Category Archives: Transportation

Videos: regional T-SPLOST tabled, Trash disposal renewals, another lift station pump, Dasher Streets @ LCC 2017-03-28

They

tabled T-SPLOST until their next meeting

because they got a complaint from the Chamber about process,
and also from others.
Remember, even if it gets on the ballot, it can still be voted down again, like in 2012.


Meanwhile, John Stephen, VDT, 7 April 2017,
T-SPLOST headed for referendum,

Even though the Lowndes County Commission delayed a vote on the
regional T-SPLOST at its last meeting due to local confusion on the
one-penny sales tax, enough counties in the area now support the tax
(10 out of 18 were needed) to move it forward to a public vote even
without the commission’s approval.

In the coming weeks, a regional roundtable of government
representatives will determine Continue reading

A county access variance and a Valdosta Country clubhouse variance @ ZBOA 2017-04-04

2:30 PM today:
it looks like Don Brotherton bought a piece of land without enough road access,


and now he wants a
county variance,
while Valdosta Country Club wants
a city variance
for its clubhouse, and city staff don’t agree.
This is a very light

agenda

for the decision-making Zoning Board of Appeals.
Courtesy of ZBOA member Gretchen Quarterman,
the entire board packet is
on the LAKE website.

Valdosta – Lowndes County Zoning Board of Appeals

Matt Martin,
Valdosta Planning and Zoning Administrator

300 North Lee Street, Valdosta, Georgia

(229) 259-3563

Carmella Braswell,
Lowndes County Zoning Administrator

327 North Ashley Street, Valdosta, Georgia

(229) 671-2430

AGENDA

April 4, 2017

2:30 p.m.

Continue reading

Videos: Trash disposal renewals, regional T-SPLOST, another lift station pump, Dasher Streets @ LCC 2017-03-27



More than four minutes yesterday morning on

Residential Solid Waste Franchise Renewal
: maybe it’s still contentious
because they still don’t have a good model.
Maybe not everybody wants to have their trash picked up at the end of their
driveway like they lived in town.
They vote tonight at 5:30 PM, and they agreed
add an agenda item amending the ordinance to change insurance requirement from $5 million to $1 million.
As of this writing at 8AM, they have not yet changed their online agenda.
We’ll see how it eventually changes from

the agenda already blogged
.

They spent more than three minutes on

Regional T-SPLOST
; follow the link for details.
Another
Lift Station Pump

lift station pump

needs replacing
And

Dasher wants the county to maintain a couple of dirt streets
.

Below are links to each LAKE video, with a few notes, followed by a video playlist.
See also the agenda. Continue reading

Trash disposal renewals, regional T-SPLOST, another lift station pump, Dasher Streets @ LCC 2017-03-27


Regional T-SPLOST
is on the agenda this morning.


Back in 2012 we all voted down a statewide T-SPLOST (Transportation Special Sales Tax).

As we learned at the

February Lowndes County Commission Planning Session Day 2
,
on 28 February 2017 in Waycross there was a “public hearing” about a possible regional T-SPLOST.
When I asked SGRC about that, they sent the Waycross agenda, saying
“This is
not a public meeting and was not advertised as such, however it is open
to the public.”
Apparently something happened at that meeting, since T-SPLOST is on the
Lowndes County Commission agenda now, with this in the attached document:

HISTORY, FACTS AND ISSUES: According to House Bill 170, counties within a Regional
Commission District have the option to institute a Regional T-SPLOST. The Georgia
Department of Transportation is requesting action to be taken by April 1, 2017, either in
favor of or opposed to a Regional T-SPLOSI’. If ten (10) of the eighteen (18) regional
counties fail to get support for a Regional T-SPLOST, then individual counties can initiate an
independent T-SPLOST’.

.

After Lowndes County spent unknown hundreds of thousands of dollars suing Continue reading

Videos: Coal ash, Calles, Val North PD Water Sewer, Habitat CDBG, Sewage Valves, Stone Creek Antenna, Sheriff, Alcohol @ LCC 2017-03-14



Not on the agenda:
Coal Ash
and

Y-Lead from Hahira Middle School and Teen Explosion
.
Also

Stone Creek train quiet hours
.

In a fifteen minute item, the Commission approved a split rezoning for
REZ-2017-02 Calles,
and they approved the removal of conditions from
REZ-2017-03 Val North Dr, Stewart Circle.
They approved the
CDBG Grant preparation,
but they didn’t mention they can’t actually apply until the resolve
their feud with the local cities about tax allocation.

Below are links to each LAKE video of the 14 March 2017 Regular Session of the Lowndes County Commission, with a few notes, followed by a video playlist.
See also Continue reading

Videos: Calles again, Val North PD Water Sewer, Habitat CDBG, Sewage Valves, Stone Creek Antenna, Sheriff, Alcohol @ LCC 2017-03-13



Maybe more will show up at 5:30PM today for the Regular Session
than the Chairman and only two Commissioners at yesterday’s Work Session
(Joyce Evans and Mark Wisenbaker).

Chairman Bill Slaughter

revealed why he had been missing from the meetings two weeks before
:
he had been attending an America’s Defense Community event in in San Antonio, Texas about Moody AFB.
Follow

the link

for more about this.
He complimented Vice-Chair Joyce Evans for running the meeting better than usual
in his absence.
She did beat his former record of five minutes by holding a
three-minute Work Session.

The returning
REZ-2017-02 Calles rezoning now
wants to split half conservation and half R-A.
Apparently the other rezoning,
REZ-2017-03 Val North Dr, Stewart Circle, PD Amendment and Conditions Removal, Water & Sewer, ~9 acres
had been heard before and was now being reconsidered because
a road had been paved.
Remember that when they try to claim roads don’t drive development.

Below are links to each LAKE video of the 13 March 2017 Work Session of the Lowndes County Commission, with a few notes, followed by a video playlist.
See also

the agenda
, and the LAKE videos of the 27 February 2017 Greater Planning Commission meeting. Continue reading

Calles again, Val North PD Water Sewer, Habitat CDBG, Sewage Valves, Stone Creek Antenna, Sheriff, Alcohol @ LCC 2017-03-13

The county apparently doesn’t want its
Peterson Road Isolation Valves
leaking like Valdosta’s famous January 2017 WWTP failure.
Two other water cases are on
the agenda
for this morning’s 8:30 AM Work Session
, both rezonings:
REZ-2017-02 Calles, Alexandria St, R-10 and CON to R-A and CON, Well and Septic, ~13 acres
back again (Planning Commission still doesn’t like it; staff maybe),
a new one,
REZ-2017-03 Val North Dr, Stewart Circle, PD Amendment and Conditions Removal, Water & Sewer, ~9 acres.


Parcel 0167 098A


Parcel 0167 098A

The “Conflict of interest certification, resolution, and authorization”
under
FY 2017 CDBG Grant, Valdosta- Lowndes County Habitat for Humanity
actually means no conflict of interest, according to
the agenda sheet,
which also notes “Lowndes County is currently on course to apply for $750,000.00 in CDBG funds from the Georgia Department of Community Affairs (DCA) for a
new public facility for the Valdosta-Lowndes County Habitat for Humanity.”
Well, they’re not on course until they stop feuding with the local cities
about tax revenue allocation, because they can’t apply for any state
or federal grants until that is resolved.

Two safety items:
Stone Creek Antenna Space License Agreement
and
Sheriff's Office Vehicle Lease Agreement.

And no County Commission meeting is complete without alcohol:
Beer & Wine License – Rajendrakumar N. Patel of Bhumi Corporation – 6685 Bemiss Rd., Valdosta, GA.
I don’t recall they’ve ever denied one of those,
so I don’t know why they don’t just make an ordinance that permitting
staff can approve them.

Here’s
the agenda.
Gretchen is there with the LAKE camera.
Will the meeting take more than the three minutes last time?

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS

PROPOSED AGENDA

WORK SESSION, MONDAY, March 13, 2017, 8:30 a.m.

REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, March 14, 2017, 5:30 p.m.

327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor

Continue reading

Deputy Butler, Jacobs Ladder road paving, and seven minutes on the agenda @ LCC 2017-02-28


Front camera

They started with some words about Deputy Chris Butler and a moment of silence
(see VDT Obituary.
Then they plowed through
agenda
.
Commissioner Demarcus Marshall did introduce a little levity by asking

if the drug testing for the MIDS bus service was just for the drivers.

Answer: yes.

On the dozen Sheriff pursuit vehicles bid,

Commissioner Marshall also noted
that a few years ago

(they voted 25 March 2014

there was a similar bid of Cass Burch vs. Langdale Ford
for which

they had additional testimony
.
The excuse for picking Cass Burch even though once again not the low bid
was that it was that the Burch price was still less than the state contract price,
and maintenance would cost less.
It’s refreshing to see them actually discussing bids.
It’s curious they only ever seem to choose a bid that is not the lowest
when it’s from Cass Burch.

The County Manager had no additional report to his no report of the previous morning.

There was one citizen wishing to be heard:

Leslie Jacobs of Jacobs Ladder on 5866 Bradford Road North
,
in Continue reading

Videos: Three minute Work Session @ LCC 2017-02-27



Why do they bother having Work Sessions at all, if they’re not going
to discuss anything?
Chairman Bill Slaughter,

who at the recent planning session said
,
“Lowndes County is as transparent as we could possibly be,”
was absent.
Commissioner Demarcus Marshall, who argued at the planning session
for moving the Work Session to a time when citizens are not working,
also was not at the Work Session as usual, I hear because he works
during the day.
I don’t know why Commissioner Mark Wisenbaker was not there.
Other than Vice-Chair Joyce Evans, who didn’t read the agenda item numbers,
only Commissioners Scottie Orenstein and Clay Griner were there this morning.
They asked no questions,
as Griner had said at the planning meeting there was no need to,
because staff supplied them with everything they needed to know.

To her credit, Joyce Evans asked the only question, whether

the Rural Transportation Drug and Alcohol Testing Program was new

(It’s not new, answered County Engineer Mike Fletcher.)

The only two citizens there were Gretchen Quarterman and Jody Hall,
each of whom had hour-long round-trips to attend this three-minute non-meeting.

The Valdosta Daily Times reporter
arrived after the meeting was adjourned. He at least got the packet provided at each meeting to the “Legal Organ”.
You, the citizens and taxpayers did not get that courtesy from the county.

You can see for yourself the lack of information in the links below
to each of the LAKE videos, followed by a LAKE video playlist.
I didn’t bother with notes on the items this time.
See also the agenda,
which I spent more time posting than they did holding the meeting. Continue reading

Videos: Annual Planning Meeting Day 2 @ LCC 2017-02-17



We learned why Lowndes County has gotten religion about Internet access and speed:

Moody AFB wants it
.

Commissioner Scottie Orenstein made the case for

board packets and agendas in electronic form

instead of the paper packets they currently use.
Maybe they’ll even reveal them to the public before their meetings,
like real MSAs do.
Meanwhile,

Community Engagement

means marketing, as in telling people what the county did,
not listening to the citizens.

They talked about

interconnecting (almost) all of the county’s water systems
,
about

routes to get trucks out of downtown Valdosta
.
The

water-sewer ordinance is in ten or twelve pieces
,
and the county is all for expanding water and sewer throughout the county
as long as it doesn’t cost developers money.

There’s

a regional T-SPLOST meeting in Waycross by SGRC Feb 28 2017
,
but Lowndes commissioners and staff said nothing Continue reading