Tag Archives: Georgia

Chamber goes to bat for Moody

Don’t fix it if it ain’t broken, says the Valdosta-Lowndes Chamber of Commerce 300x243 MAZ resolution --VLCoC, in Chamber goes to bat for Moody, by Valdosta-Lowndes Chamber of Commerce, 26 June 2015 about the county-proposed changes to the Moody Activities Zone (MAZ), in a resolution mailed to its members Friday.

Chamber Board of Directors action:

While the Valdosta-Lowndes Chamber of Commerce is extremely supportive of property rights and wary of intrusion upon those rights, we are also extremely supportive of Moody Air Force Base and its continued and varied missions in our community. Moody, for more than 70 years, has Continue reading →

Moody MAZ, Agriculture, Church @ GLPC 2015-06-29

This evening, the notorious TXT-2015-01 Moody Activity Zoning Districts (MAZ) ULDC text amendments are back on the agenda, for decision by the Lowndes County Commission a month later. Usually reliable sources say the Valdosta-Lowndes Chamber of Commerce will be opposing some of these changes. Meanwhile, LAKE has laid out the board packet item from last time so you can get an idea of what’s going on and why, including links to the LAKE videos of the previous GLPC and Lowndes County Commission meetings where these MAZ changes were discussed.

REZ-2015-12 Martha Russ wants to zone to less density while REZ-2015-13 Clementine Miller wants more density. And in Valdosta CU-2015-02 Kelly Barcol wants a church in a Single-Family Residential (R-10) district.

Here’s the agenda. Continue reading →

Jimmy Carter’s dream of a solar-powered world is coming true now

U.S. president Jimmy Carter had a dream, 300x300 10360845 897383750328270 6241606373708524983 N, in Work together to turn our vision and dream into a solar reality --Jimmy Carter, by Climate Reality Project, 20 June 1979 thirty six years before Pope Francis spelled out why we all need to escape a dark hot nightmare, and Jimmy Carter’s sunny dream is now coming true.

Today, in directly harnessing the power of the Sun, we’re taking the energy that God gave us, the most renewable energy that we will ever see, and using it to replace our dwindling supplies of fossil fuels.

Continue reading →

Four board appointments, plus Justice, Water, and Alcohol @ LCC 2015-06-22

Adoption of the Fiscal Year 2016 Budget to be considered Monday morning and voted on Tuesday evening (see LAKE videos of Budget Hearing of two weeks ago), plus a 300x298 Parcel 0043 016, in Buck Cato Road, by John S. Quarterman, 22 June 2015 GEFA Loan Modification (thought they approved that 26 May 2015 for the Alapaha Water Treatment Plant), a Justice Assistance Grant, a SCADA lease-purchase agreement, and the annual controversial Mosquito Contract.

Two appointees each to KLVB and the Library Board. We don’t know who, because the county posted the agenda only in PDF, with no item sheets.

Public Hearing approved last month for the Abandonment of Buck Cato Road: what’s causing all of these in the last couple years? And they’ve found an excuse for their long-desired Continue reading →

Videos: Deep South Sanitation litigation resolution, Animals, MAZ, Water, School @ LCC 2015-06-09

Not on the agenda for the 9 June 2015 Regular Session: settlement agreement for the county’s unnecessary lawsuit against Deep South Sanitation. Commissioners had no questions, but I have two:

  1. how much did the county spend on the lawsuit?
  2. how much did the county end up paying DSS?

Also unscheduled: Recognition of Leadership Lowndes Attendees.

Citizen Billy Rowland had some comments about road grading and wondered how Animal Control could come take his dog from his posted property yet not do anything when he reported barking dogs.

They approved a Scruggs Co. contract for Paving on Coppage Road, which includes curb and gutter to save some of the tree canopy. They approved a Bid for Bemiss Road Mowing even though it’s a state highway, plus a Bid for a Zero-Turn Mower for the Public Works Department from Nashville Tractor. They approved the Bid for a Fire Pumper for Lowndes County Fire Rescue and the LCSO Patrol Car Laptops Lease Purchase and tabled the Lowndes Middle School Utility Service from Valdosta utilities.

Via LAKE open records request, see the board packet item for the complicated Moody Activity Zones Text Amendments to the Unified Land Development Code that were tabled for more time at the Tuesday June 9th 2015 Regular Session of the Lowndes County Commission. See the LAKE videos of the Planning Commission meeting that considered the MAZ and the rezonings on this agenda. The Shiver and Kinsey rezonings were were approved unanimously with no speakers from the public and no Commissioner comments. The Orchard at Stone Creek rezoning discussion about a retirement home lasted for 14 minutes, including updated maps that were only provided to LAKE on paper, despite a request for electronic copy. See also the agenda and the LAKE videos of the previous morning’s Work Session.

Continue reading →

Videos: Regular Session GEFA, road abandonment, bids, and water @ LCC 2015-05-26

Attorney had to remind Commissioners that a road abandonment such as for Buck Cato Road requires a public hearing. They declared the solid waste equipment surplus to be leased to “prospective franchisees” such as DSS; County Manager said “we have the lease agreement here”, but did not put it on the county’s website for the public to see. County agent arrived just in time to hear the Langdale bid accepted for a truck for the Extension Service. They accepted the Lee Office Supply bid for Emergency Operations Center tables and chairs. And of course they approved the Interconnection of North Lowndes and Kinderlou Water Systems and the GEFA Loan Modification for the Alapaha Water Treatment Plant. They started a minute late. At the end, after the County Manager had no report and no citizens wished to be heard, as usual they adjourned without a vote.

This was all at the afternoon Lowndes County Regular Session. For background and more details, see Continue reading →

Nancy Parrott (1934-2015)

Dean Poling, VDT, 17 June 2015, Hahira’s ‘first lady’ a friend to all,

Even in the years after her late husband stopped being this Lowndes County town’s mayor, Nancy Parrott remained the first lady of Hahira until her passing last weekend.

She was known for her smile, her wit, her grace and her always having a kind word. She never saw station. She saw people.

She died Sunday. She was 80 years old….

2013 Obituary of Dr. J. Lyle Parrott.

Obituary, VDT, 15 June 2015, Nancy Rutledge Wainer Parrott,

Nancy Rutledge Wainer Parrott, 80, of Hahira, Ga., widow of Jesse Lyle Parrott, MD, passed away peacefully on Sunday, June 14, 2015 at her home surrounded by her two sons and her “daughters-in-love.”

Nancy is survived by Continue reading →

Development Authority’s BRAT @ VLCIA 2015-06-16

Late o tonight’s agenda but big on their minds, and described and pictured by Stuart Taylor, VDT, 31 May 2015, as consisting of:

  • Georgia Department of Economic Development — Michelle Shaw
  • Valdosta-Lowndes County Chamber of Commerce — Myrna Ballard
  • University of Georgia’s Small Business Development Center — Lynn Bennett
  • Valdosta-Lowndes County Development Authority — Stan Crance
  • Georgia Department of Labor, Valdosta Career Center — Jamon Williams
  • Wiregrass Georgia Technical College — Bill Tillman
  • Georgia Tech Enterprise Innovation Institute — Art Ford
  • Georgia Power Company — Scott Purvis

Valdosta-Lowndes Development Authority’s Business Retention Action Team, or BRAT, brings together a number of local and state organizations to offer services, information, solutions and contacts that a company might need.

“We’ve always had an existing industry program,” said Meghan Duke,VLDA marketing and community relations. “These organizations have always worked together, but now we’re formalizing it.”

Here’s the agenda:

Valdosta-Lowndes Development Authority
Tuesday, June 16, 2015 5:30 p.m. Continue reading →

Most of June electric bill for overbudget nuke, yet the sun rises

While electric bills still are tilted against local solar generation 300x225 CWIP on electric bill, in Most of June electric bill for overbudget nuke, by Bret Wagenhorst, 11 June 2015 and Georgia Power continues to levy its stealth CWIP tax for its nuke boondoggle, yet solar power is rising this year on Southern Company and Georgia Power.

Bret Wagenhorst posted on facebook 9 June 2015:

I find it decidedly ironic that a large portion of my last month electric bill went toward paying for a nuclear power plant that is hundreds of millions of dollars over budget, and which will no doubt cost millions of dollars a year to run and to manage its potentially deadly waste. I wonder if the money spent on the nuclear plant were used to purchase rooftop solar panels for all certified energy efficient Georgian homes if we citizens might not be better off in the long run. Thoughts?

Look for Nuclear Construction Cost Recovery Rider on that bill: Continue reading →

Videos: MAZ, Water, School @ LCC 2015-06-08

Through a LAKE open records request, now you can see the complicated Moody Activity Zones Text Amendments to the Unified Land Development Code, which affect everything from animals to retirement homes. In these LAKE videos you can see the Lowndes County Commission consider that and other matters at their Work Session of Monday 8 June 2015, including Lowndes Middle School Utility Service from the City of Valdosta, two water well and septic rezonings on Mt. Zion Rd and Touchton Rd, and water and sewer for 24 acres of The Orchard at Stone Creek, Tillman Crossing Rd. Plus Utility Relocation for the Replacement of Franks Creek Bridge on Morven Road and many bids, including for Paving on Coppage Road; staff recommends the Scruggs bid. County Manager Joe Pritchard noted many of the bids were related to SPLOST in an effort “to get those projects up and running as quickly as possible”.

Here’s the agenda. See also the LAKE videos of the Planning Commission meeting that considered these rezonings and the MAZ. Continue reading →