Tag Archives: Georgia

Videos: Subdivisions, Wells Road abandonment, Water Main, Library @ LCC 2021-10-11

Update 2021-10-12 Videos: Subdivision way out of bounds approved, and million-dollar water main, but Wells Road stays open.

A road abandonment apparently had not taken into account people who live farther north up Wells Road, this morning’s Lowndes County Commission Work Session. Nor that closing that road would close one of only two public access points to the Little River in Lowndes County. Nor that the Mary Turner Lynching monument is on that road.

[Beaver Run, GW Farms, Villages subdivisions, Wells Road abandonment]
Beaver Run, GW Farms, Villages subdivisions, Wells Road abandonment

Of the $5 million for utilities, $1 million is for a water main to promote more subdivisions northwest in the county. To their credit, two Commissioners asked about that.

They breezed through seven rezonings, three of them for subdivisions, one so far out of place their own staff recommend against it, with no comments nor questions.

There was a question about some improvements to the historic Carnegie Library Museum.

They vote tomorrow, Tuesday, evening at 5:30 PM.

Below are links to each LAKE video of each agenda item with some notes, followed by a LAKE video playlist. See also the agenda and board packet.

Videos: Motorola, Library, SDS, Leadership Lowndes @ LCC 2021-09-28

Two weeks ago, the Lowndes County Commission approved everything unanimously, except 6.c. Consideration of Service Delivery Strategy Agreement Language, for which Commissioner Clay Griner voted against. He didn’t say why.

[Motorola, Library, SDS, Leadership Lowndes]
Motorola, Library, SDS, Leadership Lowndes

Below are links to each LAKE video of each agenda item, followed by a LAKE video playlist. See also the agenda and board packet, and the draft minutes of the previous morning’s Work Session and of this Regular Session.

Sewer Improvements, Water for subdivision sprawl, Library @ LCC 2021-10-11

Update 2021-10-11: Videos: Subdivisions, Wells Road abandonment, Water Main, Library @ LCC 2021-10-11.

Five and a half million dollars on the agenda for the Lowndes County Commission Monday morning, for voting Tuesday evening. Most of it is for sewer system improvements, but $1 million is to run another water main in the north side of the county to promote more subdivisions, such as the three on the same agenda.

[Seven rezonings and a road abandonment]
Seven rezonings and a road abandonment

For one of the rezonings on Val Del Road staff cite “Current growth trends in the area.” Well, here’s who is setting those growth trends: the Lowndes County Commission and staff, plus the Chamber and Development Authority.

At least staff and the Planning Commission recommend denying the worst of the lot, REZ-2021-16 G W Farms, 5999 Val Del Road, R-A to R-1, Well & Septic, ~98.95 acres, which is so far north up Val Del Road it’s almost at GA 122. The Commission previously denied a rezoning at that same location. They should do so again.

They also propose to abandon Abandonment of a portion of Salem Church Road (CR #68) and Wells Road (CR # 68 & CR #69), starting at GA 122. That is a problem, because Wells Road at GA 122 is the turnoff to get to Folsom Bridge Landing, one of only two public access points to the Little River in Lowndes County. Continue reading

SDS county road agreement, library, Georgia Forestry @ LCC 2021-09-27

At least part of the long-contentious Service Delivery Strategy (SDS) has been resolved between Lowndes County and the City of Valdosta. The county has agreed not to fund county roads using property taxes from incorporated taxpayers, that is, taxpayers within city limits of any of the five cities in the county.

Plus the county is spending a million dollars on communications equipment, road graders, and an architect for a library addition.

[County roads not to be paid out of city property taxes]
County roads not to be paid out of city property taxes

Continue reading

Code Enforcement Appreciation and new Tourism Authority Director @ LCC Regular Session 2021-09-14

At the recent Lowndes County Commission Regular Session, County Manager Paige Dukes in her Reports mentioned many then-upcoming events, two of which are still coming, and may be of public interest:

  • 2021-09-21, 4:30 PM, at Georgia Beer Co.: Meet and greet for new Executive Director, David DiSalvo, of Valdosta-Lowndes Conference Center and Tourism Authority. https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-j-disalvo-9048b24
  • 2021-09-28, 6PM, in Commission Chambers: Comp Plan stakeholder meeting just after next LCC meeting, Most recent draft of Comprehensive Plan was on Commissioners’ desks; is available electronically (where?).

None of these events are on the lowndescounty.com online calendar.

[Code Enforcement, RV Sales, Reports, End time]
Code Enforcement, RV Sales, Reports, End time

Below are links to each LAKE video of each agenda item with a few notes, followed by a LAKE video playlist. See also Continue reading

Videos: VLPRA, RV sales, Moody AFB Fire Dept., Tax Assessors @ LCC 2021-09-13

By far the longest item at the Lowndes County Commission Work Session yesterday morning was the presentation on the VLPRA Master Plan by their consultant David Barth, taking 34 minutes.

Second longest was 8.d. GMASS Commercial Contract for the Tax Asessors office. Each of these got more than a minute: the RV sales expansion item, and 8.b. Fire and Emergency Services Agreement between Lowndes County and MFAB.

[VLPRA, RV sales, Moody AFB Fire Dept., Tax Assessors]
VLPRA, RV sales, Moody AFB Fire Dept., Tax Assessors

Below are links to each LAKE video of each agenda item, followed by a LAKE video playlist. See also Continue reading

Videos: Church, Personal Care Home, RV vendor, Lake Park Zoning Ordinance @ GLPC 2021-08-30

Almost half an hour on the church on Woodlawn Drive (sidewalks and building size), eleven minutes on the personal care home on Slater Street, and three minutes each on the RV sales expansion and the Lake Park Zoning Ordinance amendments. That was a slack evening for the Greater Lowndes Planning Commission (GLPC), at 47 minutes total.

[Welcome, Lake Park, RV expansion, Board]
Welcome, Lake Park, RV expansion, Board

GLPC recommends. The Lowndes County Commission is already meeting about its items. Lake Park and Valdosta Mayor and Council will decide their items.

Below are links to each LAKE video of each agenda item, followed by a LAKE video playlist. See also the agenda. Continue reading

GMASS for Tax Assessors, Fire, Foam, Moody, RV, Courthouse, Alcohol @ LCC 2021-09-13

Update 2021-09-14: LAKE videos.

The Tax Assessors having no commercial appraisers left are hiring GMASS to appraise commercial properties, for $108,000 over three years.

Four times as much will go to early cleanup work at the historic Courthouse.

Cost What
$411,125.00Lowndes County Historic Courthouse Early Demolition and Abatement GMP (Guaranteed Maximum Price)
$108,000.00 GMASS Commercial Contract for Tax Assessors
$519,125.00Total

This is on the agenda this morning for the Lowndes County Commission. At this Work Session, they have two extra items: Code Enforcement Appreciation and VLPRA Adopted Master Plan Presentation by Dr. David Barth (Work Session).

They will vote Tuesday evening, on these and other items including a Fire Department agreement with Moody AFB, expansion of an RV sales company, and beer and wine sales.

[Alcohol, RV, Tax Assessors contractor]
Alcohol, RV, Tax Assessors contractor

Below is the agenda. Update 2021-09-14: The board packet is on the LAKE website due to a LAKE open records request.

See also the preceding Planning Commission agenda and board packet and LAKE videos.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2021, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2021, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor

Continue reading

Videos: Commissioner Comments, Mud Swamp Road, Fire Millage, Hightower Road, GEFA @ LCC 2021-08-24

Very unusual: two Commissioners commented at the end. Chairman Bill Slaughter had already been quite clear that the new fire department millage was to aid population growth in unincorporated parts of the county. Mark Wisenbaker thought the fire department millage was premature because it did not consider land with no structures, agricultural land, etc. He was the only Commissioner to vote against 5.l. Adoption of Unincorporated Fire Millage. Clay Griner thought it was something they could improve as they go along.

None of them mentioned that the fire millage applies to personal property as well as to real estate (land). At least one of the Commissioners was unaware of this, and, since none of them ever seem to have mentioned it to the public, I’d bet the public is unaware unless they carefully examined their property tax statements. Applying that fire millage also to personal property is apparently how they kept it as low as they announced in the millage rate hearing. Nevermind such a personal property millage falls heaviest on companies with the most personal property, which would likely be Packaging Corporation of America (PCA), commonly known as the paper mill at Clyattville. It’s not clear that companies with much personal property are the most in need of new fire services.

[Hightower Road, Fire Millage, Mud Swamp Road, Commissioner Comments]
Hightower Road, Fire Millage, Mud Swamp Road, Commissioner Comments

The County’s support of unincorporated growth apparently includes building next to wetlands, or in areas the Army Corps of Engineers recently declared not to be wetlands, since that had just been discussed by County Manager Paige Dukes and the Chairman.

I have an idea! How about build only close in to existing services, instead of sprawling farther out, where no taxes will ever pay enough for sending school buses, Sheriff, and Fire. See this report the County commissioned: The Local Government Fiscal Impacts of Land Use in Lowndes County: Revenue and Expenditure Streams by Land Use Category, Jeffrey H. Dorfman, Ph.D., Dorfman Consulting, December 2007. As Dr. Dorfman summarized in a different presentation,

Local governments must ensure balanced growth, as
sprawling residential growth is a certain ticket to fiscal ruin*
* Or at least big tax increases.

sprawl Trees and crops don’t call the Sheriff or the Fire Department much and don’t need school buses, but subdivisions do, so forestry and agriculture are far more cost-effective in tax collection vs. services.

Everything except the Fire Dept. millage passed unanimously. Even the late-added mystery-location 5.j. Proposed Sale of County Real Property to Industrial Authority, which came with no map, no street address, and no parcel numbers.

Here are LAKE videos of each agenda item, followed by a LAKE video playlist. See also the Continue reading

Outgrant: Moody AFB Hightower Road easement to Lowndes County @ LCC 2021-08-23

Another LAKE open records request yielded the missing Exhibits for Approval of Easement Documents for Hightower Road in the agenda for the August 23 and 24 Lowndes County Commission meetings:

Exhibit A – Description of Premises
Exhibit B – Map of Premises
Exhibit C – Physical Condition Report
Exhibit D – Environmental Baseline Survey

The entire document with the Exhibits is now on the LAKE website: Instrument Number: USAF-ACC-QSEU-21-2-0318: DEPARTMENT OF THE AIR FORCE GRANT OF EASEMENT FOR LOWNDES COUNTY, GEORGIA ON MOODY AIR FORCE BASE, GEORGIA, SAF/GCN 7 July 2021 Approved B. Hood.

[Exhibit B: Map of Premises]
Exhibit B: Map of Premises

There’s good news at the end of Exhibit D: Continue reading