Category Archives: Water

Videos: Turnberry, Branham, Peterson Road Lift Station, and Commissioner Comments @ LCC 2016-12-13



24 minutes on
REZ-2016-19 Turnberry at Thompson E-A to R-21 which changed to R-1
at the last minute,
14 minutes on
Bill Branham’s

REZ-2016-23 Copeland Road development,
4 on
REZ-2016-24 Martin< 3 on REZ-2016-25 Cain’s Creekside RV Park,
and
3 on the

Peterson Road Lift Station Rehab,
plus
almost 5 minutes of

Chairman and Commission Comments!
Real discussion and revealing their opinions in public?
What’s gotten into them?
Did they see in advance

the VDT’s Sunlight on the horizon?

Yet the Chairman said nobody could ask the audience to stand up on

REZ-2016-19 Turnberry at Thompson
and while they were waiting for the room to clear before

the next item could start, Continue reading →

Videos: Health appointment, 7 rezonings, abandonment, Soil Erosion, Wastewater, and alcohol @ LCC 2016-12-12



Bill Branham’s

Copeland Road development
got six minutes of discussion, the longest in yesterday morning’s Work Session,
with others of the seven rezonings also getting discussion,
plus, surprisingly, the

proposed VOCA grant, because the outgoing DA spoke.
They vote tonight at 5:30 PM.
I would like to compliment the Commissioners on asking questions and
having discussion in the Work Session.
Even ever-silent Joyce Evans spoke up about

the MIDS on-call bus system grant re-application.

They’re going to

reappoint Dr. Randy Smith to the Board of Health.
Chairman Bill Slaughter said:
“Inside your packets you have a letter from Dr. Grove supporting Dr. Smith.”

But we the citizens, taxpayers, and recipients of health care didn’t get to see that letter.
The Chairman went on to recommend Dr. Smith, and I thank him for making that recommendation in public where we could all see and hear it.
Dr. Smith is probably a fine board member: that’s not the point.
The point is if the public could see these things they might have useful input,
not to mention it’s the public’s business the Commission is doing.
Similarly Commissioners had

a quarterly financial report “before you”,
but the public couldn’t see it.
If

tiny Effingham County can publish its County Commission packets,
mighty Lowndes County could to it, too.

Below are links to each of the LAKE videos, with Continue reading →

Videos: 7 county cases, 2 city rezonings, an LDR and a CUP @ GLPC 2016-11-28



Seven of these eleven cases are on the
Lowndes County Commission agenda this morning
after being heard by the
Planning Commission two weeks ago.

One item took almost an hour:
REZ-2016-19 Turnberry at Thompson Old US41N/Thompson @ GLPC.
Two others took almost half an hour each:
REZ-2016-24 Martin – 3824 Newsome Road @ GLPC
and
REZ-2016-23 Branham Project, which was back again from last year and finally passed this time, 6-2.
Those were the last of the Lowndes County cases, after which

most of the crowd exited the packed house.
At the end of the meeting they

re-elected their same officers.

Here are links to each LAKE video of the items, in the order Continue reading →

Health appointment, 7 rezonings, abandonment, Soil Erosion, Wastewater, and alcohol @ LCC 2016-12-12


Longest agenda in recent memory, for this morning’s Work Session
and tomorrow evening’s Regular Session of the Lowndes County Commission.

For the rezonings, see also the LAKE videos of the preceding Planning Commission meeting.
For the abandonment of unopened right of way on Avenue I, see the LAKE videos of last month’s Lowndes County Commission meeting.

-jsq

Investigative reporting costs money, for open records requests, copying, web hosting, gasoline, and cameras, and with sufficient funds we can pay students to do further research. You can donate to LAKE today!

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS

PROPOSED AGENDA

WORK SESSION, MONDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2016, 8:30 a.m.

REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2016, 5:30 p.m.

327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor

Continue reading →

7 county cases, 2 city rezonings, an LDR and a CUP @ GLPC 2016-11-28

Eleven cases on the busiest

the agenda for the Planning Commission in a long time,
with a packed house, plus

election of Chair and Vice Chair.


Panorama

Continue reading →

Videos: Water, VSU bonds, 3 road abandonments, 1 widening, MIDS bus, Comprehensive Plan @ LCC 2016-10-11



Two weeks ago,

County Manager Joe Pritchard announced that
Commissioner Joyce Evans is now serving as Vice Chairman,
yes, the
resolution to approve the VSU bonds
was requested by the
South Regional Joint Development Authority (SRJDA),
and

John Stevens is the new VDT reporter.

Citizen Shirley Moore said she’d like a connection to
county water and sewer.
They tabled the

Comprehensive Plan update, apparently because the Commissioners wanted to
“dig into it deeper”.

The rest was mostly approving what they
already discussed the previous morning.
They meet again Monday morning.

Below are links to each LAKE video with a few notes, followed by a video playlist.

Continue reading →

Videos: Art, hurricane, engineering reports, VSU bonds, 3 road abandonments, 1 widening, MIDS bus, Comprehensive Plan @ LCC 2016-10-10



The Sabal Trail fracked methane pipeline and others already in the county
came up in the

Comprehensive Plan approval discussion, as you can see in these
LAKE Videos from Monday morning; they vote tonight 5:30 PM.

Stephen Spradley and Georgia Forestry
were still helping after Hurricane Matthew,
but

Ashley Tye reported on evacuees,
Chad McLeod

reported on engineering projects including the Naylor Boat Ramp at the Alapaha River,
and
Angela Crance reported on

an art district; actually Buddy Boswell did that.

They also heard about a

self storage rezoning,
three

road abandonments, a

road widening, the annual

MIDS bus service renewal,
and
a

county resolution about bonds for another private LLC by the

South Regional Joint Development Authority (SRJDA),
different from the one

with the public hearing October 21st at a private law firm.
What does the resolution say?
It’s not in the documents with
the agenda.

Below are links to each LAKE video with a few notes, followed by a video playlist. Continue reading →

VSU bond resolution, 3 road abandonments, 1 widening, MIDS bus, Comprehensive Plan @ LCC 2016-10-10

Monday morning 8:30 AM,
a

self storage rezoning, (final?)

Comprehensive Plan approval,
three

road abandonments, a

road widening, the annual

MIDS bus service renewal,
an

art district presentation by Angela Crance,
a

Georgia Forestry presentation by Stephen Spradley,
and
a

county resolution about bonds for another private LLC by the

South Regional Joint Development Authority (SRJDA),
different from the one

with the public hearing October 21st at a private law firm.
What does the resolution say?
It’s not in the documents with
the agenda.




U.S. Air Force Col. Billy Thompson, 23d Wing commander, expresses his gratitude to Continue reading →

Valdosta to add solar power to both wastewater treatment plants 2016-10-06

Valdosta just leapfrogged the rest of the state in solar power for wastewater treatment plants.


Council Tim Carroll expanded beyond the laconic summary of Thursday’s Valdosta City Council action,
which itself expanded on a July action.
Turns out Valdosta is one of several cities across Georgia with solar power for their wastewater treatment facilities, and maybe not the largest nor the earliest, but apparently the earliest large one.
The main point is clear from all of them: solar power for wastewater plants pays for itself in only a few years and can save millions of dollars over decades.


Summary of Actions,
Regular Meeting,
Valdosta City Council,
Thursday October 6th 2016, Continue reading →

Wal-mart sign variance on Bemiss Road, and water and storage in Lowndes @ ZBOA 2016-10-04



2:30 PM today:
Wal-mart wants a sign variance on

Bemiss Road at Guest Road (see previous LAKE blog post),
water and sewage on

Bemiss Knights Academy Road,
and a self-storage facility on

Old US Highway 41 North,
make a relatively light
agenda
for the decision-making Zoning Board of Appeals.

Valdosta – Lowndes County Zoning Board of Appeals

Matt Martin, Valdosta Planning and Zoning Administrator

300 North Lee Street, Valdosta, Georgia

(229) 259-3563

Carmella Braswell, Lowndes County Zoning Administrator

327 North Ashley Street, Valdosta, Georgia

(229) 671-2430

AGENDA

October 4, 2016

2:30 p.m.

Continue reading →