Tag Archives: Gretchen Quarterman

Back on the job in the park —Geraldine Houston @ LCC 2013-02-26

At the 26 Febuary 2013 Lowndes County Commission meeting, Geraldine Houston wanted to inform the Commission on behalf of George Page, director of Parks and Rec, that she was back on the job. She sells cakes, cookies, peanuts, etc. in the parks. She had previously had a contract to do that, but someone else had gotten the contract. The someone else moved to Alabama, and now Geraldine has the contract again. She also sells at Valdosta Farm Days.

Here’s the video:

Back on the job in the park —Geraldine Houston
Regular Session, Lowndes County Commission (LCC),
Video by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE), Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 26 February 2013.

-jsq

 

County response to 10 inches of rain —Ashley Tye @ LCC 2013-02-26

Emergency Services Director Ashley Tye spoke about Local weather conditions at the 26 Febuary 2013 Lowndes County Commission meeting. He said the Withlacoochee River at Skipper Bridge Road was expected to crest at 20 feet within hours. He didn’t expect Valdosta’s Withlacoochee Wastewater Treatment Plant to flood.

He said most of the rain fell to the west of Valdosta, so the Little River actually absorbed more water than the Withlacoochee this time. Only Shiloh Road and a few other roads were closed.

The boat ramps at Langdale Park were closed in conjunction with Parks and Rec.

A few schools were closed, but all expected to reopen the next day.

Commissioner Demarcus Marshall asked Continue reading →

Videos: Commission voted against the people @ LCC 2013-02-26

Apparently one person with a lawyer can persuade the Lowndes County Commission that hundreds of people are just an unruly mass, not the public it’s supposed to represent. For whatever reason, not clear to the public, the Commission voted 3 to 1 with 1 absent to close the end of Old State Road to Hotchkiss Crossing, thus barring the only public access to the Alapaha River in Lowndes County. We shall see whether they will follow through with their hint that they might make a park on the Alapaha River at another location. Congratulations to Commissioner Demarcus Marshall for speaking up for due process and for voting for the public!

Public Works Director Robin English spoke about road conditions and Emergency Services Director Ashley Tye spoke about Local weather conditions,

Update noon 27 Feb 2013: Link to weather conditions, and to Citizens Wishing to Be Heard.

The Commission reappointed J. Glenn Gregory to the South Regional Joint Development Authority and appointed Commissioner Joyce Evans to the Southern Georgia Area Agency on Aging Advisory Council. They are applying for a grant for the county’s MIDS bus system and reapplying for a CDBG grant for Second Harvest.

Here’s the agenda, with links to the videos and some notes, followed by a video playlist. See also the videos of Monday morning’s Work Session.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2013, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2013, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor
Continue reading →

Video: two appointments, a public hearing, and two grants @ LCC 2013-02-25

Newsflash! “no new information” and “questions were resolved” about the proposed abandonment of Old State Road at Hotchkiss Landing on the Alapaha River, according to the Commission. They vote tonight at 5:30 PM.

Dr. Bill Grow talked for fifteen minutes about South Health District, and managed not to ask the county for money, although the Health Dept. clearly could use some. Ashley Tye reported on local weather conditions and the county’s Code Red emergency warning system, in which lack of Internet access by some county residents came up.

It’s J. Glenn Gregory again for the South Regional Joint Development Authority and Commissioner Joyce Evans for the Southern Georgia Area Agency on Aging Advisory Council. They are applying for a grant for the county’s MIDS bus system and reapplying for a CDBG grant for Second Harvest.

Here’s the agenda, with links to the videos and some notes, followed by a video playlist.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2013, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2013, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor
Continue reading →

Proposed abandonment of a portion of County Road 16/Old State Rd. —Brett Huntley @ LCC 2013-02-25

Received today; he sent it to all the Commissioners. -jsq

To the commission on the proposed idea of road abandonment on County Rd. #16:

On the morning of 2/25/13 after the county commission’s morning work session, my wife and I spoke with Joyce Evans and Bill Slaughter on some of our concerns and new found technical information about road abandonment, Georgia state waterways, and what the county and state are expected to protect.

During our conversation we were told that for unexplained legal reasons the county would have to give the road back to the land owner. At this time my thoughts and questions come back to: Why if for legal reasons do we have to give the land back or away, and why are we even having to have a public hearing on this matter, if the public has no say?

Also during this conversation Bill mentioned

Continue reading →

Agenda: 2 Lowndes County rezonings; 1 Valdosta @ GLPC 2013-02-25

Agenda To get an agenda for tonight’s Planning Commission meeting, apparently you have to go to the meeting; here it is. It’s sloppier than usual: Case REZ-2013-04 has neither a number of acres nor a specific location. Why is the Planning Commission not revealing this information?

Douglas O. Thompson owns two properties on Bemiss Road, but one of them is in Valdosta taxing district, so presumably it’s the other one, of 1.28 acres at 3432 Bemiss Road. Why is this a secret?

Perhaps for the same reason that the county doesn’t just publish PDF of this agenda on the web for all to see?

Here’s a summary of the cases.

Lowndes County,
Final action
Tuesday 12 March 2013 		2. REZ-2013-03 Valler
Knights Academy Road, Valdosta
Request to rezone 10 acres from R-21 (Medium Density Residential) to R-A (Residential Agriculture)
3. REZ-2013-04 Thompson
Bemiss Road, Valdosta
Request to rezone [?] acres from C-H/c (Highway Commercial conditional) to C-H (Highway Commercial)
Valdosta,
Final Action
Thursday, 7 March 2013 		4. VA-2013-01 Turner Brooks LLC
411 West Mary Street, Valdosta
Request to rezone 0.50 acres from R-6 (Single Family Residential) to R-M (Multi-Family Residential)

-jsq

Agenda: two appointments, a public hearing, and two grants @ LCC 2013-02-25

The county’s website, down earlier today, is back up, so we can see there is a Work Session this morning, with voting at the Regular Session tomorrow evening at 5:30 PM. The proposed abandonment of Old State Road at Hotchkiss Landing on the Alapaha River, tabled two weeks ago, is on the agenda, although the Georgia Supreme Court makes me wonder why. One of the two appointments is to the South Regional Joint Development Authority which Andrea Schruijer mentioned at the most recent VLCIA board meeting. Another is to the Southern Georgia Area Agency on Aging Advisory Council. I’m guessing one person to each agency; the agenda doesn’t say how many nor who the candidates are. Here’s the agenda. -jsq

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2013, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2013, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor
Continue reading →

Work Session this morning? Lowndes County web site down again @ LCC 2013-02-25

Is there a County Commission Work Session this morning at 8:30 AM? Can't find out from the county's website: it's down again. Is this a good way to demonstrate that Internet access is "one of the number one issues"?

Firefox First noticed about 7AM, http://www.lowndescounty.com/ not responding, same as three weeks ago. Once again I also tried it from somewhere far away geographically and on another ISP, with the same results as last time.

Alert!: Unexpected network read error; connection aborted.

So it looks like the Lowndes County Commission's website is down. Speaking of far away, why does it seem to be hosted in Dallas, Texas?

Well, let's see if there's any information on their facebook page. Nope; still content-free.

Here's a response Gretchen got from County Clerk Paige Dukes when she inquired after the last outage:

Continue reading →

Broadband on the table @ VLCIA 2013-02-19

Internet speed and access (appearing as Broadband) played a starring role at the 19 February 2013 meeting of the Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority (VLCIA), with a surprise cameo by Lowndes County Commission Chairman Bill Slaughter (appearing as himself) and a bravura performance by Angela Crance of Wiregrass Tech, with a strong supporting role by VLCIA Chairman Roy Copeland, and Mary Gooding standing in for VSU. Internet access (as "telecommunications infrastructure") came up in Project Manager Allan Ricketts' report as a requirement for a Fortune 500 customer service operation and for a National health care service provider, both considering locating here, also as bandwidth, as a requirement for jobs. That was the main theme of Executive Director Andrea Schruijer's report, especially in rural parts of our county, especially for a home-based call center. Even Rotary Clubs need broadband.

VLCIA is also helping find potential sites for several utility-scale photovoltaic solar installations.

The Industrial Authority Board was down to three members, barely a quorum: Mary Gooding, Chairman Roy Copeland, and Tom Call. Whereabouts of Norman Bennett and Jerry Jennett were undetermined. I can't complain; I was in bed with a sinus infection.

Here's the agenda (such as it is), with links to the videos and some notes, often in separate posts.

Continue reading →

Rotary Clubs need broadband @ VLCIA 2013-02-19

Bill Slaughter, Dennis Marks, John Page, Gretchen Quarterman @ Valdosta Rotary Club 2012-09-12

Before the Industrial Authority 19 February 2013 meeting, Gretchen told Bill about how she’s now videoing at Rotary and putting playlists on the web with some delay. Bill and Gretchen (and Commissioner John Page) go to the same Valdosta Rotary Club. This is yet another use of Internet access: attracting participants to local community groups, and getting their speakers to a wider audience.

-jsq