Category Archives: Lowndes County Commission

Spay, Rezonings, Body Armor, HEAT, Water, Waste, Ponds, and Roads @ LCC 2015-04-13



Update 2015-04-13: videos.

The three rezonings from the Planning Commission are on

the agenda
for this morning’s Lowndes County Commission Work Session.
One has been

withdrawn by applicant,
Vallotton Farms still wants to

rezone to Estate Agriculture,
and
another wants to

rezone to commercial.
Also to be considered this morning and voted on tomorrow evening are

three

water-related

items,
a
Georgia Department of Agriculture Spay/Neuter Grant Request,
two Sheriff’s requests (
body armor,
and
High Enforcement of Aggressive Traffic (HEAT) Team grant),
two paving items (Boring Pond Road Phase III
and
Resurfacing of 3 County Roads (Howell Road, Whitewater Road and Ousley))
a
Fuel Island Upgrade,
and what’s this about
Execution of the Resolution for the Hazardous Waste Trust Fund?
Ah, that’s about reimbursement for

monitoring of the closed Clyattville landfill
about which

the county chooses to reveal very little.
Last I heard, the Sabal Trail methane pipeline was still proposed to go through
there with its hundred-foot right of way and 36-inch pipe.
I wonder how that would affect monitoring?

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS

PROPOSED AGENDA

WORK SESSION, MONDAY, APRIL 13, 2015, 8:30 a.m.

REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, APRIL 14, 2015, 5:30 p.m.

327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor

Continue reading →

County revenue and property tax appeals –Craig Cardella @ LCC 2015-03-24

9. CWTBH - Craig Cardella
A local citizen got cut off just as he said the county attorney’s
opinion was he could interpret state law about property taxes however he wished,
in the

24 March 2015 Regular Session of the Lowndes County Commission.

9. Citizens Wishing to be Heard-Please State Your Name and Address

Video.
Craig Cardella’s concern was that the County Commission does not have enough money
to do things that are important to the community.
He said he had given a similar talk to Valdosta Mayor and Council recently.
He said he had been a city manager in the past, and had worked in and around
local government nearly all his career.

In 2009 GA State Senate authorized Continue reading →

Videos: Fire aid, drinking, driving, and air conditioning @ LCC 2015-03-24



One citizen got cut off
just as he said the county attorney
thought he could interpret state law however he liked.
In addition to the
Lake Park Fire Department Automatic Aid Agreement
the County Manager asked at the Work Session to add to
agenda,
they also added
Southern Region Traffic Enforcement Network (SRTEN).
Plus not on the agenda there was

recognition of student guests.
See also the previous morning’s Work Session

Keep Lowndes-Valdosta Beautiful cleanup presentation.
They meet again this morning.

Also voted on two weeks ago were
changes to the

speed zone ordinance,
a

GEMA grant application, a

proposal for engineering services for Exits 22 and 29,

HVAC for county buildings, and a

liquor license.
Here’s
the agenda
with links to the videos and a few notes.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS

PROPOSED AGENDA

WORK SESSION, MONDAY, MARCH 23, 2015  8:30 a.m.

REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, MARCH 24, 2015 5:30 p.m.

327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor

Continue reading →

Videos: KLVB, Drinking, driving, and air conditioning @ LCC 2015-03-23




Keep Lowndes-Valdosta Beautiful did cleanups in wetlands in
both the Withlacoochee and the Alapaha River watersheds, plus
at exit 22, and the general illegal trash dumping situation came up.
Did the county change the speed limit on your road?

The County Engineer said only in one area, but they didn’t publish the list.
Also discussed
were
a

GEMA grant application, a

proposal for engineering services for Exits 22 and 29,

HVAC for county buildings, and a

liquor license.
Here’s
the agenda
with links to the videos and a few notes.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS

PROPOSED AGENDA

WORK SESSION, MONDAY, MARCH 23, 2015  8:30 a.m.

REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, MARCH 24, 2015 5:30 p.m.

327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor

Continue reading →

Return to agriculture, historic preservation, and personal services @ GLPC 2015-03-30

While

Vallotton Farms wants to revert to Estate Agricultural,

300x238 Parcel 0108 173, in Vallotton Farms, by John S. Quarterman, 30 March 2015

Vickers
and

Edward Jennings LLC want denser zoning.
It’s not clear what the
Valdosta historic preservation case
or the
Lake Park personal services case
are about, since the county still doesn’t publish board packets.
Note that Vallotton Farms (both the part outlined in red
that appears to be the subject of the rezoning and the bigger part west of Bemiss Road) is on Cherry Creek, upstream from the dam,
and upstream from Cherry Creek Sink on the
Withlacoochee River, which leaks into our drinking water in the Floridan Aquifer.
Better agriculture upstream from that than other possibilities.

Here’s
the agenda. Continue reading →

Videos: Hasty waste meeting @ LCC Waste 2015-03-16



See the

LAKE video below,
the WALB story by Colter Anstaett
including interviews with Cary Scarborough of Deep South Sanitation
and Steve Edwards of Advanced Disposal Services.
The county
actually posted
the resulting

Solid Waste Ordinance on their
County Ordinances web page (although I don’t see the updated franchise agreement anywhere),
and they even posted the results of that meeting.
Neither the county’s results summary nor WALB mentioned Commissioner Marshall’s
question about recycling glass nor Chairman Slaughter’s response that glass
can be disposed of as ordinary trash, which means they’re not going to recycle it.

Here’s the paper agenda from the meeting and

the county’s results summary: Continue reading →

Don’t let Sabal Trail get eminent domain judgment in Leesburg they could claim applies in Lowndes County

Sabal Trail is already sending “final request” eminent domain threatening


letters to Lowndes County landowners saying it is “imperative” for that
invading company from Houston, Texas to survey local land for its fracked methane 36-inch pipeline in a hundred-foot right of way.
Tomorrow morning at 11:30 AM in Leesburg, Georgia, Sabal Trail demands
a judge provide a summary judgment for eminent domain surveying against
some Mitchell County landowners.
If they get that judgment, they will very likely claim it applies to
Lowndes County landowners.
There’s still time

to write a letter to the Clerk of Superior Court in Leesburg
against such a judgment.
And you can come to Leesburg yourself to protest.

An eminent domain survey “final request”
Sabal Trail sent a Lowndes County landowner this month
cited Continue reading →

Drinking, driving, and air conditioning @ LCC 2015-03-23

Is the county changing the speed limit on your road?

Maybe, but they didn’t publish the list, so this is all you know:


300x388 Speed-zone-ordinance-001, in Speed Limit Ordinance, by John S. Quarterman, 23 March 2015
The Georgia DOT is in the process of updating the existing Speed
Zone Ordinance for Lowndes County. Attached is a copy of the updated
Speed Zone Ordinance with the changes that were requested by Lowndes
County. With the execution of this Ordinance, the speed limits on
these roads wili be updated. A signed copy of the Ordinance will be
forwarded to the Department of Public Safety for the updated radar
permit for Lowndes County.

Also on
the agenda are
a

presentation by Keep Lowndes-Valdosta Beautiful, a

GEMA grant application, a

proposal for engineering services for Exits 22 and 29,

HVAC for county buildings, and a

liquor license.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS

PROPOSED AGENDA

WORK SESSION, MONDAY, MARCH 23, 2015  8:30 a.m.

REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, MARCH 24, 2015 5:30 p.m.

327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor

Continue reading →

Report of the Historic Courthouse Committee @ LCC 2015-03-09

No education, all law enforcement:

Sheriff’s Office or

Public defender’s office.

300x413 Cover letter, in Report of the Historic Courthouse Committee, by H. Arthur McLane, 12 January 2015
Either would save the county money in the long run and preserve the courthouse
through use of its services (heat, light, air conditioning).
Plus some points on renovating the courthouse building and grounds.
Judge McLane referred to this report in his

talk at the Commission Work Session 9 March 2105,
in which he said it would not be possible for VSU to use the courthouse
without “some pretty dramatic and we think negative” changes to the building.

In his cover letter, Judge McLane said he was not sending the actual
report to the Commissioners, yet clearly they were reading it in the
Work Session, because they asked questions from it.
And now you, the public can see the report.
LAKE did not get it from the Commission, which so far as we know has
not published it.
The cover letter and the report are below in full. Continue reading →

Hasty waste meeting this afternoon @ LCC Waste 2015-03-16

On their

calendar,


but no

agenda,
it’s another

Special Called Meeting-Solid Waste Management.
Will they talk about

illegal trash dumping?
Why can’t they wait until their regular meetings next week?
Equally mysterious is why
it took almost two months to get back to this after the
two meetings
in
January.

Here’s

their announcement of the meeting this afternoon: Continue reading →