The only rezoning to get much time was the Devine Subdivision at Tillman Crossing, at this morning’s Work Session of the Lowndes County Commission. Maps were displayed for that and REZ-2015-01 Gramercy 2 and REZ-2015-03 Scurry Property, but the board packet is still not on the county’s website. I filed an open records request, asking for them to be emailed, and got a telephone callback saying they were ready for pickup, which means I won’t get them until tomorrow, and you may not see them until after tomorrow evening’s voting Regular Session.

Tuesday evening there will be public hearings for those rezonings plus for abandonment of Deloach Road. Other items include utility relocation at exists 22 and 29, the Naylor Boat Ramp, and Morven Road Bridge Replacement.

This morning the new public defender, Wade Krueger, introduced himself.

See the agenda. See also the LAKE videos of the 26 January 2015 Planning Commission meeting for background on the three rezonings. Below are links to the videos from this morning with a very few notes, followed by a video playlist.

The county’s own videos from this morning are not on the web yet. For that matter, their videos from the 28 and 29 January 2015 sessions are not up yet. And their 8 and 9 December 2014 videos on YouTube now say,

This video is unavailable.
Sorry about that.

In case you wondered why LAKE is still videoing the Lowndes County Commission, now you know.

• 1. Call to Order 4. Minutes for Approval 5.a. REZ – 2015 – 01 Gramercy 2

  Video.

• 5.b. REZ-2015-02 Devine Subdivision Tillman Crossing Rd, R-1 To R-10

  Video. County Planner Jason Davenport relayed concerns about safety, congestion , convenience, and lot sizes. County Engineer Mike Fletcher reported on accidents on Tillman Crossing (he detailed seven).

  The still from the LAKE video below is pretty much what you could see on the screen: illegible detail and even the label in the upper left completely unreadable. More maps were displayed of this subdivision, but none more legible.

  
  Devine Subdivision

• 5.c. REZ-2015-03 Scurry Property, Skipper Bridge Rd, R-A To R-1

  Video.

• 5.d. Public Hearing For The Abandonment Of Deloach Road E (CR 95)

  Video.

• 6.a. Preliminary Engineering Services For Exit 22 And 29 Utility Relocations

  Video.

• 6.b. Professional Surveying And Engineering Services For Naylor Boat Ramp

  Video. The map looked like it might be interesting if it were legible.

  
  Naylor Boat Ramp

• 6.c. Proposal For Foundation Investigation For Morven Road Bridge Replacement

  Video.

• 6.d. 2015 Public Defender Services Contract

  Video. Stuart Taylor, VDT, 8 April 2013, A public defender’s punk rock roots,

  After becoming more interested in social causes—“It quickly emerged to me that I didn’t want to practice the kind of law that gets you in the law school brochure”—Krueger started working with the Athens Justice Project which, upon graduation, led to a job offer from Georgia Legal Services to work as a Public Defender in Valdosta, where he and his wife, Heather Maldonado, have been since 2005.

  “I see a lot of drug cases, property crime, forgery, theft. The kind of violent crimes that make the paper are few and far between.”

  Krueger’s weeks vary. Some weeks he’s in court every day; some weeks he’s in the office every day, prepping cases. He finds a weekly constant in the music.

  “I get up early so I have time for it. I plug in the headphones and run it through Garage Band.”

  His drive to pursue social causes extends outside of the courtroom as well with Krueger participating in Leadership Lowndes and as a coach to the Lowndes High’s Mock Trial team.

  “There’s a whole different level of engagement with Mock Trial. Every student is there because they have a passion for it, not because they have to…I really consider it and Leadership Lowndes as extensions of my office, as serving the community.”

• 7. Reports – County Manager & Meeting Adjournment

  Video.

Here’s a video playlist:

Videos: 3 rezonings, boat ramp, bridge, utilities, new public defender
Work Session, Lowndes County Commission (LCC),
Video by John S. Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 9 February 2015.

-jsq

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