The county is considering
an
insurance plan
(
Section 125 or cafeteria or flexible benefit),
presumably related to the
health plan
they’re also considering.
They may
abandon Green Lane.
The only family living on Green Lane appears to be
Alphonso Simmons Jr.
Here’s the agenda.
LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERSContinue reading
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2013, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2013, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor
Update 2017-08-27: Fix some links that have changed and one broken one. See also GDOT construction on I-75 Exit 29 2017-08-28.
You can comment on
road improvements at I-75 and
exit 11 onto GA 31
Madison Highway towards Clyattville,
exit 22 onto
US 41 North Valdosta Road, and
Exit 29 onto GA 122 at Hahira,
at the
Valdosta-Lowndes Metropolitan Planning Organization (VLMPO),
the one board around here that goes out of its way to ask for
public input, with
information in many public offices,
with an open house at their office,
and with details of their
projects on
VALOR GIS
(select interactive map, then More in the upper right Layers, then MPO Transportation Improvements),
including links to project sheets/ GDOT Project Search (GeoPI) is similarly useless for finding the project sheets
(which I’ve linked into the public notice below; well one of them is correct).
Public Notice of a Public Comment Period and Public Open House,
In accordance with requirements set forth in the adopted FY2014-2017 Transportation Improvement Program and in 23 CFR 450 and other laws and regulations; the Valdosta-Lowndes Metropolitan Planning Organization (VLMPO) proposes to amend its Transportation Improvement Program for Fiscal Years 2014-2017 (TIP) for the Valdosta Metropolitan Planning Area which includes all of Lowndes County and portions of Berrien, Brooks and Lanier Counties.
The proposed projects in the amendment are as follows: Continue reading
What do you the citizens want Lowndes County to be?
Here’s a chance to speak up, so when somebody asks where were you when
the decisions were being made, you don’t have to answer “lying on the couch
watching television.” (Thanks to Nolen Cox for that phrase.)
Corey Hull wrote on facebook today, Help Spread the Word for the Future of Lowndes County,
My office is conducting a survey and gathering public input on Facebook (go to www.facebook.com/valdostalowndesmpo) about what they want the Lowndes County Common Community Vision to be
( www.bit.ly/LowndesCCV). So far our participation has been low. I am calling on all of you to encourage your friends, family and colleagues to spread the word and let us know what you think about the future of Lowndes County and its cities.
Over the next two months there will be future opportunities for public input so stay tuned.
Thanks for your help.
On the Southern Georgia Regional Commission’s website, Lowndes County Common Community Vision, Continue reading
They voted to put the
SPLOST VII Resolution on the ballot in November,
“to reimpose the tax”, with not even a hint of those
town halls that never happened.
They reappointed
Mac McCall to ZBOA.
The Proclamation
was for a boy who called 911 to help an old neighbor
who was trapped under a refrigerator
(nope, not for
South Georgia Pride).
And we learned that nobody has to fear arrest or threat
and everybody can speak their mind
in the Commission chambers; nevermind recent history to the contrary.
Here’s the agenda, with links to the videos and a few notes. See also videos of the previous morning’s Work Session.
LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERSContinue reading
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2013, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2013, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor
Citizen Anita L. Armstrong wants help with Gaines Lane,
but it’s a private road, and it would have to be paved to state
highway standards to get accepted into the county’s road system.
She spoke at
the Lowndes County Commission Regular Session 10 September 2013.
I come before you again asking to see if we can get some help with our road. It is so bad and we don’t have the money. If we could get just a little help, maybe we could get it kind of straightened out so we could get in and out. The last bad weather that we had, we had to be pulled out of the road for at least five times. And each time that we pulled out, we have to pay someone to do it…. And we are asking your help.
Her problem is that Gaines Lane is a private road, not county maintained. To get it into the county road system, right of way would have to be donated to the county, because some years ago the county made a policy (try to find it in writing) that it would no longer pay for rights of way. Some of the landowners on Gaines Road have not agreed to donate. And even if they do, the county also has a policy (try to find that one in writing, while you’re at it) that it only accepts roads that are up to county standards, which means already paved to state highway standards. So basically unless you’re a developer, you’re not going to get a road into the county road system.
Ms. Armstrong spoke in the previous session, 13 August 2013, about garbage trucks damaging her road.
A Bess Armstrong 11 May 2010 according to the minutes:
Bess Armstrong, Gaines Lane, thanked the Commission for their help in assisting with road improvements made on Gaines Lane. Mr. Armstrong added that he needed some guidance on how to maintain the road in the future. Chairman Paulk stated that the credit should be given to Reames Construction, since the county was unable to work on the private road.
There was extensive discussion in the 23 February 2010 meeting, according to the minutes: Continue reading
Where is the Alapaha Water Treatment Plant that has had 20 violations in the past 10 years, for which the Lowndes County Commission had Lovell Engineering write a letter to GA EPD and then approved a no-bid contract to the same firm? April Huntley supplied this pictorial answer. -jsq
Take Highway 84 east from Valdosta GA:
After passing through Naylor GA look for this neighborhood on your right (Lake Alapaha Hidden Cove):
Continue reading
Unanimous approval for
a third no-bid contract this month for Lovell Engineering, this time for
for a sports complex in Hahira,
but surprisingly
the
opaque pest control bids
were tabled indefinitely.
Also unanimously approved were
three new fine-processing positions for the Clerk of Court,
the
Little River stream gauge,
The special presentation was for
the retirement of Gene Roberts from Public Works.
No mention of the previous morning’s presentations by
Judge John Kent Edwards Jr.
asking for a new State Court Judge
or
about fines moving from Sheriff to State Court.
Dr. Michael Noll said
Moody AFB once again couldn’t get access
to the site for the Moody Family Housing the Commission already approved,
despite the sinkhole on the adjoining land.
Here’s the agenda, with links to the videos and a few notes. See also videos of the previous morning’s Work Session.
LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERSContinue reading
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, AUGUST 26, 2013, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, AUGUST 27, 2013, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor
Long-time county Public Works supervisor Eugene Roberts retired Tuesday,
and the county did a special presentation
at
the 27 August 2013 Regular Session of the Lowndes County Commission,
in which the County Manager missed his microphone and the Commission
yet again violated one of its own ordinances.
Inaudible County Manager Joe Pritchard, making no effort
to speak into the microphone a foot to the left of his face,
said someone was retiring.
No name was listed in the agenda, but I think Pritchard said Continue reading
MacGyver needs to show an imprint on a floorboard to someone. Pull
out your phone and take a picture! No, in 1986
he MacGyvers a chisel
and hammer and pries the floorboard up.
Even in 1996 the telcos and most of the public thought
dedicated copper and fiber connections were needed for reliable communications.
(“Allison, can you explain what the Internet is?”)
But now you can pull out your phone and take a picture and post it over the packet-switched Internet to facebook for all the world to see.
In 2023 baseload nukes and coal plants and oil pipelines will be like
phone booths connected by dedicated copper, while rooftop solar charging
cars will be as common as phones in your pockets.
Solar power will win like the Internet did,
beating all other sources of power within a decade.
Meanwhile, Continue reading
The
request for a new State Court Judge
by Judge John Kent Edwards Jr. took 27 and a half minutes,
plus his
eight minute explanation of fines moving from Sheriff to State Court.
More people might have showed up to hear if anybody had known about
these items.
Commissioners asked a surprising number of questions about them
and about
the
Little River stream gauge
and the
opaque pest control bids.
Of course, then people might have seen
the proposed third no-bid contract to the same firm this month.
They vote tonight.
Here’s the agenda, with links to the videos and a few notes:
LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, AUGUST 26, 2013, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, AUGUST 27, 2013, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor
- Call to Order
- Invocation
- Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag
- Special Presentation
See separate post.
- Minutes for Approval
As is his custom, Chairman Bill Slaughter directed Commissioners to tell the Clerk of any changes, so we don’t know what they are. Then he introduced the special presentation out of agenda order.
- Work Session — August 12, 2013
- Regular Session — August 13, 2013
- For Consideration
- Environmental Engineering Services for GDOT Land Deed for Parks and Recreation
Invisible Engineer proposed a third no-bid contract for same firm proposed this month; see separate post.
- USGS Funding Agreement for Hwy 122 Stream Gauge
This time Emergency Director Ashley Tye said it’s on the Little River, why it’s there, how it’s maintained, etc. See separate post.
- Budget Adjustment — Personnel Costs
Judge John Kent Edwards Jr. explained that many of the people going through his court or paying fines in Lowndes County don’t live here; they come off of I-75, and now the fine-collecting needs to move from the Sheriff’s office to the Clerk of Court; see separate post.
- Bid-Pest Control Service
Pest control for an unannounced amount with no bond from one of two unannounced bids. See separate post.
- Reports-County Manager
County Manager Joe Pritchard requested an Executive Session for pending litigation and they adjourned into that.
- Citizens Wishing to be Heard Please State Name And Address
Here’s a video playlist:
Work Session, Lowndes County Commission (LCC)
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 26 August 2013.
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE).
-jsq