Category Archives: Lowndes County Commission

Videos: Regular Session GEFA, road abandonment, bids, and water @ LCC 2015-05-26

Attorney had to remind Commissioners that

a road abandonment such as for Buck Cato Road
requires a public hearing.
They declared the

solid waste equipment surplus to be leased to “prospective franchisees” such as DSS;
County Manager said
“we have the lease agreement here”, but did not put it on the county’s
website for the public to see.
County agent arrived just in time to hear the Langdale bid accepted for

a truck for the Extension Service.
They accepted

the Lee Office Supply bid for Emergency Operations Center tables and chairs.
And of course they approved the

Interconnection of North Lowndes and Kinderlou Water Systems
and the

GEFA Loan Modification
for the Alapaha Water Treatment Plant.
They started
a minute late. At the end, after

the County Manager
had no report
and no citizens wished to be heard,
as usual they adjourned without a vote.

This was all at the
afternoon Lowndes County Regular Session.
For background and more details, see Continue reading →

Videos: MAZ, Water, School @ LCC 2015-06-08

Through a LAKE open records request, now

you can see
the complicated

Moody Activity Zones
Text Amendments to the Unified Land Development Code,
which affect everything from animals to retirement homes.
In these LAKE videos you can see the Lowndes County Commission
consider that and other matters at their Work Session of Monday 8 June 2015,
including

Lowndes Middle School Utility Service from the City of Valdosta,
two water well and septic rezonings on
Mt. Zion Rd
and
Touchton Rd,
and
water and sewer for 24 acres of The Orchard at Stone Creek, Tillman Crossing Rd.
Plus
Utility Relocation for the Replacement of Franks Creek Bridge on Morven Road
and
many bids, including for
Paving on Coppage Road;
staff recommends the Scruggs bid.

County Manager Joe Pritchard noted
many of the bids were
related to SPLOST in an effort
“to get those projects up and running as quickly as possible”.

Here’s the
agenda.
See also the LAKE videos of the Planning Commission
meeting that considered these rezonings and the MAZ. Continue reading →

Board packet item for MAZ ULDC Text Amendment TXT-2015-01 @ LCC 2015-06-08

It’s no wonder the Planning Commission wanted more time for these complicated
proposed county code changes to the Moody Activity Zoning Districts (MAZ).
The county could have just as easily put

the PDF of this item online with

the agenda.
They didn’t, so LAKE filed an open records request, which no only makes
these maps and text available to the public, it demonstrates
the county can supply electronic format via email.

Here’s plain text for the
Board packet agenda item sheet
and the
Planning Division Amendment Notes,
and images of all the other pages from the PDF.

Videos: Doublewide, Commercial, Professional, Residential, Landscape, Stormwater, Suburban, Agriculture, Schools, and Moody @ GLPC 2015-05-26

The Planning Commission said at its 26 May 2015 meeting
that it needed at least a month more to review
Lowndes County’s proposed changes to the Moody Activity Zoning (MAZ)
Districts, which is why

the County Commission is pushing back the schedule on that.

Another big item is

REZ-2015-11 The Orchard at Stone Creek,
yet another subdivision on Old US 41 N,
this one due west of Nelson Hill on Val Del.

Here’s

the agenda.
Below are links to each of the LAKE videos of the agenda items,
followed by a video playlist. Continue reading →

Water, septic, sewer, utilties, Lowndes Middle School @ LCC 2015-06-08

What are these complicated
Moody Activity Zoning Districts amendments to the land development code that involve many maps and tables that
county staff are not showing the public, even though
one of the stated reasons is residential dwellings and family ties land divisions?

What has Lowndes Middle School done for water and sewer until now,
when

it’s finally asking to connect to Valdosta utilities because
Lowndes County utilities are too far away?
Plus two water well and septic rezonings on
Mt. Zion Rd
and
Touchton Rd,
and
water and sewer for 24 acres of The Orchard at Stone Creek, Tillman Crossing Rd.
And
Utility Relocation for the Replacement of Franks Creek Bridge on Morven Road.

Many bids, including for
Paving on Coppage Road;
staff recommends the Scruggs bid.

Here’s the
agenda,
which this time (unlike last) at least does have the one- or two-page
agenda item sheets, but is still lacking the rest of the board packet.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS

PROPOSED AGENDA

WORK SESSION, MONDAY, JUNE 8,2015, 8:30 a.m.

REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, JUNE 9, 2015, 5:30 p.m.

327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor

Continue reading →

Videos: GEFA, road abandonment, bids, and water @ LCC 2015-05-26

The County Manager said it’s “in the hands of the clerk, if you’d like to look at it” for at least two documents, so not only did

the agenda on the web lack even the one-sheet agenda item writeups,
Commissioners weren’t provided copies of contracts they were being asked to approve.
They vote this same evening, and the
Planning Commission also meets 5:30 PM Tuesday.

The GEFA Loan Modification
turns out to be about Continue reading →

GEFA, road abandonment, bids, and water @ LCC 2015-05-26

We don’t know what the GEFA Loan Modification is about,
Photo: Michael Rivera, CC attribution share alike because not even the one-page agenda sheets are included this time.
Similarly, we don’t know why they want to abandon Buck Cato Road (CR 880), or what vehicles they want to surplus and sell, or who else bid for the 3/4 Ton Truck for the Extension Service, or for the Tables and Chairs for the Emergency Operations Center, nor why the want to interconnect the North Lowndes and Kinderlou Water Systems.

Here’s the agenda. Because of the Monday Memorial Day holiday, the Work Session is Tuesday morning, the Regular Session is that same evening, and the Planning Commission also meets 5:30 PM Tuesday.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS

PROPOSED AGENDA

WORK SESSION, TUESDAY, MAY 26, 2015 8:30 a.m.

REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, MAY 26, 2015 5:30 p.m.

327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor

Continue reading →

Doublewide, Commercial, Professional, Residential, Landscape, Stormwater, Suburban, Agriculture, Schools, and Moody @ GLPC 2015-05-26

The busiest Planning Commission agenda I can recall,
is scheduled at exactly the same time as the Lowndes County Commission Regular Session because of the Memorial Day holiday.
The biggest item is

REZ-2015-11 The Orchard at Stone Creek,
yet another subdivision on Old US 41 N,
this one due west of Nelson Hill on Val Del.

Greater Lowndes Planning Commission

Lowndes County City of Valdosta City of Dasher City of Hahira City of Lake Park

REGULAR MONTHLY MEETING

AGENDA

Lowndes County South Health District Administrative Office

325 West Savannah Avenue

Tuesday, May 26, 2015 * 5:30 P.M. * Public Hearing

Continue reading →

Videos: Budget Work Session @ LCC Budget 2015-05-18

“Once you put in your transfers in and out, you have a balanced budget,”
said Finance Director Stephanie Black.
Transfers in from where?
How does this magic work?

Even the Commissioners had no agenda to look at,
although they did have printed copies of the draft budget,
which the public could only see as it scrolled by on the screen
at yesterday morning’s Lowndes County Commission Budget Work Session,
which was over by 10AM even though it was announced as 8:30AM to 5PM.
However, it is good that they had this Work Session in public.

County Clerk Paige Dukes told Gretchen afterwards that no draft
budget would be available to the public until after two changes
requested by the Chairman were incorporated.
She did not say when that would be finished or when the draft budget would be
available so taxpayers could comment.
She did refer people to
last year’s budget.
The slides that
Finance Director Stephanie Black presented do provide an interesting high level overview.
Other than Commissioners and very few staff,
the only people in the room were VDT reporter Joe Adgie, someone unidentified,
and Gretchen taking these LAKE videos so you can see what happened. Continue reading →

Budget Work Session @ LCC Budget 2015-05-18

Update 2015-05-18: Still no agenda posted as the meeting starts; not online; not on the outside of the building; not on the inside of the building. Is this legal?

An all-day Commission meeting with no agenda.
And no draft budget that the public can see.

PUBLIC NOTICE-BUDGET WORK SESSION

Date: May 18, 2015

Time: 8:30 AM – 5:00 PM

Location: Lowndes County Commission Chambers

Address: 327 N. Ashley Street,

2nd Floor

Valdosta, GA 31601

The Lowndes County Board of Commissioners has scheduled a Budget
Work Session for Monday, May 18, 2015, at 8:30 a.m. For questions
please call County Clerk, Paige Dukes, at 229-671-2400 or
pdukes@lowndescounty.com

Over on the Finance Department
web page,
it Continue reading →

On the LAKE front

Citizen dialog for transparent process by the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange