The longest item was not on the agenda: Special Recognition of Fire Rescue.
Second longest at two minutes was 7d. MOU with City of Remerton for Fire Inspection and Plan Review Services.
They’re adding to the agenda for voting Tuesday evening Carter Way emergency access. Maybe by then they’ll know Continue reading
On the agenda for this morning, with voting Tuesday evening, $18,250.00 of $73,000.00 to bore under US 84 for a water main to we don’t know who (see also LAKE videos of previous Regular session), and $7,500.00 paid in full by GDOT to close the CSX railroad crossing at Dasher-Johnson Road and to improve the crossing at Good Hope Road. Also final Public Hearing to abandon part of McLeod Road (see also previous Regular Session), first consideration of Abandonment of Doyle Kelly Road. Plus reappointment of attorney Karl Osmus to the Lowndes County Library Board, the three rezonings from the recent Planning Commission meeting, an MOU with City of Remerton to provide Fire Inspection and Plan Review Services, and Lowndes County Historic Courthouse Architect Selection, 4.5 years since the Courthouse Preservation Committee Meetings.
Gretchen is heading to the Commissioner meeting now with the LAKE video camera.
LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
Continue reading
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2019, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2019, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor
The two longest items were proclamations, for the
Teen Explosion Youth Action Group
and for
Telecommunications Week.
Everything else sailed through.
Below are links to each LAKE video, followed by a LAKE video playlist. See previous post for Continue reading
You can’t see the Special Presentation by Attorney Haynes Studstill on Opioid Litigation (Work Session) because Gretchen was not there with the LAKE video camera yesterday morning, and the agenda says it’s only in the Work Session. Lowndes County does video its own County Commission meetings, but they haven’t posted the video of that yet. Meanwhile, the City of Valdosta did decide to join a lawsuit against big pharma about opioid addiction. Another county legal item for tonight is FY2019 Juvenile Justice Incentive Grant Program Request for Proposals (RFP).
They’re doing an Update to the Lowndes County Thoroughfare Plan, which is for:
Road Map,
2009 Lowndes County Thoroughfare Plan.
HISTORY, FACTS AND ISSUES: The Lowndes County Board of Commissioners first adopted the Thoroughfare Plan in 1983. Since then, the Thoroughfare Plan has been revised numerous times Continue reading
They started with some words about Deputy Chris Butler and a moment of silence
(see VDT Obituary.
Then they plowed through
agenda.
Commissioner Demarcus Marshall did introduce a little levity by asking
if the drug testing for the MIDS bus service was just for the drivers.
Answer: yes.
On the dozen Sheriff pursuit vehicles bid, Commissioner Marshall also noted that a few years ago (they voted 25 March 2014 there was a similar bid of Cass Burch vs. Langdale Ford for which they had additional testimony. The excuse for picking Cass Burch even though once again not the low bid was that it was that the Burch price was still less than the state contract price, and maintenance would cost less. It’s refreshing to see them actually discussing bids. It’s curious they only ever seem to choose a bid that is not the lowest when it’s from Cass Burch.
The County Manager had no additional report to his no report of the previous morning.
There was one citizen wishing to be heard: Leslie Jacobs of Jacobs Ladder on 5866 Bradford Road North, in Continue reading
Why do they bother having Work Sessions at all, if they’re not going
to discuss anything?
Chairman Bill Slaughter,
who at the recent planning session said,
“Lowndes County is as transparent as we could possibly be,”
was absent.
Commissioner Demarcus Marshall, who argued at the planning session
for moving the Work Session to a time when citizens are not working,
also was not at the Work Session as usual, I hear because he works
during the day.
I don’t know why Commissioner Mark Wisenbaker was not there.
Other than Vice-Chair Joyce Evans, who didn’t read the agenda item numbers,
only Commissioners Scottie Orenstein and Clay Griner were there this morning.
They asked no questions,
as Griner had said at the planning meeting there was no need to,
because staff supplied them with everything they needed to know.
To her credit, Joyce Evans asked the only question, whether the Rural Transportation Drug and Alcohol Testing Program was new (It’s not new, answered County Engineer Mike Fletcher.)
The only two citizens there were Gretchen Quarterman and Jody Hall, each of whom had hour-long round-trips to attend this three-minute non-meeting.
The Valdosta Daily Times reporter arrived after the meeting was adjourned. He at least got the packet provided at each meeting to the “Legal Organ”. You, the citizens and taxpayers did not get that courtesy from the county.
You can see for yourself the lack of information in the links below to each of the LAKE videos, followed by a LAKE video playlist. I didn’t bother with notes on the items this time. See also the agenda, which I spent more time posting than they did holding the meeting. Continue reading
Back on the agenda this morning,
the Old Quitman Road Bridge replacement over the CSX RR has been
discussed since at least 2011 when it was on the T-SPLOST list,
and in
September 2016 it came up for discussion again,
and the Commission approved surveying and engineering.
Last month they
discussed the plans, drawings, etc.,
and approved those.
See this
playlist of LAKE videos of this item in previous meetings.
This morning’s item for voting tomorrow evening is Continue reading
CSX stock went up 29% in January on rumors of a corporate takeover.
The same CSX that let a plume of toxic chemicals leak below its
Rice Rail Yard in Waycross, including into the upper Suwannee River watershed.
It’s not clear a corporate takeover would do anything to stop that,
or other possible contamination in for example Valdosta.
John Burr, WJCT, 6 February 2017, Business Brief: CSX Board To Consider Possible Takeover Friday, Continue reading
Yet another fireball, water supply turned off, state of emergency, from an oil train. When did you last hear of a solar farm explosion? Do we expect hastily-built and unnecessary fracked methane pipelines to be any safer than these shoddy exploding shale oil train tank cars? How long must fossil fuel fireballs rain down before we all get on with clean sun, wind, and water to power the world?
Fireball above Boomer, WV; Photo credit: Deslyne Copening
Marcus Constantino, Multimedia reporter and Matt Murphy, Charleston Daily Mail, 16 February 2015, Crude oil train derails in Fayette County, WV, Continue reading
People are still sick and dying in Waycross, and
answers are still few, but now there’s increasing help,
and organization at a meeting next Tuesday.
Remember
wastewater from
the Waycross SevenOut SuperFund site was sent to the Pecan Row
Landfill in Valdosta, and
we could have similar sites here, too.
Helping Waycross is helping everyone deal with toxic chemicals. -jsq
Facebook event, Meeting Announcement – Tuesday Evening, January 6, 2014, Continue reading