Tag Archives: Wild Adventures

Tourism Authority appointment, 3 rezonings, wetlands, solar, UPS, Lake Alapaha water treatment, body cameras @ LCC 2021-08-09

Update 2021-08-09: The never-ending Lake Alapaha Water Treatment Plant saga @ LCC 2021-08-10.

The biggest ticket item is yet more public money to be spent on water for the private Lake Alapaha subdivision next to the Alapaha River, in the Lowndes County Commission agenda for Monday morning, August 9, 2021, and voting Tuesday evening, August 10.

On the Tourism Authority appointment, Molly Deese succeeded the previous General Manager of Wild Adventures, so it’s a safe bet that the current GM, Jonathan Vigue, will succeed her on that Authority. But he’s got some competition with Rita Hightower of the Garden Center and The Crescent.

As usual, none of the three rezonings are counted as affecting the county budget, although all three will have long-term effects, two negative because of school buses and Fire and Sheriff Department calls, and one maybe positive because it’s for solar panels: REZ-2021-12 US 84/I-75 Industrial Park ~542 ac., County Utilities, I-S, M-1, M-2 and P-D (Amended).

[The three rezonings]
The three rezonings

Note the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers determination that the remaining part of Val Del Villas off Val Del Road is not jurisdictional wetlands, so more houses can be built. Northside Property Development has the same registered agent as Uvalde Land Company that bought the Cherry Creek Mitigation Bank next to the Withlacoochee River and wants to deannex the upland half of it from Valdosta. The uplands in that Bank tract are not jurisdictional wetlands, either.

The other subdivision also involves wetlands, two creeks leading to Bay Branch and the Withlacoochee River, plus at least one retention pond: REZ-2021-09 Building Valdosta Subdivision (0070 018), R-A to R-21, Community Well & Septic, ~64.84 acres.

Cost What
$173,000.00Alapaha Plantation Water Treatment Pilot Study
$102,812.00Purchase of Body Cameras and Dash Cameras for Various Departments
$24,778.59Vertiv Service Contract for the Liebert UPS at the 911 Center & the 4 Tower Sites
$300,590.59Total

The $300 thousand total is a bit apples and oranges, since the cameras are for five years and the UPS is annual.

Here is the agenda. The board packet, received after a LAKE open records request, is on the LAKE website:
http://www.l-a-k-e.org/govt/loco/2021-08-09–lcc-packet

See also the preceding Planning Commission meeting.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, AUGUST 9, 2021, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, AUGUST 10, 2021, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor

Continue reading →

Videos: Building Valdosta Subdivision and The Landings on Val Del Road, Moody AFB water & wastewater, Reports @ LCC Work 2021-07-12

Update 2022-09-12: O’Neal rezoning back after a year: Packet: redo 2 rezonings, 3 extraterritorial water & sewer, $438,537 RR crossing, $2,542,586 Griner Park @ LCC 2022-09-12.

Two weeks ago at the Lowndes County Commission Work Session, by far the longest item at almost seven minutes was 6.b. REZ-2021-09 Building Valdosta Subdivision (0070 018), R-A to R-21. It fronts on Val Del Road, but has no county water and sewer. Commissioner Scottie Orenstein wanted to know about the two creeks that run through it: see the notes below on the item.

6.d. REZ-2021-11 The Landings (PD Amendment), Val Del Road (0071 056) got two and a half minutes.

The County Manager Reports was almost as long.

The whole meeting still only took 23 minutes.

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, the board packet on the LAKE website due to a LAKE open records request, and the Minutes.


[Rezonings, Juvenile Justice, Moody AFB water & wastewater]
Rezonings, Juvenile Justice, Moody AFB water & wastewater

Boards * 2, Rezonings * 4, Moody AFB wastewater @ LCC 2021-07-12

A third of a million dollars will be decided Tuesday by the Lowndes County Commission, after review at its Monday morning Work Session.

However, the items that will cause a chronic drain on county resources, including the school district, are not shown as having any “BUDGET IMPACT”: the four rezonings, especially the two 60+ acre subdivisions.

Cost What
$153,738.00Bid for a Fuel Truck for the Public Works Department
$165,427.00Acceptance of FY22 Juvenile Justice Incentive Grant
$319,165.00Total

[Bethany Drive, Val Del Road, Wild Adventures]
Bethany Drive, Val Del Road, Wild Adventures

The board packet, received in response to a LAKE open records request, is on the LAKE website:
http://www.l-a-k-e.org/govt/loco/2021-07-11–lcc-packet

See also the agenda.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, JULY 12, 2021, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, JULY 13, 2021, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor

  1. Call to Order
  2. Invocation
  3. Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag
  4. Minutes for Approval
    1. Work Session – June 21, 2021 & Regular Session – June 22, 2021
  5. Appointments
    1. Valdosta Lowndes County Construction Board of Adjustments and Appeals

      Documents:Valdosta Lowndes County Construction Board of Adjustments and Appeals -.pdf

    2. South Georgia Regional Library Board

      Documents:South Georgia Regional Library Board (2).pdf

  6. Public Hearing
    1. REZ-2021-08 O'Neal Properties, 2547 US HWY 84 W (0089 095/094), R-21 to C-H, Well & Septic, 4.53 Acres

      Documents:REZ-2021-08 ONeal Properties, 2547 US HWY 84 W.pdf

    2. REZ-2021-09 Building Valdosta Subdivision (0070 018), R-A to R-21, Community Well & Septic, ~64.84 acres

      Documents:REZ-2021-09 Building Valdosta Subdivision.pdf

    3. REZ-2021-10 Wombles, Lineberger Road (0091 037), E-A to R-A, Well & Septic, 6.0 acres

      Documents:REZ-2021-10 Wombles, Lineberger Road.pdf

    4. REZ-2021-11 The Landings (PD Amendment), Val Del Road (0071 056), County Water & Sewer, ~65 acres

      Documents:REZ-2021-11 The Landings (PD Amendment), Val Del Road.pdf

    5. Street Lighting Ordinance Amendment 7

      Documents:Street Lighting Ordinance Amendment 7.pdf

    6. Beer and Wine License – Jonathan Vigue with HFE Valdosta, LLC., DBA Wild Adventures Theme Park – 3766 Old Clyattville Rd., Valdosta, GA

      Documents:Beer and Wine License – Jonathan Vigue with HFE Valdosta, LLC., DBA Wild Adventures Theme Park – 3766 Old Clyattville Rd., Valdosta, GA.pdf

  7. For Consideration
    1. Acceptance of FY22 Juvenile Justice Incentive Grant

      Documents:Acceptance of FY22 Juvenile Justice Incentive Grant.pdf

    2. Moody Air Force Base Water & Wastewater Contract Renewal

      Documents:Moody Air Force Base Water and Wastewater Contract Renewal.pdf

  8. Bid
    1. Bid for a Fuel Truck for the Public Works Department

      Documents:Bid for a Fuel Truck for the Public Works Department.pdf

  9. Reports – County Manager
  10. Citizens Wishing to be Heard-Please State Your Name and Address
  11. Adjournment

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!

-jsq

Where you at, onevaldostalowndes.com?

Well, they spelled that wrong, as “Where are we now?” Maybe for the video narrator from California who showed a picture of lily pads when he said “River”.

Rivers, Video

Vision, Website But to be fair, this website and the video from the Development Authority organized by VisionFirst whom Lowndes County paid $25,000, presumably matching Valdosta, also adopted by SGRC, does work hard to show a positive vision of the local area. Oops, I forgot the hospital and the Chamber, and, most importantly, Georgia Power, listed in the FAQ:

Who is the leading the effort? Continue reading →

Wild Tourism Arts @ LCC 2016-10-24

Requested at the work session two weeks ago, and now on the agenda for Monday morning, a resolution for an arts district. That and reappoint Wild Adventures GM Molly Deese to the Tourism Authority, a public hearing on the 2016 updates to the Greater Lowndes Comprehensive Plan (even though they tabled it last time), and the usual Bid, surplus, and subdivision infrastructure sorts of items.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2016, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2016,  5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor

Continue reading →

Appointments upcoming by Lowndes County Commission

Health, Planning, Tourism, Construction, and KLVB: this is said to be a list of the remaining appointments to be made by the Lowndes County Commission for the rest of this year. The source document didn’t say who’s currently on those boards, but I’ve added links to other sources where those could be found.

Remaining Appointments-2014

Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities

  • Vacant seat as of 7/13/14

Region 4 ha a Regional Planning Board:

The Region Four Planning Board represents 24 counties in the region. Members are appointed by their county commissioners; they are business and civic leaders with a strong interest in mental health, developmental disabilities and addictive diseases as well as consumers or family members of consumers.

the Lowndes County members of which are: Continue reading →

GIS maps of Sabal Trail pipeline preferred route

Sabal Trail had an interactive GIS map of the entire pipeline route in Moultrie last night, with zoom and pan detail as good as the tax assessor maps for Brooks and Lowndes Counties. The Sabal Trail reps declined to provide a copy of the whole GIS, but they obligingly panned down the pipeline and waited while I took pictures with my smartphone.

Here’s GIS of the pipeline route through Brooks and Lowndes Counties:

GIS of Brooks and Lowndes Counties

This is zoomed in where the route crosses US 84 and then the Withlacoochee River, which is the county line:

Continue reading →

Emily Macheski-Preston for Keep Lowndes/Valdosta Beautiful @ LCC 2013-06-11

As usual, an incumbent on an appointed board asked to be reappointed and was. She did show up and speak, although she said more when she was first appointed.

5.b. Keep Lowndes/Valdosta Beautiful Board

At the 10 June 2013 Work Session, County Manager Joe Pritchard noted Continue reading →

Molly Deese for Convention Center and Tourism Authority @ LCC 2013-06-10

Do we have designated positions for specific local businesses on our appointed boards? It sure looks like it, at least for Wild Adventures.

5.a. Valdosta/Lowndes County Conference Center and Tourism Authority

At the Work Session 10 June 2013 County Manager Joe Pritchard said Commissioners had a letter of resignation from Bob Montgomery from VLCCCTA, and a letter (he didn’t say from whom) recommending Molly Deese to replace Montgomery. Pritchard said Deese had been “filling in” for Montgomery at VLCCCTA. Interesting. So Wild Adventures can send someone unappointed to fill in on an appointed board?

He didn’t say who Deese is, but she is Continue reading →