In case you haven’t heard, Lowndes County plans to widen Old US 41 North the rest of the way up to the Hahira City Limits: 6.c. TIA Local Delivery Application for Old US 41 North Widening Phase 4.
The Clyattville case was withdrawn by applicant: 5.a. REZ-2026-04 Jay Ma Khodiyar 5507 Central St. (Clyattville), R-10 to C-G. This is the same rezoning that was tabled for a month back on March 10, 2026, on a motion by Commissioner Mark Wisenbaker. I wonder how many times it will reapppear?
The Old Bemiss Road Blackwater case had quite a bit of discussion about roads, railroad, and access: 5.b. REZ-2026-11 Blackwater Development 4130 Old Bemiss Rd., (part 1).
Aaron Kostyu, Information Technology Services Director, spelled out a problem with so-called AI: 6.e. Replacement of Three Servers. Commissioner Michael Smith wondered why there was only one quote for the three servers IT requested.
It’s because we can’t find hardware anywhere. They have increased over the last two months by 800 to 1000 percent.
None of the drives are available; none of the memory is available, because the AI industry is sucking it all up. They have done something unprecedented, and the memory industry has allowed them to purchase the next three lots before they are even created. And so we don’t see this ending anytime soon.
We’ve had difficulty getting hardware that normally choose because the prices have gotten out of control. We’re jumping on the right now.
We know already that there’s a hundred and five day time limit on these quotes. They’ve already gone up since we got these quotes, but she agreed to extend it.
This is last month’s quote. It’s already higher.
She’s agreed to hold this pricing, and hopefully we’ll get 105 days. Tomorrow, if we purchase the next day, that will potentially get just in time to pay out of this year’s budget. So it’s a real race to get it done.
Aaron Kostyu: Servers, memory, and massive price increases driven by the AI industry
I can attest to massive price increases. My main laptop needs new memory. They same stick I bought a year ago for $72.95 now costs $414.00. I’m making do with less memory for now.
The industry driving these price increases is the same that wants to build massive hyper-scale datacenters.
Below are links to each LAKE video of each agenda item for the May 11, 2026, Lowndes County Commission Work Session, with a few notes by Gretchen Quarterman, followed by a LAKE video playlist.
See also the agenda and the board packet, received in response to a LAKE open records request.
For the rezonings (except Clyattville), see the LAKE videos of the preceding Planning Commission meeting.
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1. Call to Order 4. Minutes for appoval
Video:
https://youtu.be/hRZu4o4E5HMLowndes County Board of Commissioners (LCC) Work Session – 2026-05-11
New camera and problem with audio.
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE).
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5.a. REZ-2026-04 Jay Ma Khodiyar 5507 Central St. (Clyattville), R-10 to C-G
Video:
https://youtu.be/fJVBzEOKU74Case withdrawn
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5.b. REZ-2026-11 Blackwater Development 4130 Old Bemiss Rd., (part 1)
Video:
https://youtu.be/S0nFP8d1i0U5b. REZ-2026-11 Blackwater Development LLC & Webb Fish Farm, 4130 Old Bemiss Rd., ~4.8ac, R-1 & R-10 to C-G, County Utilities
Had a problem with video camera mid item and had to switch.
http://www.l-a-k-e.org/blog/2026/05/videos-3-rezonings-4-road-items-1-beer-and-wine-vlcia-bonds-servers-debris-hauler-lcc-work-2026-05-11.html -
5.b. REZ-2026-11 Blackwater Development LLC, 4130 Old Bemiss Rd., (part 2)
Video:
https://youtu.be/KTjnErg-Ph05b. REZ-2026-11 Blackwater Development LLC & Webb Fish Farm, 4130 Old Bemiss Rd., ~4.8ac, R-1 & R-10 to C-G, County Utilities
part 2. there is a brief gap in the videos part-1 and part-2
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5.c. REZ-2026-12 McBurrough, 4909 Bemiss Rd., ~2.4ac, R-21 – R-1 to C-G
Video:
https://youtu.be/7EDy58u-9ig5c. REZ-2026-12 McBurrough, 4909 Bemiss Rd., ~2.4ac, R-21 & R-1 to C-G, County Utilities
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6.a. a.2026 Local Road Assistance (LRA) Administration Funds Application
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6.b. Acceptance of Infrastructure for Cypress Lakes Subdivision Phase V
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6.c. TIA Local Delivery Application for Old US 41 North Widening Phase 4
Video:
https://youtu.be/heu7VTjJuewOld 41 N widening from Union Road to Hahira City Limit
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6.d. Beer and Wine License – Eagle Food Mart, 4952 Bemiss Road
Video:
https://youtu.be/VaPFrKF2H8Y6d. Beer and Wine License – Vikrambhai Patel of Hari Om Narayan Inc., DBA Eagle Food Mart, 4952 Bemiss Road, Valdosta, GA 31605
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6.e. Replacement of Three Servers
Video:
https://youtu.be/ktIDZ5bHiaIThere was a new presenter for technology but Aaron Kostyu was in attendance.
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6.f. Industrial Authority Series 2026 Bonds
Video:
https://youtu.be/_iWxfurW7X0The bonds are for land purchase. I’m not clear why the Industrial Authority is buying more land when current business parks are still empty.
Perhaps for project \
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7.a. 2026 Local Maintenance and Improvement Grant (LMIG) Resurfacing Bids
Video:
https://youtu.be/vSOmRDpkAE8Why can’t they read out the roads, rather than have people do an open records request and then wade through pages of materials?
http://www.l-a-k-e.org/govt/loco/2026-05-11–lcc-packet/May-11-12-2026-Meeting-Packet-0072.html
The LMIG roads, from the board packet LAKE obtained through an open records request, are:
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7.b. Bid for a Debris Hauler for Public Works
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8. Reports – County Manager (none – manager was absent) 10. Adjournment
Here is the LAKE video playlist:
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLshUv86fYkiG68Qs9bXydM1oNq_9Ps4_r&si=LTrzrWXq50x57t8e
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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!
http://www.l-a-k-e.org/blog/donate
Short Link:
![[Collage @ LCC 11 May 2026]](http://www.l-a-k-e.org/govt/loco/2026-05-11--lcc-work-videos/many.jpg)
![[2026 LMIG LRA PROJECT REPORT]](http://www.l-a-k-e.org/govt/loco/2026-05-11--lcc-packet/May-11-12-2026-Meeting-Packet-0038.jpg)
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