I would like more information on the “partners meetings” beginning with why these meetings are not announced as public meetings. The video link lists partners as The Boys & Girls Club and The YMCA. There is a long history of both of these private organizations being mixed into the Valdosta/Lowndes parks & recreation government operations including past competitions between these private sector elements. One of the main reasons Public/Private Partnerships are not in the citizen’s best interests is the fact the private entities are used to evade government transparency responsibilities. If the VLPRA is going to consider themselves partners with any private organization then the public has a right to know what is being discussed & what future plans are being considered. Those of us who are aware of past conflicts with partial privatizations of parks & recreation have a right to know that safeguards are enacted to prevent a return to situations that were not always in the best interest of the citizens and/or created sweetheart deals for private entities. Any private organization who claims to be non-profit should have to submit to an independent audit and also account for how for profit revenues relate to non-profit claims. When any organization that claims non-profit status in order to receive tax credits, grant monies, and United Way funds can have a million dollar plus extortion operation siphoning off revenues at the same time something is not right. Local taxpayers have a right to know that full disclosure and auditing methods are being employed to prevent any repeat situations before partnering is allowed.
An appointment, a road abandonment, three rezonings, and a bunch of for considerations. How long do you think the Lowndes County Commission and staff will discuss these things in their Work Session tomorrow morning? Five minutes? Ten? Maybe even fifteen minutes?
LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS PROPOSED AGENDA WORK SESSION, MONDAY, MAY 7, 2012, 8:30 a.m. REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, MAY 8, 2012, 5:30 p.m. 327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor
Call to Order
Invocation
Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag
Minutes for Approval
Work Session — April 23, 2012
Regular Session — April 24, 2012
Appointments – Lowndes County Development Authority
Resolution – Abandonment of unopened Right of Way off US 41 South
Public Hearings
REZ-2012-05 Gloria Dave, Bethany Drive R-A to R-1, Well & Septic, ~3.8 acres
REZ-2012-06 Hart Property, Whitewater & Clyattville Lake Park R-A to R-1, County Water & Septic, ~3 acres
REZ-2012-07 McNeal Property, McNeal Road E-A to R-A, Well & Septic, 25 acres
For Consideration
Letter and Resolution of Support for Brookhaven III Apartments
Acceptance of Proposal for Patching of Ousley Road
Section 5311 Rural Transportation Program Supplemental Agreement #1
Proposal from Doubletree Communities, LLC.
Piney Wood Mobile Home Park Trust Indenture
Beer License-Right Shop 2-6872 Lake Park-Bellville Rd.
Traylor Business Service Inc. Contract
Reports-County Manager
Citizens Wishing to be Heard Please State Name And Address
Here are videos of the entire 11:11 minute 24 April 2012 Regular Session of the Lowndes County Commission. They time at 0:57 (before call to order; doesn’t count), 0:42 (mostly dead air), 0:33 (invocation and pledge: not business), 0:29, 0:37, 0:40, 0:10, 0:46, 1:09, 0:46, 0:53, 1:22, 2:08, 1:30, and 0:08: eleven minutes and eleven seconds total. And that’s including the invocation and pledge and the two citizens who spoke (3:38 for those last two). It would seem a good guess that the Commissioners and staff discussed more in the previous morning’s work session, but not really; you can see for yourself.
A Commissioner asked a question! Before they accepted a bid for mowing Bemiss Road, Joyce Evans wanted an explanation of the timeframe of the cutting of the grass. Public Works Director Robin English wanted to know work time or response time? County Manager Joe Pritchard and somebody else simultaneously said “response time”. Hm, how did they know that? In what open meeting was that question previously raised? Also, Pritchard demonstrated he could speak into the microphone and be heard when he wanted to. English clarified the response times quoted by the bidders, and Evans moved to go with the low bidder, which the Commissioners approved, unanimously as usual.
Videos, Regular Session Regular Session, Lowndes County Commission (LCC), Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 24 April 2012. Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE).
Chairman Paulk violated the Commission’s own
Policies and Procedures for Citizens Wishing to be Heard by saying Timothy Nessmith didn’t get a chance to fill out the appropriate form, but he was welcome to speak anyway. Now I think that’s a silly rule, and if the Chairman is going to waive it for one person, they might as well revoke it for all citizens so nobody has to sign up.
Chairman Paulk chose to answer that by saying it was a Public Service Commission issue, and adding that due to housing density on that road “they [presumably the telephone company] can’t make it work economically.”
Like my neighbor Chairman Paulk, I know Nessmith’s neighborhood (Nessmith lives around the corner from me, although I had no idea he was going to speak, and have never discussed his issue with him). Later I will post some things the Commission could do.
Lowndes County unincorporated area residents may or may not be forced to buy curbside trash pickup, or something, sometime, but the county isn’t answering questions about that.
In Citizens Wishing to Be Heard at the
24 April 2012 Lowndes County Commission Regular Session, Gretchen Quarterman wanted to knowwhat had been decided at the retreat or elsewhere about the trash question. Will we have to get curbside pickup? Did the county look to see what surrounding counties do? Might the county survey citizens for their opinions? Could we have a special garbage tax district for those who wanted to use the current trash deposit areas, similar to the special lighting tax districts the county has repeatedly approved? She got no answers to any of her questions other than Commissioner Joyce Evans shaking her head at that last one.
So we don’t know what the county has decided, if anything, nor when they will decide it, nor how they are collecting citizen input (if at all).
Here are videos of the entire ten and a half minute 23 April 2012 Work Session of the Lowndes County Commission. As you can see, these videos time at 1:01, 0:33, 0:44, 1:07, 1:45, 1:40, 0:33, 2:59, and 0:10, and that’s with a camera that stops and starts almost instantaneously. Those times add up to 10 minutes and 32 seconds. Is that adequate discussion for the county’s business?
Finance Director Stephanie Black said the county sent out an RFP for banking services to local banks. Three responded, and one was incomplete. The two complete bids were Regions Bank and SunTrust. Regions will waive charges with $6M balance; SunTrust will waive charges $2.8M balance.
On the FDIC charge, Regions will charge .135 per thousand dollars; SunTrust is waiving that.
She said that was currently about $3500 or $4500 per month. Commissioner Powell asked who they were currently using. Answer: Regions. There’s more in the video, and there was a written report the Commissioners were looking at.
Apparently the county’s own water isn’t good enough for Commissioners and staff,
Continue reading →
Imagine an appointed body that likes citizen input, and even puts (some) board packet items on its website before its meetings! Parks and Rec is that body.
With 1.5 mil of our tax dollars every year, it’s good to see the Valdosta-Lowndes County Parks & Recreation Authority (VLPRA) reviewing finances:
At the end of February, the Parks and Rec had $2.69 million in cash, $541,000 in liabilities, and that leaves about $2.1 million….
For the eight months ending February 29, tax receipts $3.22 million. That’s $79,000 dollars more tax receipts than for the eight months of the previous year.
So that’s about $4.3 million per year in tax receipts, plus SPLOST money (see the video). The board didn’t have any questions about finance.
At least we can see some results of their money, such as
Continue reading →
Paul Wolff showed us his solar panels on Tybee Island:
That’s 28 panels. They’re SolarWorlds, roughly 18% efficiency rating, and it’s a 5.525 kilowatt system.
And another thing I tell people if your roof is at all questionable… right now there’s a 30% federal tax credit on the materials for an EnergyStar roof….
28 SolarWorld panels, 5.25 kilowatts –Paul Wolff renewable energy, Paul Wolff, The Volta Collaborative (TVC), Tybee Island, Chatham County, Georgia, 17 February 2012. Video by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE).
Instead of arbitrating a fixed-size LOST pie, what if Lowndes County and the local cities worked on increasing the size of the pie through broadband? It’s not just Chattanooga, 100 other municipalities have done it.
Chattanooga is not alone; more than 100 cities and towns have built their own broadband networks. The city of Lafayette, Louisiana offers probably the best deal for broadband in the nation: ten megabits symmetrical for less than $30/month. For non-geek readers, it is actually faster than my home Comcast connection at less than half the price. The Institute for Local Self-Reliance has just released a new report detailing how Chattanooga and Lafayette built their networks.
Hm, Valdosta and Lowndes County don’t seem to be on that map. Yet. We don’t have to wait for VLCIA to organize this; there are other ways.
The five local cities (Valdosta, Hahira, Remerton, Dasher, and Lake Park) presented their case in terms of changed demographics from the 2000 to the 2010 census. Much of the presentation was explained by Hahira City Manager Jonathan Sumner.
Lowndes County wasn’t interested in discussing, and is waiting for arbitration, which will happen in 60 days (presumably from when they started negotiating). The VDT writeup protrays that as a surprise, but it’s what County Chairman Ashley Paulk has been saying since before these negotiations began.
I would have preferred to hear what services the cities do now or could with more tax revenue provide that would benefit the entire county.
Even more, I think the local governments could spend their time together better talking about how to increase the pie, for example through solar energy for municipal revenue
or through county-wide fast Internet broadband access, either of which would help attract knowledge-based jobs, which would provide employment and increased tax revenue.
However, I salute the cities and the county for being transparent about their positions, as you can see in these videos.
Videos of Mayors and County in Hahira LOST Negotiation, Mayors and County in Hahira, Lowndes County Commission (LOST), Hahira, Lowndes County, Georgia, 2 May 2012. Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE).
video link lists partners as The Boys & Girls Club and The YMCA. There is a long history of both of these private organizations being mixed into the Valdosta/Lowndes parks & recreation government operations including past competitions between these private sector elements. One of the main reasons Public/Private Partnerships are not in the citizen’s best interests is the fact the private entities are used to evade government transparency responsibilities. If the VLPRA is going to consider themselves partners with any private organization then the public has a right to know what is being discussed & what future plans are being considered. Those of us who are aware of past conflicts with partial privatizations of parks & recreation have a right to know that safeguards are enacted to prevent a return to situations that were not always in the best interest of the citizens and/or created sweetheart deals for private entities. Any private organization who claims to be non-profit should have to submit to an independent audit and also account for how for profit revenues relate to non-profit claims. When any organization that claims non-profit status in order to receive tax credits, grant monies, and United Way funds can have a million dollar plus extortion operation siphoning off revenues at the same time something is not right. Local taxpayers have a right to know that full disclosure and auditing methods are being employed to prevent any repeat situations before partnering is allowed.
