They actually
increased the Industrial Authority’s millage to 1.1 mil,
above its historic rate of 1 mil.
This was not discussed in the preceding Budget Hearings,
nor I think even in the previous morning’s Work Session.
They unanimously approved that and everything else on the agenda.
Chairman Bill Slaughter
added an item to the agenda, for
5.j. Appointment – Community Service Board – must be elected official.
They appointed Commissioner Demarcus Marshall.
You may recall that on May 27, 2025
they appointed Commissioner Joyce Evans to this board.
She was absent at that meeting, and has been absent from every Lowndes County
Commission meeting since then.
Since she has not made public why, I will not say, other than that her absences are not because she does not want to be there.
County Manager Paige Dukes had three staff give reports at the end
of this Regular Session:
Only twelve minutes for the Lowndes County Commission to consider millages, taxes, lawsuit claims, and a quit claim,
at their Work Session yesterday morning.
Here are LAKE videos of each agenda item, with a few notes by Gretchen Quarterman,
followed by a LAKE video playlist.
We don’t have the board packet, because I forgot to send in the open records request until the other day.
It is still mysterious why Lowndes County does not publish its board packets on its own website, like many counties larger and smaller have done for years in Georgia and Florida. Continue reading →
Much to the surprise of the several dozen opponents of the Dollar General rezoning,
and even after the DG developer attorney attempted to tell his version of the Lowndes County Commission’s legal responsibilities,
all the Commissioners voted to deny the rezoning.
The audience laughed at the Dollar General’s offer of an “enhanced facade,”
as conveyed by County Planner JD Dillard.
Even after Chairman Bill Slaughter limited each side to ten minutes,
the opposition gave excellent summaries.
Heath Dawson, who is the nearest neighbor to the north and a commercial banker,
attested Continue reading →
The second-longest item at the Lowndes County Commission Work Session this morning
was the proposed rezoning for a Dollar General at GA 122 and Skipper Bridge Road,
slightly uphill from the Withlacoochee River.
They vote tonight at 5:30 PM.
You can still call your Commissioner or send email,
or speak in the Public Hearing this evening.
The
two
subdivision infrastructure acceptances
on or near Val Del Road remind us all of what happens when the county
pushes development onto a road, as they did back in 2007 by running water and sewer to Nelson Hill on Val Del Road.
The longest item at almost three minutes was
7.c. Special Assessment Rate for 2023,
which has to be set every year, even though it hasn’t been used in decades.
About the rezoning, County Planner JD Dillard said another letter opposing the rezoning had been received,
from someone about three quarters of a mile north on Skipper Bridge,
but he did not say who it was nor what they wrote.
For no apparent reason, he put up a map showing nearest distances to residences. Continue reading →
They will also decide on
reappointing Brad Folsom to the
Valdosta-Lowndes County Development Authority.
interest rate for paving and utility assessments,
authorization for D.A. to accept federal VOCA grant funds.
and the only thing listed as costing money: server blades replacing those at end of life.
Reminding us
what happens when the development camel gets its head under the agriculture and forestry tent,
there are two acceptances of subdivision infrastructure over on and near Val Del Road,
some of the numerous developments since the county ran water and sewer to Nelson Hill on Val Del.
Meanwhile, Dollar General does not seem to know where its stores are,
and the lot layout it submitted is not binding,
yet we should trust them to handle wetlands appropriately, just uphill of Poley Creek and the Withlacoochee River? Continue reading →
The Commissioners unanimously denied the rezoning for the
subdivision on Miller Bridge Road.
Applicants spoke a minute over their time, yet did not present the slides
they said the previous morning they were going to present;
we include scans of those slides here for historical reference,
for when the next subdivision like this comes up, next week or next year.
Commissioners unanimously approved the other two rezonings.
Commissioner Mark Wisenbaker wanted to know if this was for private wells.
County Planner JD Dillard said the application was for a community well,
and while the lots were big enough for private wells, the soils had
not been tested for that.
Don Powell spoke for the applicant.
Jesse Bush also spoke for, listing many things they were not there to talk about,
including aquifer recharge or community wells.
He said the only question was six homes (which the landowner can do by right anyway) or twelve homes.
Chairman Bill Slaughter cut them off saying he’d given them an extra minute,
and he’d give the other side an extra minute.
Brad Folsom spoke against on behalf of a room full and a 360-signer petition of opponents.
He reminded the Commissioners that the subject property was in an Agricultural and Forestry Character Area.
While R-A was permissible in such an Area, it was not appropriate.
He discussed nearby zonings and lots that had been brought up by staff previously.
Among the many other points he brought up was flooding would be exacerbated by tree cutting and paving for a subdivision.
He reminded the Commissioners that they had told him they did not want any more community well systems.
Somebody else (unnamed, but see below) speaking against said it would be spot zoning.
He said he owned 320 acres and had been there for more than a hundred years.
This rezoning would change the character of the community and would be
a precedent for other rezonings.
He said he owed this community a debt and he would like to repay it.
Elton D. Redding, 7649 Webb Road, representing the Redding property,
John L. Redding his brother.
Demarcus Marshall moved to deny, Mark Wisenbaker seconded, unanimous vote to deny.
Unanimously voted down: Miller Bridge Road subdivision @ LCC 2022-02-08
Lowndes County Commission Regular Session, Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia.
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE),
Lowndes County adheres to Local and State standards when in the Groundwater Recharge Area
Notable Developments in Recharge Area in Lowndes County)
Landfill
Kinderlou Forest and Foxborough Subdivisions
Valdosta Regional Airport
Moody Airforce Base
City of Dasher
City of Lake Park and surrounding area
Lake Park Industrial Park
While probably all these points are true (I haven’t checked each location),
most of them precede current concerns about groundwater recharge,
and there is no need to make the problem worse.
Investigative reporting costs money, for open records requests, copying, web hosting, gasoline, and cameras, and with sufficient funds we can pay students to do further research. You can donate to LAKE today!
The Greater Lowndes Planning Commission unanimously recommended denial of rezoning for
a rezoning on Miller Bridge Road,
outside any appropriate character area,
but one of them frequently suggested trying 2.5-acre lots instead of 1-acre lots.
Another subdivision, on
Rocky Ford Road, which was opposed by the Development Authority,
got a split recommendation for denial, with that same Commissioner abstaining.
The owners spoke for
REZ-2021-28 on Miller Bridge Road,
with the usual insistence that everybody wants to live in the north part of the county and you just can’t stop growth and sprawl. Continue reading →
All of the speakers at the Comprehensive Plan Stakeholder Meeting were
opposed to moving the Suburban Area line farther north on the
Character Area Map.
They presented cogent reasons, such as they live up there and aren’t going to sell,
there are already 750 lots available for sale while it took a decade for Nelson Hill’s 500 lots to sell,
and the county should be looking out for its people and preserving much of the county for the next 50 years.
Most of the Commissioners acted like further development northwest in
the county is a force of nature over which they have no control,
and expressed more concern for developers and investors than for the room
full of people in front of them or the 900 petition signatories opposed.
Here are links to each LAKE video of each speaker with copious notes, followed by a LAKE video playlist.
There was no agenda.
The lowndescounty.com online calendar had only a title,
Comprehensive Plan Stakeholder Meeting, date, time, and place,
with no agenda.
The
draft minutes
are sketchy, omitting key points such as the Dorfman report,
but you can find that report below. Continue reading →
![[Collage @ LCC 26 August 2025]](http://www.l-a-k-e.org/govt/loco/2025-08-26--lcc-regular-videos/many.jpg)
![[Collage @ LCC 25 August 2025]](http://www.l-a-k-e.org/govt/loco/2025-08-25--lcc-work-videos/many.jpg)
![[Collage @ LCC 24 January 2023]](http://www.l-a-k-e.org/govt/loco/2023-01-24--lcc-regular-videos/many.jpg)
![[Collage @ LCC 23 January 2023]](http://www.l-a-k-e.org/govt/loco/2023-01-23--lcc-work-videos/many.jpg)
![[Agenda, Dollar General rezoning]](http://www.l-a-k-e.org/govt/loco/2023-01-23--lcc-packet/many.jpg)
![[WINDY HILL SUBDIVISION, Lowndes County Rezoning Application, REZ-2022-03]](http://www.l-a-k-e.org/govt/loco/2022-02-08--lcc-videos/REZ-2022-03-applicant-slides-0001.jpg)
![[Requested Zoning Change]](http://www.l-a-k-e.org/govt/loco/2022-02-08--lcc-videos/small/REZ-2022-03-applicant-slides-0002.jpg)
![[WINDY HILL SUBDIVISION CHARACTERISTICS]](http://www.l-a-k-e.org/govt/loco/2022-02-08--lcc-videos/small/REZ-2022-03-applicant-slides-0003.jpg)
![[Location of Property]](http://www.l-a-k-e.org/govt/loco/2022-02-08--lcc-videos/small/REZ-2022-03-applicant-slides-0004.jpg)
![[Justification for Zoning Request]](http://www.l-a-k-e.org/govt/loco/2022-02-08--lcc-videos/small/REZ-2022-03-applicant-slides-0005.jpg)
![[Zoning map]](http://www.l-a-k-e.org/govt/loco/2022-02-08--lcc-videos/small/REZ-2022-03-applicant-slides-0006.jpg)
![[OPPOSITION POINTS ADDRESSED (1 of 3)]](http://www.l-a-k-e.org/govt/loco/2022-02-08--lcc-videos/small/REZ-2022-03-applicant-slides-0007.jpg)
![[OPPOSITION POINTS ADDRESSED (2 of 3)]](http://www.l-a-k-e.org/govt/loco/2022-02-08--lcc-videos/small/REZ-2022-03-applicant-slides-0008.jpg)
![[OPPOSITION POINTS ADDRESSED (3 of 3)]](http://www.l-a-k-e.org/govt/loco/2022-02-08--lcc-videos/small/REZ-2022-03-applicant-slides-0009.jpg)
![[Two rezonings recommended against]](http://www.l-a-k-e.org/govt/glpc/2021-11-29--glpc-videos/many.jpg)
![[Comprehensive Plan Update, Crowd, Lowndes County Character Areas, Map of those opposed to changing Character Areas]](http://www.l-a-k-e.org/govt/loco/2021-09-28--lcc-comp-plan-videos/many.jpg)
![[Some crying from the applicants]](http://www.l-a-k-e.org/govt/vlcia/2018-02-07--vlcia-videos/gabeercoshot0009.jpg)
