Tag Archives: John S. Quarterman

Video Playlist @ LCC 2012-06-12

Here is a video playlist of the entire 12 June 2012 Lowndes County Commission meeting.

Ashley Paulk prepended a word about Ed Christian, a deputy he hired when he was sheriff, who lost his son recently.

They reappointed Ms. Iverson to the Children and Family Services Board.

Seats of Joseph Stevens, Richard Lee, Steve Gupton were up for appointment on the Public Facilities Authority. Former Commissioner Lee apparently did not want to be reappointed; the other two did. Commissioner Powell wanted to be appointed. Commissioner Raines so moved, Commissioner Evans seconded, and all three Commissioners voted for. Yes, Commissioner Powell voted for himself to be on that board.

Reappointed Cindy Vickery to the South Georgia Community Service Board.

Adopted a speed zone ordinance without giving any clue what is in it. More on that later.

Determination to hold a public hearing to make Brinson Drive a dead end road, so traffic cannot come on or off of Pikes Pond Road.

A Nondisclosure Agreement with JMF Solutions, Inc., turned out to be about providing voice and data to part of the county via a county water tank.

County Clerk Paige Dukes was pleased to have approved a Contract with Municipal Code Corporation which included the second half of the funding she wanted to complete converting ordinances from paper to more legible formats.

Fire Chief Richard Guyton requested permission to apply for a $25,000 grant for emergency equipment which he said would require no matching funds. Commissioner Raines indicated his displeasure Continue reading →

Tanker truck turning from Hambrick Road onto Cat Creek Road, 20 June 2012

This tanker truck just barrelled down Hambrick Road faster than the speed limit and turned onto Cat Creek Road, even though Georgia 122 is less than a mile to the north, connecting to GA 125 (Bemiss Road) three miles to the east. Does this safety hazard to residents on a local road seem right to you? Yet this is the kind of thing Lowndes County T-SPLOST projects would promote.

Tanker truck turning from Hambrick Road onto Cat Creek Road, 20 June 2012
Pictures by John S. Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE).

Remember, the county wants to make this problem worse by widening Cat Creek Road and adding turn lanes at Pine Grove Road, Radar Site Road, New Bethel Road, and, you guessed it, Hambrick Road. The county wants to turn Cat Creek Road into a highway and Hambrick Road into a feeder highway. That project got cut from the non-discretionary T-SPLOST project list, but T-SPLOST also includes 15% discretionary funding, which will probably go to some of the projects that got cut if T-SPLOST gets funded.

And it’s not just Cat Creek Road. Also on the original T-SPLOST list was $3 million to widen Val Del Road and $10 million to widen New Bethel Road to the Lanier County line. And of course still on the approved list is $8 million to widen Old US 41 North from North Valdosta Road to Union Road. Even though $7.5 million for a bus system was cut first pass.

Which do you want, a new 1 cent sales tax on everything including food going to projects that promote sprawl and risk public safety? Or, if we really need new transporation projects, a gasoline tax going to projects that actually would benefit the public, including businesses, such as a bus system?

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Video Playlist @ VLCIA 2012-05-22

The first 100% VSEB contract, local industry expansion, new prospects, a bank lost a bond, and new Georgia sunshine laws require attention. Here are videos of the entire 22 May 2012 meeting of the Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority (VLCIA) board. Here’s the agenda.

Guests included a camera crew from VSU, one of whom was Cameron Copeland, Chairman Roy Copeland’s son.

CPA Tom Davis said the county told him revenues were flat, so VLCIA would get about the same amount as last year. Tom Call asked if revenues would catch up over 6 months or 8 months. Call said they would eventually.

Tom Call reported for the budget committee and said expenses were projected to be down for the coming year, plus the budget would be more specific about where revenues were being spent.

Meghan Duke reported they had gotten an article in the newspaper, and they had held an OSHA training meeting at Wiregrass Tech. They plan to hold further courses and will send out a survey about that. She also expected updates to the land-searching Valdosta Prospector website to be ready in a few weeks. She and Andrea Schruijer had selected 3 finalists out of 10 proposals to redo the VLCIA website. Her only stated criterion for picking one was

“I just have to go with my gut.”

Website completion had been scheduled for September, but had been deferred. Roy Copeland wanted to know when. Continue reading →

New Georgia sunshine laws explained by VLCIA lawyer @ VLCIA 2012-05-22

New Georgia sunshine law explained by VLCIA attorney J. Stephen Gupton. Some highlights include:

  • Open meetings now include any time a quorum discusses business,
  • even if there was no scheduled meeting.
  • Committees now fall under open meetings.
  • Executive sessions have specific requirements.
  • Increased penalties from $500 to $100 for violating open meetings, plus potential criminal penalties up to $2,500.
  • A custodian of records needs to be appointed so people will know who is responsbile for satisfying open records requests.

Here’s the video:

New Georgia sunshine laws explained by VLCIA lawyer
Regular Meeting, Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority (VLCIA),
Norman Bennett, Tom Call, Roy Copeland chairman, Mary Gooding, Jerry Jennett,
Andrea Schruijer Executive Director, J. Stephen Gupton attorney, Allan Ricketts Project Manager, Tom Davis, CPA, Lu Williams, Operations Manager, S. Meghan Duke, Public Relations & Marketing Manager,
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 22 May 2012.
Video by John S. Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE).

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Industrial Authority today @ VLCIA 2012-06-19

VLCIA is even posting notices of committee meetings now! According to their website, the Industrial Authority has two meetings today:

Committee Meeting Notice The Nominating Committee for the Valdosta Lowndes County Industrial Authority will meet Tuesday, June 19, 2012, 1:00 PM at the Industrial Authority Conference Room, 2110 N. Patterson Street.

The Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority’s Regular Monthly Meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, June 19, 2012, 5:30 PM at the Industrial Authority Conference Room, 2110 N. Patterson Street.

The nominating committee is for officers; they elect new ones annually. Here’s the agenda. It has no content, but at least they post one. Unlike their minutes.

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Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority
Agenda
Tuesday, June 19, 2012 5:30 p.m.
Industrial Authority Conference Room
2110 N. Patterson Street
Continue reading →

Waste disposal again —Joe Pritchard @ LCC 2012-06-12

Why are Commissioners hiding behind Joe Pritchard, instead of discussing trash disposal in open meetings?

At last week’s Regular Session of the Lowndes County Commission, County Manager Joe Pritchard repeated part of what he said the previous morning at the Work Session. After the meeting he came up to me to ask whether he had clarified it more. I do appreciate him doing that, and he did clarify where the new cards are on sale, although he omitted any mention of where they had been discussed previously. And it’s true that the previous morning he did not say anything had been decided. Yet the method of paying for waste disposal has changed (for only six months, and not prorated), so somebody decided that, somewhere where the public was not invited.

That six month period conveniently ends just after the current current Commission will be replaced by a new Commission with two additional members and a new Chairman. Those of us who remember former Chairman Rod Casey’s Commission passing a waste collection plan just as he left the Commission may remain sceptical that the Commissioners haven’t already made up their minds to privatize trash collection and socialize the losses onto landowners, who will have to deal with increased illegal dumping.

Sceptical especially when the VDT has reported twice that the Commissioners have already made up their minds, and about the Commissioners discussing trash disposal at three different meetings at which they knew the public would not be present. Remember the VDT report of the Commission’s stealth 4 June meeting:

Continue reading →

Lack of agendas makes it hard for citizens to speak @ LCC 2012-06-12

Jimmy Hiers said at the Lowndes County Commission hearing on rezoning case REZ-2012-09 Copeland that the Planning Commission had their meeting two days before it was posted, thus making it difficult for people to appear to speak.

County Zoning Administrator Carmella Braswell noted at ZBOA that staff had met statutory requirements even though GLPC had moved its meeting ahead a week. She didn't mention that if those requirements are the same as for the County Commission they only require staff to send letters to immediately adjacent property owners, which would explain why those were the only neighbors who showed up at the Planning Commission. Plus GLPC doesn't publish its agenda in advance, Its chair Bill Slaughter has recently started sending agendas to LAKE for publication, at Gretchen Quarterman's request. Here's the agenda for that GLPC 21 May 2012 meeting. I suppose if the entire county starts reading this blog, problem solved. Or GLPC could publish its agendas on its website, or the county's website, or one or more of the cities' websites.

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REZ-2012-09 Copeland rezoning @ LCC 2012-06-12

How can a man with health care financial troubles make a living with a shop he’s had for decades when some of the neighbors complain about a rezoning that is now required? A controversial case that raised issues ranging from wetlands to public safety to Moody Air Force Base jets flying out of Valdosta Airport made its way through two appointed boards to a Solomonic rezoning decision by the elected Lowndes County Commission. Nobody wanted to deny a man a living, but many people wanted to limit potential commercial uses of the subject property. The Commissioners attempted to take all that into account, yet failed to incorporate two major considerations raised by neighbors, mentioning one of them only to disparage it. Even that isn’t the end of it, since it may head back to the Zoning Board of Appeals for a buffer variance. Here are videos of REZ-2012-09 Copeland at the Lowndes County Commission.

It had been to the Planning Commission for a recommendation on rezoning, it had been to the Zoning Board of Appeals for a buffer variance, Monday morning it had been to the County Commission Work Session at which we learned a bit more, and Tuesday evening it went to the Lowndes County Commission Regular Session for a vote on rezoning.

Monday 11 June 2012 Work Session

At the 8:30 AM Monday Work Session, County Planner Jason Davenport had several updates since Commissioners had received their packets the previous week.

  • An email from a Mr. Bradford in opposition.
  • Some open records requests to be filled after the work session.
  • Some opponents of the rezoning had hired a lawyer. (Those of you who watched Bill Nijem at the Zoning Board of Appeals meeting already would have guessed that. Nijem also spoke the next day at the Regular Session.)
  • Davenport had met with the applicant, Mr. Copeland, who had provided more materials because he believed there were some accusations about lack of continuous operations in the building.

Davenport summarized that he thought there were three camps:

  1. Those not supporting the case.
  2. Those supporting the case,
  3. Those supporting the case with conditions,

He said one possibility would be for he and the county attorney to meet with the opposition attorney to try to work out some conditions.

Tuesday 12 June 2012 Regular Session

The agenda item was

6. Public Hearings – REZ-2012-09 Copeland, 3258 & 3264 Loch Laurel Rd, R-A & R-1 to C-C, well & septic, ~5 acres

Here’s a list of every citizen speaking for, at any of GLPC, ZBOA, or County Commission: John A. Copeland (the applicant), Kevin Copeland (applicant’s son), Nancy Hobby, Charles Miles, Fuller Sorrell, Alan Davis, Robert Roffe, and Norman Bush, plus a petition for.

Here’s a list of every citizen speaking against, at any of GLPC, ZBOA, or County Commission: Bill Nijem (attorney for several neighbors), Jimmy Hiers, Gail Hiers, Greta Vargas, and Patty Haynes.

For the rezoning

Continue reading →

Video playlist of Remerton City Council Work Session @ RCC 2012-06-04

Here are videos of the Remerton City Council Work Session of 4 June 2012, including three citizens speaking first against demolition of Strickland Mill. They meet again tonight.

First speaking was Emily Foster, who first informed us about this issue.

Here's a video playlist:

Video playlist of Remerton City Council Work Session
Work Session, Remerton City Council (RCC),
Remerton, Lowndes County, Georgia, 4 June 2012.
Videos by John S. Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE).

Previously I said I couldn't find the agenda, but it was actually online; here it is.

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CITY OF REMERTON
WORKSESSION AGENDA
MONDAY, JUNE 4, 2012
COUNCIL CHAMBERS

5:30 PM

WELCOME GUESTS.

CITIZENS TO BE HEARD.

NEW BUSINESS:
  1. Discussion regarding Certificate of Appropriateness 2012-04 for 1853 W. Gordon Street, Remerton, Ga.— Jessica Freeman
  2. Discussion regarding continuation of moratorium to update Sign Ordinance for an additional 30 days — Jessica Freeman and Brad Folsom
  3. Discussion regarding Statewide Mutual Aid 2012 Agreement requested by Ashley Pye with Lowndes County — Rachel Tate
  4. Discussion regarding removal of speed bumps on Plum Street — Mayor Holsendolph
  5. DEPARTMENT REPORTS:
    1. City Clerk —Rachel Tate
    2. Probation — Jessica Freeman
    3. Police — Mike Terrell
    4. Fire/Utilities/Public Works — Scott Fowler
ADJOURN.

VLCIA Focus Group meeting 20 June 2012

Today I received an invitation from the Industrial Authority to attend a focus group interview for input to their Competitive Assessment and their Economic Development Strategy. So, dear readers, what do you think I should say to them? Don’t worry; I have some ideas already, but I’m all ears for more.

You may recall VLCIA has been put out an RFP early this year for an organization to do a Strategic Plan process. They selected Market Street Services of Atlanta, and they said in April they were preparing to do focus groups. Now apparently they’ve sent out invitation letters for a focus group on 20 June 2012. I have no idea who else they have invited; I was rather surprised to find they invited me.

What would you say to them?

Invitation from Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority (VLCIA)
to a focus group interview 20 June 2012
Wiregrass Georgia Technical College, Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 1 June 2012.
Scanned by John S. Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE).

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