Category Archives: Transparency

Controversial rezoning and no annexation @ Lake Park 2014-04-01

The Brookhaven apartment building packed the Planning Commission meeting last night and it’s on the agenda in Lake Park tonight.

The annexation request discussed at length at the 10 March 2014 Lowndes County Commission Work Session was on the agenda for last night’s Planning Commission but was withdrawn. It’s still on this agenda.

And they have Citizens’ Concerns not once but twice.

Here’s the agenda. They put it in HTML right on their website!

Date/Time
Date(s) – April 1, 2014
7:30 PM – 9:30 PM

Location
Lake Park City Hall

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Hahira twins and three each Lake Park and Lowndes County @ GLPC 2014-03-31

The twin Hahira cases are to rezone and then annex a lot on the east edge of town. No city of Valdosta cases this time, but three each for Lowndes County and Lake Park. One of the Lake Park cases is a Zoning Ordinance change.

Here’s the agenda, which arrived as a PDF of an image, which I have OCRed into HTML.

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

Monday, March 31, 2014* 5:30 P.M. * Public Hearing

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Videos: Mostly Paving and Bridges @ LCC 2014-03-24

Yesterday morning they discussed a turnkey government website service. And an annexation request by the City of Hahira. And they may actually be serious about coming into the 21st century with online county services.

Turns out the road resurfacing of four roads is actually mostly from a GDOT LMIG grant, but the other three, shoulder paving on Val Del Road and Boring Pond Road and a bridge replacement on Cat Creek Road are all from SPLOST VII funds. Plus some trucks for Animal Control and tablets for the Fire Department, an alcohol license, and some alphabet-soup agreements, one of which turned out to be for a grant for a victim advocate position in the Solicitor General’s office.

Here’s the agenda.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, MARCH 24, 2014, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, MARCH 25, 2014, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street — 2nd Floor
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Animals, Alcohol, Alphabet Soup, Paving, Bridges, and Fire @ LCC 2014-03-24

Got to spend those SPLOST dollars widening roads and bridges to promote development farther out in the country! Plus some trucks for Animal Control and tablets for the Fire Department, an alcohol license, and some alphabet-soup agreements. It may be healthy as food, but I wonder if opaque acronyms unexplained in the agenda is good for local government.

Here’s the agenda.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, MARCH 24, 2014, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, MARCH 25, 2014, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street — 2nd Floor
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Videos: Water under Moody Family Housing and Sabal Trail @ LCC 2014-03-11

Two speakers about the Sabal Trail pipeline, one about water issues under Moody Family Housing, One request to do something about speeding (good luck), a recognition (firefighters), a proclamation (purple hearts), and an award (budget), one rezoning withdrawn, three others approved, two contracts (bus system renewal and software master contract), some but not all streets accepted in Nelson Hill, and no mention of the Lake Park annexation request that took up at least five minutes the previous morning.

For why John Page is no longer on the Commission, see the previous post with the agenda. Here’s the agenda again with links to the videos and a few notes. See also videos from the previous morning’s Work Session. And see also Lowndes County becomes third purple heart county in the state, by Matthew Woody, VDT, 12 March 2014.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, MARCH 10, 2014, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, MARCH 11, 2014, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street — 2nd Floor
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Can we get pipeline update and citizen input? –Carolyn Singletary @ LCC 2014-03-11

A directly affected landowner wanted to know what happened with the talks among several local county attorneys about the proposed Sabal Trail pipeline, and was there any way citizens could provide input, at the 11 March 2014 Regular Session of the Lowndes County Commission.

Here’s the video:


Can we get pipeline update and citizen input? –Carolyn Singletary
Regular Session, Lowndes County Commission (LCC),
Video by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 11 March 2014.

Also she wondered if she could hear Continue reading →

Speeding on Academy Drive and Parkwood –Warren Scoby @ LCC 2014-03-11

A local citizen said he was concerned about speeding by people cutting through his road to get to Bemiss Road. The Chairman promised they would look into it, at the 11 March 2014 Regular Session of the Lowndes County Commission. That would be a refreshing change from the Commission’s previous refusals to do anything about that problem on other roads.

Here’s the video:


Speeding on Academy Drive and Parkwood –Warren Scoby
Regular Session, Lowndes County Commission (LCC),
Video by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 11 March 2014.

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There are things you can do about the Sabal Trail Pipeline –Mario Bartoletti @ LCC 2014-03-11

Apparently the community believes the Commission thinks there’s nothing they can do, but Mario Bartoletti, speaking for himself and for WACE, said he thought there were things the Commission could do about that 36-inch methane pipeline, and he listed some things, at the 11 March 2014 Regular Session of the Lowndes County Commission.

Here’s the video:


There are things you can do about the Sabal Trail Pipeline –Mario Bartoletti
Regular Session, Lowndes County Commission (LCC),
Video by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 11 March 2014.

His list included:

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Water issues under Moody Family Housing –Dr. Michael Noll @ LCC 2014-03-11

Water issues still need to be investigated and resolved under the proposed Moody Family Housing, said Dr. Michael Noll, presenting a public comment by him and two other VSU professors about the recent evironmental assessment to the 11 March 2014 Regular Session of the Lowndes County Commission.

Here’s the video:


Regular Session, Lowndes County Commission (LCC)
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 11 March 2014.
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE).

Appended is the text of the VSU professors’ letter, and here it is in PDF.

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Valdosta sewage PR reaches Florida

Valdosta sure has an effective PR mechanism, famous all the way to Florida again, for the second time this month. Most cities wouldn’t think to dump stuff into the river to get in the news! But Valdosta buried the solution at the end of a traditional press release:

“The city has planned, designed and bid a force main project and will award a $32 million contract in May that will prevent the majority of these overflows from occurring in the future.”

That would be one of the projects Valdosta will use the $36.7 million GEFA loan to fund. Other projects are related to the Withlacoochee Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP), which wasn’t the culprit this time. This sewer spill came from manholes overflowing.

Winnie Wright wrote for WCTV yesterday, Over 1 Million Gallons Of Wastewater Spills Into Local Waterways,

The Florida Department of Public Health is warning residents to avoid contact with water from the Withlacoochee River.

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