All aboard for the second and last rail plan meeting in Valdosta tonight.
Maybe you see something missing in
the current passenger rail corridor
proposal pictured on the right.
Maybe you’d like to suggest some changes or additions.
Stuart Taylor wrote for the VDT today, Rail plan meeting scheduled,
Continue readingGeorgia Department of Transportation will host a 2014 Georgia state rail plan public meeting from 5-7 p.m. Thursday, April 17, in the Valdosta City Hall Annex, 300 N. Lee St.
Catching up with the Regular Session of 8 October 2013,
why is the county going to pay
$150/month for a traffic signal
and
$2200/month for offramp lighting
(both at Exit 22, North Valdosta Road)
when they could install solar panels and batteries once and pay nothing ongoing?
They tabled Nottinghill like the Planning Commission did. They voted to let Barrington subdivision sprawl into the county with no conditions, taking staff’s recommendation instead of one about a fence by the Planning Commission.. They voted to rotate the mostly ceremonial Vice Chairman position every eight months. They decided on a price for tentants in the Leila Ellis Building and will get around to drawing up a lease agreement. Commissioners finally did get that list of roads for striping. Fiddling changes to percentages evidence for juvenile justice and hardware and software for fining people coming off of I-75.
Here’s the agenda with links to the videos and a few notes. See also videos of the previous morning’s Work Session.
LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERSContinue reading
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2013, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2013, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor
Six minutes on who will be
Vice Chairman and when,
a ceremonial position, as far as I know.
13 minutes on a parade of organizations that want to rent space in the
Leila Ellis.
They vote tonight at 5:30 PM.
The storm that wasn’t was the subject of Ashley Tye’s report. They tabled Nottinghill like the Planning Commission did. They vote tonight on letting Barrington subdivision sprawl into the county. Did Commissioners ever get that list of roads for striping? Do we have enough evidence yet for juvenile justice? Or will we continue to concentrate on fining people coming off of I-75? All that and a group photo. At least the Work Session yesterday morning had some actual discussion in it for a change.
Here’s the agenda with links to the videos and a few notes.
LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERSContinue reading
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2013, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2013, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor
Will the County Commission take up
Nottinghill
even though the Planning Commission tabled it?
Is
Barrington subdivision
now ready to sprawl into the county?
Did Commissioners ever get that list of roads for
striping?
Do we have enough
evidence yet for juvenile justice?
Or will we continue to concentrate on
fining people coming off of I-75?
Who was
Leila Ellis, anyway?
And who will be
Vice Chairman (hint: Joyce Evans is now)?
All that and a
group photo, continuing the tradition of County Commission
meetings as content-free photo-ops.
Here’s the agenda.
LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERSContinue reading
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2013, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2013, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor
Citizen Anita L. Armstrong wants help with Gaines Lane,
but it’s a private road, and it would have to be paved to state
highway standards to get accepted into the county’s road system.
She spoke at
the Lowndes County Commission Regular Session 10 September 2013.
I come before you again asking to see if we can get some help with our road. It is so bad and we don’t have the money. If we could get just a little help, maybe we could get it kind of straightened out so we could get in and out. The last bad weather that we had, we had to be pulled out of the road for at least five times. And each time that we pulled out, we have to pay someone to do it…. And we are asking your help.
Her problem is that Gaines Lane is a private road, not county maintained. To get it into the county road system, right of way would have to be donated to the county, because some years ago the county made a policy (try to find it in writing) that it would no longer pay for rights of way. Some of the landowners on Gaines Road have not agreed to donate. And even if they do, the county also has a policy (try to find that one in writing, while you’re at it) that it only accepts roads that are up to county standards, which means already paved to state highway standards. So basically unless you’re a developer, you’re not going to get a road into the county road system.
Ms. Armstrong spoke in the previous session, 13 August 2013, about garbage trucks damaging her road.
A Bess Armstrong 11 May 2010 according to the minutes:
Bess Armstrong, Gaines Lane, thanked the Commission for their help in assisting with road improvements made on Gaines Lane. Mr. Armstrong added that he needed some guidance on how to maintain the road in the future. Chairman Paulk stated that the credit should be given to Reames Construction, since the county was unable to work on the private road.
There was extensive discussion in the 23 February 2010 meeting, according to the minutes: Continue reading
Unanimous approval for
a third no-bid contract this month for Lovell Engineering, this time for
for a sports complex in Hahira,
but surprisingly
the
opaque pest control bids
were tabled indefinitely.
Also unanimously approved were
three new fine-processing positions for the Clerk of Court,
the
Little River stream gauge,
The special presentation was for
the retirement of Gene Roberts from Public Works.
No mention of the previous morning’s presentations by
Judge John Kent Edwards Jr.
asking for a new State Court Judge
or
about fines moving from Sheriff to State Court.
Dr. Michael Noll said
Moody AFB once again couldn’t get access
to the site for the Moody Family Housing the Commission already approved,
despite the sinkhole on the adjoining land.
Here’s the agenda, with links to the videos and a few notes. See also videos of the previous morning’s Work Session.
LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERSContinue reading
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, AUGUST 26, 2013, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, AUGUST 27, 2013, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor
The
request for a new State Court Judge
by Judge John Kent Edwards Jr. took 27 and a half minutes,
plus his
eight minute explanation of fines moving from Sheriff to State Court.
More people might have showed up to hear if anybody had known about
these items.
Commissioners asked a surprising number of questions about them
and about
the
Little River stream gauge
and the
opaque pest control bids.
Of course, then people might have seen
the proposed third no-bid contract to the same firm this month.
They vote tonight.
Here’s the agenda, with links to the videos and a few notes:
LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, AUGUST 26, 2013, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, AUGUST 27, 2013, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor
- Call to Order
- Invocation
- Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag
- Special Presentation
See separate post.
- Minutes for Approval
As is his custom, Chairman Bill Slaughter directed Commissioners to tell the Clerk of any changes, so we don’t know what they are. Then he introduced the special presentation out of agenda order.
- Work Session — August 12, 2013
- Regular Session — August 13, 2013
- For Consideration
- Environmental Engineering Services for GDOT Land Deed for Parks and Recreation
Invisible Engineer proposed a third no-bid contract for same firm proposed this month; see separate post.
- USGS Funding Agreement for Hwy 122 Stream Gauge
This time Emergency Director Ashley Tye said it’s on the Little River, why it’s there, how it’s maintained, etc. See separate post.
- Budget Adjustment — Personnel Costs
Judge John Kent Edwards Jr. explained that many of the people going through his court or paying fines in Lowndes County don’t live here; they come off of I-75, and now the fine-collecting needs to move from the Sheriff’s office to the Clerk of Court; see separate post.
- Bid-Pest Control Service
Pest control for an unannounced amount with no bond from one of two unannounced bids. See separate post.
- Reports-County Manager
County Manager Joe Pritchard requested an Executive Session for pending litigation and they adjourned into that.
- Citizens Wishing to be Heard Please State Name And Address
Here’s a video playlist:
Work Session, Lowndes County Commission (LCC)
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 26 August 2013.
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE).
-jsq
Could you have guessed what this was about from the agenda item?
Why do we the taxpayers of this $130,000 or $173,000 have to guess?
They vote tonight about what was proposed
at the
26 August 2013 Work Session of the Lowndes County Commission.
6.c. Budget Adjustment — Personnel Costs
Judge John Kent Edwards Jr. explained that many of the people going through his court or paying fines in Lowndes County don’t live here; they come off of I-75. The Sheriff’s office, in attempting to comply with state law, decided it didn’t want to continuing handling fines. There’s a piece of new legislation proposing to have the Clerk of Court process and retain all the relevant information; Judge Edwards thinks it will pass next year. This requires shifting funding from the Sheriff’s office to the Courts. But it will simplify processing (and presumably costs) by not having it go through both Sheriff and State Court. Meanwhile, Judge Edwards is not aware of any other county that still does this processing through the Sheriff’s department.
Here’s Part 1 of 2: Continue reading
After the 2009 floods, Lowndes County agreed to help USGS fund a stream
gauge on the Little River west of Hahira.
It’s time to renew that.
They vote tonight about what was proposed
at the
26 August 2013 Work Session of the Lowndes County Commission.
6.b. USGS Funding Agreement for Hwy 122 Stream Gauge
This time Emergency Director Ashley Tye said it’s on the Little River.
He said during ihe 2009 floods the county only had a gauges on the
Withlacoochee River at Skipper Bridge and US 84, and no way to
monitor the level of the Little River,
so he contacted USGS, who supplied and installed the equipment.
The county since then pays for the maintenance.
If something breaks, USGS comes and fixes it.
He’s also worked with the National Weather Service to establish flood stages
for better warning for residents.
It’s time to renew the funding.
Commissioner Demarcus Marshall wanted to know how many inspections were carried out by USGS.
Answer: Continue reading
This time
the County Engineer said Lovell was the only qualified
consultant for an ecological and environmental study
(because of what requirement we don’t know),
for a land swap (for what we don’t know),
not funded by the county (funded by whom we don’t know).
You the taxpayers and people potentially affected by any
ecological and environmental problems: do you think you might
want to know?
They vote tonight about what was proposed
at the
26 August 2013 Work Session of the Lowndes County Commission.
6.a. Environmental Engineering Services for GDOT Land Deed for Parks and Recreation
Invisible County Engineer Mike Fletcher said he had received a proposal from Lovell Engineering Services for the 62.49 acre tract just north of the existing skate park Parks and Rec owns and just north of the old rest area.
The county Tax Assessors maps don’t show any tract of that size near that location, but they Continue reading