Category Archives: Lowndes County Commission

Solid Waste Corruption in Gwinnett County?

A federal corruption probe and a developer charged with bribing a county commissioner, who already resigned, admitting it; all that plus drug dealing, nepotism, perjury, cronyism, and at least one prison term, in Gwinnett County. This AJC story has a quote by VSU alumnus and current ADS rep. Steve Edwards.

David Wickert wrote for the AJC 8 September 2012, Widening probe stains Gwinnett reputation,

New details of a federal investigation paint a troubling picture of corruption deeply embedded in Gwinnett County—allegations that may undermine the county’s previously sterling reputation as an economic dynamo.

Bribery allegations have now embroiled two county commissioners, a planning commissioner and a zoning board member….

One of Lasseter’s first acts upon taking office in January 2009 was to appoint Gary — a longtime friend — to the Municipal-Gwinnett County Planning Commission, which would pass judgment on his development plans, including the waste transfer station off Winder Highway.

More dominoes in the federal corruption probe began falling last week, when Continue reading →

ADS buys At Your Disposal

ADS just bought a company called At Your Disposal, Inc. That’s interesting, because just six weeks ago State Sen. Tim Golden’s fraternity brother Steve Edwards, Atlanta Sales and Marketing for Advanced Disposal Systems (ADS), said he didn’t forsee any additional acquisitions. Additional after ADS’s purchase of Veolia six months ago, just after the Lowndes County Commission chose Veolia’s highest bid for waste collection, which was not as high as its soon-to-be-parent-company ADS’s bid for the same service package.

ADS PR of yesterday, ADVANCED DISPOSAL ACQUIRES AT YOUR DISPOSAL, INC. FURTHER EXPANDING COMPANY’S NORTH GEORGIA OPERATIONS

MINERAL BLUFF, Ga., (June 4, 2012) — Advanced Disposal Services Inc., a regional integrated environmental services company, through its wholly-owned subsidiary, has acquired the assets of At Your Disposal, Inc. The purchase further expands the company’s footprint in the North Georgia marketplace.

“Acquiring At Your Disposal presented an excellent Continue reading →

How much will trash collection rates go up in Lowndes County? @ LCC 2012-10-09

Speaking of Veolia winning its high bid for garbage collection, here’s a clue to how much more its rates may go up.

Remember ADS Veolia was bought hardly a month later by ADS, owned by Highstar Capital of New York City? Look at ADS’s bid for Proposal D: $18.39.

That’s $220.68 a year. Which is even higher than Wakulla County, Florida’s $196 a year, which Gretchen warned us all about more than a year ago. And more than double the $100 a year for the former county waste collection sites.

Want to guess how much ADS’s monthly rates will rise? Maybe Continue reading →

Budget Discussion Meeting 8:30 AM Wednesday @ LCC 2013-06-05

Popped up since 3PM today on the Lowndes County Commission online calendar:

Budget Discussion Meeting (6/5/2013)

On June 5, 2013, at 8:30 a.m., the Lowndes County Board of Commissioners will meet for a budget discussion, in the Executive Conference Room on the 3rd Floor of the Lowndes County Administration Building. For more information, please contact the Office of the County Clerk at 229-671-2400.
That’s tomorrow morning, the morning after the Georgia Supreme Court decision about LOST was expected today.

-jsq

Budget meetings? LOST meeting? Nothing on Lowndes County Commission calendar

Update 7:45 PM 4 June 2013: 8:30 AM Wednesday 5 June 2013.
Rumor has it that the Lowndes County Commission has already had one budget meeting and is going to have a meeting tomorrow about the GA Supreme Court LOST decision. Yet there’s nothing on the Commission’s public calendar and under Special Events their website says

There are no events at this time
How is meeting where the people don’t know doing people’s business?

-jsq

LOST decision coming from GA Supreme Court

Local Lowndes County and city officials are awaiting breathlessly the news from Atlanta today about new rules on LOST negotiations. Currently, negotiators have to choose one of the positions submitted by the contending parties. The GA Supreme Court may decide to let negotiators pick some other division of LOST funds. Valdosta Mayor John Gayle cancelled a meeting here yesterday so he could be in Atlanta for this court decision. Lowndes County Commissioners are rumored to be planning a meeting tomorrow morning after the decision.

Fox 31 posted 30 May 3012, Supreme Court of Georgia to hear Turner County LOST case

On June 4th, the Georgia Supreme Court will hear the case between Turner County and three cities over the distribution of Local Option Sales Taxes. Below is the entirety of the facts in the case as released by the court:

In this dispute between the governments of Turner County and three cities over how Local Option Sales Tax (LOST) proceeds should be distributed, the county is appealing a superior court ruling which picked the cities’ plan for distribution over the county’s.

There’s much more detail in that article. Also, Tim Omarzu wrote for timesfreepress.com 9 May 2013, Georgia top court to consider LOST negotiations.

-jsq

DeKalb County is a slum –DeKalb County Commissioners

I could see our Commissioners using this reasoning. -gretchen

DeKalb County as a slum Urban Redevelopment in DeKalb County

Erica Byfield reported for WSBTV yesterday, DeKalb commissioners declare most of county a slum,

What’s this urban redevelopment zone about? Tax breaks for businesses that produce new jobs, leaving taxes to be paid mostly by… Continue reading →

County picked the highest bid from Veolia for trash pickup @ LCC 2012-10-09

The facts don’t match County Chairman Bill Slaughter’s assertion (according to the VDT Thursday):

That decision was made in a good-faith effort to find the lowest possible rate for garbage service for the citizens of Lowndes County, he said Tuesday.

Commissioner Richard Raines moved and the Commission voted to approve 9 October 2012 Proposal D and awarded it to the lowest bidder for that specific proposal, which was Veolia. But that wasn’t the lowest-priced proposal, according to the sheet of choices they were using in that meeting:

Continue reading →

County told VDT curbside pickup would be non-exclusive @ LCC 2012-03-31

Former Chairman Ashley Paulk may say he didn’t tell Cory Scarborough of Deep South Sanitation that any contract by the county for curbside pickup would be non-exclusive (VDT 30 May 2013), but David Rodock reported for the VDT from Ashley Paulk’s guest house at a Lowndes County Commission retreat chaired by Ashley Paulk that:

Commissioners decided that getting out of the “trash business” was best and that a non-exclusive agreement with current curbside pickup companies (which about 12,000 citizens already employ) would provide service without putting any people out of business.

The VDT reported ( Commission tackles key issues: Waste management, tax lighting districts and SPLOST discussed at retreat by David Rodock, 31 March 2012) Commissioners “decided”. Yet there is no vote recorded, in contravention to Georgia open meetings law and a recent Georgia Supreme Court decision.

How is this doing “the people’s business”? Maybe if they took a vote and recorded it properly we’d all know what they said.

-jsq

State law requires public hearing before trash decision

Counter to state law, Lowndes County did not hold public hearings within 45 days before the decision to close the waste collection centers.

Georgia Comprehensive Solid Waste Management Act of 1990 GEORGIA COMPREHENSIVE SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT ACT OF 1990 AS AMENDED THROUGH 2004: An Abstract from OFFICIAL CODE OF GEORGIA ANNOTATED Volume 10 Title 12 Article 2 Part 1 Conservation and Natural Resources:

§ 12-8-24.2. Public hearing prior to entering contract regarding landfill

The governing authority of any county or municipal corporation and the directors or managers of any local authority or special district shall hold a public hearing before entering into a contract for the sale, lease, or management of a landfill or solid waste disposal facility owned by such county, municipal corporation, local authority, or special district. The party responsible for holding such a public hearing shall cause notice of the hearing to be posted at the site of the landfill or facility and to run in a newspaper of general circulation serving the county, municipal corporation, local authority, or special district not less than 30 nor more than 45 days prior to the date of the hearing.

Can anyone argue that “or solid waste disposal facility owned by such county” does not include Lowndes County’s former solid waste collection centers? Continue reading →