One appointee bowed out, architect selection and public defender to the courthouse were clarified, and dog kennels were discussed, in these LAKE videos from yesterday morning’s 11 May 2015 Work Session
of the Lowndes County Commission, with a few notes.
See also
the agenda, plus a
new item
6 f. Server Replacement/Network Core Replacement. Continue reading
Category Archives: Incarceration
Bottled water, prisoner details, board appointees, and Easter Seals @ LCC 2015-05-11
Picture by Michael Rivera, CC
Why is the county accepting Bids for Bottled Water Service? If its own water, or Valdosta’s, is good enough for the taxpayers, shouldn’t it be good enough for Commission and staff? They’ve also got a Bid for Coffee Service, but we don’t grow coffee here, as far as I know, so that’s not the same issue.
With many local people needing jobs, why does the county continue to renew an Annual Contract Renewal for Prison Work Details?
Looks like Joseph G. Stevens will be reappointed to the Lowndes County Public Facilities Authority. Both G. Norman Bennett and incumbent Anthony Payton want to be appointed to the one slot opening on the Valdosta-Lowndes County Airport Authority. Their applications were not included with the agenda, so who can say which one is most qualified?
I guess they didn’t decide to relocate the Public Defender’s Office into the historic Lowndes County Courthouse, since on the agenda is a three-year Lease Agreement for the Public Defender’s Office at its present location.
Looks like J. Glenn Gregory will provide the Architectural Services for the Lowndes County Civic Center Renovations and the Architectural Services for the Naylor Community Center, both funded via SPLOST VII. Both apparently without competitive bids.
Here’s the agenda, which also has Declaration of Surplus Items and Authorization for Sale/Disposal and Easter Seals Southern Georgia Presentation (Work Session Only).
LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
Continue reading
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, MAY 11, 2015 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, MAY 12, 2015 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor
Videos: Peggy Green apologizes to Nydia Tisdale to avoid jail time
Tuesday morning assailant Peggy Green apologized a year after
Nydia Tisdale asked.
The judge remarked he was happy at the outcome so nobody had to face jail time.
So, if you want your meeting to be private, don’t advertise it as
“open to the public”.
And when someone shows up with a camera, don’t try to throw them out,
especially not physically.
From Nydia’s blog post here’s the video: Continue reading
Videos: Day 2 of Budget Hearings @ LCC Budget 2015-03-04
Maybe Georgia should fund mental health facilities instead of
local jails having to act as mental hospitals.
On a positive note,
Agriculture is an $81M industry in Lowndes County.
Law, taxes, and education, in the second day which was only in the morning,
of the
three days of
“Budget Hearings” which aren’t really hearings because nobody from the
public can speak and they don’t have a budget to hear yet.
See yesterday for
the agenda.
Here are links to videos of each item with some notes by Gretchen,
followed by a video playlist.
And one more day to go today. Continue reading
Videos: Devine tabled, Naylor boat ramp, no HB 170 or animals @ LCC 2015-02-10
Nothing was said about the
GA HB 170 state tax grab from local governments,
even though both school boards and the Valdosta City Council
already passed resolutions against it.
No citizens spoke about animals, or about anything else,
not even in the Public Hearings,
except for
me thanking the Commission about the Naylor Boat Ramp.
The Devine Subdivision at Tillman Crossing was tabled at request of applicant to try to sort out continuing concerns about safety and congestion, while REZ-2015-01 Gramercy 2 and REZ-2015-03 Scurry Property, were unanimously approved. No citizens spoke for or against any of them.
You the taxpaying public didn’t get to see any of the materials in the board packet beyond the one-page agenda item forms, before the Commission voted last night, unless you were in the Commission Chambers or watched the LAKE videos of yesterday morning’s Work Session. The open records request for those rezonings came back with paper maps, despite my request for electronic format; at least the paper maps were in color this time. I asked again for electronic format, and will post them soon even if I have to scan them. The other open records request, for maps and materials for the engineering agenda items, came back with no maps at all, so I sent it back to be satisfied. Both County Planner Jason Davenport and County Engineer Mike Fletcher said they had never seen those open records requests, and they’d both be happy to email electronic copy if they were authorized to do so by the County Clerk.
All the other items were unanimously approved: Continue reading
HB 170: counties vs. cities? @ LCC 2015-02-10
Yesterday a Georgia House subcommittee did exactly what Valdosta
urged it not to do about distributing HB 170 funds.
Given that LMIG mismatch between cities and counties
to replace the previous mismatch of forced double taxation
on cities and counties, is the legislature trying to cause
dissension between counties and their cities, or is it just that inept?
We know Valdosta’s position.
What will the Lowndes County Commission do?
Valdosta City Manager Larry Hanson wrote to bill’s sponsor: Continue reading
HB 170 voted out of subcommittee; what will Lowndes County Commission do? @ LCC 2015-02-06
How long will the Lowndes County government and ACCG wait to act,
while the Georgia legislature moves on
its stealth transportation
tax hike for Atlanta that would defund local school boards and city
and county governments?
A House subcommittee has made some changes to the bill,
but it would still force local governments to raise taxes,
and it adds an unrelated repeal of an electric vehicle tax credit
to its boondoggle for trucking companies and Atlanta.
Do we want our local public schools to be defunded like
wildlife programs were through the state’s wildlife license plate revenue
tax taking?
If not, now’s the time to lobby against HB 170, before
the full House Transportation Committee meets Thursday.
Yet there’s still nothing about HB 170
on the county’s agenda for this evening’s voting Regular Session.
Valdosta has already Continue reading
Videos: 3 rezonings, boat ramp, bridge, utilities, new public defender @ LCC 2015-02-09
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 Continue reading
Videos: Hospital, transportation, water, incarceration, taxes, Internet, and military @ LCC 2015-02-06
Commission and staff followed up on
safety on Val Del Road that
John Page brought up in Citizens Wishing to Be Heard
a month ago.
Appointed board and agency openings: they have a list, but you can’t see it,
for the Bad Dog Board or any other.
The Chairman had “support” for a referendum to appoint Tax Assessors,
although “this is not a vote”.
About Internet access,
County Manager Joe Pritchard discussed a map of a “skeletal framework”
of city and county, VSU, SGMC, Georgia Military College, Wiregrass Technical
College, “the outlying cities”, as well as the industrial parks,
for DSL, cable modems, etc.
This discussion has come a long way in the year since
Chairman Bill Slaughter said “We have broadband”.
They seem to want the county to be Continue reading
Partial packet items! @ LCC 2015-02-09
This agenda includes links to the Commission Agenda Item form for each item!
That’s not all yet, since it does not link to the numerous maps
and other materials for each of the three rezoning items, for example.
But it’s progress!
And the meeting dates also now appear.
Good show!
Also the name of the engineering firm is in the document for
Professional Surveying and Engineering Services for Naylor Boat Ramp.
See also the LAKE videos of the 26 January 2015 Planning Commission meeting for background on the three rezonings, which are in this LCC agenda as REZ-2015-01 Gramercy 2, Old Pine Rd, R-1 to R-10, Water and Sewer, ~4.1 acres, REZ-2015-02 Devine Subdivision, Tillman Crossing Rd, R-1 to R-10, Water and Sewer, ~24 out of ~72 acres, and REZ-2015-03 Scurry Property, Skipper Bridge Rd, R-A to R-1, Well and Septic, ~1.97 acres, plus Public Hearing fo the Abandonment of Deloach Road E (CR 95).
Proposals are also in this agenda for Preliminary Engineering Services for Exit 22 and 29 Utility Relocations, Professional Surveying and Engineering Services for Naylor Boat Ramp, and Proposal for Bridge Foundation Investigation for Morven Road Bridge Replacement, plus a 2015 Public Defender Services Contract & 2015 Operating Contract.
LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
Continue reading
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2015, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2015, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor