Tag Archives: 2019-07-22

Videos: SPLOST VIII, Grassy Pond Sewer, and Hospital Authority funding @ LCC 2019-07-23

Five and a half minutes of the Regular Session fifteen minutes was on the county guaranteeing refinancing Hospital Authority debt, due to County Manager Joe Pritchard reciting what’s in the agreement, and Hospital Authority CEO Bill Forbes speaking, and Chairman Bill Slaughter thanking him. The agreement is in the board packet on the LAKE website from a LAKE open records request.

Hospital Authority

Citizen Michelle Williams of Hahira asked for a spay and neuter ordinance, noting Macon and Dalton have those already. County Clerk Paige Dukes praised Michelle Williams and other volunteers.

Second at almost two minutes was Continue reading

Videos: SPLOST VIII, Grassy Pond Sewer, and Hospital Authority funding @ LCC 2019-07-23 2019-07-22

The whole Work Session took eleven minutes, of which three were about the county guaranteeing refinancing Hospital Authority debt. They vote tonight at 5:30 PM; Gretchen will be there with the LAKE video camera. Update 2019-07-23:< Obtained in response to an open records request from LAKE, board packet is on the LAKE website.

Second longest yesterday morning at a minute and a half was the SPLOST VIII Agreement, for which it seems the list is already finished, finalized at a “public” meeting between the county and the five cities, which was not announced to the public.

Most of the bids for the Grassy Pond Sewer Connection were not in the board packet, we discovered due to a question by a Commissioner. The Abandonment of Portion of Reed Road is the bit to the Withlacoochee River, which they county says was “unopened”, which is a strange way to describe the old dirt road that used to cross the river on a bridge.

Below are Continue reading

SPLOST VIII, Grassy Pond Sewer, and Hospital Authority funding @ LCC 2019-07-22

Not on Lowndes County’s online calendar, the county already met with the five cities about SPLOST VIII:

On July 8, 2019, Lowndes County met with the cities of Valdosta, Hahira, Lake Park, Remerton and Dasher to officially call for SPLOST VIII. As a result, the attached SPLOST VIII Agreement between Lowndes County and the cities has been prepared for consideration. Once approved by Lowndes County, the agreement will be forwarded to the cities for consideration during a public meeting.

SPLOST VII pie by Lowndes County
Lowndes County on the previous SPLOST.

Will when and where for that upcoming “public meeting” be announced in advance? Where is “the attached SPLOST VIII Agreement”? Wednesday morning at 9:35 AM, I sent the county a Georgia Open Records Act (GORA) request for the board packet for this week’s Lowndes County Commission meetings. By a very generous interpretation of the three business days GORA permits to respond to such a request, time’s up this morning at 9:35 AM. So far, the county has not even acknowledged receipt of the request.

The Hospital Authority, over whom the county has so little authority it has to Continue reading