Tag Archives: USGS

Packet: Lift Station & Force Main, River Gauge, Transit, Code Red, Facilities, TIA, SDS, etc. @ LCC 2022-10-24

Update 2022-10-24: Videos: River Gauges, Lift Station, Disaster Relief, Hazards, Facilities, TIA, Service Delivery @ LCC 2022-10-24.

It’s a long agenda even with no rezonings, at the Lowndes County Commission Work Session this morning.

They vote Tuesday evening at 5:30 PM on $3 million in expenditures. The agenda says that $1,839,820 for Hazard Mitigation will be “Fully reimbursed to Lowndes County (90% from FEMA 10% from Pruitt Health Corporation)”.

Cost What
$1,839,820.00 Approval of Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) Applications
$1,084,938.91Exit 13 Lift Station and Force Main Project
$50,300.00Patrol Car Laptop Lease
$31,500.00Code Red Service Renewal
$23,850.00Joint Funding Agreement with USGS for Stream Gauge Maintenance
$3,030,408.91Total

[Agenda @ LCC 2022-10-24]
Agenda @ LCC 2022-10-24

The Stream Gauge item is for the river gauges on the Withlacoochee River at Skipper Road [sic] (Hagan Bridge) and the Little River near Hahira (Folsom Bridge).

Here is the agenda.

The board packet, received in response to a LAKE open records request, is on the LAKE website. Continue reading →

Videos: Valwood award, river gauges, Comprehensive Plan, Alcohol @ LCC Regular 2021-10-25

Update 2021-11-08: Videos: Comprehensive Plan Update Public Hearing 2 @ LCC 2021-10-26.

The County Manager said the Character Area Maps were not changing in the Comprehensive Plan Update, so she expected the Public Hearing Tuesday to be brief, but a quorum would be required. At the end, I thanked the Commissioners for not changing the character area maps and asked them to follow them in future rezonings.

[County Manager, PIO, Valwood Valiants, Character Area Maps]
County Manager, PIO, Valwood Valiants, Character Area Maps

The river gauge funding and the beer and wine license sailed through unanimously. The longest items were the two part Proclamation Presentation to Valwood Valiants Volleyball Team and the County Manager’s Report.

Here are links to each LAKE video of each agenda (and non-agenda) item, with a few notes, followed by a LAKE video playlist. See also the LAKE videos of the same morning’s Work Session, the agenda, and the board packet which we received in response to a LAKE open records request and put on the LAKE website. Some day the county will put its own board packets on its own website. Continue reading →

Videos: River gauges, Lowndes County Extension Office @ LCC Work 2021-10-25

By far the longest item was the informative 7.a. Lowndes County Extension Office Presentation, at the Lownndes County Commission Work Session yesterday morning.

[River Gauges, Beer and Wine, Reports, Extension Agent]
River Gauges, Beer and Wine, Reports, Extension Agent

The river gauges and the beer and wine license took not much longer than to read the agenda items.

Below are links to each LAKE video of each agenda item, with a few notes, followed by a LAKE video playlist. See also the agenda and board packet, received in response to a LAKE open records request and on the LAKE website. Continue reading →

Folsom Bridge and Skipper Bridge USGS gauge funding, beer and wine, Extension Office Presentation @ LCC 2021-10-25

Continued funding for two river gauges is the only significant decision on a very brief agenda for the Lowndes County Commission 8:30 AM tomorrow morning, and voting 5:30 PM Tuesday Monday, that same evening. One of them used to be funded by Valdosta, which it primarily benefits, but Lowndes County picked up that one back in 2019. The other the county has been funding since 2009; it’s at the same Little River location that at its last meeting the Commission fortunately decided not to close to the public.

There’s a Monday morning Work Session presentation from the Lowndes County Extension Service Office.

The only actual decisions are on yet another beer and wine license, and on funding two USGS gauges, at Folsom Bridge on GA 122 on the Little River west of Hahira, and at Skipper Bridge on the Withlacoochee River north of Valdosta.

[Gauge cost, Little River, Withlacoochee River]
Gauge cost, Little River, Withlacoochee River

Lowndes County has been funding $14,200 for the Folsom Bridge gauge since shortly after the big flood of 2009. Note that this the same Little River site that the Commssion in its last meeting decided not to close to the public by not closing Wells Road.

Here are LAKE videos of their October 2012 Continue reading →

Appoint Tax Assessors, 3 water, 3 road, 1 pandemic, 1 software @ LCC 2020-09-21

Applying this morning for Board of Tax Assessors are Mr. Gene Felts and Mrs. Gretchen Quarterman. The Lowndes County Commission will vote tomorrow (Tuesday) at 5:30 PM. That and almost $4 million in water, road, software, and fire items.

Cost What
$1,681,770.84Grading, Drainage, Base, and Paving of Clyattstone Road and Simpson Lane.
$1,417,333.98Clyattstone Water Main Extension
$489,310.00Motorola SUAII (Evergreen)
$128,075.58Firefighter Personnel Request
$41,217.6.00Foxborough Lift Station Pump
$34,169.28Drainage Improvements to Brinson Lane and Oak Hill Drive
$22,500.00FY2021 Joint Funding Agreement with USGS
$19,800.00Land Application System (LAS) Expansion Agreement
$3,834,177.28Total

Apparently paving does not solve all problems, because one of the four water items is Drainage Improvements to Brinson Lane and Oak Hill Drive to “eliminate flooding issues as a result of the paving of Oak Hill Drive.”. The other three water items are FY2021 Joint Funding Agreement with USGS for the Folsom Bridge (GA 122 Little River & Skipper Bridge (Withlacoochee River) USGS gauges, Foxborough Lift Station Pump, and Land Application System (LAS) Expansion Agreement.

In addition to Brinson Lane, there are two more road items: Grading, Drainage, Base, and Paving of Clyattstone Road and Simpson Lane (how much have they spent on that project combined so far?) and Acceptance of Infrastructure for Val Del Villas. The latter is listed as no cost, despite the Brinson Lane episode.

[Survey Plat]
Survey Plat

Also on the agenda: Grant Submission Request – COVID-19 Response Grant Application, partly to “Recruit and hire a sufficient number of poll workers and inspectors to ensure polling places are properly staffed,” , a Firefighter Personnel Request, and Motorola SUAll (Evergreen) software.

Received in response to a LAKE open records request, the board packet is on the LAKE website. Here is the agenda.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2020, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2020, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor

Continue reading →

Videos: Hurricane Irma, Register rezoning, Utility Authority @ LCC 2017-09-26

23 minutes last night to approve 3:2 with many conditions rezoning the 6c. REZ-2017-09 Robert A. Register Estate, with no shouting afterwards like there was at at the previous evening’s Planning Commission meeting, yet a lot of grumbling at the Lowndes County Commission Regular Session, especially since they seem to have forgotten the greenspace condition.

Biggest crowd in a long time, REZ-2017-09 Robert A. Register Estate

I would like to commend the Commission for the amount and depth of discussion in this meeting, especially in the unscheduled 10. Commission Comments and Recognitions and Meeting Adjournment, which was mostly about Clay Griner’s idea of having a county-wide utility authority including all the cities in the county. Update 2017-10-20: moved the rest of this utility authority commentary down to the video item below.

Also not on the agenda was Chairman Slaughter comments on community response to Hurricane Irma (which were mostly about county staff; well-deserved especially for Ashley Tye) and Georgia Power Representative recognizes county hurricane response.

While it’s great that Georgia Power came to compliment the county, does that electric utility rep. reside in or pay property taxes in Lowndes County, and why was he not required to state his name and address? Ditto the software salesman for Continue reading →

Videos: HEAT on Lake Park @ LCC 2017-09-25

Yesterday morning, most lengthhy at 6 minutes was 6c. REZ-2017-09 Robert A. Register Estate, followed at 2 minutes by 7 a. Amended Motorized Cart Ordinance.

Below are links to each LAKE video of the Work Session of 25 September 2017. See also the previous notes with the agenda. For the three rezoning cases, see also the LAKE videos of the Planning Commission meetings of 28 August 2017 and 25 September 2017.

HEAT on the agenda @ LCC 2017-09-25

This morning, 8:30 AM, all of the items from the previous cancelled meeting are back on the agenda, for voting Tuesday 5:30 PM. Plus four more:

  1. For Consideration:
    1. Addendum to the Withlacoochee Flood Inundation Mapping Project
    2. USGS Funding Agreement for Hwy 122 Stream Gauge
    3. Public Safety Information Technology Purchase
    4. High Enforcement of Aggressive Traffic (HEAT), Document:

      HISTORY, FACTS, AND ISSUES: The certified Lowndes County fatality rate: 2006-14, 2007-14, 2008~19, 2009-16, 2010-18, 2011-15, 2012-11, 2013-7, 2014-14, 2015-19, 2016-20. Any traffic fatality in Lowndes County is too many. For numerous years, the county has been plagued with an unacceptable fatality rate. Consistently for ten years between 2006 and 2016 we suffered with as much as nineteen people dying annually in crashes. In April 2012 the Sheriff created the SPEED team which joined forces with the Valdosta Police HEAT team. Together both agencies diligently fought to reduce the fatality rate. In 2013, Lowndes County recorded an unprecedented lowest rate of the decade with seven fatalities.

      radar gun
      Photo: Valdosta Daily Times

      Soon after, the police department lost their HEAT team which contributed to a Continue reading →

Videos: 3 no-bid lift station pumps, BHDD Appointment, USGS GA 122 Little River gage @ LCC 2016-09-27

Citizen Delores Matchett wanted to know why Howell Lane isn’t paved when all the streets around it are; she mentioned several new subdivisions. She said Commissioners had no idea how fast people drive on that dirt road.

Commissioner Demarcus Marshall noted (as a different Commissioner did Monday morning) that the three lift station pumps are no-bid. The agenda sheets for them said because of some unexplained county policy.

Below are links to each LAKE video, followed by a video playlist. See also the LAKE videos of yesterday morning’s Work Session and the agenda.

Continue reading →

Videos: 8.5 minutes, Appointment to BHDD, USGS GA 122 Little River gage, 3 lift station pumps @ LCC 2016-09-26

They vote Tuesday night at 5:30 PM. In these LAKE videos of Monday morning’s 8.5 minute Work Session, you can see they are buying three new lift station pumps, and for each: “This pump has not been bid due to it being a sole source item in accordance with the County’s standards and specifications.” One commissioner did ask about that. Where can we see these no-bid standards and specifications? In other water news, they are likely to approve the annual renewal of the USGS Little River GA 122 stream gauge, which they started paying for after the 2009 floods.

In transportation, Continue reading →