Category Archives: Water

Videos: River Gauges, Roads, Alcohol, and Fire @ LCC 2019-10-21

Surprise bonds for the Development Authority and Lowndes County Schools, and a turn lane for Wiregrass Tech, plus a new Forestry Ranger about fire, in these LAKE videos of yesterday morning’s Lowndes County Commission Work Session.

The longest item was five minutes about funding the Skipper Bridge Withlacoochee River USGS Gauge in addition to the Folsom Bridge Little River Gauge, by EMA Director Ashley Tye. Valdosta apparently discovered that Skipper Bridge is not in the city limits, so Valdosta will no longer fund that gauge. But the former funding from the Suwannee River Water Management District (SRWMD) plus more from Lowndes County will cover it, if the Lowndes County Commissioners vote for it at 5:30 PM Tonight, after their discussion yesterday morning.

Georgia Forestry Ranger Randy Spell talked about the use of a vehicle in the Rural Fire Defense Cooperative Lease Agreement And MOU.

Second longest was the extremely vague Continue reading →

Packet: River Gauges, Roads, Alcohol, and Fire @ LCC 2019-10-21

Lowndes County is adding funding for the Skipper Bridge Road Withlacoochee River gauge to its traditional since 2009 funding of the Folsom Bridge GA 122 Little River gauge. That’s $8,300 and $14,200, respectively, with another $5,900 for the Skipper Bridge Gauge from the Suwannee River Water Management District. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) puts in $900 towards each gauge, or $1800 total. Valdosta still funds the North Valdosta Road US 41 Withlacoochee River Valdosta gauge, and USGS completely funds the US 84 Quitman Withlacoochee River gauge.

OPTIONS: 1. Approve the FY 2020 Funding Agreement
PDF

Details are in the Board Packet now on the LAKE website, received Friday, October 18, 2019, in response to an open records request.

The rest of the Lowndes County Commission agenda for Monday and Tuesday is dominated by roads: a resolution on criteria for taking private roads into the county public road system, and resolutions taking in roads within several subdivisions: Continue reading →

Videos: Do not pave Hightower Road, rezonings on Val Del, Great North Road, US 41 N @ LCC 2019-10-08

Eleven minutes plus three minutes from people asking do not pave Hightower and Cooper Roads near Moody AFB. They said they weren’t even consulted before the county decided to pave. Chairman Bill Slaughter offered to talk with those citizens after the meeting, but not during, when the public could have heard him. Before that, County Manager Joe Pritchard summarized internal discussions about the county road inventory.

More than four minutes for the second NATCO rezoning on Val Del Road was the longest item at this Regular Session.

The Wisenbaker rezoning on Great North Road had a Commissioner recuse himself and took 2.5 minutes. The applicant request to table for Hogan on US 42 N was passed in less than a minute.

Below are links to each LAKE video of each agenda item, followed by Continue reading →

Videos: Rezonings on Val Del, Great North Road, US 41 N @ LCC 2019-10-07

Eight minutes with no questions from Commissioners is all the Lowndes County Commission took to consider the peoples’ business at yesterday morning’s Work Session. Two minutes each for the rezonings for Natco on Val Del Road and Wisenbaker on Great North Road. One minute for Hogan on US 42 N. The Chairman noted there was a request by the applicant to table that one. A commissioner joked a motion to approve. The Chairman said they might take that action the next day. They vote this evening at 5:30 PM.

The biggest news was after adjournment, when the Valdosta Daily Times editor introduced a new reporter.

Below are links to each LAKE video of each agenda item, followed by a LAKE video playlist. See also Continue reading →

Packet: Rezonings on Val Del, Great North Road, US 41 N @ LCC 2019-10-07

The second Natco subdivision on Val Del Road sailed through the Planning Commission, and probably will through the Lowndes County Commission. Where is that wetlands study GLPC took for granted somebody conducted?

Exhibit 1: subdivison plan

The rezoning of the Wisenbaker property on Great North Road also sailed through GLPC 7:0.

WRPDO Site Map

The third rezoning, for heavy manufacturing on the Hogan Property at US 41 N and Wellman Place, was requested to be tabled by the applicant, and GLPC Continue reading →

Videos: One Lowndes County case, solar fence, Lake Park, GA @ ZBOA 2019-08-06

Nancy Hobby recused herself before the lengthy discussion of the one ZBOA case for August 2019, which was actually in Lowndes County, VAR-2019-09 — Tycor Farms (6734 Georgia Highway 376, Lake Park) Request for a variance…. or 6530 GA 376, according to a followup letter from the applicant’s representative.

Photo: Gretchen Quarterman, Notice Sign

There was still nothing about the wetlands around the place, leading to Enoch Creek, then into the Alapahoochee River, into the Alapaha, the Suwannee, and on to the Gulf.

Map: John S. Quarterman, from WWALS Alapaha River Water Trail Map.

However, the likely wetlands seem to be along the eastern edge of the cleared area, so one can guess the solar panels are not going there.

Map: Lowndes County Tax Assessor, Parcel 0222 002, Tycor Farms LLC, 6530 GA HWY 376, Lake Park, GA 31636.

Nobody from the audience spoke for or against the application. The result was: Continue reading →

Videos: Private Roads, Alcohol, and Water @ LCC 2019-08-27

The longest item was 5. Proclamation Presentation to Lowndes County Fire Rescue at two minutes. The longest actual business, one and a half minutes, was 6.f. South Regional Joint Development Authority Resolution, endorsing appointing Jason Shaw to an At Large slot. Do you ever get the feeling they already decided everything before they arrived?

And you wouldn’t know about the somewhat contentious proposed process for accepting private roads into the county road system if Gretchen hadn’t been there the previous morning to video it.

Below are Continue reading →

Videos: Sixty-one lots on Val Del Road @ GLPC 2019-08-26

The Val Del Road rezoning breezed through unanimously in four minutes, with one Planning Commissioner wondering if Val Del Road could handle the traffic, and nobody speaking against. The Valdosta cases took almost half an hour, with three split votes (yes, three votes on two cases).

GLPC Chair Vicki Rountree

Final decisions will be made by the Lowndes County Commission on Tuesday, September 10, 2019 for REZ-2019-12 Val Del Rd., and by the Valdosta Mayor-Council on Thursday, September 5, 2019, for the paired Valdosta cases, as you can see in the agenda. The Greater Lowndes Planning Commission (GLPC) is an advisory body only, with the actual decisions being made by those other bodies, as its Chair Vicki Rountree explained at the beginning of the session, before she had to vote thrice to resolve tied votes. You can hear Gretchen Quarterman of LAKE explaining it towards the end of the final LAKE video.

After they adjourned, they kept talking about a joint ordinance to the six governments, without saying what that was about. Since Lowndes County Chairman Bill Slaughter was standing up there at the time, I would guess it’s the SPLOST VIII agreement.

Before it adjourned, the Planning Commission established the minutes on the county’s website as its official minutes.

Below are links to each LAKE video of each agenda item, with a few notes, followed by a LAKE video playlist. See also the agenda. And come to the Lowndes County or Valdosta decision meetings if you care about one of those cases. Continue reading →

Videos: Private Roads, Alcohol, and Water @ LCC 2019-08-26

“You’ll see on the attached drawing….” and “You will see in your packet….”, but you the taxpayers and voters cannot see, because the county has not put the packet on its website and has not yet returned it in response to an open records request by LAKE.

Did you know a rollback of 0.126 mills was scheduled for a 5PM meeting today, with adoption at the 5:30PM meeting?

Surprise eighteen minutes yesterday morning on procedures for taking private roads into the county road system.

Three Lowndes County Commission items are about water: Continue reading →

Sixty-one lots on Val Del Road @ GLPC 2019-08-26

Apparently NATCO LLC wants to rezone 28 acres of its 567.12 acre Parcel 0072 061 to build 61 house lots.

Parcel 0072 061, NATCO LLC

Where along Val Del Road it wants to put them is not stated in the Planning Commission agenda for today. I’d guess close to the existing lots to the south, but the county ran water and sewer up to Nelson Hill, which you can see to the northwest of the NATCO tract, so the subdivision could be anywhere along Val Del in that tract.

Greater Lowndes Planning Commission
~ Lowndes County ~ City of Valdosta ~ City of Dasher ~ City of Hahira ~ City of Lake Park ~ City of Remerton ~
REGULAR MONTHLY MEETING AGENDA
Monday, August 26, 2019 5:30 P.M.
Public Hearing, Lowndes County South Health District Administrative Office
325 West Savannah Avenue, Valdosta, Georgia
Continue reading →

On the LAKE front

Citizen dialog for transparent process by the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange