Category Archives: Lowndes County Commission

Videos: Alcohol, Transportation, Water, and Safety @ LCC 2014-09-22

They took a little longer than ten minutes,
because Commissioners had questions about

the right of way abandonment and
even more questions about rent, tenants, and services at the

Leila Ellis Social Services Building,
and about the

Public Safety Radio System System Upgrade:
Commissioners actually want to see what they’re voting in; fancy that!
Plus a substantial
presentation about the

USGS water level gauge on the Little River
and an unscheduled request for approval for

a continuation of a Victims Assistance grant.

Here’s the
agenda with links to the videos and a few notes,
followed by a playlist.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA

WORK SESSION, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2014, 8:30 a.m.

REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2014, 5:30 p.m.

327 N. Ashley Street – 2^nd Floor

Continue reading →

Alcohol, Transportation, Water, and Safety @ LCC 2014-09-22

Will they take ten minutes to consider all these agenda items?
They’re meeting right now.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA

WORK SESSION, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2014, 8:30 a.m.

REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2014, 5:30 p.m.

327 N. Ashley Street – 2^nd Floor

Call to Order

Invocation

Only in the Regular Session.

Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag

Only in the Regular Session.

Minutes for Approval

Work Session — September 8, 2014

Regular Session — September 9, 2014

Public Hearing

Beer, Wine and Liquor License — Cowboys Fire Pit Grill, LLC — 1088 Lakes Blvd

For Consideration

Abandonment of Unopened Right of Way off Water Oak Drive

Section 5311 Rural Transportation Program Operating Contracts

Leila Ellis Social Services Building-Approval of Lease Agreements

GEMA Performance Partnership Agreement (FY 2014)

USGS Funding Agreement for Hwy 122 Stream Gauge

Public Safety Radio System Upgrade

Reports-County Manager

Citizens Wishing to be Heard Please State Name And Address

Only in the Regular Session.

-jsq

Videos: GP Investments, Hahira, Pipeline, Alapaha Water Trail @ LCC 2014-09-09

Five
citizens spoke, on topics including

the “horrible wretched smell” from ADS,
the
Sabal Trail pipeline,

the proposed local charter school,
and

the board packet and the Alapaha River Water Trail.
Chairman Bill Slaughter asserted there had been nineteen applicants
for the

Planning Commission appointment and seemed to think the public
should be happy about that, having learned it presumably by telepathy.
He didn’t divulge who those applicants were, and the only one
in the board packet (charming young white guy Brad Folsom)

was appointed after somebody reminded
the Chairman to at least get a motion first.
They also appointed Commissioner Joyce Evans to the

Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities.
On the

GP Investments water rezoning,
County Planner Jason Davenport didn’t know whether there had been
a dump site there or where the well would go, but they approved it anyway.

They also approved the bookkeeping

ULDC updates for Special Events, Zoning Map, Fees
and they have since put the new zoning map online!

They approved unanimously the

annual prisoner work detail contract without even mentioning the cost.
And unanimously with no discussion they approved the

Hahira extratorial request.

Here’s
the agenda with links
to the videos and some notes.
See also the

board packet, obtained for you by LAKE through an open records request,
and

the LAKE videos of the previous morning’s Work Session,
which have quite a bit more information, including applicants
for appointment speaking.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS

PROPOSED AGENDA

WORK SESSION, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2014, 8:30 a.m.

REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2014, 5:30 p.m.

327 N. Ashley Street – 2^nd Floor

Continue reading →

Alternative 4: Richland, Preston, Americus, Cordele, Ashburn and I-75 FERC to Sabal Trail

Richland in Stewart County,
Preston in Webster County, Americus in Sumter County, Cordele in Crisp County,
Ashburn in Turner County,
if you thought you were off the Sabal Trail path, think again!
You’re in FERC’s eye for a 36-inch fracked methane pipeline
just like Tifton, Adel, Hahira, and Valdosta in Tift, Cook, and Lowndes
Counties Georgia, and in Florida Jennings in Hamilton County, Lake City in Columbia County, Alachua and Gainesville in Alachua County, Ocala in Marion County, Wildwood in Sumter County, and Ferndale in Lake County, and probably some other cities and counties you can find on the map.
And Alternative 4 would cross the Withlacoochee River in Lowndes County
just before passing right next to Lowndes High School and an exploding
pipeline segment’s throw from Valdosta Mall.

Alternative 4 in
FERC’s recent instructions for Sabal Trail to “include analyses” would start
even farther north on I-75 than

Alternative 1.

Alternative 4
beginning from Alternate 2 near Richland, Georgia and following Highway 280 to near Americus, Georgia; then following a high voltage transmission line (along Sabal Trail’s Hillabee Alternative route); then following Alternate 1 starting near Tifton, Georgia and extending to the proposed endpoint.

Here’s a

very rough map of Alternative 4: Continue reading →

Alternative 2: MP 141 -> US 82 -> I-75 -> FL Turnpike FERC to Sabal Trail

Watch out Albany Mall, Deerfield-Windsor School, Kerr Gardens Park and Pond,
Miller-Coors Albany Brewery, Pilot Travel Center and of course the Flint River at the US 82 bridge!

If Sabal Trail’s mile point (MP) 141 is still on the Lee-Dougherty County
line just west of Armena, GA on US 82, then

Alternative 2 in
FERC’s recent instructions for Sabal Trail to “include analyses” would look very
much like

Alternative 1, plowing through the north edge of Albany, GA
and much of Dougherty County,
before heading on through Sylvester, Tifton, Adel, Hahira, Valdosta, Jennings, Lake City, Alachua, Gainesville, Ocala, Wildwood, past The Villages, to Ferndale, FL.

Alternative 2
extending along other pipeline and road rights-of-way from near MP 0 to approximately MP 141 (near Albany, Georgia), and then following Alternate 1 to the proposed endpoint.

Here’s

MP 141 in the maps Sabal Trail sent to FERC in November 2013: Continue reading →

Alternative 1: US 82 -> I-75 -> FL Turnpike FERC to Sabal Trail

After Dawson and Albany, new Georgia cities Sylvester, Tifton, Adel, Hahira, Valdosta in Georgia (right past Lowndes High School),
and Jennings, Lake City, Alachua, Gainesville, Ocala, Wildwood, and Ferndale in Florida.
If you thought this pipeline wouldn’t affect you, think again.
Or some later pipeline if we let this one through.
See also Alternative 2 (watch out, Albany!),
Alternative 3
Camilla, Thomasville, Monticello, Capps and a row of north Florida counties),
and
Alternative 4 (Richland, Preston, Americus, Cordele, Ashburn and yet again down I-75 as in Alternative 1).

Update 2014-09-15: Added first paragraph and fixed typos.

FERC’s recent instructions direct Sabal Trail to “include analyses” of

Alternative 1
Alternative 1 extending from near MP 0 to MP 460.6 (the proposed endpoint) following the Sabal Trail Transmission, LLC (Sabal Trail) proposed Sabal Trail Project (Project) route until reaching Highway 82 near Dawson, Georgia; then following Highway 82 to Interstate 75 (I-75); then following I-75 to Highway 91 near The Villages, Florida; then following Highway 91 to Highway 27 near Ferndale, Florida; and then following a Florida Gas Transmission (FGT) pipeline to the proposed endpoint.

Here’s a

very rough map of that route, and then let’s name some cities and towns thus targetted by the yard-wide fracked methane pipeline: Continue reading →

We have a reader! He’s an old white guy.

And we hear he’s angry because he thinks we called him an “angry white man”.
Actually,

what I said (also here,
here,
and here) was:

As an old white man, even I find it impressive how much this area is run by old white men.

Curious that someone would be angry about what we didn’t say.
Maybe he just heard what somebody erroneously told him we said.
That happens when somebody volunteers for public office.
Which is why I applaud anyone who steps up to volunteer.

Besides, it’s not the appointees we’re criticising.
It’s Continue reading →

VALOR GIS and Tax Assessors Map don’t agree on Hahira annexation property @ LCC 2014-09-08

Looks like the 5720 S. Hagan Bridge address is in
VALOR GIS map for

the Hahira extraterritorial request
in the

board packet, which appears to have been received as an attachment to

the request letter from Hahira.
It’s easier to see if you go directly to
VALOR GIS
and zoom in.
Which raises the question of why is the address in VALOR GIS
different from the address in the

Tax Assessors map.

See also this
comment today by Barbara Stratton. -jsq

Mr. Allen said 5720 S Hagan Bridge Rd, which is the agenda address I
was also given by one of the County Commissioners Tuesday afternoon.
5710 S Hagan Bridge Rd is the address in the Tax Assessors records
and also the address that was approved by the Hahira City Council in
previous meetings. So where did the 5720 address come from and I
also agree that the correct address and owner name should have been
published for public record. The 5710 property owned by John Bailey
was purchased in February 2014 and almost immediately Continue reading →

Sunday voting in Lowndes County: second county in Georgia to authorize

Despite some confusion in the WALB story,
the Lowndes County Board of Elections really is the second in the state to authorize Sunday voting, after a request from the Lowndes County Democratic Committee.

Dave Miller wrote for WALB 10 September 2014,

Sunday voting OK’ed for Lowndes,

The Lowndes County Board of Elections announced Wednesday that
Lowndes County will be the second county in Georgia to implement
Sunday Voting.

Lowndes County Commissioners approved the proposal Tuesday. DeKalb
County is the only other county in the state that currently allows
Sunday voting.

I was at the

Lowndes County Commission meeting Tuesday, and I never
heard them mention this.
So I called Lowndes County Election Supervisor Deb Cox and Continue reading →

Board packet @ LCC 2014-09-08

Here is

the board packet for this morning’s Work Session
and Tuesday evening’s Regular Session.
First time I’ve ever seen one before they vote on it.
I thank the county for that, and you can all see what they are considering.

Hoever, it cost me $33.50,
because staff included all 385 pages of the ULDC,
even though that (unlike the rest of it)

is online on the county website.

They also delivered it only on paper, and only in black and white,
even though the Planning Department produces all the land use
maps electronically and in color.
And they didn’t deliver before the Work Session as I asked,
even though obviously the board packet was assembled Continue reading →

On the LAKE front

Citizen dialog for transparent process by the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange