Category Archives: Alcohol

Videos: Bids for emergency road repair! Appointments: Library Board, Development Authority, millage @ LCC 2017-08-21



Bids for an emergency repair!
This could be a first, instead of their usual sole source approve-it-right now method.
See

the County Manager’s Report, in which County Engineer Mike Fletcher
describes bids incoming from both Scruggs and Reames for temporary
repair to Rocky Ford Road.

Below are links to each LAKE video of yesterday morning’s Work Session with a few notes, followed by a LAKE video playlist.
See also
the agenda with notes about appointments and millage.
And see also
the 5 PM today Millage Rate Meeting.

Continue reading →

Appointments: Library Board, Development Authority, millage, cameras @ LCC 2017-08-21

Maybe the county would have enough applicants their Work Session,
Monday morning at 8:30 AM,
if they advertised for applicants for open board seats,
such as on the Development Authority of Lowndes County,
And if they posted the application sheets for the applicants they did get,
such as for the Lowndes County Library Board,
we’d have some idea of who they are.
They could even say whether the millage is going up or down.

According to the

agenda sheet
for the appointment to the
Lowndes County Library Board,

There is a vacant seat on the Lowndes County Library Board. The
Board of Trustees of the South Georgia Regional Library System
respectfully requests the appointment of Mr. Gene Toffolo to fill the
vacant seat.

They don’t say who applicant Gene Toffolo is.
According to the South Georgia Regional Library
he’s a 2016 Friends of the Library Board member:




Front Left to Right: Kay Scott, Janet Toffolo, Mary Helen Watson (President), Merrilee Casady,
Sarah Smart (Vice President), Robert DeVan (Treasurer)

Back Left to Right: Gene Toffolo, Patricia Marks, Riley Howard, Karl Osmus, John Swiderski (Secretary)

The county’s agenda and agenda sheet for the Lowndes County Library Board
don’t say whose seat expired or maybe somebody resigned.
The county’s

web page for this board
is no more helpful, listing these members and expirations,
none of which expires in 2017: Continue reading →

Videos: Reappointment to Airport Authority, raise convenience fees, Moody AFB swimming pool @ LCC 2017-05-22



Six minutes and ten seconds yesterday morning
to breeze through the

agenda for the Work Session;
the Lowndes County Commission votes tonight at 5:30 PM.
Also,

the Chairman announced
the
Budget Work Session to start at 9AM,
which didn’t match the posting about that time put on the county’s website.

Tonight they will very likely

reappoint Jeff Sikes to the

Airport Authority,
increase

“convenience fees for online and telephone payments to $2.50 per transaction”, some

I-75 exit work, and a

swimming pool at Moody Air Force Base.
Plus a

beer and wine license due to the usual change of ownership,
and an

HVAC maintenance contract.

Reappointment to Airport Authority, raise convenience fees, Moody AFB swimming pool @ LCC 2017-05-22

It probably won’t take them 15 minutes after 8 AM to breeze through this

light agenda, including reappoinging Jeff Sikes to the



Airport Authority,
increasing “convenience fees for online and telephone payments to $2.50 per transaction”, some I-75 exit work, and a swimming pool at Moody Air Force Base.
Plus a beer and wine license due to the usual change of ownership,
and an HVAC maintenance contract.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS

PROPOSED AGENDA

WORK SESSION, MONDAY, MAY 22, 2017, 8:30 a.m.

REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, MAY 23, 2017, 5:30 p.m.

327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor

Continue reading →

Videos: Coal ash, Calles, Val North PD Water Sewer, Habitat CDBG, Sewage Valves, Stone Creek Antenna, Sheriff, Alcohol @ LCC 2017-03-14



Not on the agenda:
Coal Ash
and

Y-Lead from Hahira Middle School and Teen Explosion.
Also

Stone Creek train quiet hours.

In a fifteen minute item, the Commission approved a split rezoning for
REZ-2017-02 Calles,
and they approved the removal of conditions from
REZ-2017-03 Val North Dr, Stewart Circle.
They approved the
CDBG Grant preparation,
but they didn’t mention they can’t actually apply until the resolve
their feud with the local cities about tax allocation.

Below are links to each LAKE video of the 14 March 2017 Regular Session of the Lowndes County Commission, with a few notes, followed by a video playlist.
See also Continue reading →

Videos: Calles again, Val North PD Water Sewer, Habitat CDBG, Sewage Valves, Stone Creek Antenna, Sheriff, Alcohol @ LCC 2017-03-13



Maybe more will show up at 5:30PM today for the Regular Session
than the Chairman and only two Commissioners at yesterday’s Work Session
(Joyce Evans and Mark Wisenbaker).

Chairman Bill Slaughter

revealed why he had been missing from the meetings two weeks before:
he had been attending an America’s Defense Community event in in San Antonio, Texas about Moody AFB.
Follow

the link
for more about this.
He complimented Vice-Chair Joyce Evans for running the meeting better than usual
in his absence.
She did beat his former record of five minutes by holding a
three-minute Work Session.

The returning
REZ-2017-02 Calles rezoning now
wants to split half conservation and half R-A.
Apparently the other rezoning,
REZ-2017-03 Val North Dr, Stewart Circle, PD Amendment and Conditions Removal, Water & Sewer, ~9 acres
had been heard before and was now being reconsidered because
a road had been paved.
Remember that when they try to claim roads don’t drive development.

Below are links to each LAKE video of the 13 March 2017 Work Session of the Lowndes County Commission, with a few notes, followed by a video playlist.
See also

the agenda, and the LAKE videos of the 27 February 2017 Greater Planning Commission meeting. Continue reading →

Calles again, Val North PD Water Sewer, Habitat CDBG, Sewage Valves, Stone Creek Antenna, Sheriff, Alcohol @ LCC 2017-03-13

The county apparently doesn’t want its
Peterson Road Isolation Valves
leaking like Valdosta’s famous January 2017 WWTP failure.
Two other water cases are on
the agenda
for this morning’s 8:30 AM Work Session, both rezonings:
REZ-2017-02 Calles, Alexandria St, R-10 and CON to R-A and CON, Well and Septic, ~13 acres
back again (Planning Commission still doesn’t like it; staff maybe),
a new one,
REZ-2017-03 Val North Dr, Stewart Circle, PD Amendment and Conditions Removal, Water & Sewer, ~9 acres.


Parcel 0167 098A

Parcel 0167 098A

The “Conflict of interest certification, resolution, and authorization”
under
FY 2017 CDBG Grant, Valdosta- Lowndes County Habitat for Humanity
actually means no conflict of interest, according to
the agenda sheet,
which also notes “Lowndes County is currently on course to apply for $750,000.00 in CDBG funds from the Georgia Department of Community Affairs (DCA) for a
new public facility for the Valdosta-Lowndes County Habitat for Humanity.”
Well, they’re not on course until they stop feuding with the local cities
about tax revenue allocation, because they can’t apply for any state
or federal grants until that is resolved.

Two safety items:
Stone Creek Antenna Space License Agreement
and
Sheriff's Office Vehicle Lease Agreement.

And no County Commission meeting is complete without alcohol:
Beer & Wine License – Rajendrakumar N. Patel of Bhumi Corporation – 6685 Bemiss Rd., Valdosta, GA.
I don’t recall they’ve ever denied one of those,
so I don’t know why they don’t just make an ordinance that permitting
staff can approve them.

Here’s
the agenda.
Gretchen is there with the LAKE camera.
Will the meeting take more than the three minutes last time?

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS

PROPOSED AGENDA

WORK SESSION, MONDAY, March 13, 2017, 8:30 a.m.

REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, March 14, 2017, 5:30 p.m.

327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor

Continue reading →

Deputy Butler, Jacobs Ladder road paving, and seven minutes on the agenda @ LCC 2017-02-28


Front camera
They started with some words about Deputy Chris Butler and a moment of silence
(see VDT Obituary.
Then they plowed through
agenda.
Commissioner Demarcus Marshall did introduce a little levity by asking

if the drug testing for the MIDS bus service was just for the drivers.
Answer: yes.

On the dozen Sheriff pursuit vehicles bid,

Commissioner Marshall also noted that a few years ago

(they voted 25 March 2014
there was a similar bid of Cass Burch vs. Langdale Ford
for which

they had additional testimony.
The excuse for picking Cass Burch even though once again not the low bid
was that it was that the Burch price was still less than the state contract price,
and maintenance would cost less.
It’s refreshing to see them actually discussing bids.
It’s curious they only ever seem to choose a bid that is not the lowest
when it’s from Cass Burch.

The County Manager had no additional report to his no report of the previous morning.

There was one citizen wishing to be heard:

Leslie Jacobs of Jacobs Ladder on 5866 Bradford Road North,
in Continue reading →

Videos: Three minute Work Session @ LCC 2017-02-27



Why do they bother having Work Sessions at all, if they’re not going
to discuss anything?
Chairman Bill Slaughter,

who at the recent planning session said,
“Lowndes County is as transparent as we could possibly be,”
was absent.
Commissioner Demarcus Marshall, who argued at the planning session
for moving the Work Session to a time when citizens are not working,
also was not at the Work Session as usual, I hear because he works
during the day.
I don’t know why Commissioner Mark Wisenbaker was not there.
Other than Vice-Chair Joyce Evans, who didn’t read the agenda item numbers,
only Commissioners Scottie Orenstein and Clay Griner were there this morning.
They asked no questions,
as Griner had said at the planning meeting there was no need to,
because staff supplied them with everything they needed to know.

To her credit, Joyce Evans asked the only question, whether

the Rural Transportation Drug and Alcohol Testing Program was new
(It’s not new, answered County Engineer Mike Fletcher.)

The only two citizens there were Gretchen Quarterman and Jody Hall,
each of whom had hour-long round-trips to attend this three-minute non-meeting.

The Valdosta Daily Times reporter
arrived after the meeting was adjourned. He at least got the packet provided at each meeting to the “Legal Organ”.
You, the citizens and taxpayers did not get that courtesy from the county.

You can see for yourself the lack of information in the links below
to each of the LAKE videos, followed by a LAKE video playlist.
I didn’t bother with notes on the items this time.
See also the agenda,
which I spent more time posting than they did holding the meeting. Continue reading →

Videos: Annual Planning Meeting Day 2 @ LCC 2017-02-17



We learned why Lowndes County has gotten religion about Internet access and speed:

Moody AFB wants it.

Commissioner Scottie Orenstein made the case for

board packets and agendas in electronic form
instead of the paper packets they currently use.
Maybe they’ll even reveal them to the public before their meetings,
like real MSAs do.
Meanwhile,

Community Engagement
means marketing, as in telling people what the county did,
not listening to the citizens.

They talked about

interconnecting (almost) all of the county’s water systems,
about

routes to get trucks out of downtown Valdosta.
The

water-sewer ordinance is in ten or twelve pieces,
and the county is all for expanding water and sewer throughout the county
as long as it doesn’t cost developers money.

There’s

a regional T-SPLOST meeting in Waycross by SGRC Feb 28 2017,
but Lowndes commissioners and staff said nothing Continue reading →