The Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority is having
a retreat 9AM-2PM today.
They have a facilitator, who is going through what looks like the usual facilitated procedures.
She claims to be camera-shy, but Chairman Roy Copeland tells me he
wants the Industrial Authority to be transparent and to be seen as transparent.
Here the facilitator is
getting the board and staff to answer some initial questions.
Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority Retreat, 101 N Ashley St., Valdosta, GA
Pictures and videos by John S. Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange, 23 February 2012.
After they gave individual answers, they broke into groups each including board
and staff:
Continue reading →
The board will entertain proposals at the regularly scheduled meeting
in February. Please email proposals to the following no later than 12:00
p.m. on March 16, 2012:
I asked Andrea Schruijer about those two dates just now on the telephone.
She said they would look at any proposals they have received by the
time of
Thursday’s board meeting,
but they would not vote on them then.
Their March board meeting is scheduled for
20 March 2012,
which is after the March 16th due date.
We still don’t know what the county is going to do about
that cost overrun for the Moody AFB gate.
Nobody said at the work session yesterday morning; maybe they’ll say
at the regular session tonight when they vote on a contract with
some sort of revised dollar figures in it.
County Manager Mike Fletcher waved around a copy of the revised
contract with Scruggs Company for the new Moody AFB gate,
but said he had not provided it to the Commissioners.
I wonder if they’ll see it before they vote tonight?
He said it was 226 pages long, but most of that was DOT boilerplate,
and only something like 20 pages was the actual county contract.
Seems like they could read that much by tonight.
So could we, the public, if it was somewhere we could see it.
He also didn’t say what happened to the
$128,497.05 cost overrun.
The Commissioners asked no questions.
Commission had not seen Moody AFB gate contract with Scruggs before Work Session @ LCC 2012 01 23
Work Session, Lowndes County Commission (LCC),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 23 January 2012.
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.
These videos of Monday morning’s work session start some way into the agenda,
because they started about five minutes early.
Here are
the videos.
Videos of LCC Work Session, 12 December 2011
Work Session, Lowndes County Commission (LCC),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 12 December 2011.
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.
which I’m guessing has to do with changes in population in County Commission
districts.
Maybe they’ll say at the Work Session Monday morning.
And these interesting items:
8.f. Lowndes County Fire Rescue Standard Operating Procedures
.br>
8.g. Animal Welfare Standard Operating Procedures
I wonder if those procedures are available for citizens to see?
Plus a rezoning, a road abandonment,
a beer and wine license, and quite a few other items
for the last meeting of the year.
Given they haven’t met since
7 November 2011,
more than a month ago, I guess that’s not surprising.
LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2011, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2011, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor
When I spoke at the
Greater Lowndes Planning Commission (GLPC) about
the Short Term Work Projects (STWP) document
on Monday, November 28th,
I had questions about several sections,
and many of the deleted or modified items.
The next day I met with
Lowndes County Planner Jason Davenport
to discuss my questions.
Some of my questions were answered to my satisfaction, some I still
had concerns about, and some are still unanswered because they were
not actually in his area of expertise.
The document covers all the cities in Lowndes County as well as the
unincorporated area. I did get some questions about Valdosta projects
answered by Valdosta City Planner Matt Martin in a telephone conversation.
Questions I had about Conservations of Sensitive Areas were answered in detail.
For example:
Continue reading →
I repeatedly apologized to County Planner Jason Davenport
about an earlier misunderstanding about the
“public hearing” agenda item, which the Chairman stated was not really
a public hearing and for which no citizens were allowed to speak:
7.b. Greater Lowndes 2030 Comprehensive Plan Updates – Lowndes County Report of Accomplishments (ROA) and Short Term Work Program (STWP)
Then I said:
Transparent government is totally what my heart is about.
And I think that people trust the government more when we can see
the business done in public.
And I really appreciate when you do things in public and you ask questions
in the work sessions so everybody can hear.
The lone citizen to be heard, Gretchen Quarterman, thanked commissioners
for their observance of open government and apologized to County Planner
Jason Davenport for things she said to him prior to the meeting, due to
a “misunderstanding,” she said.
After the meeting adjourned, Chairman Ashley Paulk apologized to me in public
Continue reading →
Former electoral opponents met Tuesday as FVCS held
its final meeting,
with Rusty Griffin, Vice-Chair of CUEE,
watching at the MLK Monument as
Sam Allen, President of Friends of
Valdosta Schools (FVCS) announced the dissolution of FVCS.
In addition to FVCS regulars such as JC Cunningham,
Chamber Chair Tom Gooding was there,
as were current Valdosta Mayor Sonny Vickers and
Mayor-Elect John Gayle, plus re-elected Valdosta City Council At-Large Ben Norton.
Valdosta School Superintendent Cason was there.
I didn’t see Lowndes Superintendent Smith,
although various members of
Continue reading →
LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2011, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2011, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor
That’s 400 MW of solar power in twenty 20 MW PV plants,
just across the state line in Gadsden County, Florida.
Plus ongoing jobs, expanded education, private sources of investment, and customers for the electricity.