Density and traffic

A retired Air Force veteran weighed in, asserting that new subdivisions need to be compatible and consistent with homes already in the area, and Glen Laurel would cause a lot of traffic and drive land values down.
In the long run, as far as Lowndes County is concerned, do you feel in your hearts that this is going to enhance Lowndes County as a place to come and live and enjoy?

Here’s Part 1 of 3: Continue reading →

Whose responsibility is it after the developers are gone?

A landowner directly across from Glen Laurel pointed out that all the other subdivisions on Old Pine Road also connect to another street, so there are two ways in and out, but Glen Laurel does not. She said the photographs they submitted were of Blue Pool, Callaway Circle, and Hamilton Circle, which are all subdivisions that were developed as affordable housing for first-time homeowners, yet the houses are now in sad shape. She wondered whose responsibility is it to maintain the entrance after the developers are gone? Is it the homeowners association? This is basically the same question Mr. Mulligan asked, which Chairman Ashley Paulk answered with code enforcement.

She said that at Hamilton Circle there are cars parked on the green area, Continue reading →

Small lot size means more traffic —Ms. Zaun

A landowner (probably Glynda Faye Zaun) between Old Pine Road and Mulligan Road says if all those little houses are built her property values will decrease, and she’ll be surrounded by 94 little homes that will generate too much traffic.
I am not against growth. Growth is beneficial to every community; I recognize that. But it should be constructed in a way that is beneficial and pleasing to everyone and not just to the developers or the ones who want to make a lot of money quick and then leave.

Here’s Part 1 of 3: Continue reading →

Rezonings at LCC work session 9 May 2011

Lowndes County Commission met in work session yesterday morning, and meets in regular session to make decisions this evening. A couple of rezonings and an alcohol ordinance are on the agenda. Remember rezonings affect sprawl which affects schools and everything else.

Citizens Wishing to be Heard has moved to the end again.

Here’s the agenda with videos from the work session interleaved. Gretchen got there one minute late and they were already on item 4. The whole meeting lasted about 20 minutes.

Yes, we know the sound is bad. LAKE will be using a different camera tonight.

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LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, MAY 9, 2011, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, MAY 10, 2011, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor
Continue reading →

Chastity tells us about Healthy Options of Days Gone By

Healthy Options had a table at the first Valdosta Downtown Farm Days, and Chastity told us about their products with no preservatives and no synthetics.

Here’s the video:


Chastity tells us about Healthy Options of Days Gone By
Downtown Valdosta Farm Days, Courthouse Square,
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 7 May 2011.
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.

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Cairo in Mexico City

The U.S. media paid little attention to Mexico’s Arab moment: Protesters demand the resignation of Mexico’s top drug war official.
But while such stories have become tragically common in Mexico, this was the first time the mourners could vent their grief in front of tens of thousands of sympathizers and TV cameras from across the world.

And in this media spotlight, the protesters made a new demand — amid the failure of the government to provide security, they cried, the Public Safety Secretary Genaro Garcia Luna must resign.

“We don’t want more dead. We don’t want more hate,” protest leader Javier Sicilia told the crowd. “President Felipe Calderon — show you are listening to us, and make the public safety secretary resign.”

The demand announced at Sunday’s rally gave a new edge to a movement that has been steadily rising amid the massacres and mass graves of Mexico’s drug war.

Up until then, protesters had come out with a mix

Continue reading →

Neither wind nor solar power “need to be purchased by Halliburton”

Continuing to see what “the indigenous” think about solar power:
Today, a number of Native tribes, from the Lakota in the Dakotas to the Iroquois Confederacy in New York to the Anishinaabeg in Wisconsin, battle to preserve the environment for those who are yet to come. The next seven generations, the Lakota say, depend upon it.

“Traditionally, we’re told that as we live in this world, we have to be careful for the next seven generations,” says Loretta Cook. “I don’t want my grandkids to be glowing and say, ‘We have all these bad things happening to us because you didn’t say something about it.’

Part of this family and spiritual obligation to preserve

Continue reading →

Dialog and VSEB —John Robinson

Mr. John Robinson pointed out that school board problems and biomass are not the only issues around here, and for example the south side of town needs money so people there can become more productive citizens. At the 21 April 2011 Valdosta City Council meeting, He specifically recommended getting Valdosta Small Emerging Business (VSEB) up and running.

Here’s the video:


Let us try to come together and find some method —John Robinson
Regular monthly meeting of the Valdosta City Council (VCC),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 21 April 2011,
Videos by George Boston Rhynes for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.

George Rhynes posted a complete transcript. Here are a few excerpts: Continue reading →

Georgia clean energy tax credits: yes, they are available

Inquiring minds want to know if Georgia still has its energy rebate program. The answer is yes.

The usual place to look for state tax incentives is DSIRETM (Database of State Incentives for Renewables & Efficiency). That database shows for Georgia not only state financial incentives but also a local loan program for Athens-Clarke County and a local rebate program for Atlanta. There’s a thought! Valdosta or Lowndes County could do a loan program for real clean renewable energy! or the Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority (VLCIA) could do that using some of its $15 million in bonds and other debt, assuming it hasn’t already spent all of it on locking up land.

Or Georgia Power or Colquitt Electric could do that, Continue reading →

Amanda Peacock explains it all (Downtown Valdosta Farm Days)

Food and other vendors on the historic Lowndes County Courthouse Square, in Valdosta, Georgia, every first and third Saturday, 9AM to 1PM.

Here’s the video:


Amanda Peacock explains it all (Downtown Valdosta Farm Days)
Downtown Valdosta Farm Days, Courthouse Square,
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 7 May 2011.
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.

More about that in this previous post.

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