Videos: Peace Officers, Public Works GA-EPD request, Regional T-SPLOST, 2 ZBOA appointments, 2 rezonings, surplus, quit claim, lift station pump, and Naylor Community Center bids @ LCC 2017-05-09



The T-SPLOST motion passed, but as a very unusual split vote, two weeks ago in the Lowndes County Commission Regular Session, 9 May 2017.


4. Peace Officers Memorial Week Proclamation Presentation,

Vice-Chair Joyce Evans presiding, they spent about five minutes on this item,
including

a speech by Sheriff Ashley Paulk, in which he said his department
would be having a bigger presence.
Chairman Bill Slaughter returned from his “good little trip”
some time in there
and took up the gavel after the minutes to be approved.


6. ZBOA appointments,

They reappointed Continue reading →

Not on calendar and no agenda @ LCC Budget 2017-05-22

Not on their calendar until this morning, no agenda, and only popped up

online also this morning, the same day of this Budget Work Session.
And even though that says it would start at 8:45, they actually announced
in the main Work Session that it would start at 9AM.


Immediately after the Work Session?

If Gretchen hadn’t been there with the LAKE camera, Continue reading →

Reappointment to Airport Authority, raise convenience fees, Moody AFB swimming pool @ LCC 2017-05-22

It probably won’t take them 15 minutes after 8 AM to breeze through this

light agenda, including reappoinging Jeff Sikes to the



Airport Authority,
increasing “convenience fees for online and telephone payments to $2.50 per transaction”, some I-75 exit work, and a swimming pool at Moody Air Force Base.
Plus a beer and wine license due to the usual change of ownership,
and an HVAC maintenance contract.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS

PROPOSED AGENDA

WORK SESSION, MONDAY, MAY 22, 2017, 8:30 a.m.

REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, MAY 23, 2017, 5:30 p.m.

327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor

Continue reading →

Videos: Public Works GA-EPD request, Regional T-SPLOST, 2 ZBOA appointments, 2 rezonings, surplus, quit claim, lift station pump, and Naylor Community Center bids @ LCC 2017-05-08



Not on the agenda this morning:

Public Works is applying to GA-EPD for a grant for
tire disposal amnesty.
11 of 18 counties have voted to hold a
Regional T-SPLOST referendum,
and Lowndes County now needs to decide whether to support or oppose that: they vote Tuesday at 5:30 PM.

County Manager Joe Pritchard asked why all the lift station pump repairs.
Utilities Director Steve Stalvey said the county has 114 lift station pumps,
all either duplex or triplex, with the duplication very important to maintain
service.
They typically last about 15-20 years,
there were periods when money was short and maintenance was slack,
and quite a few of them are coming to end of life,
most recently this one

at US 84.

They spent the longest time, 3 3/4 minutes, on
the Continue reading →

Regional T-SPLOST, 2 ZBOA appointments, 2 rezonings, surplus, quit claim, and lift station pump, and Naylor Community Center bids @ LCC 2017-05-08 @ LCC 2017-05-08

They

list the three applicants for

ZBOA, Victoria Copeland, Michael Cooper, Mike Elkins, but they do not supply the actual applications.
These are for two slots, currently held by Dr. Willie Houseal,
who does not wish to be reappointed, and ZBOA Vice Chairman Gretchen Quarterman, who does.

Both the

rezoning cases
have different applicant names than

the Planning Commission listed two weeks ago,
this time as
REZ-2017-05 Jay Carter rezoning from R-A to R-1 for subdividing for independent sale and
REZ-2017-04 Rieffel rezoning to CON and E-A for animals.
REZ-2017-04 is located at 3621 SE Johnson Road,
which is just north of Mud Swamp Creek, which downstream joins with
Grand Bay Creek to form the Alapahoochee River, which flows into the Alapaha,
into the Suwannee, into the Gulf.


Parcel 0188 167H

Lowndes County Tax Assessors Parcel 0188 167H

After the
regional T-Splost roundtable meeting 1PM Monday, April 17, 2017, in Pearson,
the Lowndes County Commission this week votes to
Take action to support or oppose Regional T-SPLOST.
If I understand correctly, 10 of the 18 counties in the region
voted Continue reading →

Videos: Inner Perimeter Overlay Zone, Personal Care, and Estate Agriculture @ GLPC 2017-04-24



The Planning Commission welcomed a new member,
Mrs. Vicki Rountree representing Hahira,
but neither

Valdosta’s
nor

Lowndes County’s websites have her listed; they both still list Ted Raker
for Hahira.

They unanimously recommended
a split rezoning to conservation and E-A for

REZ-2017-04 Jeffrey Taibl, and
they unanimously recommended

REZ-2017-05 Cody Califf’s rezoning of agricultural
to residential development.
Nobody spoke for or against either Lowndes County case,
both of which are on
the Lowndes County Commission agenda for this Monday and Tuesday.

The front yard was the main concern on
the Valdosta case about the

CU-2017-02 Personal Care Home on Hollywood Street,
which they recommended unanimously after adding a condition to keep staff from parking on the street.
The other two
Valdosta cases involved the
Inner Perimeter Road Corridor Overlay District
of Valdosta’s

Land Development Regulations.

CU-2017-03
Flint Equipment wants to be an additional John Deere dealer,
and Planning Commissioners unanimously approved their request, which had
already been slightly reduced by city staff.

VA-2017-07
Sapelo Sound Investments
wants “signage ability like their commercial neighbors” and
Planning Commissioners unanimously recommended that.

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

Videos: Conditions on Valdosta Country Club, unanimous county access ariance @ ZBOA 2017-04-04



Last month the Zoning Board of Appeals unanimously approved

Don Brotherton’s road access variance
and
by an unusual 3-2-1 vote approved the

Valdosta Country Club’s city variance
for its clubhouse golf cart barn,
with the conditions including planting native plants
between the barn and Country Club Road.

This 4 April 2017 meeting had a very light

agenda
for the decision-making Zoning Board of Appeals.
Courtesy of ZBOA member Gretchen Quarterman,
the entire board packet is
on the LAKE website.
Below, from the Valdosta city website, is ZBOA’s Meeting Results Summary. Continue reading →

Almost 90% of new power in Europe from renewable sources in 2016 | Environment | The Guardian

Adam Vaughan, The Guardian, 9 February 2017,
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/feb/09/new-energy-europe-renewable-sources-2016


Renewable percentages 2009-2016

That’s an even higher proportion than the approximately 64% solar and wind percentage of new U.S. electric power in 2016.

-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!

Videos: Juvenile Court, County Extension, Aiport, Tax Appraiser, Budget Requests (3 of 3 days) @ LCC 2017-03-29



The

Tax Appraiser finally showed up, and got the longest discussion
at half an hour,
with

County Extension clocking in at 22 minutes,

Juvenile Court at 15, and the

Airport Authority at almost 13 minutes, in the last of three days
of budget requests to the Lowndes County Commission.

Here are links to each of the LAKE videos of this day 3 of 3 budget meeting,
followed by a video playlist. Continue reading →