Tag Archives: Alapaha River

Keep County Road 16, leading to the Alapaha River open to public access —Christopher L. Graham

Received Sunday; he sent it to all the Lowndes County Commisioners. -jsq

My name is Christopher L. Graham I’m a citizen of Naylor. I am concern about the river shutting down to the public. Because it is Christopher L. Graham the only public access to the Alapaha river in Lowndes county. Because then we have to go to lake land in Lanier county to there public access boat ramp to put in or go to Stateville in Echols county to there DNR public access boat ramp to put in. The Hotchkiss Bridge or now people are calling it Hotchkiss landing is a good check point for the fisherman. I’m concern because there is not many public a ccess on this Alapaha river. Well if Naylor ever expands there wouldn’t be any water recreation use in this community. That is not good for our community. People all over this area use this public access for fishing & they bring there kids and there family together to have a family picnic, swimming. People go down there to relax and listen to the water hitting the rocks and hear the birds making different noise. This is a nice place to take picture of the nature. The Hotchkiss Bridge is a top location for bird watching in the State of Georgia. Birding enthusiasts interested in experiencing the many wonderful bird families in the surrounding areas of Hotchkiss Bridge. The Hotchkiss Bridge has a historic value to our community. It use to be the old major highway to go to the next town. Many of our community had there ancestry use that old Hotchkiss Bridge. I know the bridge has been gone for many years. Now it’s a public boat ramp. The Hotchkiss Bridge has history and It would be a good asset for Lowndes county to have….

P.S. I would like a park down there and a sign that tell the history of the old Hotchkiss Bridge.

Acree Park at Hotchkiss Landing?

How about if Lowndes County buys the land next to Old State Road at Hotchkiss Crossing on the Alapaha River and turns it into Acree Park? That would be a much better solution to the trash, tresspassing, and hunting problems there than closing the road. And Lowndes County itsels claims it has plenty of money available for just such a purpose.

As we’ve seen, Lowndes County’s own Comprehensive Plan says the county has $500,000 in Acquisition Funds Available to “Adopt, implement, and update provisions of the Greenspace Initiative Plan to include land acquisition and resource enhancement/protection.” And that it plans to “Continue preparation and implementation of the Withlacoochee River Greenway Plan.”

What say the county acquires parkland at Hotchkiss Landing from Continue reading →

What does Lowndes Comprehensive Plan say about river corridor protection?

Future Development Map Lowndes County 2030 Comprehensive Plan Is the Lowndes County Commission a “Qualified Local Government”? Georgia state law says perennial river corridors shall be protected, all of the major rivers in Lowndes County (Alapaha, Withlacoochee, Little) qualify as perennial, and GA EPD rules say to be a “Qualified Local Government” a comprehensive plan including River Corridor Protection Plans with protection for a natural vegetative buffer area bordering each protected river is required.

GA DCA keeps a list of all the comprehensive plans in the state. Here’s Lowndes County’s 2030 Comprehensive Plan. The main document is the Community Agenda and here is the map. Hm, the map shows a light blue color for “Park/Recreation/Conservation” for parts of the Little, Withlacoochee, and Alapaha Rivers in Lowndes County, but not all. What about the rest of those rivers in the county?

What does the Community Agenda say? It doesn’t mention any River Corridor Protection Plans. However, it does say this:

Continue reading →

Why did Lowndes County do nothing about a blocked public road?

Old State Road at the Alapaha River is a county-maintained public road. How could Lowndes County not have known that it was blocked by two huge blocks of concrete Seen by google earth 2012-01-24 at Hotchkiss Landing from late 2010 through at least early 2012? Why did Code Enforcement do nothing about it?

These blocks of concrete have to be quite heavy. This is not random litter, and no partier or hunter or 4-wheeler would have any motivation to block the road, much less with blocks this size. Who would? Why didn’t the county find out and do something about it?

-jsq

Public Notice for public hearing on abandoning part of Old State Road leading to the Alapaha River

Why is there no sign on Old State Road about the proposed abandonment of the part leading to the Alapaha River like there was in 2010? There’s a clue in the letter of the law Lowndes County is citing.

NOTICE OF PROPOSED ROAD ABANDONMENT TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN: YOU ARE HEREBY NOTIFIED

NOTICE OF PROPOSED
ROAD ABANDONMENT
TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:

YOU ARE HEREBY NOTIFIED that pursuant to O.C.G.A. 32-7-2(b)(1) the Parcel 0259 030A Lowndes County Board of Commissioners has determined that a section of Old State Road (CR # 16) has ceased to be used by the public to the extent that no substantial purpose is served or by it that its removal from the county road system is otherwise in the best public interest. The section of Old State Road that is proposed for abandonment lies .85 miles to the east of Good Hope Road (CR # 126) and travels approximately .17 miles before termination at the Alapaha River.

YOU ARE ALSO HEREBY NOTIFIED that pursuant to said Code section the 2009: canoeists taking out at that road Lowndes County Board of Commissioners will hold a public hearing for the purpose of determining whether to declare the subject section of the subject road abandoned. The public hearing will be at 5:30 P.M. on February 12, 2013, at the Lowndes County Administration Building located at 327 North Ashley Street, Valdosta, Georgia.

Any citizen of Lowndes County or any person wherever residing may be heard by the Lowndes County Board of Commissioners during the aforesaid public hearing.

County Manager, Joseph D. Pritchard This 28th day of January, 2013.

Joseph D. Pritchard

County Manager

Lowndes County, Georgia

00046658

2/1,8/13

Note that last part: “or any person wherever residing may be heard by the Lowndes County Board of Commissioners during the aforesaid public hearing.” That means you do not have to be a citizen or resident or taxpayer of Lowndes County to speak at this public hearing.

There’s no public hearing sign on the affected portion of that road. Why is that? Here’s O.C.G.A. 32-7-2(b)(1):

Continue reading →

Petition the Commission: Keep County Road 16 leading to the Alapaha River open to public access

Seen Monday. -jsq

Lowndes County Commission: Keep County Road 16 leading to the Alapaha River open to public access.

Petition by
April Huntley

This access to the Alapaha River is the only remaining public access within Lowndes County. It has great historical significance to the Naylor community. It continues to be used by boaters, fishermen and families for recreation.

To:
Lowndes County Commission
Keep County Road 16 leading to the Alapaha River open to public access.

Sincerely,
[Your name]

The Commission decided 26 October 2010 to keep that road open but because they think they have new information have scheduled it for another public hearing and vote apparently at their next Regular Session, which is next Tuesday, 12 February 2013.

-jsq

Video, hearing about abandoning Old State Road at the Alapaha River @ LCC 2010-10-26

Here is video of the public hearing in which the Lowndes County Commission decided 26 October 2010 not to abandon a portion of Old State Road leading to the Alapaha River. This is the same stretch of road that's scheduled for another such hearing in two weeks from tomorrow.

The camera aim is a bit erratic, and you can see why we hadn't already posted this video (which is actually several briefer videos pasted together with a few gaps). Yet you can clearly see, after Glenda Cofield and Steve Bays spoke against closing the road, someone else started speaking from the audience. Then Commissioner Joyce Evans asked those opposed to stand up, and many people did. You can see County Engineer Mike Fletcher in the background.

Presumably some of the people who stood were among the 450 people mentioned in the minutes:

Glenda Cofield, Mullins Lane, spoke against the request, and presented a petition submitted prior to the work session with the unverified signatures of 450 area residents included.

Why were the signatures still unverified if she submitted the petition before the work session of the previous day? Continue reading →

Public Hearing for Road Abandonment of Old State Road @ LCC 2010-10-26

In 2010, 450 people signed a petition to keep open the road leading to Hotchkiss Landing on the Alapaha River, according the Lowndes County Commission minutes for the 26 October 2010 Public Hearing.


Photograph by Brett Huntley.

Abandon a portion of Old State Road (CR 16), County Manager, Joe Pritchard, presented the road closure for consideration, adding that the engineering department had indicated twenty-five vehicles per day on the road. Glenda Cofield, Mullins Lane, spoke against the request, and presented

Continue reading →

KLVB Alapaha River cleanup at Old State Road in 2007

So if Old State Road to the Alapaha River has, according to the criteria recited by County Engineer Mike Fletcher, “ceased to be used by the public to the extent that no substantial public purpose is served by it”, why did Keep Lowndes/Valdosta Beautiful (KLVB) do a cleanup there in 2007? Is the removal of that section of road “from the county road system… in the public’s best interest”?

Jessica Pope wrote for the VDT 30 September 2007, River cleanup,

Saturday’s Alapaha River cleanup will be held in cooperation with Rivers Alive, a statewide annual volunteer waterway cleanup that targets Georgia’s 70,150 miles of streams and rivers each October, and Hands On Georgia Week 2007, which will culminate on Saturday with Hands on Atlanta Day, the largest volunteer service day in the country. A number of volunteers will spend the day cleaning Georgia’s waterways, building wheelchair ramps, collecting cans of food for Georgia’s food banks and as picking up trash along Georgia’s highways.

Anyone interested in participating in the Alapaha River cleanup Saturday should head on U.S. 84 East past Naylor, turn left on Good Hope Road then turn right on Old State Road. Small boats and canoes are welcome. Registration will begin at 8:30 a.m., and participation waivers must be signed.

Continue reading →

Vote for a hearing to abandoning a road leading to the Alapaha River @ LCC 2013-01-22

Update 2013-01-25 9:48 AM: fixed an error and added some further detail. -jsq
Citing unspecified sources of information about water rights, the Lowndes County Commission voted to move to a hearing to abandon a road to a river they didn’t name, but which happens to be: the Alapaha River (it was named this time). This was at the Regular Session of 22 January 2013. See also the Work Session the morning of the same day.

7.b. Abandonment of a portion of Old State Road (CR 16)

County Engineer Mike Fletcher describe the case like this:

Georgia Statute says that for an initial determination that the section of county road has for any reason ceased to be used by the public to the extent that no substantial public purpose is served by it, or that its removal from the county road system is in the public’s best interest. And just to remind you, as we spoke yesterday, the bridge that goes across the Alapaha River has been washed out; it has not been replaced, so there is no access across the river to Lanier County.

Commissioner Demarcus Marshall remarked that this same item had been voted down 26 October 2010(?). Chairman Bill Slaughter asserted that the applicant had previously gotten permission to close the road and was merely asking to extend the length; he was corrected by staff (I think by County Manager Joe Pritchard) saying no, it wasn’t approved. Why doesn’t staff brief the Commission and the public on the history of a case like this when it comes up again?

Commissioner Joyce Evans said

It was not approved because of different circumstances. I think during that time, Mr. Fletcher, you researched it all and you got the information that we needed. And that was the reason it was not approved; we didn’t have the information that we needed about the water rights. Since then we have received that.

County Engineer Mike Fletcher added:

This is not considered a navigable waterway, so therefore Mr. Connell owns the bottom of the riverbed, so his property actually goes into the river, and not to the high water mark.

Marshall said he’d heard from a constituent Continue reading →