on retaining your post 51.56% to 48.44%! Very honorable mention to challenger Jason Cain, who canvassed himself pretty close to winning.

Congratulations Joyce Evans Continue reading →

Most Early Voting Ever in Lowndes County, Georgia

Backed up onto the street More people have voted early in Lowndes County than ever before, with cars often backed up onto the street waiting to get into the Board of Elections.

Eames Yates wrote for WCTV Friday, Record Breaking Number of Early Voters in Lowndes County,

More people have now voted early in Lowndes County than any time in history. Sherrie Luther was voter 22,00[0]… People waiting to vote making her ballot the one that broke the previous record set four years ago.

In the 2008 presidential election, there were 45 days of early voting in Lowndes County. In this year’s election there were just 16 days. Nevertheless the record was broken.

Sherrie was rewarded

Continue reading →

Video Playlist @ LCC 2012-10-09

The big item at Tuesday’s Lowndes County Commission Regular Session was, same as at Monday’s Work Session, the waste management railroad, terminating in a decision. Other topics included citizen Karen Noll speaking against the charter school amendment.

Here’s the agenda with links to the videos and a few notes, or links to separate posts. Apologies for the poor sound on the first videos; we didn’t have the usual camera. Of course, if the Commission did its own videoing and posting, that problem would be unlikely to occur.

  1. Call to Order
  2. Invocation
  3. Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag
  4. Minutes for Approval
    1. Work Session — September 24, 2012
    2. Regular Session — September 25, 2012
  5. Public Hearing — REZ-2012-15 Glenn O’Neal, Pecan Plantation Rd. & US Hwy 84 W E-A to C-H, County Water & Septic, ~4.5 acres
  6. For Consideration
    1. Bevel Creek Lift Station Pump Repair
    2. Alapaha Waterline size Increase
    3. Beer License — Naylor’s Pantry — 8777 E. Hwy 135
    4. Refunding Revenue Bonds
    5. Solid Waste Management Request for Proposal
  7. Reports
    1. Community Planning Month Proclamation
      Plus recognition of two planners from Moody AFB.
    2. Employee Health Fair
    Chairman Ashley Paulk interjected not on the agenda
    • some comments about recently deceased former VSU president Hugh C. Bailey,
    • and noted the fire chief had a new fire truck, which was parked outside.
  8. Citizens Wishing to be Heard Please State Name And Address
    • Karen Noll spoke against the charter school amendment, saying it would implement taxation without representation Karen Noll @ LCC 2012-10-09 and would take more tax dollars from our public schools to give twice as much money to special charter school students.
    • Ken Klanicki never actually even approached the podium. After being asked by the chairman to come to the podium or leave the room, he wandered to the back of the room and was escorted out by a deputy sheriff. He called me by name as he left, but I have no idea what he was trying to accomplish. He called me later, but when I asked him that, he had no explanation.

Here’s a video playlist. It shifts from the first camera (good video, poor sound) to the second camera (video with no closeups, good sound) in the middle, when I arrived with the second camera. The rest of the first camera videos are tacked onto the end. Next time we’ll attempt to have the good camera.

Video Playlist
Regular Session, Lowndes County Commission (LCC),
Video by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE), Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 9 October 2012.

-jsq

 

Videos: Water, water, water, waste! and planning? @ LCC 2012-10-08

The big news was the waste disposal railroad, but the Lowndes County Commission also heard about three water issues (one a rezoning), plus a beer license, revenue bonds, community planning month, and a health fair at its Work Session this morning.

Here’s the agenda, with links to the videos and a few notes, or links to separate posts.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2012, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2012, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street — 2nd Floor
Continue reading →

A rezoning, wastewater pump repair, solid waste RFP, and community planning month @ LCC 2012-10-08

2974 Pecan Plantation Road A rezoning for well and septic, Bevel Creek is back with a lift station pump repair, and something about an Alapaha waterline: water, water, water. Plus a beer license, refunding revenue bonds, and the long-awaited waste management RFP. And an employee health fair, whatever that is, and apparently this is community planning month. All that at the Lowndes County Commission, Monday morning and Tuesday evening.

Here’s the agenda.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2012, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2012, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street — 2nd Floor
Continue reading →

Video Playlist @ LCC 2012-09-11

After briefly discussing or at least hearing items at the previous morning's Work Session, the Lowndes County Commission voted on them at its Regular Session of Tuesday 11 September 2012.

Here's the agenda, and the copy below has links to the corresponding videos or previous blog posts. Here's a video playlist.

  1. Call to Order
  2. Invocation
  3. Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag
  4. Minutes for Approval
    1. Work Session — August 13, 2012
    2. Regular Session — August 14, 2012
  5. Resolutions
    1. Adopt Resolution Appointing an Open Records Officer
    2. Resolution Regarding Review & Approval of Minutes of Executive Sessions
    3. Adopt Resolution accepting infrastructure for Glen Laurel Subdivision Phase II
    4. Adopt Resolution accepting infrastructure for Crestwood Subdivision Phase IV
  6. Appointment — Keep Lowndes/Valdosta Beautiful
  7. Public Hearings
    1. REZ-2012-12 Parker Place, 4842 Parker Place Rd., 0070 015; 3.4 ac., 3 lots, E-A to R-1, well/septic
    2. REZ-2012-14 Harris, 6926 Jones Dr., 0139 023, 6.8 ac., 1 lot, E-A to R-A, well/septic
    3. TXT-2012-01 — Primary Intent: Appendix A Land Disturbance & Clean Version of ULDC
    4. Public Hearing Renaming Sandy Creek Drive (CR #1118)
    5. Beer License — Lin's Hibachi — 1078 Lakes Blvd.
  8. For Consideration
    1. Letter of Understanding — Bond Refunding
    2. USGS Funding Agreement for HWY 122 Stream Gauge
    3. Section 5311 Rural Transportation Program Operating Contracts
    4. Declaration of Surplus Vehicles
    5. Brown Bag Ordinance
  9. Bid – Rescue Pumper for Lowndes County Fire Rescue
  10. Reports-County Manager
  11. Citizens Wishing to be Heard Please State Name And Address

-jsq