Category Archives: Transportation

Videos: Double water equip. 2 to 1@ LCC 2014-07-22



The three Commissioners who showed up voted 2 to 1 for

a no-bid purchase of not just one but two expensive pieces
of water treatment equipment, with no bids, not on the budget, not discussed at the retreat, and not included in SPLOST VII.

The

KLVB appointment was tabled because applicant withdrew.
They finally found out

the open Board of Health slot
was only until December 2015 and the usual terms are six years.
Commissioners as usual didn’t ask any questions when County Engineer Mike Fletcher
said

yet another subdivision was ready for infrastructure to be accepted
by the county.

Here’s

the agenda.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS

PROPOSED AGENDA

WORK SESSION, MONDAY, JULY 21, 2014, 8:30 a.m.

REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, JULY 22, 2014, 5:30 p.m.

327 N. Ashley Street — 2nd Floor

Here are links to the videos, followed by a playlist.

Continue reading →

Videos: Appt to KLVB & Health, County Extension, Alapaha water treatment, Riverside Road, Bemiss Landing Subdivision @ LCC 2014-07-21



The

KLVB applicant withdrew,
none of the

Health Board applicants showed up,
and none of the Commission or Staff knew what the usual
terms are on the Health Board, much less that this
slot was because somebody resigned with a year left on her term.
Even with that confusion, they took only
nine minutes to discuss appointments to two boards and five other items,
including

a no-bid contract.
Ever wonder when your Lowndes County Commission actually talks about
the county’s business?
They vote tomorrow evening at 5:30 PM, probably with no more
public discussion.

Here’s

the agenda.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS

PROPOSED AGENDA

WORK SESSION, MONDAY, JULY 21, 2014, 8:30 a.m.

REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, JULY 22, 2014, 5:30 p.m.

327 N. Ashley Street — 2nd Floor

Here are links to the videos, followed by a playlist.
There are no videos for
Invocation, Pledge, or Citizens Wishing to be Heard
because those are only
in the Regular Session, Tuesday evening at 5:30 PM.

Continue reading →

Appointments to KLVB & Health, County Extension, Alapaha water treatment, Riverside Road, Bemiss Landing Subdivision @ LCC 2014-07-21



And an

EMPG grant award application.
As usual, no clue who the board applicants are.
However, Nick Hinson’s term on KLVB is up this year, so I predict he’ll be reappointed.

Here’s who was on the Health Board at the end of 2012.
One of their members, Mary Margaret Richardson, is also
on the hospital board.
Here are videos of the Board of Health 30 May 2013 meeting.
The Board of Health meets again 7:30 AM Tuesday 22 July 2014.

Here’s

the agenda.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS

PROPOSED AGENDA

WORK SESSION, MONDAY, JULY 21, 2014, 8:30 a.m.

REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, JULY 22, 2014, 5:30 p.m.

327 N. Ashley Street — 2nd Floor

Continue reading →

Reappointments and no annexation in Regular Session @ LCC 2014-05-27 @ LCC 2014-05-27



The

Hahira Annexation request
was actually heard at

the Planning Commission meeting that started at the same time.
All the incumbents were reappointed to the


Hospital Authority
and the

shadowy Lowndes County Public Facilities Authority.
Both the road abandonments were approved, of

Old Statenville Road
and
of

Excess Right of Way on James Road and Riverside Road.
All that plus a

GEMA Sheltering Memorandum of Agreement
and a

beer license,
plus

Poll Manager Recognition.

The

blank page Budget Session
was at 9:30 AM after the Work Session, all the same day as this Regular Session.
See also
my question about Budget Public Hearings.

Here’s the
agenda.
See the

videos from the Work Session of the same morning
and the

videos from the previous Regular Session of May 13th for context on the
Public Hearings
and on the

James Road Subsidence.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS

PROPOSED AGENDA

WORK SESSION, TUESDAY, MAY 27, 2014, 8:30 a.m.

REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, MAY 27, 2014, 5:30 p.m.

327 N. Ashley Street — 2nd Floor

Continue reading →

Solar freakin’ roadways




Solar Roadways has raised $1,884,633 in six weeks from Earth Day to now
on a goal of $1,000,000 in indiegogo
(which was already

a record for most contributors with 36,000 people at $1.5 million).
Yes, to all those who have asked me, I think it could work.
Add solar roadways to rooftop solar and solar farms and wind,
and
the EPA’s new CO2 rule (which doesn’t even do much about coal for years
and does nothing about about “natural” gas)
will seem like a quaint baby step in a few years after this happens: Continue reading →

Frontage, trees, daycare, and Wal-Mart @ ZBOA 2014-06-03



Two
Lowndes County
cases (
road frontage and

tree protection),
and two
Valdosta
Valdosta cases
(daycares on busy streets
and
Wal-Mart parking).
The county cases are both variances from the
Unified Land Development Code (ULDC)
and the city cases are both variances from Valdosta’s
Land Development Regulations (LDR),
and both the ULDC and LDR are supposed to be consistent with the

Comprehensive Plan.

Here’s

the agenda.
The City of Valdosta puts ZBOA agendas and minutes

online in real PDFs.

Valdosta -Lowndes County Zoning Board of Appeals

Matt Martin, Valdosta Planning and Zoning Administrator Carmella Braswell, Lowndes County Zoning Administrator
300 North Lee Street, Valdosta, Georgia 327 North Ashley Street, Valdosta, Georgia
(229) 259-3563 (229) 671-2430

AGENDA

Tuesday, June 3, 2014

2:30 p.m.

Continue reading →

Videos: Road work and apparently annexation @ LCC Work 2014-05-27



Nevermind the County Engineer said about the Cat Creek Road bridge,
“All construction will take place during the months of June and July”
(Work Session 2014-03-24),
it was closed when Gretchen was headed for this morning’s Work Session,
so she had to go by Moody AFB on Bemiss Road, and was a few minutes late.
That’s why there’s no video for the first few agenda items,
and the videos are handheld.
They vote 5:30 PM this evening at the Regular Session,
is the same time as the Planning Commission meeting.

The smaller acreage for the

return of the Hahira Annexation request
is because it no longer has frontage on Hagen Bridge Road,
only on GA 122, thus removing

the county’s previous grounds for objection
(but it’s also on

the Planning Commission agenda at 5:30PM today, same time as the Regular Session).
There is an appointment to the



Hospital Authority
and two reappointments to the

shadowy Lowndes County Public Facilities Authority
that approves bonds.
Two Public Hearings for road abandonments, of

Old Statenville Road
and
of

Excess Right of Way on James Road and Riverside Road.
All that plus a

GEMA Sheltering Memorandum of Agreement
and a

beer license,
plus

Poll Manager Recognition.

Here’s the
agenda,
with links to the videos and a few notes.
See
videos from the previous Regular Session for context on the
Public Hearings
and on the

James Road Subsidence.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS

PROPOSED AGENDA

WORK SESSION, TUESDAY, MAY 27, 2014, 8:30 a.m.

REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, MAY 27, 2014, 5:30 p.m.

327 N. Ashley Street — 2nd Floor

Continue reading →

Work, Budget, and Regular Sessions all Tuesday @ LCC 2014-05-27

The

Hahira Annexation request is back
(while on

the Planning Commission agenda the same day),
and there is an appointment to the



Hospital Authority
and two to the

shadowy Lowndes County Public Facilities Authority
that approves bonds.
Two Public Hearings for road abandonments, of

Old Statenville Road
and
of

Excess Right of Way on James Road and Riverside Road.
All that plus a

GEMA Sheltering Memorandum of Agreement
and a

beer license,
plus

Poll Manager Recognition.

The county’s front page and calendar link to

a blank page for a Budget Session Tuesday.
Guessing by previous behavior, that may mean at 5PM
before the Regular Session at 5:30 PM,
which in turn is the same time as the Planning Commission meeting.
The Work Session is also Tuesday, at 8:30AM, due to Memorial Day Monday.

Here’s the
agenda.
See
videos from the previous Regular Session for context on the
Public Hearings
and on the

James Road Subsidence.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS

PROPOSED AGENDA

WORK SESSION, TUESDAY, MAY 27, 2014, 8:30 a.m.

REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, MAY 27, 2014, 5:30 p.m.

327 N. Ashley Street — 2nd Floor

Continue reading →

Videos of votes: James Road fallout, airport, water, sewer, alcohol @ LCC 2014-05-13



In a

Special Presentation to Thomas Smith on retiring from the 911 center,
we saw a rare use of the county’s video camera to display the podium
at the front of the room.
Escalated from contingency fund to SPLOST payment (we still don’t know how much):
fixing the

James Road 10-inch drop in 48 hours
in front of Westside Elementary School due to faulty road construction in 2008.
Also due to that same hasty 2008 James Road widening and realignment
for the

James Road second mall and massive subdivision mega-project
that never happened,
they scheduled a Public Hearing for abandoning

Excess Right of Way on James Rd & Riverside Dr.
And they voted

to fix three discrepencies MIDS, Inc. found in its contract of last year.
They voted for the low bid on the

lift station pump without ever saying what the other bids were.

They reappointed
Airport Authority Chairman Steve Everett

for another four-year term; he did not appear.
They approved the

911 Center surplus item sale.
They scheduled a Public Hearing to abandon part of

Old Statenville Road SE
because they say only seven cars a day, no, now it’s ten cars a day,
use it and there are no houses on it.
Nobody had any questions about the

a beer license.

And the County Manager said

a quarantine on the Animal Shelter was being lifted and

the next Work Session would be Tuesday (27 May 2014)
because of the holiday (Memorial Day).

Here’s
the agenda.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS

PROPOSED AGENDA

WORK SESSION, MONDAY, MAY 12, 2014, 8:30 a.m.

REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, MAY 13, 2014, 5:30 p.m.

327 N. Ashley Street — 2nd Floor

Continue reading →

Test now to protect our children –Waycross citizens group to GA EPD

Waycross citizens have not ceased trying to get answers since

they first met with GA EPD in November. -jsq

For Immediate Release:

Silentdisaster.org Meets with Judson Turner, Director of Georgia EPD

May 12, 2014

By: Silentdisaster.org, a citizens group in Waycross, Georgia



After over a year of delays and disappointments, Members of
Silentdisaster.org Group met with Judson Turner, Director of EPD on
Monday, May 5th to discuss the harmful chemicals found in the
Waycross area which the group believes points to CSX as the source
of the community’s toxic contamination which is killing local
residents. With several children having died and a new childhood
case being reported, the Members of Silentdisaster.org want
immediate action to protect the children from environmental
exposure.

The list of
chemicals found in soil and water tests include Continue reading →