Tag Archives: Trash

Videos: Finance, WM absorbed ADS, Meetings by zoom, Valdosta assistant manager @ DSSWA 2020-11-18

The most interesting parts were not on the agenda at the DSSWA meeting Wednesday evening.

[Richard Hardy, Elizabeth Backe, Steve Edwards, DSSWA]
Richard Hardy, Elizabeth Backe, Steve Edwards, DSSWA

Steve Edwards explained that the WM acquisition of Advanced Disposal Services (ADS) Continue reading →

Waste Management bought ADS, finances, officers, DSSWA 2020-11-18

The Deep South Solid Waste Authority (DSSWA) disburses grant money from landfill tipping fees to participating local governments.

This meeting will be in the new Southern Georgia Regional Commission (SGRC) office, 1937 Carlton Adams Dr., across from the Lowndes Board of Education and next to the Goo Goo Car Wash.

[Agenda and WM acquisition schedule for ADS]
Agenda and WM acquisition schedule for ADS

I’m of a mind to zoom the meeting.

Here is the agenda. The entire board packet is on the LAKE website, thanks to Elizabeth Backe of SGRC.

DEEP SOUTH
REGIONAL MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT AUTHORITY

Meeting of the Board of Directors
Deep South Regional Municipal Solid Waste Management Authority

November 18, 2020
6:00 PM
Southern Georgia Regional Commission
Valdosta, Georgia

AGENDA

  1. Welcome and Introduction
  2. Minutes of July 15, 2020 Meeting e Draft attached for review and motion
  3. Financial Report Jan-September 2020
  4. Financial Audit Engagement Letter
  5. Royalty Disbursement for Period of Jan 1 — June 30, 2020
  6. Grinding Reimbursement Request — City of Valdosta
  7. New application format for future grinding reimbursement requests
  8. Appointment of Nominating Committee for Election of Officers in January 2021
  9. Other Business e Waste Management letter for review and discussion
  10. Adjourn
    Next regular scheduled meeting will be on January 20, 2021 at 6 p.m.

Phone: (229) 333-5277
Fax: (229) 333-5312
1937 Carlton Adams Drive
Valdosta, Georgia 31601

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Videos: Hamm Estates roads, Deannexation, Rezonings, Right of Way, Software, Health Insurance, Repairs, KLVB @ LCC 2020-02-25

The longest regular item at 4 minutes on this voting Regular Session agenda was 6.b. Accept Hamm Estates Dr. into the County Road Inventory. Longer were two Citizens who spoke at the end about Keep Lowndes-Valdosta Beautiful (KLVB).

Hamm Estates

Here again are the costs found in the agenda sheets for the items, from most expensive down, with links back into the agenda.

CostWhat
$290,000.00 2020 Administrative Services Agreement with Allied Benefit Systems, Inc.
$50,433.00 Bid for Repairs to Knights Academy Road; emergency repairs for Culvert Aprons
$43,245.50 Approval of Clyattstone Rd.-Simpson Ln. ROW Purchases
$24,613.44 Microsoft Server 2019 Data Center License
$11,535.00 Approval of Clyattstone Rd.-Simpson Ln. ROW Acquisition
$419,826.94Total

The actual cost for the Clyattstone Road-Simpson Lane project is larger; more like $77,696.50 so far, before grading, base, and paving; see the LAKE notes on the preceding morning’s Work Session.

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

Videos: Roads, rezoning, sales tax, Sunday alcohol, and Troupville River Camp @ VCC 2019-12-05

Other than the three Awards and Presentations, the longest agenda item was 5.a. Alcohol Ordinance Revision (Brunch Bill), which had already been approved by a referendum of the voters. On implementing it, all voted aye except one.

Almost as long was 7.b. Request for letter of support by WWALS for the Troupville River Camp project. Valdosta City Manager Mark Barber described the project and the situation. In Citizens To Be Heard (CBTH), WWALS Executive Director Gretchen Quarterman thanked Council for approving the letter.

The first speaker in CTBH asked for the city to rebuild streets in the Highland subdivision. He said there had been insufficient engineering and lack of maintenance of streets, including for water flow.

Unfortunately, can’t really make out what the pair of second speakers were asking for.

Below are LAKE videos of each item, followed by Continue reading →

Roads, rezoning, sales tax, Sunday alcohol, and Troupville River Camp @ VCC 2019-12-05

Unusual on the Valdosta City Council agenda for Thursday are an award to Valdosta Main Street and a request by WWALS Watershed Coalition for support for its Troupville River Camp project; see also WWALS blog post.

Downtown Valdosta aerial logo
Photo: via Valdosta Today.

Possibly controversial is the item to allow Sunday Alcohol Sales to begin at 11:00 a.m. Business as usual includes a rezoning several road widening and other traffic improvement items.

Here is the agenda.

AGENDA
REGULAR MEETING OF THE VALDOSTA CITY COUNCIL
5:30 PM Thursday, December 5, 2019
COUNCIL CHAMBERS, CITY HALL

  1. Opening Ceremonies
    1. Call to Order
    2. Invocation
    3. Pledge of Allegiance to the American Flag
  2. Awards and Presentations
    1. Special Recognition of the Valdosta Main Street Program as a Georgia Exceptional Main Street (GEMS) by the Georgia Department of Community Affairs Office of Downtown Development.
    2. Consideration of a request for a Special Presentation at the December 5, 2019 Regular City Council Meeting.
    3. Consideration of the December, 2019 Employee of the Month Award (Sergeant Heather Willis, Valdosta Police Department).
  3. Minutes Approval
    1. Valdosta City Council – Regular Meeting – Nov 7, 2019 5:30 PM
  4. Public Hearings
    1. Consideration of an Ordinance to rezone 6.70 acres from Planned Mixed Use Development (PMD) to Highway-Commercial (C-H) by Quick Trip Corporation (File No. VA-2019-08). The property is located at 1394 North St. Augustine Road. The Greater Lowndes Planning Commission reviewed this request at their November Regular Meeting and recommended approval (8-0 Vote).
    2. Consideration of an Ordinance for Text Amendments to Chapter 102 – General Provisions, Chapter 106 – Definitions, Chapter 242 – Zoning Procedures, Chapter 302 – Subdivision and Site Development Standards, and Chapter 332 – Infrastructure and Site Improvements of the City of Valdosta Land Development Regulations (File No. VA-2019-09). The Greater Lowndes Planning Commission reviewed this request at their November Regular Meeting and recommended approval (8-0 Vote).
  5. Ordinances and Resolutions
    1. Consideration of an Ordinance to amend the City of Valdosta’s Alcohol Ordinance to allow Sunday Alcohol Sales to begin at 11:00 a.m.
    2. Consideration of a Resolution authorizing the Commissioner of the Georgia Department of Revenue to provide sales tax information to the City of Valdosta’s Finance Director.
    3. Consideration of a Resolution authorizing the acceptance of a Contract with the Georgia Department of Transportation for the Eager Road/Jerry Jones Widening Project.
  6. Bids, Contracts, Agreements and Expenditures
    1. Consideration of bids for traffic improvements at the intersection of Park Avenue and Forrest Street.
    2. Consideration of bids for a Front-End Loading Dumpster Garbage Truck for the Public Works Department.
    3. Consideration of a request to approve a Contract for new water meters for the City of Valdosta.
  7. Local Funding and Requests
    1. Consideration of a request to approve street selections for the Georgia Department of Transportation’s Local Maintenance and Improvement Grant (LMIG) Program.
    2. Consideration of a request from the WWALS Watershed Coalition for a Letter of Support for the Troupville River Camp.
  8. City Manager’s Report
  9. Council Comments
  10. Citizens to be Heard
  11. Adjournment

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Investigative reporting costs money, for open records requests, copying, web hosting, gasoline, and cameras, and with sufficient funds we can pay students to do further research. You can donate to LAKE today!

Budget Public Hearing @ LCC Budget 2019-06-11

If the Commissioners are so proud of their proposed budget, why do they make it so hard for the taxpayers and voters to see?

All we have on lowndescounty.com is Public Hearing on the Proposed FY 2020 Budget,

Date: June 11, 2019

Time: 5:00 PM

Location: Board of Commissioners
Administration Building

Address: 327 N. Ashley Street
2nd Floor
Valdosta, GA 31601


A slide from a 2011 Lowndes County budget presentation.
Maybe the proportions are the same this year; maybe they’re not; who can say?

See also the announcement of this June meeting in an unannounced May meeting. Back then Commissioners said the $108 million proposed budget includes a new litter collection division which they’re considering using to replace Keep Lowndes-Valdosta Beautiful (KLVB).

Which is more than we know from the agenda of today’s budget meeting, because no agenda is posted.

The proposed budget is not on Continue reading →

Unannounced special session on budget and litter @ LCC 2019-05-29

The Lowndes County Commission said there will be a public hearing on their proposed $108 million budget at 5PM, Tuesday, June 11, 2019 (today). That public hearing is on the county’s online calendar. They also said the budget included a new trash collection division, and they were considering using that to replace Keep Lowndes-Valdosta Beautiful (KLVB).

But the meeting at which that Tuesday Budget Public Hearing was announced, which was some time Wednesday afternoon, May 29, 2019, is nowhere on lowndescounty.com that I can find, not in the calendar, news, or agendas, and they said nothing about it the previous day in their Work Session and Regular Session, both on that Tuesday. Also, I received no notification of the Wednesday meeting, even though I’m signed up for such things. We only know of it because of Continue reading →

Cancelled: Deep South Solid Waste Authority special called meeting today, 2019-03-27

According to DSSWA Chair Kevin Beals, today’s special called meeting is cancelled. Instead, they will handle business at their regular April meeting. There is no agenda for that meeting yet, but he will ask for one to be sent when it is ready.

The topics of the special called meeting were the July 1, 2019 increase in local government surcharges per ton, from $1.00 to $2.50, as passed last year in HB 792 and SB 385. Also ADS wants to increase its rates, due to that and apparently some federal rule changes.

Julia Shewchuk, Plaque

In other news, Julia Shewchuk is no longer with SGRC, since about a year now. According to the February 2018 SGRC newsletter, In the Region,

…Julia Shewchuk received Continue reading →

Videos: six minutes on Lighting, Paving, and Trash @ LCC 2019-03-26

Subtract out the invocation, pledge, and approval of minutes (which you couldn’t hear anyway because the county’s sound system wasn’t working) and the Chairman’s ending comments on Youth Leadership, and your elected Commissioners spent about six minutes on the business of the county, including spending some unknown amount of money on road services.

Below are Continue reading →

Videos: Lighting, Paving, Trash, retirement, and death @ LCC 2019-03-25

Chairman Bill Slaughter mentioned the recent death of his predecessor Fred DeLoach. County Manager Joe Pritchard said he tried to talk Carmella Braswell out of retiring, but she has done so.

County Engineer Mike Fletcher clarified that more than one engineering firm was working on professional surveying and engineering for road projects.

Kevin Beals presented the solid waste franchises for annual renewal, and we were reminded he is also Chairman of the Deep South Solid Waste Authority that dispenses funds from their tipping fees, and which the next day announced a special called meeting for Wednesday.

Chad McLeod said the county has successfully cleaned up from a nearby closed gasoline station.

Below are Continue reading →