Tag Archives: VLPRA

Petition the Commission: Keep County Road 16 leading to the Alapaha River open to public access

Seen Monday. -jsq

Lowndes County Commission: Keep County Road 16 leading to the Alapaha River open to public access.

Petition by
April Huntley

This access to the Alapaha River is the only remaining public access within Lowndes County. It has great historical significance to the Naylor community. It continues to be used by boaters, fishermen and families for recreation.

To:
Lowndes County Commission
Keep County Road 16 leading to the Alapaha River open to public access.

Sincerely,
[Your name]

The Commission decided 26 October 2010 to keep that road open but because they think they have new information have scheduled it for another public hearing and vote apparently at their next Regular Session, which is next Tuesday, 12 February 2013.

-jsq

Video, hearing about abandoning Old State Road at the Alapaha River @ LCC 2010-10-26

Here is video of the public hearing in which the Lowndes County Commission decided 26 October 2010 not to abandon a portion of Old State Road leading to the Alapaha River. This is the same stretch of road that's scheduled for another such hearing in two weeks from tomorrow.

The camera aim is a bit erratic, and you can see why we hadn't already posted this video (which is actually several briefer videos pasted together with a few gaps). Yet you can clearly see, after Glenda Cofield and Steve Bays spoke against closing the road, someone else started speaking from the audience. Then Commissioner Joyce Evans asked those opposed to stand up, and many people did. You can see County Engineer Mike Fletcher in the background.

Presumably some of the people who stood were among the 450 people mentioned in the minutes:

Glenda Cofield, Mullins Lane, spoke against the request, and presented a petition submitted prior to the work session with the unverified signatures of 450 area residents included.

Why were the signatures still unverified if she submitted the petition before the work session of the previous day? Continue reading →

Public Hearing for Road Abandonment of Old State Road @ LCC 2010-10-26

In 2010, 450 people signed a petition to keep open the road leading to Hotchkiss Landing on the Alapaha River, according the Lowndes County Commission minutes for the 26 October 2010 Public Hearing.


Photograph by Brett Huntley.

Abandon a portion of Old State Road (CR 16), County Manager, Joe Pritchard, presented the road closure for consideration, adding that the engineering department had indicated twenty-five vehicles per day on the road. Glenda Cofield, Mullins Lane, spoke against the request, and presented

Continue reading →

“It’s almost like they are out to take advantage of the rubes,” —an economist

Do big box stores count as development? Are they worth millions in tax incentives and bond investments? Maybe we can find something better for local industry and jobs.

Rumors have been flying for years about a Bass Pro store coming to Valdosta, like this one on a Georgia Outdoor News forum:

01-22-2008, 09:05 PM, bear-229
ive heard the land has been bought. very close to the new toyota lot but it has not made it to the “new locations” on the web site

That’s on James Road, in that huge proposed development that Lowndes County approved around that time.

Scott Reeder wrote for The Atlantic 13 August 2012, Why Have So Many Cities and Towns Given Away So Much Money to Bass Pro Shops and Cabela’s?,

Both Bass Pro Shops and its archrival, Cabela’s, sell hunting and fishing gear in cathedral-like stores featuring taxidermied wildlife, gigantic fresh-water aquarium exhibits and elaborate outdoor reproductions within the stores. The stores are billed as job generators by both companies when they are fishing for development dollars. But the firms’ economic benefits are minimal and costs to taxpayers are great.

An exhaustive investigation conducted by the Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity found that the two competing firms together have received or are promised more than $2.2 billion from American taxpayers over the past 15 years.

Where does all that money come from? Bonds, usually. Which is yet another reason why last legislature’s HB 475 to give unelected bodies bond issuing privatizing power would be a bad idea.

What does all that money go for?

Continue reading →

What kind of investigation can you do in a minute and a half? –Chris Gay for Coroner of Lowndes County @ Baseball 2012-07-14

Chris Gay is running for Coroner of Lowndes County. He spoke at a baseball reunion in Naylor, 14 July 2012.

I have no videos of his opponent, the incumbent Bill Watson, because I have never seen Watson at a public event.

Here's the video:

What kind of investigation can you do in a minute and a half? –Chris Gay for Coroner of Lowndes County
1st Annual Reunion, South Georgia Semi-Pro Baseball & Softball League (Baseball),
Video by John S. Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE), Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 14 July 2012.

-jsq

When you cry, I’m gonna cry; when you laugh, I laugh —Allen Lane for Lowndes County Commission District 4 @ Baseball 2012-07-14

Allen Lane is one of the two Democrats running for the new County Commission District 4 for the east half of Lowndes County. He spoke at a baseball reunion in Naylor, 14 July 2012.

Here's the video:

When you cry, I'm gonna cry; when you laugh, I laugh —Allen Lane for Lowndes County Commission District 4
1st Annual Reunion, South Georgia Semi-Pro Baseball & Softball League (Baseball),
Video by John S. Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE), Naylor, Lowndes County, Georgia, 14 July 2012.

-jsq

Invest in our future now or watch our kids leave —Demarcus Marshall for Lowndes County Commission District 4 @ Baseball 2012-07-14

Demarcus Marshall is one of two Democrats running for the new County Commission District 4 that covers the eastern half of Lowndes County. He spoke at a baseball reunion in Naylor, 14 July 2012.

Here's the video:

Invest in our future now or watch our kids leave —Demarcus Marshall for Lowndes County Commission District 4
1st Annual Reunion, South Georgia Semi-Pro Baseball & Softball League (Baseball),
Video by John S. Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE), Naylor, Lowndes County, Georgia, 14 July 2012.

-jsq

Started on Time! Lowndes County Commission finally set its clock @ LCC 2012-07-10

Somebody finally set the invisible clock in front of the Lowndes County Commission Chairman: Even the old dog was surprised! for the first time in recent memory, they started on time, instead of four or five minutes before the announced start time. Even the old dog on the phone was surprised.

The whole meeting took about seven minutes long. Note the Millage Hearing announced for just before the next Regular Session.

Here are videos of the previous morning’s work session. Here’s the agenda.

Here’s a video playlist of this Regular Session:

Continue reading →

Budget, boards, and abandonment @ LCC 2012-06-26

The Lowndes County Commission appointed people to four boards, approved a budget for next fiscal year, made some unspecified changes to this year’s budget, and demonstrated they could both stop speeding traffic on a rural road and put a cap on a construction contract! All this in one meeting, their Regular Session of 26 June 2012.

Here’s the agenda. Here are videos of the previous morning’s Work Session. And here are videos of the 5PM (actually 4:57PM) budget hearing.

Here’s a video playlist:

Budget, boards, and abandonment
Regular Session, Lowndes County Commission (LCC),
Video by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE), Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 26 June 2012.

-jsq

Started before scheduled time, unknown potential appointments and budget changes: Video Playlist @ LCC 2012-06-25

Gretchen arrived early, but they started even earlier. That’s right, once again the Lowndes County Commission started a meeting before the advertised time. None of the names of prospective appointees to four different boards were listed in the agenda, and many of them didn’t bother to show up. Nor do we know what’s in the budget amendments.

So we have videos starting in the middle of the appointments.

  • 6.a. Valdosta/Lowndes County Parks and Recreation Authority (VLPRA)
    Nope, they already discussed that before the announced start time, so there’s no video.
  • 6.b. Appointment to Valdosta-Lowndes County Construction Board of Adjustments and Appeals.
    Presumably he stated his name at the beginning of what he said, but that was before the stated meeting start time. And the agenda does not include names of the applicants for appointment to any of the affected boards.
  • 6.c. Keep Lowndes Valdosta Beautiful (KLVB).
    I would like to commend KLVB for listing all its board members and their terms on its own web page.
  • 6.d. Appointments to Lowndes County Library Board.
    If the Library Board has its members listed somewhere online, I can’t find it.
    Nobody showed up to speak. County Manager Joe Pritchard said Edward Rawls and Rabbi Elbaz(?) asked not to be reappointed, and Kay Harris is asking to be reappointed. (They didn’t mention that Harris is also the chairman of the library board and the editor of the VDT.) Names under consideration are [clatter, bang]. It’s impressive the ways Pritchard finds to be unintelligible even with his microphone adjusted correctly.
Continue reading →