Tag Archives: Gretchen Quarterman

Cancelled: Lowndes County Commission Regular Session @ LCC 2017-09-12

The Regular Session of the Lowndes County Commission is cancelled. There is no notice of this on lowndescounty.com because county offices are still closed today and power is still out in parts of the county, according to Commissioner Scott Orenstein. He responded to an inquiry from Gretchen Quarterman after no county business numbers answered this morning.

2017-09-11 5PM Cone of Probable Path
2017-09-11 5PM Cone of Probable Path of Tropical Storm Irma, National Hurricane Center, NOAA.

Lowndes County Emergency Management did include a notice of cancellation of yesterday’s Lowndes County Work Session in its PR of Continue reading

ZBOA cancelled @ ZBOA 2017-09-12

Today’s meeting of the Valdosta-Lowndes County Zoning Board of Appeals is cancelled, according to Tracy Tolley, Zoning Coordinator for the City of Valdosta, in response to an inquiry from Gretchen Quarterman.

Irma Wind Swaths
Hurricane Irma Wind Field History, National Hurricane Center, NOAA.

ZBOA did not meet in July or August due to lack of business. An agenda for today’s cancelled meeting is still posted on Valdosta’s website, which I am copying here, just in case. Probably most items will reappear on next month’s agenda. Continue reading

Tiny to large, Lake Park and Lowndes County @ GLPC 2017-08-28

Tonight at the Planning Commission, a small 1.687 acres Lake Park rezoning LP-2017-08-04 Leona Register and three sizes in the county from tiny 0.84 acres REZ-2017-08 West Side Business Park to medium 6.04 acres REZ-2017-07 Tomlinson to quite large ~138 acres REZ-2017-09 Robert A. Register Estate.

Several properties around Lake Park
Parcels 0199 212 and 0223A 001, REGISTER ROBERT A AKA R A REGISTER AS TRUSTEE, and parcels 0223A 005 and 0221C, REGISTER ROBERT A & IRENE TRUSTEES, Lowndes County Tax Assessors.

Here is the the agenda.

Greater Lowndes Planning Commission Continue reading

Videos: Crowd for three rezoning cases @ GLPC 2017-07-31

They meet again tonight. The longest case last month at the Greater Lowndes Planning Commission was: 5. VA-2017-11 Tombrooks LLC 316&318 Eager Road PD in R-10 at almost 56 minutes. Together with its companion 4. VA-2017-10 Tombrooks LLC 318 Eager Road R15 to R10 at 27 minutes, those two took longer than the pair of Jon Nijem Baytree Road rezonings and the Hahira Wilby Coleman Stanfill Street rezoning put together. That last one is apparently since Hahira is getting redesigned so much by the exit 29 reworking and a new ball park that anybody nearby might as well try to do something with their property.

Below are Continue reading

Groundbreaking, Naylor Community Center @ LCC Naylor 2017-08-16

Approved by the voters on the SPLOST VII ballot, plans discussed in a town hall meeting April 14, 2016, bids approved May 9, 2017, and below are the LAKE videos Gretchen took of the Naylor Community Center Ground Breaking, August 16, 2017. Of the two Commissioners in whose district is this project, Joyce Evans was there, but Demarcus Marshall was not, because they held it at 10AM when they know he cannot attend due to his day job. Continue reading

Videos: Bids for emergency road repair! Appointments: Library Board, Development Authority, millage @ LCC 2017-08-21

Bids for an emergency repair! This could be a first, instead of their usual sole source approve-it-right now method. See the County Manager’s Report, in which County Engineer Mike Fletcher describes bids incoming from both Scruggs and Reames for temporary repair to Rocky Ford Road.

Below are links to each LAKE video of yesterday morning’s Work Session with a few notes, followed by a LAKE video playlist. See also the agenda with notes about appointments and millage. And see also the 5 PM today Millage Rate Meeting.

Continue reading

Lowndes County Millage Rate Meeting @ LCC Millage 2017-08-22

This is all she wrote on Lowndes County’s web pages: no agenda, no draft documents. Lowndes County Millage Rate Meeting

Date: August 22, 2017

Time: 5:00 PM - 5:30 PM

Location: Board of Commissioners Administration Building

Address: 327 N. Ashley Street
2nd Floor
Valdosta, GA 31601

What is the millage?
Still from WWALS video of Millage Public Hearing @ LCC Millage 2016-08-23

Rummaging around in the agenda sheet for 6.a. Adoption of Millage on the 5:30 PM Regular Session agenda, we find: Continue reading

Appointments: Library Board, Development Authority, millage, cameras @ LCC 2017-08-21

Maybe the county would have enough applicants their Work Session, Monday morning at 8:30 AM, if they advertised for applicants for open board seats, such as on the Development Authority of Lowndes County, And if they posted the application sheets for the applicants they did get, such as for the Lowndes County Library Board, we’d have some idea of who they are. They could even say whether the millage is going up or down.

According to the agenda sheet for the appointment to the Lowndes County Library Board,

There is a vacant seat on the Lowndes County Library Board. The Board of Trustees of the South Georgia Regional Library System respectfully requests the appointment of Mr. Gene Toffolo to fill the vacant seat.

They don’t say who applicant Gene Toffolo is. According to the South Georgia Regional Library he’s a 2016 Friends of the Library Board member:


Front Left to Right: Kay Scott, Janet Toffolo, Mary Helen Watson (President), Merrilee Casady, Sarah Smart (Vice President), Robert DeVan (Treasurer)
Back Left to Right: Gene Toffolo, Patricia Marks, Riley Howard, Karl Osmus, John Swiderski (Secretary)

The county’s agenda and agenda sheet for the Lowndes County Library Board don’t say whose seat expired or maybe somebody resigned. The county’s web page for this board is no more helpful, listing these members and expirations, none of which expires in 2017: Continue reading

Videos: West Mims Fire, Water Trails, Transportation, Construction Board, 3 tax lighting districts, mosquitoes, no-bid contract @ LCC 2017-08-08

“There’s nobody that can tackle something like that alone,” said Emergency Management Director Ashley Tye in a West Mims Fire Special Presentation with firefighters from all over Lowndes County and its cities, including a resolution from the Charlton County Commission.

Citizen Gretchen Quarterman spoke about WWALS and trash and cameras at the Naylor Boat Ramp site, and about Boy Scouts at the GA 133 Boat Ramp. Citizen Jim Parker poked them about public transportation and renewable energy.

They’re settling on “Wiregrass Georgia Technical College Road to Success”, but when did Commissioners decide on that between the previous morning’s open meeting and this one? But wait: Continue reading

Videos: Construction Board, 3 tax lighting districtcs, mosquitoes, radios, roads, and truck @ LCC 2017-08-07

Emergency Management Director Ashley Tye gave a preview of the West Mims Fire Special Presentation that will be tonight at 5:30 PM by someone from the Charlton County Commission.

Looks like another no-bid special contract award, this time to Lovell Engineering, without even the excuse of an emergency.

They have signs made for Wiregrass Technical College Highway. Two out of three (not Creekside) Special Tax Lighting Districts may be ready to vote on tonight.

If you have any other plumber to propose for the Valdosta-Lowndes County Construction Board of Adjustments and Appeals, get that name to them before tonight; they’ve already got one name.

A month ago there was Continue reading