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?

Couldn't county staff check them against the

Lowndes County Tax Assessor's database?


If from the morning of the previous day to the evening of next day
is not long enough to do that, maybe the county needs to announce
a petition due-by date before a public hearing.

The applicant started talking from the audience.
Chairman Ashley Paulk told him to come up front, which he did.
Phillip Connell complained


about people leaving trash and otherwise
abusing his property.
He also remarked:

As far as the church, legitimate people, they can still use it.

Who gets to decide who are legitimate people?
If the county closes the road, he does.

Next, J.C. Riley noted:

That's the only access to the Alapaha River in Lowndes County.

The next access upstream is near Lakeland in Lanier County, and the next one
downstream is at Mayday in Echols County.

Commissioner Richard Lee asked the applicant, Phillip Connell,
if his property was alongside the part of the road that was
proposed to be closed.

Connell, speaking from the audience again, nodded and said "both sides".

Well, that's strictly true for a few feet, perhaps,
but the rest of the way to the river
the land on both sides of Old State Road is owned by
Acree Investments, according to the Lowndes County
Tax Assessor's public database,

which also says that property hasn't changed hands
since 2001,
well below Mr. Connell's assertion.

Finally,

Commissioner Evans made a motion
"to deny the closure request, indicating that the road is still used by the public"

as the minutes phrased it.

Commissioner G. Robert Carter
seconded the motion.

Chairman Paulk

asked the Commissioners more than once if there were any questions.
There were none, so he took the vote, which

was unanimous; you can see all three of their hands up at once.

The minutes add:

Chairman Paulk asked those in attendance to assist Mr. Connell with
policing the area and encouraged them to report unlawful activity.

However, while

the minutes record Glenda Cofield's
request:

Mrs. Cofield added that the boat ramp was used by many and needed to
be improved. Mrs. Cofield further stated that Department of Natural
Resources had guidelines by which the county could move forward with
repairs to the ramp.

The only response to her request was this:

Commissioner Lee stated that it might be an issue for the parks and
recreation to explore.

Did Commissioner Lee or anyone else with the Lowndes County government
ask Parks and Rec to explore Mrs. Cofield's question?
The minutes don't say.

Here's

the video.

-jsq