Tag Archives: Withlacoochee River

Val Del Wetherington, Baytree Nijem, Pregnancy Clinic @ GLPC 2020-02-24

Neither of the two Valdosta cases at Monday evening’s Planning Commission Regular Session looks controversial, although you never know. Jon Nijem wants to rezone and then get approval for a Planned Development at 406 & 410 Baytree Road. And Pregnancy Support Clinic of Valdosta wants to rezone for office space at 2203 N. Oak St.

In Lowndes County, yet another Val Del Road subdivision, REZ-2020-03 Wetherington Property, is proposed diagonally northeast across the road from Nelson Hill, which makes even clearer why the county wants to pave Clyattstone Road, going from Val Del Road between those two west to Old US 41 North (see below).

[Wetherington property]
Lowndes County Property Appraiser, Wetherington property, WETHERINGTON FRANK L LIVING TRUST, parcels 0071 055, 056, 056A (not 55A), at 4154 and 4424 Val Del Road.

The subject property is in the watershed of Bay Branch, but apparently Continue reading →

Videos: New Valdosta Mayor, Mayor Pro-Tem, and $2 million budget surplus while record raw sewage was spilling @ VCC 2020-01-09

A month ago at the Valdosta City Council we learned that Valdosta has a $2,410,000 budget surplus.

Valdosta municipal audit and budget surplus
5b) Presentation of the Municipal Audit for Fiscal Year 2019

Maybe they could spend some of that to help fix the well and river testing costs downstream on the Withlacoochee River of Valdosta’s record 7.5 million gallons of raw sewage spill into Sugar Creek, which has taken two months to maybe finally get diluted down the Withlacoochee River, twice entering Florida, with three Florida river advisories, and with Georgia warning signs on the Withlacoochee River downstream of Sugar Creek by Lowndes County and by WWALS (but not by Valdosta).

One City Council member tells me that audit doesn’t mean Valdosta has $2 million cash lying around. But they do have several hundred thousand unspent.

Maybe they could also budget some of that surplus to help fix the stigma, the decades-long reputational damage to all our rivers, caused by Valdosta’s chronic sewage spills. That would involve for example water quality testing or paying for testing downstream on the Withlacoochee River and doing marketing.

Four Citizens spoke at the end of the meeting: Continue reading →

Videos: Roads, rezoning, sales tax, Sunday alcohol, and Troupville River Camp @ VCC 2019-12-05

Other than the three Awards and Presentations, the longest agenda item was 5.a. Alcohol Ordinance Revision (Brunch Bill), which had already been approved by a referendum of the voters. On implementing it, all voted aye except one.

Almost as long was 7.b. Request for letter of support by WWALS for the Troupville River Camp project. Valdosta City Manager Mark Barber described the project and the situation. In Citizens To Be Heard (CBTH), WWALS Executive Director Gretchen Quarterman thanked Council for approving the letter.

The first speaker in CTBH asked for the city to rebuild streets in the Highland subdivision. He said there had been insufficient engineering and lack of maintenance of streets, including for water flow.

Unfortunately, can’t really make out what the pair of second speakers were asking for.

Below are LAKE videos of each item, followed by Continue reading →

Four Lowndes County cases: water, solar, junkyard, bodyshop @ ZBOA 2019-12-03

A solar project near the Withlacoochee River proposes to cut down pecan trees and not put up the required height vegetative buffer.

[WRPDO Site Map]
WRPDO Site Map

A family timber operation wants water and sewer for a subdivision. A junkyard wants a variance for opaque fencing. A bodyshop apparently wants to enlarge an existing nonconforming structure. All four are Lowndes County cases on the ZBOA agenda for 2:30 PM today.

The entire packet is on the LAKE website, courtesy of ZBOA member Gretchen Quarterman, who only received it this morning.

Here is the agenda: Continue reading →

Roads, rezoning, sales tax, Sunday alcohol, and Troupville River Camp @ VCC 2019-12-05

Unusual on the Valdosta City Council agenda for Thursday are an award to Valdosta Main Street and a request by WWALS Watershed Coalition for support for its Troupville River Camp project; see also WWALS blog post.

Downtown Valdosta aerial logo
Photo: via Valdosta Today.

Possibly controversial is the item to allow Sunday Alcohol Sales to begin at 11:00 a.m. Business as usual includes a rezoning several road widening and other traffic improvement items.

Here is the agenda.

AGENDA
REGULAR MEETING OF THE VALDOSTA CITY COUNCIL
5:30 PM Thursday, December 5, 2019
COUNCIL CHAMBERS, CITY HALL

  1. Opening Ceremonies
    1. Call to Order
    2. Invocation
    3. Pledge of Allegiance to the American Flag
  2. Awards and Presentations
    1. Special Recognition of the Valdosta Main Street Program as a Georgia Exceptional Main Street (GEMS) by the Georgia Department of Community Affairs Office of Downtown Development.
    2. Consideration of a request for a Special Presentation at the December 5, 2019 Regular City Council Meeting.
    3. Consideration of the December, 2019 Employee of the Month Award (Sergeant Heather Willis, Valdosta Police Department).
  3. Minutes Approval
    1. Valdosta City Council – Regular Meeting – Nov 7, 2019 5:30 PM
  4. Public Hearings
    1. Consideration of an Ordinance to rezone 6.70 acres from Planned Mixed Use Development (PMD) to Highway-Commercial (C-H) by Quick Trip Corporation (File No. VA-2019-08). The property is located at 1394 North St. Augustine Road. The Greater Lowndes Planning Commission reviewed this request at their November Regular Meeting and recommended approval (8-0 Vote).
    2. Consideration of an Ordinance for Text Amendments to Chapter 102 – General Provisions, Chapter 106 – Definitions, Chapter 242 – Zoning Procedures, Chapter 302 – Subdivision and Site Development Standards, and Chapter 332 – Infrastructure and Site Improvements of the City of Valdosta Land Development Regulations (File No. VA-2019-09). The Greater Lowndes Planning Commission reviewed this request at their November Regular Meeting and recommended approval (8-0 Vote).
  5. Ordinances and Resolutions
    1. Consideration of an Ordinance to amend the City of Valdosta’s Alcohol Ordinance to allow Sunday Alcohol Sales to begin at 11:00 a.m.
    2. Consideration of a Resolution authorizing the Commissioner of the Georgia Department of Revenue to provide sales tax information to the City of Valdosta’s Finance Director.
    3. Consideration of a Resolution authorizing the acceptance of a Contract with the Georgia Department of Transportation for the Eager Road/Jerry Jones Widening Project.
  6. Bids, Contracts, Agreements and Expenditures
    1. Consideration of bids for traffic improvements at the intersection of Park Avenue and Forrest Street.
    2. Consideration of bids for a Front-End Loading Dumpster Garbage Truck for the Public Works Department.
    3. Consideration of a request to approve a Contract for new water meters for the City of Valdosta.
  7. Local Funding and Requests
    1. Consideration of a request to approve street selections for the Georgia Department of Transportation’s Local Maintenance and Improvement Grant (LMIG) Program.
    2. Consideration of a request from the WWALS Watershed Coalition for a Letter of Support for the Troupville River Camp.
  8. City Manager’s Report
  9. Council Comments
  10. Citizens to be Heard
  11. Adjournment

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Videos: River Gauges, Roads, Alcohol, and Fire @ LCC 2019-10-22

The longest items at last month’s voting Regular Session were 3 minutes on 5.b. 2020 Census Resolution (due to discussion about the new initially online methods), two minutes on 5.l. Tax Assessment for the Lowndes County School District Bonds (it’s about debt service on ESPLOST), and 1:44 on 5.k. Industrial Authority Bond Issue and Funding (it’s complicated).

The 5.a. FY2020 USGS Joint Funding Agreement, which adds county funding for the Skipper Bridge Withlacoochee River USGS Gauge to the Hahira Little River Gauge the county has been funding since 2009, breezed through.

Below are Continue reading →

Videos: River Gauges, Roads, Alcohol, and Fire @ LCC 2019-10-21

Surprise bonds for the Development Authority and Lowndes County Schools, and a turn lane for Wiregrass Tech, plus a new Forestry Ranger about fire, in these LAKE videos of yesterday morning’s Lowndes County Commission Work Session.

The longest item was five minutes about funding the Skipper Bridge Withlacoochee River USGS Gauge in addition to the Folsom Bridge Little River Gauge, by EMA Director Ashley Tye. Valdosta apparently discovered that Skipper Bridge is not in the city limits, so Valdosta will no longer fund that gauge. But the former funding from the Suwannee River Water Management District (SRWMD) plus more from Lowndes County will cover it, if the Lowndes County Commissioners vote for it at 5:30 PM Tonight, after their discussion yesterday morning.

Georgia Forestry Ranger Randy Spell talked about the use of a vehicle in the Rural Fire Defense Cooperative Lease Agreement And MOU.

Second longest was the extremely vague Continue reading →

Packet: River Gauges, Roads, Alcohol, and Fire @ LCC 2019-10-21

Lowndes County is adding funding for the Skipper Bridge Road Withlacoochee River gauge to its traditional since 2009 funding of the Folsom Bridge GA 122 Little River gauge. That’s $8,300 and $14,200, respectively, with another $5,900 for the Skipper Bridge Gauge from the Suwannee River Water Management District. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) puts in $900 towards each gauge, or $1800 total. Valdosta still funds the North Valdosta Road US 41 Withlacoochee River Valdosta gauge, and USGS completely funds the US 84 Quitman Withlacoochee River gauge.

[OPTIONS: 1. Approve the FY 2020 Funding Agreement]
OPTIONS: 1. Approve the FY 2020 Funding Agreement
PDF

Details are in the Board Packet now on the LAKE website, received Friday, October 18, 2019, in response to an open records request.

The rest of the Lowndes County Commission agenda for Monday and Tuesday is dominated by roads: a resolution on criteria for taking private roads into the county public road system, and resolutions taking in roads within several subdivisions: Continue reading →

Videos: Sixty-one lots on Val Del Road @ GLPC 2019-08-26

The Val Del Road rezoning breezed through unanimously in four minutes, with one Planning Commissioner wondering if Val Del Road could handle the traffic, and nobody speaking against. The Valdosta cases took almost half an hour, with three split votes (yes, three votes on two cases).

GLPC Chair Vicki Rountree
GLPC Chair Vicki Rountree

Final decisions will be made by the Lowndes County Commission on Tuesday, September 10, 2019 for REZ-2019-12 Val Del Rd., and by the Valdosta Mayor-Council on Thursday, September 5, 2019, for the paired Valdosta cases, as you can see in the agenda. The Greater Lowndes Planning Commission (GLPC) is an advisory body only, with the actual decisions being made by those other bodies, as its Chair Vicki Rountree explained at the beginning of the session, before she had to vote thrice to resolve tied votes. You can hear Gretchen Quarterman of LAKE explaining it towards the end of the final LAKE video.

After they adjourned, they kept talking about a joint ordinance to the six governments, without saying what that was about. Since Lowndes County Chairman Bill Slaughter was standing up there at the time, I would guess it’s the SPLOST VIII agreement.

Before it adjourned, the Planning Commission established the minutes on the county’s website as its official 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. And come to the Lowndes County or Valdosta decision meetings if you care about one of those cases. Continue reading →

Sixty-one lots on Val Del Road @ GLPC 2019-08-26

Apparently NATCO LLC wants to rezone 28 acres of its 567.12 acre Parcel 0072 061 to build 61 house lots.

[Parcel 0072 061, NATCO LLC]
Parcel 0072 061, NATCO LLC

Where along Val Del Road it wants to put them is not stated in the Planning Commission agenda for today. I’d guess close to the existing lots to the south, but the county ran water and sewer up to Nelson Hill, which you can see to the northwest of the NATCO tract, so the subdivision could be anywhere along Val Del in that tract.

Greater Lowndes Planning Commission
~ Lowndes County ~ City of Valdosta ~ City of Dasher ~ City of Hahira ~ City of Lake Park ~ City of Remerton ~
REGULAR MONTHLY MEETING AGENDA
Monday, August 26, 2019 5:30 P.M.
Public Hearing, Lowndes County South Health District Administrative Office
325 West Savannah Avenue, Valdosta, Georgia

Continue reading →