On the Lowndes County Commission agenda for discussion this morning and voting tomorrow evening, Dan Deaver wants to be reappointed to VLPRA, and Keith Jackson has also expressed interest in being appointed.
Lonnie Denton wants to be reappointed to the Lowndes County Division of Family and Children Services Board, and Tonya Davis and Keith Jackson are also interested.
There are two water items, the first of which is not obvious: Continue reading
The longest topic was water and wastewater, when elected officials from Lowndes County and its cities, Valdosta, Lake Park, Dasher, and Hahira (but apparently not Remerton), gathered on neutral ground to discuss tax revenue allocation, in a public meeting. Curiously, the Chairman and the Mayors were not invited. It’s not clear whether omitting them helped or not. There was actually mention that growth close to existing services is better than sprawl.
Below are links to each WWALS video Gretchen took, with a few notes, followed by a WWALS video playlist. See also the meeting announcement.
Video. Apparently this meeting was his idea.
Video. Directly in front of the camera is Thomas Lynn, reporter for the Valdosta Daily Times (VDT).
His report was published Continue reading
Update 2019-03-04: WWALS videos.
At least some elected officials from at least Lowndes County and Valdosta will be gathering Monday on neutral ground to discuss tax revenue allocation. Apparently this is a public meeting which anyone can attend.
In its usual laconic manner, this is all the county says in its online calendar:
SDS Meeting
Date: February 4, 2019
Time: 5:00 PM
Location: Valdosta- Lowndes County Parks and Recreation Authority Offices
Address: 1901 North Forrest Street
Valdosta, GA 31601
Google Street View,
VLPRA, 1901 N. Forrest Street, Valdosta, GA 31601
A usually reliable source says this meeting is for voting Council and Commissioners, and the Mayor and Chairman were not invited. I don’t know if elected members of Council would only be from Valdosta, or also from Remerton, Lake Park, Hahira, and Dasher. If a quorum of any Council or Commissioners for any of these elected bodies is present, Georgia law requires it to be an open meeting which the public may attend. I can’t imagine the county would have posted it publicly if it wasn’t.
The offices of the Valdosta-Lowndes County Parks and Recreation Authority (VLPRA) are neutral ground, because Continue reading
Longest at 2.5 minutes:
appointment to Parks and Rec.
Commissioner Scottie Orenstein was not present at this Regular Session of the Lowndes County Commission.
Not on the agenda and not on the county’s website, Chairman’s Announcement of Emergency Operations Center Open House.
The applicant spoke for 6.a. Beer, Wine & Liquor License – Jack’s Chophouse, 4479 N. Valdosta Rd. We have a winner for the RFP for Banking Services.
Maybe they all finally got to read the 7 d. Ordinance Adopting Current Board of Health Rules, since this time Continue reading
Eight minutes to do your business: yesterday morning’s Lowndes County Commission Work Session. Commissioner Demarcus Marshall took the day off from his work at the City of Valdosta to be there. Not clear the rest of them took it that seriously. He and at least one other Commissioner did get some questions in. And they did all show up, at least. We’ll see if they’re all there for voting this evening at 5:30 PM.
Some interesting questions on the Continue reading
In an interesting version of a revolving door,
county appointee Michael H. McDowell’s KLVB term is expiring,
so is Valdosta appointee Bubba Highsmith’s,
and the county proposes appointing Highsmith.
Highsmith is
a State Farm Insurance Agent.
Also on the Lowndes County Commission agenda for 8:30AM Monday morning are: banking services (looks like Ameris Bank costs way less than BB&T, and SunTrust even less, but Ameris has the best interest rate), a computer bulk purchase for $54,795.98, yet another pump purchase, allegedly for $0 dollars because this is actually for specifications rather than actual purchase.
Typical Application: Residential Pump System, Triple “D” Pump Company
Finally, the tabled-from-last-meeting Ordinance about Board of Health Rules: will the Commissioners have had time to read the one copy the County Manager allows them?
Plus an alcohol license, Continue reading
The most interesting items were not on
the agenda
of the Regular Session two weeks ago of the Lowndes County Commission Work Session.
The County Engineer had
One more thing: Loch Laurel Bridge Work and Closure 7/16 – 7/23,
Commissioner Demarcus Marshall
reminded everyone the Georgia hands-free driving law was going into effect,
and the Chairman announced
swearing in of the newly un-privatized Probation Officers the following morning.
The longest scheduled item at almost 3 minutes was New Consoles For 911 Dispatchers, followed by Contract With Parks And Recreation Authority, because both had questions from Commissioners.
The two grant items added the previous morning, for Accountability Court and DUI Court, sailed through, as did the Francis Lake Lift Station Repair and the LAS Storage Pond Improvements.
Below are Continue reading
Videos of the Lowndes County Commission Work Session two weeks ago.
See
agenda post for background.
The budget got no comments from Commmissioners.
County Manager Joe Pritchard asked for addition of two grant agenda items, for Accountability Court and DUI Court. Proponents of each spoke, and both items were added to the agenda for the next day’s Regular Session.
Below are links to each LAKE video of each agenda item, with a few notes, especially about the Hotel/Motel Tax and the still-mysterious Wisconsin Public Finance Authority Bond Issue, a rare verbal appearance by Joyce Evans on Continue reading
A busy morning’s agenda starts with approving a new annual budget and related hotel and motel taxes. Plus a Contract with Valdosta Continuing Land Bank Authority.
Parks and Rec is negotiating a $3 million loan from Ameris Bank for improvements to Freedom Park and wants the county to guarantee its 1.25 mil tax base.
Utilities wants about $20,000 for impellers and wear rings for the pumps in the Francis Lake Lift Station and about $275,000 to improve the Land Application Site (LAS), where they spray sewer waste onto a field which they then rent out for hay production (the county does not have a wastewater treatment plant). See also WWALS blog post.
The mysterious out-of-state apartment bonds actually get an explanation this time:
The Board of Commissioners is requested to adopt the attached revised Resolution approving the issuance of bonds by a Wisconsin Public Finance Authority. A portion of the proceeds of the bonds will be used for a project located on Old Statenville Road. The project is a 204-unit multi-family affordable housing development known as Brittany Woods & Park Chase Apartments.
1150 Old Statenville Road, Parcel 0159D 014,The reason for this revised Resolution is Continue reading
Two weeks ago, they spent the most time (5.5 minutes) on the
two
sections of
5. Proclamation Presentations for National Drug Court Month.
They spent 2.5 minutes on bids and almost 2 minutes (almost 5.5 total) on the wetland credits for the North Lowndes Park Soccer Complex.
Third most time was 4.5 minutes on recognizing retiring volunteer firefighter Scott Caldwell(?). The speaker was Chief Ashley Tye, so I guess he’s now the regular county Fire Chief.
They tabled the Airport Authority appointment waiting for more information. Maybe they noticed George Page had also asked the City of Valdosta to appoint him.
The alleged County Attorney, with his microphone three feet from his face and pointing 90 degrees away, muttered something about the mysterious Wisconsin bond issue.
The Probation agreement and Electronic Monitoring Contract got more than three minutes total. They spent a bit more than a minute voting on a law form for the opioid litigation.
The Hay Lease Agreement Amendment is a water item, because it’s about the county’s spray field, also known as its Land Application Site (LAS). And the Bevel Creek Lift Station Pump that feeds it. Final water item: dates of completion for the GEFA Loan Agreement; they did provide a clue what that loan was for.
Here are links to Continue reading
