The one public speaker when County Chairman Bill Slaughter
“opened up” the SPLOST VII item
was Jim Galloway,
Executive Director of the Valdosta-Lowndes County Airport Authority,
who noted SPLOST VII included nothing for the airport from the county
or any of the cities.
The long runway is federally funded, but the shorter runway is not.
He asked for county funding.
which I see now lists its board members on
its website:
Steve Everett – Chairman
Jeff Sikes
Nathaniel Haugabrook
Dr. James Sinnott
Anthony Payton
Jane Shelton
Jim Galloway – executive director/airport manager (229) 333-1833
in
the 22 July 2013 Work Session
Here is the letter discussed (“So at this point, in order to comply with the deadline submitted by EPD, it was necessary to go ahead and work with Lovell on this.”)
and approved (“The water is good, right?”)
at the
23 July Regular Session of the Lowndes County Commission,
obtained through an Open Records Request by April Huntley,
plus a transcription.
You may wonder, as I do, why the county didn’t just put it online
along with the agenda, like so many other county commissions and
city councils do. Continue reading →
7.b. Letter to Environmental Protection Division concerning Alapaha Water Treatment Plant Upgrade
Regarding the letter written by Lovell Engineering to GA EPD on behalf of the
county, discussed in the previous morning’s
22 July 2013 Work Session,
Commissioner Demarcus Marshall asked:
I just had a question regarding the timing of the letter.
I know it says eight month pilot study.
And I just wanted to know for the record, that
the water is good now, right?
It’s drinkable, and so forth, just for the public to be aware
that it’s not some public health risk out there.
The slides for the SPLOST VII presentation have appeared on the county’s website;
here’s a link, with the text from that website.
Videos are to come from
last night’s Regular Session SPLOST VII Presentation.
Meanwhile you can see video from Monday morning’s Work Session, in which they actually said more.
Nothing seems to be in the VDT about this today, which is odd,
since I’m pretty sure that’s the VDT reporter in the left
foreground of this picture from last night. -jsq
What is Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST)?
As of July 1, 1985, Georgia law enabled local governments to collect
SPLOST proceeds for capital improvement projects that would
otherwise be paid for with General Fund or property tax dollars.
SPLOST stands for Continue reading →
Valdosta Mayor Gayle was standing next to the video ghetto
after the county’s rather rudimentary SPLOST VII presentation
Monday morning, so I asked him why I hadn’t seen anything about Internet
access either Valdosta’s or Lowndes County’s SPLOST lists?
He said that was because it was being handled by the Community Assessment Group (CAG).
What’s that?
Mayor Gayle said CAG is a group of representatives from the county
and all the local cities, the two school districts (Valdosta and Lowndes County),
VSU, Wiregrass Tech, the Industrial Authority, the Chamber, and he may have
said others.
It’s an attempt at better local cooperation, specifically about issues
that cross all the various local governmental and non-governmental groups.
So far they’ve had two meetings, Continue reading →
Chairman Bill Slaughter recognized Valdosta Mayor John Gayle,
who was sitting in the back.
Invocation
Only in the Regular Session.
Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag
Only in the Regular Session.
Minutes for Approval
Work Session — July 8, 2013
Regular Session — July 9, 2013
County Manager Joe Pritchard was also confused as to
what did the Commissioners approve
regarding the “conjoined” items in the 9 July Regular Session:
For Consideration
Video Arraignment for Magistrate and Juvenile Court Contract
Enterprise and Backup Storage Solution Scope of Work
Pritchard noted County Attorney Walter Elliott referred to the
purchase orders
for item 6.a., saying purchase orders item 6.b. were “not present”.
Pritchard wanted to know if Commissioners approved both of them.
Commissioner Crawford Powell said he thought the way “Walter”
stated it they didn’t approve either one of them.
Little joke.
“Walter” got it, and eventually Pritchard did, too, after everyone
else laughed.
Then Powell clarified that they had approved both items.
Which anyone can see in
the LAKE video of those items.
Hm, if the Commission kept their own videos, Pritchard could have
just looked at those and seen.
Three details at $39,500 each, no increase from last year, said Public Works Director
Robin Cumbus;
see
other post for what Commissioners Marshall, Slaughter, and Powell had to say.
It’s because of a notice of violation from GA EPD, said Utilities Director Mike Allen,
and he’d been working with Lovell Engineering on a letter to say the problem
of disinfection byproducts would be fixed by the end of March 2015.
Commissioner Demarcus Marshall wanted to know if
Lovell Engineering would be submitting “on our behalf, or would we be submitting it?”
See
separate post for more.
The county has received a grant from GDOT for striking, signs, and
raised pavement markers for 30.79 miles of road, for $142,491.75.
I will also give you a copy of the roads that will be restruck
under this contract.
Commissioners had no questions.
Why wasn’t that copy in the board packet and online with the agenda?
How can you find out if your road is on that list?
File an open records request.
Adopt Resolution accepting infrastructure for Barrington Subdivision Phase I
Engineer said it was mostly complete but they were waiting on a punch list
from the developer before signing off on it.
Commissioners had no questions.
The county does have liability insurance that covers
all employees, including Commissioners, we learned
at the
Monday 22 July 2013 Lowndes County Commission Work Session; they vote tonight.
And the county is also adopting an ACCG plan for retirement for
a couple of new employees.
7.3. ACCG IRMA Liability Program Renewal
Someone (I couldn’t interpret the Chairman’s mumble) said
it’s for both property and personal liability.
This
Interlocal Risk Management Agency (IRMA)
program from the Association of County Commissioners of Georgia (ACCG)
offers Continue reading →
The County has another wastewater violation, this time at the Alapaha River,
and is late in doing something about it.
Don’t be surprised if we see an emergency change order in a future session.
This was at the
Monday 22 July 2013 Lowndes County Commission Work Session; they vote tonight.
7.b.
Letter to Environmental Protection Division concerning Alapaha Water Treatment Plant Upgrade
It’s because of a notice of violation from GA EPD, said Utilities Director Mike Allen,
and he’d been working with Lovell Engineering on a letter to say the problem
of disinfection byproducts would be fixed by the end of March 2015.
