Category Archives: Lowndes County Commission

Lowndes County Commission meets Monday morning and Tuesday evening

The Lowndes County Commission meets 8:30 AM Monday (work session) and 5:30 PM Tuesday (regular session). Here’s the agenda:
LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, MARCH 21, 2011, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, MARCH 22, 2011, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor

  1. Call to Order
  2. Invocation
  3. Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag
  4. Minutes for Approval – Regular Session – March 8, 2011
  5. Resolutions
    1. Adopt Resolution accepting infrastructure for Cypress Lakes Subdivision Phase V
    2. Grant Re-Application for the Rural Transportation Program and Associated Resolution
  6. Public Hearing – Grant Re-Application for the Rural Transportation Program Public Hearing
  7. Citizens Wishing to be Heard Please State Name And Address
  8. For Consideration
    1. Proposal from Hulsey, McCormick, and Wallace, Inc. for Groundwater Sampling and Analysis at the Clyattville Landfill
    2. Beer & Wine License – Thai Chang Restaurant, 5913 Bemiss Road
    3. Service Contract for the Mobile Data Terminals
  9. Bid – Bridge Repairs
  10. Reports-County Manager

See you there.

-jsq

Beliefs are good, but facts are better –John S. Quarterman @ VLCIA, 15 March 2011

First I praised the completion of the Wiregrass Solar LLC plant in Valdosta. Then I complimented Brad Lofton on finding his new job and hoped he’d be happy in Myrtle Beach. Then I praised the VDT for its editorial recommending using this opportunity to consult the councils of the various municipalities and the County Commission, and in particular that one way to produce unity in the community as G. Norman Bennett had previously advocated, would be to find out what the community wants VLCIA to do.
I understand the point about beliefs. But it’s not all about just the beliefs of just the people on the board. It’s also about things like is there enough water, and do we want businesses that soak up a lot of water, like Ben Copeland said at the Lake Park Chamber of Commerce. Beliefs are good, but facts are better. Thank you.


John S. Quarterman at the
regular monthly meeting, Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority (VLCIA)
Norman Bennett, Roy Copeland, Tom Call, Mary Gooding, Jerry Jennett chairman,
J. Stephen Gupton attorney, Brad Lofton Executive Director, Allan Ricketts Program Manager,
15 March 2011.
Video by David Rodock for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.

-jsq

“Parameters on the types of industry” –VDT Editorial

And what about all that land?

In addition to a news story about Brad Lofton moving on up to Myrtle Beach, the Valdosta Daily Times also had an editorial yesterday (14 March), Lofton’s leaving a void in which they make some good points, including:

While the search is on for a new director, now is the time for the city, county and industrial authority board to come together to make some decisions about the organization and what the community leadership needs and wants it to be.
Here are a few modest suggestions along those lines, including considerations such as water.

More from the VDT: Continue reading →

Against taxes –Nolen Cox

Speaking to the Lowndes County Commission on 8 March 2011, Nolen Cox said businesses produce money and government consumes it, and he doesn’t like taxes.

He appears to be opposed to the ESPLOST election.

He’s the same fellow who introduced the topic of climate change denial in a Lowndes County Commission meeting.

Here’s the video.


Regular meeting of the Lowndes County Commission, 8 March 2011.
Video by Gretchen Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.

-jsq

Fiduciary responsibility of LCC to oversee VLCIA? –John S. Quarterman

Speaking to the Lowndes County Commission on 8 March 2011, I read from VLCIA “inter-governmental funding agreement” with Lowndes County, noting that VLCIA’s own audited annual financial report seems to be out of date, since it still says VLCIA asks the Lowndes County Commission for its funds. And I wondered about this part in Note F:
The bonds are secured by an “inter-governmental” funding agreement between the Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority and Lowndes County, Georgia.
I repeated what I wrote before:
If the Lowndes County government is co-guarantor of VLCIA’s bonds, how can the Lowndes County Commission say it has no responsibility or control over what VLCIA does? I am not a CPA, but the term “fiduciary responsibility” comes to mind.

I quoted myself from VLCIA Bonds: $15M becomes $23.5M?

If I’m reading that right (I am not a CPA), VLCIA took out about $15M in bonds for which they will pay back a total of about $23.5M. Is that really $8.5M in debt service, or about 56% of the original principal?
I pointed out that VLCIA seems to have about $8.3 million in cash Continue reading →

Is Dixie Alley spreading?

So today we have a report of a tornado at Poulan (west of Tifton), tornados in Alabama and west, and right now the storm is sitting on top of Tallahassee in a circular pattern:

More maps of Dixie Alley from Is Dixie Alley an extension of Tornado Alley? by P. Grady Dixon, et al.: Continue reading →

A new tornado alley?

Just a couple of weeks ago a local elected official told me “we didn’t live in tornado alley”. Well, after today’s storm in which apparently there were some tornados to the west before it got here, the Washington Post remarks on Mardi Gras storm risk & the new tornado alley:
Despite the lack of historic twister activity around New Orleans, tornado climatology indicates they become much more common due north into south central Mississippi and expanding northeast and northwest from northern Alabama across northern Louisiana, southwest Tennessee and into eastern Arkansas.
As you can see by the map they posted from a recent study, one pocket of this new tornado alley, nicknamed Dixie Alley, is in south Georgia.

The article goes on to quote a different study that said:

…Dixie Alley has the highest frequency of long-track F3 to F5 tornadoes, making it the most active region in the United States. … Based on this analysis, colloquial tornado alley fails to represent the areas of highest activity in the United States, indicating that a more comprehensive analysis of additional tornado alleys in the United States by the NWS may be needed in the future.
So yes, we do live in the new tornado alley.

Sure would be nice for people around here to have NOAA Weather Radios.

-jsq

PS: Nothing but wind and rain on my hill. This time.

Lowndes County Commission Meets Tuesday Evening

It’s a light agenda, but that doesn’t mean nothing interesting or important will happen: you never know. Here is the agenda:

View Larger Map
LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION CANCELLED
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, MARCH 8, 2011, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor

  1. Call to Order
  2. Invocation
  3. Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag
  4. Minutes for Approval
    1. Work Session – February 21, 2011
    2. Regular Session – February 22, 2011
  5. Public Hearings – REZ-2011-02 Cat Creek, 4097 Cat Creek Road, 0144 050, 9.18 ac., ~23 lots, R-21 to R-10
  6. Citizens Wishing to be Heard Please State Name And Address
  7. For Consideration
    1. Smith Northview Services Agreement
    2. Inmate Medical Savings Program
    3. Resolution and Contract for the Hazardous Waste Trust Fund (HWTF)
  8. Reports-County Manager
According to the Lowndes County Tax Assessor’s Office, the 9.18 acres at 4097 Cat Creek Road are owned by Narvel R. Briggs of 243 Park Street, Somerset, NJ 08873 with no sales on that land reported since 1982. I would guess this is not a big developer, rather a child of the original owner.

-jsq

NOAA Weather Radios needed on the edge of the county –John S. Quarterman

So I’ll give you my opinion, like I gave it to the County Commission, and at the end of this post there’s a chronological list of links to all the NOAA Weather Radio posts so far.

But first, what do these radios do? According to NOAA:

NWR is an “All Hazards” radio network, making it your single source for comprehensive weather and emergency information. In conjunction with Federal, State, and Local Emergency Managers and other public officials, NWR also broadcasts warning and post-event information for all types of hazards – including natural (such as earthquakes or avalanches), environmental (such as chemical releases or oil spills), and public safety (such as AMBER alerts or 911 Telephone outages).
So these radios provide all the types of information J.L. Clark referred to. There’s more information in that NOAA web page.

I spoke after J.L. Clark on 22 Feb 2011. There is no video, because LAKE had only one camera at that meeting. From memory, here is the gist of what I said.

I live out on the edge of the county. I remember when Ashley Paulk moved in next door.
Continue reading →

NOAA Weather Radios: “think before you act” –J.L. Clark, LCC, 22 Feb 2011

The week after Commissioner Raines said NOAA Weather Radios were “wasteful spending” and the commission voted 2:1 against them, J.L. Clark asked the Commission to “think before you act”.

Clark pointed out that nobody said anything when the state effectively raised property taxes. He read off a list of other grants the county has accepted, and asked:

Are you going to return those grants? I think not.
He brought up a recent earthquake and pointed out those radios would be quite useful in such a natural disaster.
I ask the Commissioners to think before you act, and not to react to you-know-what.
The commissioners made no response. Here’s the video:


Lowndes County Commission, 22 Feb 2011, Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia.
Video by John S. Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.

-jsq