Category Archives: Transportation

Videos: New judge, river gauge, park deed, personnel costs, pest control, and retirement @ LCC 2013-08-27



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 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

Continue reading →

Gene Roberts retires from Lowndes County Public Works @ LCC 2013-08-27



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.


Gene Roberts retiring from Public Works


Public Works Employees


Inaudible Joe Pritchard next to his microphone
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 →

Pull out your phone, MacGyver, and take a picture of cars powered by rooftop solar



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 →

New judge, river gauge, park deed, personnel costs, and pest control @ LCC 2013-08-26



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


  1. Call to Order

  2. Invocation

  3. Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag



  4. Special Presentation

    See

    separate post    .

  5. 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.

    1. Work Session — August 12, 2013

    2. Regular Session — August 13, 2013
  6. For Consideration



    1. 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      .




    2. 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      .




    3. 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      .



  7. Bid-Pest Control Service

    Pest control for an unannounced amount with no bond from one of two
    unannounced bids.
    See

    separate post    .


  8. Reports-County Manager

    County Manager Joe Pritchard requested an Executive Session
    for pending litigation and they adjourned into that.

  9. 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

Fine collection moving from Sheriff to State Court @ LCC 2013-08-26



Could you have guessed what this was about from the agenda item?
Why do we the taxpayers of this $130,000 or $173,000 have to guess?
They vote tonight about what was proposed
at the

26 August 2013 Work Session of the Lowndes County Commission.

6.c. 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.
The Sheriff’s office, in attempting to comply with state law,
decided it didn’t want to continuing handling fines.
There’s a piece of new legislation proposing to
have the Clerk of Court process and retain all the relevant information;
Judge Edwards thinks it will pass next year.
This requires shifting funding from the Sheriff’s office
to the Courts.
But it will simplify processing (and presumably costs)
by not having it go through both Sheriff and State Court.
Meanwhile, Judge Edwards is not aware of any other county
that still does this processing through the Sheriff’s department.

Here’s

Part 1 of 2: Continue reading →

Gauging the Little River west of Hahira @ LCC 2013-08-26



After the 2009 floods, Lowndes County agreed to help USGS fund a stream
gauge on the Little River west of Hahira.
It’s time to renew that.
They vote tonight about what was proposed
at the

26 August 2013 Work Session of the Lowndes County Commission.

6.b. USGS Funding Agreement for Hwy 122 Stream Gauge

This time Emergency Director Ashley Tye said it’s on the Little River.



He said during ihe 2009 floods the county only had a gauges on the
Withlacoochee River at Skipper Bridge and US 84, and no way to
monitor the level of the Little River,
so he contacted USGS, who supplied and installed the equipment.
The county since then pays for the maintenance.
If something breaks, USGS comes and fixes it.
He’s also worked with the National Weather Service to establish flood stages
for better warning for residents.
It’s time to renew the funding.

Commissioner Demarcus Marshall wanted to know how many inspections
were carried out by USGS.



Answer: Continue reading →

Third no-bid contract for same firm proposed this month @ LCC 2013-08-26

This time
the County Engineer said Lovell was the only qualified


consultant for an ecological and environmental study
(because of what requirement we don’t know),
for a land swap (for what we don’t know),
not funded by the county (funded by whom we don’t know).
You the taxpayers and people potentially affected by any
ecological and environmental problems: do you think you might
want to know?
They vote tonight about what was proposed
at the

26 August 2013 Work Session of the Lowndes County Commission.

6.a.

Environmental Engineering Services for GDOT Land Deed for Parks and Recreation

Invisible County Engineer Mike Fletcher said he had received a proposal
from Lovell Engineering Services for the
62.49 acre tract
just north of the existing skate park Parks and Rec owns
and just north of the old rest area.


The county Tax Assessors maps don’t show any tract of that size
near that location, but they Continue reading →

Getting our road fixed after garbage trucks –Anita Armstrong @ LCC 2013-08-13



Yet another side effect of that

exclusive franchise to Veolia (excuse me, ADS):
dirt roads being damaged by garbage trucks,
came up
at the

13 August 2013 Regular Session of the Lowndes County Commission.

County resident and taxpayer Anita Armstrong
said now that garbage trucks are coming
down her road it’s in bad shape and they need help.
Commissioners seemed to think that was comical.

Here’s

the video:



Getting our road fixed after garbage trucks –Anita Armstrong

Regular Session, Lowndes County Commission (LCC),

Video by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 13 August 2013.

-jsq

River gauge, park deed, personnel costs, pest control, and a special presentation @ LCC 2013-08-26

Five minutes for tomorrow morning’s Lowndes County Commission Work Session?
The mysterious “Special Presentation” might take longer Tuesday.



The last time the river stream gauge funding came up was I think
10 September 2012.
At that time I thought Emergency Director Ashley Tye was referring
to the Withlacoochee River, but he actually didn’t say which river,
and USGS only lists a gauge on the Little River at GA 122,
not on the Withlacoochee.
If the county put agenda packet information online with the agenda,
that sort of confusion wouldn’t be so easy.

Here’s

the agenda:

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

Continue reading →

Traffic study? –John Page; Who pays? Richard Raines; Tax exemption –Demarcus Marshall @ LCC 2013-08-13

Traffic and taxes were discussed by Commissioners about REZ-2013-09 Moody Family
Housing on Val Del Road,


but none of them thought those topics important enough to make them conditions,
and they didn’t even discuss

use of local contractors
or

sinkholes

like the one in the Phase II site,
or the missing

geotechnical study
mentioned in the

USAF Draft Environmental Assessment whose comment period wasn’t even ended
when they voted
at

the 13 August 2013 Lowndes County Commission Regular Session.


Traffic study? --John Page
As he had at the previous morning’s

Work Session,
Commissioner John Page wanted to know if that traffic study
was going to be required before the development could start.
Planning Commissioner Tommy Willis had also asked about that

back in July.
This time Page didn’t ask about GA 122 or anywhere other than
“Val Del and that area”.

Answer from County Engineer Mike Fletcher: Continue reading →