Tag Archives: Georgia

Videos: Under budget but low tax collection, Nature Nate ahead, PO Box Woes @ VLCIA 2016-09-20

Authority under budget, Nature Nate’s ahead of schedule, USPS contentious, manufacturing week, and WWALS water trails: all packed into a brief meeting last Tuesday of the Valdosta-Lowndes Development Authority.

CPA Tom Davis said the Development Authority is under budget but tax collection is also slow, with no new funds expected until January.

Existing Industry Coordinator Stan Crance announced that Nature Nate’s is beyond projections, now up to 25 jobs and $3 million capital investment and needs more parking. They’d also like to move their postal mail delivery from a downtown post office box to a local mailbox. But Nature Nate’s is the only tenant of Miller Business Park, and USPS requires central box units for any business park. This would require modifying the roundabout “just in case any other businesses were to locate out there”. Some Development Authority board members found this USPS requirement to be a contentious situation, “worse than Continue reading →

Sabal Trail protests continue –VDT 2016-09-23

Front page today in the newspaper of record in the largest city in the Suwannee River Basin: the WWALS protest against DAPL and Sabal Trail at the US 84 Withlacoochee River bridge last Saturday, between Quitman and Valdosta, GA.

Vdt Desiree Carver, Valdosta Daily Times, Friday, September 23, 2016, front page, Sabal protests continue,

The WWALS Watershed Coalition stood on the bridge between Brooks and Lowndes County Saturday to show solidarity with Dakota Access Pipeline opponents in Dakota and to continue its battle against the Sabal Trail natural gas pipeline.

That’s the US 84 bridge over the Withlacoochee River, on the Continue reading →

Business Plan @ VLCIA 2016-09-20

It’s again 5:30 today. The day before yesterday they changed it to noon, and yesterday they changed it back to 5:30 PM, but they didn’t fix that in the online agenda.

Valdosta-Lowndes Development Authority
Tuesday, September 20, 2016, 12 noon
Development Authority Conference Room/103 Roosevelt Drive
Monthly Meeting Agenda

Continue reading →

Sabal Trail destruction at Bell property, Mitchell Co., GA 2016-09-13

See for yourself what Jeb Bell was talking about to GPB, in these videos he sent of the destruction Sabal Trail is doing on his property. His father, James Bell, says it started immediately after a small protest Monday, and is plowing through gopher tortoise burrows, rare pitcher plants, large pine trees bulldozed and burned, and today within 300 yards of his house. James Bell the elder will be at the US 84 Withlacoochee River bridge 9AM this Saturday, September 17th 2016, to join the WWALS Watershed Coalition protest against Sabal Trail and the Dakota Access Pipeline, which are now owned by the same companies. That’s between Quitman and Valdosta, GA; see you there.

Sam Whitehead, GPB News, 15 September 2016, Sabal Trail Pipeline Plows Through Southwest Georgia, Local Opposition, Continue reading →

Videos: HEAT on Sheriff finances @ LCC 2016-09-13

Half the meeting (11 1/2 minutes) Tuesday was Commissioners grilling Sheriff Chief Deputy Joe Crow about the cost of High Enforcement of Aggressive Traffic (Heat): how less funding is provided the more successful the program is, and federal funding may go away, leaving the county to foot the bill. Chairman asked for monthly statistical updates. Commissioner Demarcus Marshall moved to approve continuation of the grant, plus a statement in favor of the grant including a disclaimer that the county would “work to preserve” as much of the grant as possible if state funding goes away.

They approved finally fixing the railroad bridge over Old Quitman Highway. and similar but less complicated (no railroad) for the Jumping Gulley Road bridge. Nobody mentioned that the Sabal Trail fracked methane pipeline proposes to cross Jumping Gulley Road half a mile west of that bridge, and then to open cut through Jumping Gulley Creek just south of the state line.

Snake Nation Road is getting an emergency $168,928 box culvert repair, which isn’t fast enough for former Commissioner Richard Lee, who Continue reading →

3 Lowndes including wetlands, 2 Valdosta @ ZBOA 2016-09-13

Mostly setbacks, plus lot width, and one about wetlands at the decision-making Zoning Board of Appeals 2:30 PM today.

That wetlands one is about Union Springs Subdivision, which came before ZBOA previously in June 2016 about wells, wastewater, and wetlands, when ZBOA approved a variance 6:0.

Here’s the agenda for today. Continue reading →

Videos: Finally, Wright Road RR Bridge @ LCC 2016-09-12

They vote 5:30 PM this evening on finally fixing the railroad bridge over Old Quitman Highway. As you can see in the videos below of yesterday morning’s Work Session, County Engineer Mike Fletcher said it’s taken long negotiations with CSC and GDOT, ending up with realigning the road to go across the railroad at 90 degrees.

Way back in 2011 this Old Quitman Road bridge was on the T-SPLOST list. Old Quitman Road itself was announced on a striping and citing list 2013-10-08 and on an LMIG resurfacing list 2014-03-24 and 2014-03-25. It was said to be the only road for which the speed limit is being changed 2015-03-23 and 2015-03-24. And they fixed a culvert on private Carter Way before they got to this RR bridge on Old Quitman Road. But now they’re doing it, and they didn’t need T-SPLOST for that after all.

See also Continue reading →

Two subdivisions, 3 road abandonments, 2 bridges, MIDS @ LCC 2016-09-12

This morning at 8:30 AM at the Lowndes County Commission, the two subdivisions from the previous Planning Commission meeting, REZ-2016-16 Livingston Properties, Bemiss Knights Academy Rd and Merriman Ct.

What’s with all the road abandonments these past many months? REZ-2016-17 Grove Pointe Ph 6, Dasher Grove Rd, a public hearing on Abandonment of Strong Road, probably scheduling of one for Abandonment of Unopened Right of Way off of Pikes Pond Road, and finishing up with a Quit Claim Deed for Abandoned Right of Way on Old Miller Concrete Property.

Surveying and engineering for two bridge replacements, on Old Quitman Road and Jumping Gully Road. And the annual renewal of Section 5311 Rural Transportation Program Capital Contract, which is the MIDS on-call bus service, in case you can’t tell from the obscure agenda item.

Plus lots more on the agenda. Will they speed through it all in their usual 15 minutes? They vote tomorrow (Tuesday) evening at 5:30 PM.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2016, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2016, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor

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Videos: More northern subdivision rezonings + 6 Valdosta @ GLPC 2016-08-29

A third Lowndes County Case in west Valdosta near James Road, REZ-2016-15, was pulled from the agenda until next month to be sure it will be ready for review (but not withdrawn). One Valdosta case, CU-2016-02, was announced as withdrawn at the beginning of the meeting. The stormwater LDR changes apparently were mostly to remove description of very old previous material and various housekeeping including reflecting a rate increase the Valdosta City Council already approved back in June after a series of public hearings. Expect the Comprehensive Plan back next month: they didn’t examine it this time because the agenda was already very long. Continue reading →

More northern subdivision rezonings + 6 Valdosta @ GLPC 2016-08-29

Still more subdivisions planned in what the county calls Central Lowndes County and near Hahira, and a bunch of stuff in Valdosta. including stormwater revisions to the LDR. Here’s the agenda, and see the LAKE videos of the meeting.

Greater Lowndes Planning Commission
Lowndes County City of Valdosta City of Dasher City of Hahira City of Lake Park
REGULAR MONTHLY MEETING
AGENDA
Lowndes County South Health District Administrative Office
325 West Savannah Avenue
Monday, August 29, 2016 * 5:30 P.M. * Public Hearing

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