Tag Archives: noise

Videos: Gresham Event Venue passed 3:2, surprise Hospital Authority bond agreement @ LCC Regular 2024-03-12

Commissioners Joyce Evans and Demarcus Marshall voted against 5.a. REZ-2024-01 Gresham Event Venue, 8415 Old Valdosta Road. Commissioner Clay Griner moved to approve with four conditions, Commissioner Scottie Orenstein seconded, and they and Commissioner Mark Wisenbaker voted for. Most of the audience left, clearly not happy.

The Lowndes County Commission at its Regular Session approved everything else unanimously. At an hour and fourteen minutes, this was among its longest meetings.

Collage @ LCC 12 March 2024

Approvals included the last-minute addition, 6.f. Intergovernmental agreement with the Hospital Authority. The hospital wants to fund expansion, in the usual way by floating bonds guaranteed by the county.

One citizen wished to be heard. Continue reading →

Videos: Gresham Event Venue and four other rezonings @ LCC Work 2024-03-11

Update 2024-03-16: Videos: Gresham Event Venue passed 3:2, surprise Hospital Authority bond agreement @ LCC Regular 2024-03-12.

The Lowndes County Commissioners talked a bit about REZ-2024-01 Gresham Event Venue in their Monday morning Work Session, as you can see in these LAKE videos.

Some of the other rezonings got some discussion. Nobody asked any questions about any of the For Consideration items.

They voted Tuesday evening; LAKE videos to come for that.

Collage @ LCC 11 March 2024

Commissioner Scottie Orenstein asked what the opposition was about. County Planner JD Dillard said “there have been a few emails”. There was a concern about traffic, but the fire marshall and county engineer felt there was adequate access to the property to support emergency vehicles. Noise has been the main concern heard.

Commissioner Mark Wisenbaker asked if the barn building existed. Answer: not yet. Might hold a larger gathering space. Could potentially house a band and keep the noise inside.

Commissioner Joyce Evans distinguished inside and outside noise. The County Planner said apparently they were trying to determine how the noise ordinance was enforced or measured. Probably it would be at the property line. The County Planner deferred to Code Enforcement or Legal, who did not comment. Chairman Bill Slaughter said there was a time the noise was supposed to go down and it was not supposed to be heard beyond the property line. He indicated they would have to set and measure noise standards. Also, before the cool-down hour

Commissioner Scottie Orenstein indicated he thought the main issue was not whether the venue needed, or would be successful, or what their finances were. He said he was trying to figure out whether the Planning Commission recommendation was based on issues such as ingress and egress and noise.

About REZ-2024-04 Clyattstone Road Subdivision, Chairman Bill Slaughter raised the issue of covenants.

Below are LAKE videos of each agenda item, with a few comments by Gretchen Quarterman, followed by a LAKE video playlist.

Videos: Dollar General Defeated, VLDA appointment, subdivision infrastructure, VOCA, server blades @ LCC Regular 2023-01-24

Update 2023-05-06: Dollar General developer and property owner sue Lowndes County about rezoning denial –VDT 2023-05-03.

Update 2023-01-29: Lowndes County nixes planned Dollar General –VDT 2023-01-26.

Much to the surprise of the several dozen opponents of the Dollar General rezoning, and even after the DG developer attorney attempted to tell his version of the Lowndes County Commission’s legal responsibilities, all the Commissioners voted to deny the rezoning.

Collage @ LCC 24 January 2023

The audience laughed at the Dollar General’s offer of an “enhanced facade,” as conveyed by County Planner JD Dillard. Even after Chairman Bill Slaughter limited each side to ten minutes, the opposition gave excellent summaries.

Heath Dawson, who is the nearest neighbor to the north and a commercial banker, attested Continue reading →

Kim Greene, CEO, Southern Company Gas, at 5701 Quarterman Road 2019-05-10

Update 2023-02-15: New CEOs for Southern Company and Georgia Power 2023-01-09.

The future CEO of Georgia Power visited 5701 Quarterman Road in Lowndes County in 2019 to inspect a completely rebuilt methane pipeline station.

Movie: Kim Greene, CEO, Southern Company Gas

This, on my property, is where the Atlanta Gas Light (AGL) pipeline starts that goes to Homerville, GA, where in 2018 its gas blew up a coffee shop and sent three women to Shands in Gainesville, FL, with third-degree burns.

But the rebuild had nothing to do with that event. Continue reading →

Videos: budget and wood pellet plant at Adel City Council 2020-09-21

The wood pellet plant annexation had one vote against, and two against the rezoning.

Reporters, Council, Opposition, Agenda

The budget, millage, and alcohol license passed unanimously.

There was little discussion and no public input. There was a Public Hearing two weeks before.

Below are links to each LAKE video of each agenda item, with a very few notes, and a few more pictures. Continue reading →

Budget and wood pellet farm –Adel City Council 2020-09-08

Adel staff answered extensive questions about the budget, in the Adel City Council meeting, Tuesday, August 8, 2020. The proposed wood pellet plant for export to Europe was criticised by several local citizens, and defended by members of local authorities and commissions, as well as its CEO, speaking from Houston, Texas, on a laptop screen.

Below are links to each LAKE video of each agenda item and each speaker, with a few notes. See also Continue reading →

Videos: Deep South Sanitation litigation resolution, Animals, MAZ, Water, School @ LCC 2015-06-09

Not on the agenda for the 9 June 2015 Regular Session: settlement agreement for the county’s unnecessary lawsuit against Deep South Sanitation. Commissioners had no questions, but I have two:

how much did the county spend on the lawsuit?
how much did the county end up paying DSS?

Also unscheduled: Recognition of Leadership Lowndes Attendees.

Citizen Billy Rowland had some comments about road grading and wondered how Animal Control could come take his dog from his posted property yet not do anything when he reported barking dogs.

They approved a Scruggs Co. contract for Paving on Coppage Road, which includes curb and gutter to save some of the tree canopy. They approved a Bid for Bemiss Road Mowing even though it’s a state highway, plus a Bid for a Zero-Turn Mower for the Public Works Department from Nashville Tractor. They approved the Bid for a Fire Pumper for Lowndes County Fire Rescue and the LCSO Patrol Car Laptops Lease Purchase and tabled the Lowndes Middle School Utility Service from Valdosta utilities.

Via LAKE open records request, see the board packet item for the complicated Moody Activity Zones Text Amendments to the Unified Land Development Code that were tabled for more time at the Tuesday June 9th 2015 Regular Session of the Lowndes County Commission. See the LAKE videos of the Planning Commission meeting that considered the MAZ and the rezonings on this agenda. The Shiver and Kinsey rezonings were were approved unanimously with no speakers from the public and no Commissioner comments. The Orchard at Stone Creek rezoning discussion about a retirement home lasted for 14 minutes, including updated maps that were only provided to LAKE on paper, despite a request for electronic copy. See also the agenda and the LAKE videos of the previous morning’s Work Session.

Continue reading →

Agriculture or residential: Whitewater compromise @ LCC 2014-11-11

The county staff and Commission listened at length to opponents and proponents of a rezoning back to agriculture with no conditions, and came up with a compromise, in the 11 November 2014 Lowndes County Commission Regular Session. It’s curious to me that people are more concerned about a few cows of very minimal effect, rather than about a yard-wide pipeline that could adversely affect the whole county.

7.b. Public Hearing REZ-2014-18 White, Whitewater Rd

Video. Here’s the board packet item, thanks to County Planner Jason Davenport in response to an open records request. In response to a question from Commissioner Demarcus Marshall he said he though the Planning Commission 6 to 0 recommendation for denial would have been different if Continue reading →

Videos of Dougherty County citizens opposing Sabal Trail pipeline @ DCC 2014-09-15

As a Commissioner said, “It don’t pass the smell test” that Sabal Trail already bought land for a compressor station before they even filed for a formal permit. A Commissioner said “We have to be more aggressive.” Well, then, time to pass a land-user ordinance against pipelines! Thanks to Jennifer Maloney, you can see for yourself Albany and Dougherty County citizens and Commissioners opposing the Sabal Trail fracked methane pipeline in a community effort at a Dougherty County Commission meeting 15 September 2014. Continue reading →

Family Dollar on Roger Budd property near Francis Lake in Lake Park? @ GLPC 2014-07-28

Opposition started arising to Roger Budd’s request to rezone to put another Family Dollar near Francis Lake in Lake Park, at the 28 July 2014 Planning Commission meeting, which voted 5 to 2 with one abstention to recommend a compromise solution.

6. REZ-2014-14 Roger Budd Jr

Video. County Planner Jason Davenport said he had received no indications of any opposition. And one GLPC member asked the developer’s presenter whether residents of Francis Lake had been notified.

Yet J.D. Carroll spoke against, Continue reading →

On the LAKE front

Citizen dialog for transparent process by the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange