This is what Gretchen meant when she
told the Lowndes County Commission
trucks too big use Hambrick Road as a short cut,
when GA 122 is 0.4 miles farther up Cat Creek Road.
You can see who owns this particular truck, but it’s far from the only one. And in case you had any doubt where this is, Continue reading
Thanks to County Engineer Mike Fletcher for doing almost
what Gretchen asked
at the Lowndes County Commission Regular Session 26 April 2016.
They rattled through the agenda with almost no questions, unanimously approving everything, including the $89,005 in emergency no-bid repairs. You’d have little idea why they were doing anything if you weren’t at the previous morning’s Work Session or you didn’t view the LAKE videos of the Work Session, in which we discovered for example it’s not Beatty Creek Bridge, rather Bevel Creek Bridge. Nonetheless, the County Engineer still said the creek name wrong.
Here are links to each of the LAKE videos of the Regular Session of April 26th 2016, with a few notes, followed by a video playlist. See also the LAKE videos of the Work Session of April 25th 2016, and the agenda.
They meet again this morning at 8:30 AM. Continue reading
Which do you want? A 31 megawatt solar farm such as is building next to Albany, Georgia, built by Southern Company subsidiary Georgia Power to power 5,000 homes, and that won’t leak or explode? Or the Sabal Trail fracked methane pipeline that could blow up like
another Spectra Energy 36″ pipeline this morning in Pennsylvania, badly burning a man and incinerating his house? After which Spectra declared force majeure, which Bloomberg spells out as “Force majeure is declared to remove a company from contractual obligation because of events beyond its control.” So apparently any promises Spectra or Sabal Trail made to you, your city, county, or state, it can just declare force majeure and get off the hook. Even for a 40-mile-long and 4,000-foot-high plume of smoke.Russell Grantham, AJC, 29 April 2016, Old power gives way to new power in south Georgia, Continue reading
The
FY 2017 Juvenile Justice Incentive Grant was a popular topic yesterday morning, and
some Commissioners showed a little bit of scepticism about that
$89,005 in
emergency no-bid
repairs
on
the agenda for yesterday morning and for voting 5:30PM this evening.
Also $634,800 for a bridge we can’t tell where, and some unknown fraction of $1,663,888.78 to resurface a road that shouldn’t be used as a highway in the first place. Who’s in charge of budget planning for the county?
At the end, there was more from the County Manager about private road Carter Way: they discovered another property owner (“at least one”) after they agreed to spend $67,822 to fix a private road.
Here are links to each of the LAKE videos, with a few notes, followed by a video playlist. Continue reading
Most people wanted to know which roads would be paved when,
in Bemiss, to Alapaha Subdivision, and next to the new Civic Center.
They did also talk about the
planned new civic center and the
Alapaha Boatramp they’re building.
I thank the Chairman for clarifying his remark about paving every road in the county. He and other county officials also went on about safety being a big concern, which is news to me, on my road the county insisted on paving that became a drag race track. And what’s this about Continue reading
$89,005 in emergency no-bid repairs on the agenda for Monday morning and voting Tuesday evening.
Also $634,800 for a bridge we can’t tell where, and some unknown fraction of $1,663,888.78 to resurface a road that shouldn’t be used as a highway in the first place.
Who’s in charge of budget planning for the county?
Why is replacing the fiber optic data cable that connects the South Lowndes Data Center and the E911 Center an emergency repair for $61,020, when apparently the problem has been going on for years? Meanwhile, it’s good that it’s not an emergency that the 911 Center Core Network Equipment needs replacing for $38,621. Planning ahead is good. Is one of these items in the budget and the other not?
Another emergency not marked as such in the agenda is Continue reading
Thanks to Lowndes County Chairman Bill Slaughter, here’s a correction to Fixing private road Carter Way next to proposed Sabal Trail fracked methane path @ LCC 2016-04-12.
From: Bill Slaughter
Subject: Carter Way
Date: Mon, 18 Apr 2016 21:04:14 +0000John,
I got a call today regarding comments that have been made about Agenda Item 7.h on your blog page, for clarification COWART & Sons was not awarded a contract for this emergency repair the contractor was Rountree Construction!
We requested a temporary easement from property owner Cowart & Sons to allow Rountree Construction to perform the work on a private road Continue reading
If heavy rains washed out culverts on Carter Way, why would we not expect them to
wash up
the proposed Sabal Trail pipeline, aimed barely 500 feet to the west, downstream on Tiger Creek?
And why didn’t the county mention that the company to which they just awarded
an emergency no-bid contract to fix a private road owns extensive properties on that same private road?
Actually, no: see correction.
The Lowndes County Tax Assessors online database shows Cowart & Son own Parcel 0017 024 of 13.09 acres on Carter Way. Yet the item 7.h. Carter Way agenda sheet for yesterday’s 12 April 2016 Regular Session of the Lowndes County Commission. mentions “Over 10 residences and a telecommunications tower” on Carter Way, but never mentions that the contractor, Cowart & Sons, just awarded that emergency no-bid contract for $67,822 to fix culverts on Carter Way, is also located on Carter Way. Actually, Rountree Construction got the contract; see correction. It’s still an emergency no-bid contract for a private road.
LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
COMMISSION AGENDA ITEM Continue reading
In these LAKE videos you can see the Commissioners and staff didn’t mention the contractor for the emergency no-bid $67,822
to fix the
Carter Way Culverts
owns property on Carter Way.
They never said how much the no-bid
Old US 41N paving project would cost.
Citizen
Judy Havercamp thanked the Commission for the recent
animal ordinance.
She clapped, but did not get shouted down by the deputy;
I guess his instructions only apply to people not complimenting the Commission.
Citizen
John S. Quarterman, president of WWALS Watershed Coalition, Inc.,
asked for
wastewater spills to be posted on the county’s website and sent out by their alert system,
and with a written letter updated the Commission on many recent pipeline
developments and asked them to rescind their recent Sabal Trail easement
or to help in other ways to stop that boondoggle.
See also Continue reading
The
Old US 41N paving project is no-bid.
If they bid, they would actually know which was the most cost-effective….
In his Report, County Manager Joe Pritchard asked them to add to the agenda an item about fixing a private road off US 84, Carter Way. Most of the Commissioners previously seemed to be unfamiliar with this issue, although we had seen Chairman Bill Slaughter and Commissioner Joyce Evans listen to what seemed to be a request for this same road at the Lowndes County Democratic Party Meet the Candidates meeting the previous Monday.
See also Continue reading
