Tag Archives: Gretchen Quarterman

Visible Option 3 for sewer for middle school @ LCC 2013-09-10

In a surprise move, Commissioner Crawford Powell insisted on showing the audience what the Commission was voting on regarding extending sewer service for the Lowndes County Board of Education, at the Lowndes County Commission Regular Session 10 September 2013.

8.b. Sewer Service Requested for Lowndes County Board of Education

Utilities Manager Mike Allen said LCBOE wants sewer service for Lake Park Elementary to help out their failing septic tank; he recommended Option 3.

Commissioner Crawford Powell asked for Option 3 to be displayed or read. IT Director Aaron Kostyu noted that if there was a copy it could be projected. Allen moseyed over to the table by the podium with a copy, pictured here, with transcript below.

Option 3) Direct county attorney to draft two documents: Continue reading →

Decently and in order? Prayers do not match Commission behavior @ LCC 2013-09-10

The invocation didn’t match what the Commission did at the Lowndes County Commission Regular Session 10 September 2013, or at many another session, for that matter.

The invocation included this:

…we can gather here and not have to face the fear arrest or threat. That we can express our opinions openly.

I guess Minister Commissioner John Page hasn’t heard of Ashley Paulk’s Greatest Hits which include a not-so-veiled threat of arrest right there in that same chamber Continue reading →

ZBOA considers UHS Pruitt variance at Two Mile Branch on Lee Street @ ZBOA 2013-09-10

Right about now the Zoning Board of Appeals is considering a variance on stream buffers for the medical expansion across Two Mile Branch, as promised at the Planning Commission and Valdosta City Council. It never flooded there before, right? Nevermind that flood control measures encourage settling too close and provoke severe flooding events and just yesterday I heard people complaining about water running over Lee Street just downstream from the subject location. How will adding more impervious cover right next to the creek help that flooding?

Here’s the agenda.

Valdosta – Lowndes County Zoning Board of Appeals
AGENDA
Tuesday, September 10, 2013
2:30 p.m.
  1. Call to Order

CITY OF VALDOSTA CASES:

  1. APP-2013-09 – RREMC Restaurants LLC (Denny’s; 1328 N St Augustine Road)
    Variance to LDR Section 214-7 as it pertains to exterior building materials
  2. APP-2013-10 — UHS-Pruitt Corporation (Parkwood Developmental Center; 1501 N Lee St.)
    Variance to LDR Section 214-1 Table 2 as it pertains to rear yard setbacks in O-P Zoning and to LDR Section 310-112(A)(1) as it pertains to stream buffers

OTHER BUSINESS:

  1. Attendance Policy
  2. Approval of Minutes:
    • August 6, 2013
    • July 9, 2013 (revised to correct Case # scriveners errors)
  3. Adjournment

-jsq

Videos: SPLOST VII Resolution and mystery proclamation and appointment @ LCC 2013-09-09

Charlie Clark The big surprise in the eleven-minute meeting was they called up former County Engineer Charlie Clark to explain the Utility Director’s comment about making a profit on wastewater to Lake Park Elementary School. Yes, the SPLOST VII Resolution is to put it on the ballot in November, “to reimpose the tax”. So much for those town halls that never happened. Yep, it’s Mac McCall for reappointment to ZBOA. No Proclamation this morning, so it could still be for South Georgia Pride like Valdosta Mayor John Gayle refused to proclaim last year. And they vote tomorrow night at 5:30 PM.

Here’s the agenda, with links to the videos and a few notes.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2013, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2013, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor
Continue reading →

SPLOST VII Resolution and mystery proclamation and appointment @ LCC 2013-09-09

Presumably the SPLOST VII Resolution is to put it on the ballot in November. So much for those town halls that never happened. I’m guessing the ZBOA appointment is for the finally-expired term of Dave Kirk; they appointed John “Mac” McCall last December to the unexpired part of Kirk’s term, so McCall would be the odds-on reappointment. Maybe the Proclamation is for South Georgia Pride like Valdosta Mayor John Gayle refused to proclaim last year. Why do we have to guess what all those items are for, anyway? Why don’t they just make the agenda items descriptive, or, even better, link the board packet items in with the agenda? The two For Consideration items are more intelligible, but would still make more sense with those board packet materials.

Here’s the agenda.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2013, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2013, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor
Continue reading →

Flood control measures encourage settling too close and provoke severe flooding events

Flood control to keep water out of houses seems like a good idea, but it turns out that it causes the flood control measures to keep needing to be raised higher, and it encourages people to build too close to flooding areas, plus “rare and catastrophic events take place”. Like the 2009 “700 year flood” and the four or more floods this year that have overflowed the Withlacoochee Wastewater Treatment Plant. In our case, there are also the issues of widespread clearcutting and buildings and streets with impervious cover. The local runoff containment requirements in the various local government zoning codes may be like levees: “flood control structures might even increase flood risk as protection from frequent flooding reduces perceptions of risk”.

This encourages human settlements in floodplain areas, which are then vulnerable to high-consequence and low-probability events.
Much simpler just not to give out building permits for flood zones. Or we could put medical buildings right next to a creek, assuming because it’s never flooded it never will….

Socio-hydrology: conceptualising human-flood interactions, G. Di Baldassarre, A. Viglione, G. Carr, L. Kuil, J. L. Salinas, and G. Bloschl, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 17, 3295–3303, 2013 doi:10.5194/hess-17-3295-2013, © Author(s) 2013. CC Attribution 3.0 License.

Abstract. Over history, humankind has tended to settle near streams Continue reading →

Developing across Two Mile Branch and a sidewalk @ VCC 2013-09-05

Magaret Ellen Hill is Employee of the month, and they rejected the sidewalk bids putting them out for rebid, after they unanimously approved the medical development to span One Two Mile Branch at the Valdosta City Council Regular Session of 5 September 2013.

Here’s the agenda, with links to the videos, and a few notes.

AGENDA
REGULAR MEETING OF THE VALDOSTA CITY COUNCIL
5:30 PM Thursday, September 5, 2013
COUNCIL CHAMBERS, CITY HALL
  1. Opening Ceremonies
    1. Call to Order
    2. Invocation
    3. Pledge of Allegiance to the American Flag
  2. Awards and Presentations
    1. Consideration of the September, 2013 Employee of the Month Award (Margaret Ellen Hill, Main Street Department).

      She helped extend Downtown Valdosta Farm Days by two months.

  3. Minutes Approval
    1. Valdosta City Council – Regular Meeting – Aug 22, 2013 5:30 PM

      Approved unanimously with no changes.

  4. Public Hearings

    UHS Pruitt VA-2013-12 CU-2013-02 Continue reading →

Dollar General (Teramore Development) @ GLPC 2013-08-26

Commissioner Franklin Bailey summed up the Dollar General proposal for Hahira:

There’s just a lot here we don’t have.

Hahira City Council votes tonight on the Teramore Development items, which are for a Dollar General (like the one in Naylor), as we discovered at the Greater Lowndes Planning Commission Regular Session 26 August 2013, even though the agenda doesn’t say. GLPC recommended for it, even though engineering details hadn’t been done for water management, the site plan wasn’t finalized, and no solution was proposed for Dollar General’s corporate habit of using sidewalks for cart storage, among many other issues.

309 W Main, Hahira, Tax Assessors map

Planning Commission Agenda for 2013-08-26, with links to the videos: Continue reading →

Pruitt Corp. across One Mile Branch and a sidewalk @ VCC 2013-09-05

The medical development to span One Mile Branch recommended by the Planning Commission is up for a vote tonight, along with sidewalk bids elsewhere, by the Valdosta City Council.

Plus September, 2013 Employee of the Month is Margaret Ellen Hill, Main Street Department.

Here’s the agenda:

AGENDA
REGULAR MEETING OF THE VALDOSTA CITY COUNCIL
5:30 PM Thursday, September 5, 2013
COUNCIL CHAMBERS, CITY HALL
  1. Opening Ceremonies
    1. Call to Order
    2. Invocation
    3. Pledge of Allegiance to the American Flag
  2. Awards and Presentations
    1. Consideration of the September, 2013 Employee of the Month Award (Margaret Ellen Hill, Main Street Department).
  3. Minutes Approval
    1. Valdosta City Council – Regular Meeting – Aug 22, 2013 5:30 PM
  4. Public Hearings
    1. Consideration of an Ordinance to rezone 4.96 acres from Single-Family Residential (R- 6) and (R-10) to Office-Professional (O-P) as requested by UHS Pruitt Corporation (File No. VA-2013-12). The property is located at 1501 North Lee Street. The Greater Lowndes Planning Commission reviewed this request at their August Regular Meeting and recommended approval (7-0 vote).
    2. Consideration of an Ordinance for a Conditional Use Permit to allow a Residential Care Facility in Office-Professional (O-P) zoning as requested by UHS-Pruitt Corporation (File No. CU-2013-02). The property is located at 1501 North Lee Street. The Greater Lowndes Planning Commission reviewed this request at their August Regular Meeting and recommended approval with five conditions (7-0 vote).
  5. Bids, Contracts, Agreements and Expenditures
    1. Consideration of bids for the Sidewalk Installation Project on Lamar Street and North Oak Street.
  6. City Manager’s Report
  7. Council Comments
  8. Citizens to be Heard
  9. Adjournment

-jsq

Medical development to span One Two Mile Branch in downtown Valdosta? @ GLPC 2013-08-26

That looks like a creek running through 1501 North Lee Street, as Valdosta City Council Sonny Vickers asked Tuesday and is on the Valdosta City Council agenda for a vote tonight, after being considered for a recommendation at the Greater Lowndes Planning Commission Regular Session 26 August 2013.

Matthew Woody wrote for the VDT yesterday, City discusses zoning request,

Councilman Sonny Vickers expressed concern about the facility being too close to the stream. He asked if the City approved this and there was a flood, would the City be liable. He asked if any of the surrounding areas have been flooded in the past, and Martin said that in the past 43 years, there has never been an issue.

And what about waste flowing downstream or into the aquifer?

Extract from the Planning Commission agenda with links to the videos:

CITY OF VALDOSTA CASES:

FINAL ACTION by the City of Valdosta Mayor-Council
Thursday, September 5, 2013
Valdosta City Hall, 216 E. Central Avenue, Valdosta, Georgia
Council Chambers, 2nd Floor
5:30 p.m.
  1. VA-2013-12 UHS Pruitt Corporation
    Property Location: 1501 North Lee Street (Parkwood Development Center)

    VA-2013-12: Adjacent

    Continue reading →