Tag Archives: Ashley Tye

Chemical leak next to Lowndes County Schools Transportation Department

Update 2017-11-05:
Word from EMA Lowndes, and how about ask the company that adopted Clay Road?

Already heard about last night on facebook,
a chemical leak on Clay Rosd at Howell Road is
next to the Lowndes County Schools Transportation Department.
Were all those school buses affected?


Google Street View, SE Corner Clay and Howell Roads

Photo:

Google street view.

Valdosta Daily Times, 3 November 2017,

Chemical leak reported off Clay Road,

VALDOSTA — Lowndes County officials said late Friday a
possible chemical leak located in the vicinity of Clay Road resulted
in temporary road closures.

Sheriff Ashley Paulk said Continue reading →

Videos: Seago back again, road crossing closures, CDBG, GEMA, and public safety radios @ LCC 2017-01-23



Lowndes County had no fatailities or major injuries from the recent storm,
but our neighbors to the west and north were not so lucky,

reported Emergency Management Director Ashley Tye.
They vote tonight at 5:30 PM on
is no longer on
the agenda,
but not on the

Seago rezoning,
because the applicant withdrew it.
They can talk about
CDBG funding,
because of “all the circumstances”, namely that the county is feuding
with all the cities in the county about tax distribution,
and can’t apply for any state or federal grants until that is resolved.
They

adjourned to executive session to discuss litigation:
does that mean they’re going to sue the cities about tax distribution
all the way to the Georgia Supreme Court again?

Below are Continue reading →

Seago back again, road crossing closures, CDBG, GEMA, and public safety radios @ LCC 2017-01-23



This morning at 8:30 AM
we’ll probably hear a storm report from Emergency Management Director Ashley Tye.
And back on the agenda for the third time,

REZ-2016-21 Seago, 4678 US Hwy 41 S,
still trying to buy a bit of adjoining land to get up to the minimum acreage:
see
the LAKE videos of the previous regular session, which link to all the previous stuff.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS

PROPOSED AGENDA

WORK SESSION, MONDAY, JANUARY 23, 2017, 8:30 a.m.

REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, JANUARY 24, 2017, 5:30 p.m.

327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor

Continue reading →

Videos: Water, VSU bonds, 3 road abandonments, 1 widening, MIDS bus, Comprehensive Plan @ LCC 2016-10-11



Two weeks ago,

County Manager Joe Pritchard announced that
Commissioner Joyce Evans is now serving as Vice Chairman,
yes, the
resolution to approve the VSU bonds
was requested by the
South Regional Joint Development Authority (SRJDA),
and

John Stevens is the new VDT reporter.

Citizen Shirley Moore said she’d like a connection to
county water and sewer.
They tabled the

Comprehensive Plan update, apparently because the Commissioners wanted to
“dig into it deeper”.

The rest was mostly approving what they
already discussed the previous morning.
They meet again Monday morning.

Below are links to each LAKE video with a few notes, followed by a video playlist.

Continue reading →

Videos: Art, hurricane, engineering reports, VSU bonds, 3 road abandonments, 1 widening, MIDS bus, Comprehensive Plan @ LCC 2016-10-10



The Sabal Trail fracked methane pipeline and others already in the county
came up in the

Comprehensive Plan approval discussion, as you can see in these
LAKE Videos from Monday morning; they vote tonight 5:30 PM.

Stephen Spradley and Georgia Forestry
were still helping after Hurricane Matthew,
but

Ashley Tye reported on evacuees,
Chad McLeod

reported on engineering projects including the Naylor Boat Ramp at the Alapaha River,
and
Angela Crance reported on

an art district; actually Buddy Boswell did that.

They also heard about a

self storage rezoning,
three

road abandonments, a

road widening, the annual

MIDS bus service renewal,
and
a

county resolution about bonds for another private LLC by the

South Regional Joint Development Authority (SRJDA),
different from the one

with the public hearing October 21st at a private law firm.
What does the resolution say?
It’s not in the documents with
the agenda.

Below are links to each LAKE video with a few notes, followed by a video playlist. Continue reading →

Videos: 3 appointments, 1 well public hearing, Withlacoochee River Flood Map @ LCC 2016-07-12



They tabled the

Withlacoochee River Flood Inundation Map Project,
which is better than rejecting the idea of spending $40,000 to match Valdosta
for a composite 50% match for a USGS grant.

As expected from the previous morning, they appointed
Chairman Bill Slaughter to the
South Georgia Community Service Board, after he got that board to change the time of its meetings to be different from this Commission’s time.

They approved the
REZ-2016-12 Salami, 3320 Bemiss Rd community well for a home school science facility.

Below are links to each LAKE video of the Monday June 12th 2016
Lowndes County Commission
Regular Session, followed by a video playlist.
See also

the LAKE videos of the previous morning’s Work Session,
and

the agenda.

Here’s

a video playlist:



Videos: 3 appointments, 1 well public hearing, Withlacoochee River Flood Map

Regular Session, Lowndes County Commission (LCC),

Video by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE),

Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, July 12, 2016.

-jsq

Videos: 3 appointments, 1 well public hearing, Withlacoochee River Flood Map @ LCC 2016-07-11



They vote Tuesday 5:30 PM.
Monday morning at the Work Session,
after some resistance from a Commissioner, surprisingly Chairman Bill Slaughter
argued for

paying the $40,000 to match Valdosta on the LiDAR flood maps
to prevent loss of life and property damage.
He even said “folks that live in our cities are Lowndes County Citizens as well.”

Emergency Management Director Ashley Tye
answered questions the Commissioners didn’t think to ask about Continue reading →

3 appointments, 1 well public hearing, Withlacoochee River Flood Map @ LCC 2016-07-11

Monday morning,
will Lowndes County match Valdosta with
$40,000 for LiDAR for the
Withlacoochee River Flood Inundation Map Project?
They vote Tuesday 5:30 PM.



A bit more information about the
REZ-2016-12 Salami, 3320 Bemiss Rd community well for a home school science facility;
see also

the LAKE video of the June 27th 2016 Planning Commission review
of this rezoning request.

No explanation of why there’s a vacancy on the
South Georgia Community Service Board
nor why Chairman Bill Slaughter is who they’re going to appoint.
Reappointing Randall Crews to the
Valdosta- Lowndes County Construction Board of Adjustments and Appeals
and
Paul Alvarado
to the
Valdosta/Lowndes County Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBOA). Continue reading →

Mutual aid, Variance, Remerton Mills Quitclaim @ RCC 2016-04-04

Only the smoke stack remains, yet Remerton Mills still took up most of the


Remerton City Council agenda when Gretchen videoed there this month.
The Humane Society wants to house dogs temporarily and house an adoption site for cats. This also requires a variance.
Yes, apparently Remerton has more room for animals than Valdosta.

Here are links to the LAKE videos of each item, from the
agenda.
Also notice Remerton has Citizens to Be Heard first, like
both Lowndes County and Valdosta used to have only a few years ago. Continue reading →

Videos: Planning Meeting, Lowndes County Commission @ LCC 2016-02-04



Suing local businesses

helps run up fees to the county attorney, says County Manager Joe Pritchard.
He didn’t mention that continuing to promote sprawl for example through the county’s thoroughfare plan also runs up fees that property taxes will never meet.
Commissioners seemed

very concerned about “stakeholders” whom they said were “the development community, the real estate community” and “the construction and homebuilder industries”.
Maybe somewhere they mentioned the agricultural and forestry industries,
or sales tax payers even if they don’t own real estate; if so I missed it.
At least they’re thinking about the Comprehensive Plan
and the general direction of the county in a public forum.
And the County Planner did talk about quality of life.
Plus it seems business prospects bringing that up got the attention of the County Manager.
They said they have a responsiblity to set the direction of the county.
How about instead of continuing to drive sprawl outwards,
which is a fiscally (and environmentally) irresponsible path,
turn to directing development to be more dense in already-developed areas?
They continue this morning at 8:30 AM, and Gretchen is there again with the LAKE video camera.

Here’s
the agenda
followed by links to each LAKE video with a few notes.
See also two previous pictures.

We are looking forward to the improved communication that was touted in the VDT headline.
Jason Stewart, VDT, 4 February 2016,

Slaughter wants to strengthen communication, Continue reading →