Tag Archives: Trash

Videos: Trash disposal renewals, regional T-SPLOST, another lift station pump, Dasher Streets @ LCC 2017-03-27

More than four minutes yesterday morning on Residential Solid Waste Franchise Renewal: maybe it’s still contentious because they still don’t have a good model. Maybe not everybody wants to have their trash picked up at the end of their driveway like they lived in town. They vote tonight at 5:30 PM, and they agreed add an agenda item amending the ordinance to change insurance requirement from $5 million to $1 million. As of this writing at 8AM, they have not yet changed their online agenda. We’ll see how it eventually changes from the agenda already blogged.

They spent more than three minutes on Regional T-SPLOST; follow the link for details. Another Lift Station Pump lift station pump needs replacing And Dasher wants the county to maintain a couple of dirt streets.

Below are links to each LAKE video, with a few notes, followed by a video playlist. See also the agenda. Continue reading →

Trash disposal renewals, regional T-SPLOST, another lift station pump, Dasher Streets @ LCC 2017-03-27

Regional T-SPLOST is on the agenda this morning. Back in 2012 we all voted down a statewide T-SPLOST (Transportation Special Sales Tax).

As we learned at the February Lowndes County Commission Planning Session Day 2, on 28 February 2017 in Waycross there was a “public hearing” about a possible regional T-SPLOST. When I asked SGRC about that, they sent the Waycross agenda, saying “This is not a public meeting and was not advertised as such, however it is open to the public.” Apparently something happened at that meeting, since T-SPLOST is on the Lowndes County Commission agenda now, with this in the attached document:

HISTORY, FACTS AND ISSUES: According to House Bill 170, counties within a Regional Commission District have the option to institute a Regional T-SPLOST. The Georgia Department of Transportation is requesting action to be taken by April 1, 2017, either in favor of or opposed to a Regional T-SPLOSI’. If ten (10) of the eighteen (18) regional counties fail to get support for a Regional T-SPLOST, then individual counties can initiate an independent T-SPLOST’.

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After Lowndes County spent unknown hundreds of thousands of dollars suing Continue reading →

Four board appointments, animal tethering, bus, trash, homeland security, mutual aid, and housing @ LCC 2016-03-21

Work Session 8:30 AM this morning, and Tuesday evening finally voting on the Animal Services Ordinance including tethering, and (who knew about this?) appointing Christina Bennett to the Animal Control Board.

Renewing the annual Section 5311 Rural Transportation Program Capital Contract for the MIDS bus service is on the agenda, as is appointing three people to the Valdosta Lowndes County Metropolitan Planning Organization (VLMPO) out of these four: Ronald Skrine, Tammy Greenway, Floyd Rose, Bob Wilburs. As usual, how were people supposed to know? And where are the applications of those named? Continue reading →

LAKE meeting Tuesday after County Commission 2016-02-09

County government and local issues: change orders, sole-source contracts, suing local companies, meetings with little notice, going back on their own resolutions, can’t see what they are voting on, and what are their ordinances? If you want to help, we have a little list of tasks you can do. And two County Commission seats and the Chair are up for election this year, plus county school board, sheriff, and a bunch of other offices.

What: LAKE Meeting

When: 6:15PM Tuesday 9 February 2016
after the Lowndes County Commission meeting

Where: Michael’s Deli
1307 N Ashley St.
Valdosta, GA 31601

If you’re on Facebook, please Like the LAKE facebook page. You can sign up for the meeting event there, Or just come as you are.

-jsq

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:

  1. how much did the county spend on the lawsuit?
  2. 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 →

Videos: Regular Session GEFA, road abandonment, bids, and water @ LCC 2015-05-26

Attorney had to remind Commissioners that a road abandonment such as for Buck Cato Road requires a public hearing. They declared the solid waste equipment surplus to be leased to “prospective franchisees” such as DSS; County Manager said “we have the lease agreement here”, but did not put it on the county’s website for the public to see. County agent arrived just in time to hear the Langdale bid accepted for a truck for the Extension Service. They accepted the Lee Office Supply bid for Emergency Operations Center tables and chairs. And of course they approved the Interconnection of North Lowndes and Kinderlou Water Systems and the GEFA Loan Modification for the Alapaha Water Treatment Plant. They started a minute late. At the end, after the County Manager had no report and no citizens wished to be heard, as usual they adjourned without a vote.

This was all at the afternoon Lowndes County Regular Session. For background and more details, see Continue reading →

Videos: GEFA, road abandonment, bids, and water @ LCC 2015-05-26

The County Manager said it’s “in the hands of the clerk, if you’d like to look at it” for at least two documents, so not only did the agenda on the web lack even the one-sheet agenda item writeups, Commissioners weren’t provided copies of contracts they were being asked to approve. They vote this same evening, and the Planning Commission also meets 5:30 PM Tuesday.

The GEFA Loan Modification turns out to be about Continue reading →

Five non-NPL superfund sites in Lowndes County

Five superfund sites and many more supposedly cleaned up, all in Lowndes County.

300x241 Perma-fix, in Superfund Sites in Lowndes County, GA, by John S. Quarterman, 9 May 2015 Homefacts has a web page on Lowndes County, GA Environmental Hazards Report, which includes some you probably knew about, such as Perma Fix Explosion, 1612 James P Rogers Circle, Valdosta, GA 31601,

Perma Fix Explosion is a superfund site located at 1612 James P Rogers Circle, Valdosta, GA 31601. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) identifies sites such as Perma Fix Explosion because they pose or had once posed a potential risk to human health and/or the environment due to contamination by one or more hazardous wastes. Perma Fix Explosion is currently registered as an Active superfund site by the EPA. However, it is not on the NPL (National Priorities List), which means the EPA does not consider it one of the nation’s most hazardous waste sites.

Remember the black clouds of smoke Continue reading →

Videos: Justice, Trash, Telephones, Investment, DUI, Liquor @ LCC 2015-04-27

They vote tonight at 5:30 PM on what you can see them discussing yesterday morning in these videos.

They got a Deep South Sanitation, LLC Application for Franchise for trash collection, including use of the county’s collection facility at 345 Gil Harbin Industrial Blvd. Commissioner Demarcus Marshall asked what about recycling; Chairman Bill Slaughter said there would be recycling at the collection centers. Which means yes ADS’ price went up and service reduced since no curbside recycling collection anymore.

County Manager Joe Pritchard asked County Engineer Mike Fletcher to report and to be added to the Regular Session emergency Nankin Road Repair due to a water-eroded box culvert. And it’s a single-source no-bid, this time for Rountree Construction.

Commissioner Mark Wisenbaker had a few remarks about the letter to support plans to “renovate Arbor Trace II Apartments in Lake Park” by Investment Management Company of Valdosta, Inc.

The body armor request from two weeks before got Continue reading →

Justice, Trash, Telephones, Investment, DUI, Liquor @ LCC 2015-04-27

Finally on the agenda for the meeting right now this morning: Deep South Sanitation, LLC Application for Franchise. That’s some improvement in the ongoing county trash situation previous versions of the County Commission caused.

If the Commission can sign a letter to support plans to “renovate Arbor Trace II Apartments in Lake Park” by Investment Management Company of Valdosta, Inc., maybe it can sign a letter of support for expanded public transportation in Lowndes County. Arbor Trace is low income housing. Bus systems typically include many low-income riders.

Even the agenda item PDF doesn’t say, but FY 2016 HEAT Grant for the Sheriff’s Department is about Highway Enforcement of Aggressive Traffic “to combat impaired and aggressive drivers,” with the purpose of reducing traffic fatalities. And the Juvenile Court wants to continue with its 2015 Request for Proposal (RFP) Juvenile Justice Incentive Grant Program.

Also on the agenda is saving money with an AT&T telephone discount and a Wine and Liquor License – VHS Corporation – 2418 Rocky Ford Road liquor license.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, APRIL 27,2015, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, APRIL 28, 2015, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor

Continue reading →