Tag Archives: Valdosta

Videos: 2 agreements, education, jail, alcohol, and a health care presentation @ LCC 2014-01-13



They vote tonight at 5:30PM. Probably there won’t be a repeat of
yesterday morning’s presentation
by
District Health Director Dr. Grow.

The county wants

an architect for a new roof and shower in one jail pod;
it’s considering two interagency agreements,
one for

Valdosta Inspections for Lake Park
and the other for

the county extension,
plus

setting election qualifying fees
and

a Special Assessment Rate for 2014.
There’s a

beer license
and acceptance of

infrastructure for part of Grove Pointe Subdivision.

Here’s

the agenda with links to the videos:

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS

PROPOSED AGENDA

WORK SESSION, MONDAY, JANUARY 13, 2014, 8:30 a.m.

REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, JANUARY 14, 2014, 5:30 p.m.

327 N. Ashley Street — 2nd Floor

Continue reading →

Change orders in DeKalb County

Manipulating construction contracts landed two former DeKalb County school
employees in prison.

Rhonda Cook wrote for the AJC 9 December 2013,



Former DeKalb schools COO gets 15 years:
Judge rejects former superintendent Crawford Lewis’ deal for no jail time,

Prosecutors allege Reid sent work to her husband by presenting new
work at Columbia as an extension of what he was already contracted
to do and then Pope allegedly overcharged the district.

Prosecutors also contend Continue reading →

Actually, green solar power is winning

An article that dismisses without investigation the fastest
growing industry in the world, solar power, after solar has become

cheaper than any other energy source, is not a serious article.



Richard Smith wrote for Truthout 9 January 2014,

Green Capitalism: The God That Failed.
Sure,
there are lots of good points in there (such as we need a carbon tax,
but it’s not enough), but given that

only 90 companies account for 2/3 of GHG emissions
saying we can’t change that without crashing the world’s economy is
like saying we can’t deal with horse manure in cities in 1900 without
crashing the world’s economy, and

people did say things like that back then.

Most of the world’s oil and gas is used to produce power,
so once we

convert to solar and wind,
we’ll have plenty of remaining petroleum for other uses
such as lubrication.



Saying in 2014 that solar and wind can’t power the world is like
saying in 1994 that Continue reading →

Nottinghill resolved, Spectra profit sharing? Planning Commission transparency? @ LCC 2013-12-10



The Commission’s designated first speaker

confused order with good.
Chairman Bill Slaughter
required a sitting judge to go to the podium to speak,
even though he had not required that for multiple Spectra pipeline reps
the previous morning.
Nottinghill is finally resolved,
after yet more probing questions by Commissioners; more than they
asked the Spectra reps.
A

VSU professor
and

a landowner
asked very good questions about the pipeline,
a

KLVB board member gave a report,
and

Gretchen asked the Commission to post Planning Commission minutes online.

Two people were

appointed; one spoke.
The two

beer licenses, a

liquor license,
the

decorative special tax lighting district for Windstone,
the

contracts,
the

resolution to ask the legislature for an additional judge,
and the

bids were all approved with little discussion.
The

settlement for back pay it turns out didn’t
actually involve
employees having to sue to get paid.

Here’s

the amended agenda with the

two added items,
plus links to the videos and a few notes.
See also

the previous morning’s Work Session.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS

AMENDED AGENDA

WORK SESSION, MONDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2013, 8:30 a.m.

REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2013, 5:30 p.m.

327 N. Ashley Street — 2nd Floor

Continue reading →

Sabal Trail not a common carrier with open access in Georgia –Mindy Bland @ LCC 2013-12-10



A local landowner said that with no open access in Georgia,
Sabal Trail Transmission should have no standing to use
Georgia eminent domain law.
And Sabal Trail must comply with local, state, and federal laws and
ordinances, including ones that could be passed by the Lowndes
County Commission, she said at their

10 December 2013 Regular Session.



For example, a depth ordinance, or an ordinance requiring
a minimum distance from homes or schools.
Or a tax on the pipeline easement.
She recommended

PipelineSafetyInfo.com.
She asked for the Commissioners to use their voice.

As
WCTV quoted her in their coverage, she said,

I don’t want to have to fear for my children as they sleep at night.



County Manager Joe Pritchard shuffled papers and

alleged County Attorney Walter G. Elliott yawned during these
citizen presentations.

Mindy Bland
noted Commissioner Powell had asked for Continue reading →

The supposed pipeline economic benefits –Thomas Hochschild @ LCC 2013-12-10

How about a profit-sharing venture the pipeline partners and
the County?
A VSU professor asked that at the

10 December 2013 Regular Session of the Lowndes County Commission.

Dr. Hochschild listed a few benefits Spectra rep. Brian Fahrenthold

had claimed the previous morning.



Considering the vast profits Florida Power and Light and Sabal Trail
stand to make from the use of our land,
I know they can do a lot better than hotel stays, Big Macs, and temporary jobs.
Mr. Fahrenthold claimed the pipeline would be economically beneficial
because it will supposedly bring in $460 million in property taxes
over the next sixty years.



First I’d like to know if an independent agency came up with that projection,
or if Continue reading →

Put Planning Commission agendas and minutes on web like for ZBOA? –Gretchen Quarterman @ LCC 2013-12-10

It’s curious how the City of Valdosta manages to put agendas and minutes
for the Zoning Board of Appeals online, but Lowndes County doesn’t put
agendas and minutes for the Planning Commission online.
Gretchen Quarterman asked the County Commission to fix that, at the

10 December 2013 Regular Session of the Lowndes County Commission.

She noted that to get the minutes of the Planning Commission she
had to file an open records request, and what she got was paper.



And I’ll show you one here.
I’m relatively certain this wasn’t typed on a typewriter.
It was typed on a computer.
And I’d really like to get a computer copy of it;
an electronic copy.
I always just get a paper copy.
So, my request would be:
could I please get open records requests in electronic form
when they’re available?
And, even better, could the county
put these minutes on the website somewhere?

Here’s

the video: Continue reading →

New Nottinghill subvivision finally resolved @ LCC 2013-12-10



The long-deferred rezoning for the Orr Road version of the Nottinghill subdivision
was finally resolved at the

10 December 2013 Regular Session of the Lowndes County Commission.

6.a. REZ-2013-11 Nottinghill, Orr Rd R-A to R-21



County Planner Jason Davenport said
“staff has laid out for you background information”, etc.
and staff recommended approval.

Commissioner John Page pointed out that there was still
some question of the land being purchased by applicant,
and not all the signatures were yet ready.

Davenport said some were word of mouth, others were power of attorney,
etc.



The
alleged County Attorney Walter G. Elliott
said Continue reading →

2 interagency agreements, education, jail, alcohol, and a health care presentation @ LCC 2014-01-13

We can probably guess who

“Dr. Grow” is
and the general topic of his presentation,
but why does the county make us guess?


The county wants

an architect for a new roof and shower in one jail pod;
it’s considering two interagency agreements,
one for

Valdosta Inspections for Lake Park
and the other for

the county extension,
plus

setting election qualifying fees
and

a Special Assessment Rate for 2014.
There’s a

beer license
and acceptance of

infrastructure for part of Grove Pointe Subdivision.

Here’s

the agenda: Continue reading →

Fossil fuels are a disaster: literally in WV

300,000 people have their drinking water poisoned by
a coal chemical in a disaster declared by a state and the federal government.
Do we know what’s in that coal ash

coal ash
in the Lowndes County landfill?
Do we trust a pipeline company
with

a long list of safety violations
to dig into our aquifer?

David Jackson wrote for USA Today yesterday,

Obama sends disaster aid to West Virginia,



President Obama is sending federal assistance to West Virginia,
where schools and businesses are closed after a chemical spill
Thursday into a Charleston river.

“The President today declared an emergency exists in the State of
West Virginia and ordered federal aid to supplement state and local
response efforts,” said an administration statement on Friday
morning.

Under the order, the Department of Homeland Security and Federal
Emergency Management Agency will coordinate efforts with local
officials.

Kiley Kroh
wrote for Thinkprogress yesterday,

West Virginia Declares State Of Emergency After Coal Chemical Contaminates Drinking Water, Continue reading →