Tag Archives: Military

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

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 →

Videos: Building Valdosta Subdivision and The Landings on Val Del Road, Moody AFB water & wastewater, Reports @ LCC Work 2021-07-12

Update 2022-09-12: O’Neal rezoning back after a year: Packet: redo 2 rezonings, 3 extraterritorial water & sewer, $438,537 RR crossing, $2,542,586 Griner Park @ LCC 2022-09-12.

Two weeks ago at the Lowndes County Commission Work Session, by far the longest item at almost seven minutes was 6.b. REZ-2021-09 Building Valdosta Subdivision (0070 018), R-A to R-21. It fronts on Val Del Road, but has no county water and sewer. Commissioner Scottie Orenstein wanted to know about the two creeks that run through it: see the notes below on the item.

6.d. REZ-2021-11 The Landings (PD Amendment), Val Del Road (0071 056) got two and a half minutes.

The County Manager Reports was almost as long.

The whole meeting still only took 23 minutes.

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, the board packet on the LAKE website due to a LAKE open records request, and the Minutes.

Rezonings, Juvenile Justice, Moody AFB water & wastewater

1. Call to Order 4. Minutes for Approval Continue reading →

Boards * 2, Rezonings * 4, Moody AFB wastewater @ LCC 2021-07-12

A third of a million dollars will be decided Tuesday by the Lowndes County Commission, after review at its Monday morning Work Session.

However, the items that will cause a chronic drain on county resources, including the school district, are not shown as having any “BUDGET IMPACT”: the four rezonings, especially the two 60+ acre subdivisions.

Cost	What
$153,738.00	Bid for a Fuel Truck for the Public Works Department
$165,427.00	Acceptance of FY22 Juvenile Justice Incentive Grant
$319,165.00	Total

Bethany Drive, Val Del Road, Wild Adventures

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/2021-07-11–lcc-packet

COVID-19, Ballyntyne Subdivision, County expenses for Hightower Road, Sewer, Moody AFB, Fire Pumper @ LCC 2021-01-11

The agenda sheet for rezoning REZ-2020-20 Ballyntyne (back again from last month) claims no budget impact, but that ignores the many thousands of county tax dollars already spent on Clyattstone Road, as well as followup maintenance of roads, sewer, and water, not to mention School Board expenses for sending buses, as well as Fire Department and Sheriff Department expenses whenever called.

WRPDO Site Map

This is what I’ve found the Lowndes County Commission has already spent on Clyattstone Road, and I may have missed some.

Cost	What	When
$1,681,770.84	Grading, Drainage, Base, and Paving of Clyattstone Road and Simpson Lane.	2020-09-21
$1,417,333.98	Clyattstone Water Main Extension	2020-09-21
$43,245.50	The stated ROW cost in the agenda	2020-02-24
$23,590.50	Approval of Clyattstone Rd.-Simpson Ln. ROW and Easement Purchases (Parcels 26 and 34)	2020-07-14
$20,000.00	For wetland credits acquisition	2020-04-28.
$11,535.00	and the other stated ROW cost in the agenda
$2,916.00	Up to that amount for an acre of drainage for Simpson Lane	2020-04-16.
$1,085.00	Approve Purchasing ROW and Drainage Easement for Clyattstone Rd.-Simpson Ln. TSPLOST Paving Project	2020-05-27
$3,201,476.82	County tax dollars so far spent on Clyattstone Road

So that’s more than $3 million tax dollars the county has already spent subsidizing subdivision developers on Clyattstone Road, before getting into maintenance and later School Board and Fire and Sheriff Department expenses. Remember that when somebody says public transportation has to be subsidized.

Here are the expenses acknowledged in agenda sheets for this coming week’s Commission meetings:

Cost	What
$351,115.00	Bid for a Pumper for the Fire Department
$315,557.58	Approval of Railroad Agreement for Hightower Road Project
$96,556.75	Low Pressure Sewer Force Main Upgrade on Old Bemiss and Bemiss Knights Academy Road
$28,000.75	Approval of Hightower Road and Cooper Road NE, Right of Way Purchases
$2,500.00	Moody Water Treatment Plant Emergency Repair
$793,730.08	Total

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/2021-01-11–lcc-packet

Here is the agenda.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, JANUARY 11, 2021, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, JANUARY 12, 2021, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor
Continue reading →

Packet: Moody AFB, Library board, renaming and dedicating roads, two subdivisions, liability insurance @ LCC 2020-07-27

Will it take fifteen minutes, or twenty minutes, to approve almost a million dollars, in a packed agenda for Monday and Tuesday at the Lowndes County Commission? It’s mostly Property & Liability insurance, followed by a consulting contract for a go-between with Moody AFB, plus UPSes for county radio sites.

Cost	What
$818,021.00	ACCG IRMA Property & Liability Program Renewal
$96,000.00	Agreement with Cornerstone
$24,257.88	Vertiv Service Contract for the Liebert UPS at the 911 Center & the 4 Tower Sites
$0; past gate name it Harper’s Lane	Renaming a Portion of Sara Road
$0	Acceptance of Infrastructure for Brayden Place Subdivision
$938,278.88	Total

They’ll also appoint Thomas Lovett to the South Georgia Regional Library Board, rename a road, and accept some subdivision roads.

Aerial Map: Sara Road Renaming

Received Friday 5:14 PM in response to a LAKE open records request, the board packet is on the LAKE website.

Here is the agenda:

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, JULY 27, 2020, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, JULY 28, 2020, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor
Continue reading →

Videos: COVID 19 briefing by Lowndes Health and GA-DPH 2020-03-12

Update 2020-03-13: Presentation Slides and More information on the DPH website.

Dr. William R. Grow, Director, Georgia’s South Health District, said he had never seen anything like this in his 40 year medical career. Handwashing is the single best prevention for the novel coronavirus and the COVID-19 disease it causes.

Crowd

Status at this meeting, 9AM Thursday March 12, 2020, was one case from South Georgia Medical Center (SGMC) tested positive when he went to a Florida hospital, SGMC is scrubbing itself, and Moody Air Force Base had one positive case of the virus.

There is no GA DPH recommendation yet on large meetings other than if you’re ill stay home. The Mayor of Savannah has postponed St. Patrick’s Day, and Ireland, Chicago, and Boson have cancelled theirs. So far Azalea Festival in Valdosta says it will go on, with multiple hand-washing stations.

Here are the main parts of the meeting, which was at South Health HQ on Savannah Ave. in Valdosta, Georgia.

Since that meeting, Continue reading →

Videos: SPLOST VIII, Grassy Pond Sewer, and Hospital Authority funding @ LCC 2019-07-23

Five and a half minutes of the Regular Session fifteen minutes was on the county guaranteeing refinancing Hospital Authority debt, due to County Manager Joe Pritchard reciting what’s in the agreement, and Hospital Authority CEO Bill Forbes speaking, and Chairman Bill Slaughter thanking him. The agreement is in the board packet on the LAKE website from a LAKE open records request.

Citizen Michelle Williams of Hahira asked for a spay and neuter ordinance, noting Macon and Dalton have those already. County Clerk Paige Dukes praised Michelle Williams and other volunteers.

Second at almost two minutes was Continue reading →

Videos: Leadershp Lowndes, KLVB, ZBOA, Library board, three rezonings @ LCC 2019-07-09

Twenty-two minutes, quite long for the Lowndes County Commission, with four minutes on the ZBOA appointment with a split vote, and most of the rest on the three rezonings, with five and a half minutes on 6a. REZ-2019-09 Mark Courson, 5761 Long Pond Rd. R-1 to R-10.

The Chairman held forth about Leadership Lowndes at the end of the meeting. It’s like he’s not running again and is getting the most out of his time up there.

Commissioner Clay Griner was not present.

Below are Continue reading →

Special Called Meeting to approve SPLOST VIII Projects @ LCC 2019-07-31

You got a notice about this meeting two days in advance, if you signed up for the county’s alerts, which is twice as long as they usually do. Special Called Meeting,

Wednesday, July 31, 2019
A special called meeting will be held to adopt the amended SPLOST VIII Agreement.
Date: July 31, 2019
Time: 8:30 AM
Location: Board of Commissioners
Administration Building
Address: 327 N. Ashley Street
2nd Floor
Valdosta, GA 31601

Lowndes Project List
PDF

Here is Lowndes County’s SPLOST VIII Project List. The biggest items are water and sewer at $23 million and sports at $13,274,912, followed by the historic Courthouse at $12 million. Note nothing about Continue reading →

Board Packet @ LCC 2019-07-22

For the first time ever, the county returned the complete board packet before the Lowndes County Commission voted on it! This was in response to an open records request sent Wednesday, so the statutory three days were actually up Monday morning. They emailed the packet Monday afternoon about 5PM.

Google Map annotated by LAKE to show the quit claimed part of Reed Road in magenta (this map was not part of the board packet).

All the dirt part of Reed Road, back from the old Skipper Bridge over the Withlacoochee River, to the entrance to Pine Grove Middle School, is what is being abandoned. It is possible to decipher this from the quit claims in the board packet for yesterday morning’s Lowndes County Commission Work Session and tonight’s Regular Session.

All the SPLOST VIII Project Lists, for the county and the five cities, are included; see below.

Everything the county sent, plus images of each page, is on the LAKE website. LAKE looks forward to the county putting all these packet documents on the county’s own website, along with the agenda and agenda sheets.