Tag Archives: Hightower Road

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 →

Videos: Potential litigation, Millage, Hightower Road, Bellsouth, Val Del Estates, 911, Alapaha Plantation, Manhole Emergency, Private Roads, Alcohol * 2 @ LCC Work 2021-08-23

The Lowndes County Commission votes tonight at 5:30 PM, after minimal discussion yesterday morning.

At the end of yesterday morning’s Work Session, County Manager Paige Dukes asked for an Executive Session to discuss pending litigation, plus a bigger than usual room to meet in, due to wanting many department heads there.

Earlier, Chairman Bill Slaughter asked to add an agenda item for sale of real property to the Industrial Authority. There was no discussion of this item, simply the addition of the item to the agenda for the voting session. Apparently all the commissioners know all about this from some executive session. The public knows nothing.

Also, Commissioner Mark Wisenbaker asked to move the two millage adoption items to the end of the agenda for tonight.

The only thing they spent more than two minutes on was 5.h. Adding Dispatch Consoles 11 and 12 for the 911 Center. 5.h. Adding Dispatch Consoles 11 and 12 for the 911 Center

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

Millage, Hightower Road, Bellsouth, Val Del Estates, 911, Alapaha Plantation, Manhole Emergency, Private Roads, Alcohol * 2 @ LCC 2021-08-23, GA-EPD

Three million dollars for discussion this morning and voting tomorrow evening at the Lowndes County Commission, including an emergency manhole repair, 911 consoles, and roads north of Moody AFB.

Plus more expenses will come from accepting two subdivision roads plus two dirt roads as county roads. And the never-ending Lake Alapaha subdivision water treatment plant, which has attracted a GA-EPD Consent Order.

The County will be reducing the overall millage rate, while adding the the unincorporated fire millage.

Cost What
$2,775,068.91TIA-03 Hightower Road and Cooper Road NE
$162,308.45Whitewater Road Manhole Emergency Repair
$155,697.00Adding Dispatch Consoles 11 and 12 for the 911 Center
$2,520.00Approval of Lease Amendment Number Three to Bellsouth Telecommunications, LLC
$3,095,594.36Total

[Alcohol, Subdivision, Communications]
Alcohol, Subdivision, Communications

Here is the agenda. The board packet, received in response to a LAKE open records request, is on the LAKE website:
http://www.l-a-k-e.org/govt/loco/2021-08-23–lcc-packet

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, AUGUST 23, 2021, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, AUGUST 24, 2021, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor

Continue reading →

Packet: Subdivisions, Land taking, trash @ LCC 2021-03-22

As usual, the items with the most long-term expense are in the agenda for zero dollars, for the Lowndes County Commission meetings Monday and Tuesday: two subdivisions, one opposed by 200 neighbors (REZ-2021-03 Johnston Subdivision, School House Pond Road), another wanting the county to accept its roads, water, and other infrastructure (Adopt Resolution Accepting Infrastructure for Quarterman [no relation] Estates Subdivision Phase III on Whitewater Road), meaning the county is on the hook for maintenance, in addition to costs of sending school buses, sheriff, fire, etc.

[Subdivisions, Taking, Trash collection sites]
Subdivisions, Taking, Trash collection sites

Cost What
$2,149,692.26FY 2020 Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) Grant Application
$43,490.00Bid for Breathing Air Machine for the Fire Department
$339.00Approve Condemning Right of Way and Drainage Easement for Hightower Road – Cooper Road TSPLOST Paving Project
$0.00Advanced Disposal Services Residential Solid Waste Franchise Renewal
$0.00Deep South Sanitation, LLC. Residential Solid Waste Franchise Renewal
$2,193,521.26Total

Most of the $2 million acknowledged in the board packet is for fire and rescue, which seems good to me.

In a rare move, apparently negotiations fell through with a landowner for land for utilities, so the county has condemned it and is taking it for a nominal fee: Approve Condemning Right of Way and Drainage Easement for Hightower Road – Cooper Road TSPLOST Paving Project.

The board packet, obtained in response to a LAKE open records request, is on the LAKE website. Here is the agenda:

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, MARCH 22, 2021, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, MARCH 23, 2021, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor

Continue reading →

Roads, Water, and Taxes @ LCC 2021-02-22

Four million dollars in tax money discussed this morning, to be voted on at 5:30 PM tomorrow (Tuesday) by the Lowndes County Commission.

[Table: Four Million Dollars]
Table: Four Million Dollars

Yet their video cameras seem to be broken and I haven’t seen anything about paying to fix them or buy new ones. Meanwhile, Valdosta City Council started online through an iphone, and numerous other counties in Georgia and Florida have made their meetings accessible online.

Cost What
$1,974,139.00Georgia Environmental Finance Authority (GEFA) Loan Application for the Lake Park Bellville Road Widening Project
$1,875,000.00 Georgia Environmental Finance Authority (GEFA) Loan Application for Lift Station & Manhole Rehab Project
$219,000.00Approve Purchase of West Savannah Avenue and Briggs Street Properties
$168,880.00Purchase of Wetland and Stream Credits for Old US 41 North Widening Project
$59,500.00Contract with Condrey and Associates, Inc.
$34,024.64Request for the Purchase of Motorola Radios for Public Works
$19,167.00 Approval of the Solicitor General’s VAWA Competitive Grant Award
$10,195.00Approval of Hightower Road and Cooper Road Right of Way Purchases
$6,000.00GMASS Rural Land Maintenance Contract
$339.00Just Compensation – Right of Way Parcel 10 Hightower Road and Cooper Road, TSPLOST Project
$4,366,244.64Total

We don’t know where are the lift stations or manholes to be financed through a GEFA loan for $1,875,000, but I’d say that’s a good use of funds. Not so sure about the $1,974,139 for relocating utilities for widening Lake Park Bellville Road, because I’m not clear on why that road needs widening. I do wonder why sewer and drinking water improvements have to be funded through loans while road building gets tax funds.

Here is the agenda. The board packet is on the LAKE website, received Friday in response to a LAKE Open Records request.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2021, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2021, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor

Continue reading →

Packet: Clyattstone Road rezoning yet again, Decorative lighting, Transportation, Alcohol, Taxes, Law, Cybersecurity, Pandemic @ LCC 2021-01-25

After discussion Monday morning, on Tuesday evening the Lowndes County Commission will approve spending $2 million tax dollars, mostly in $1.6 million on Lake Park Bellville Road, including relocating water and sewer lines. There’s another $90,000 on Hightower Road and Cooper Road NE, Right of Way Purchases.

Cost What
$1,655,975.00Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) Contract Item Agreement/Memorandum of Understanding Lake Park Bellville Road
$280,193.75FY 2020 Hazard Mitigation Assistance Grant Application
$90,670.31Approval of Hightower Road and Cooper Road NE, Right of Way Purchases
$29,400.00Cybersecurity Maturity Tier 1
$12,500.00Agreement with SGRC to Develop 2021 Lowndes County Comprehensive Plan Update
$20,000.00FY 2020 Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention Grant (to be fully reimbursed)
$2,068,739.06Total

REZ-2020-20 Ballyntyne 6712 Clyattstone Road is back yet again, this time probably to be improved. The agenda sheet says no cost for that rezoning, but remember last time we added up more than $3 million the county has already spent on Clyattstone Road and water and sewer infrastructure.

The least expensive item with dollars listed is FY 2020 Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention Grant, because it will be fully reimbursed.

Also inexpensive and probably cost-effective is Agreement with SGRC to Develop 2021 Lowndes County Comprehensive Plan Update.

[Subdivisions in northwest Lowndes County, GA]
Subdivisions in northwest Lowndes County, GA

Listed at no cost to the county is Addition to Basic Decorative Street Lighting District – Creekside West, Ph. 6 & 7 and Val Del Villas, which includes maps of subdivisions in northwest Lowndes County, allowing you to see the extent of sprawl so far in that direction.

The board packet is on the LAKE website, received Friday in response to a LAKE open records request.
http://www.l-a-k-e.org/govt/loco/2021-01-25–lcc-packet/

We look forward to board packets being on the county’s own website along with the agenda.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, JANUARY 25, 2021, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, JANUARY 26, 2021, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor

Continue reading →

Videos: Do not pave Hightower Road, rezonings on Val Del, Great North Road, US 41 N @ LCC 2019-10-08

Eleven minutes plus three minutes from people asking do not pave Hightower and Cooper Roads near Moody AFB. They said they weren’t even consulted before the county decided to pave. Chairman Bill Slaughter offered to talk with those citizens after the meeting, but not during, when the public could have heard him. Before that, County Manager Joe Pritchard summarized internal discussions about the county road inventory.

More than four minutes for the second NATCO rezoning on Val Del Road was the longest item at this Regular Session.

The Wisenbaker rezoning on Great North Road had a Commissioner recuse himself and took 2.5 minutes. The applicant request to table for Hogan on US 42 N was passed in less than a minute.

Below are links to each LAKE video of each agenda item, followed by Continue reading →