Tag Archives: Dean Poling

Videos: New Library Board, Wisenbaker Rd rezoning, communications tower in Langdale Park, Pre-Disaster Logistics, Juvenile Justice, Lift Station Bypass @ LCC Regular 2026-07-14

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Update 2026-07-25: Packet: Comprehensive Plan Update, Appointments to VLPRA and Library Board, Road Resurfacing and Widening @ LCC 2026-07-27. Plus, “There will be an information sharing session to address data center ordinance considerations following the adjournment of the regular meeting.”

They voted separately on each of the nine posts on the reconstituted Library Board, and appointed someone to each. They ended up with one applicant left over somehow. This was the Lowndes County Commission in their Regular Session of Tuesday, July 14, 2026, where they also unanimously approved everything else.

Including the one actual rezoning, 6a. REZ-2026-14 Ray Colding, 6808 Wisenbaker Rd., Lake Park, ~8.5ac, M-1 & R-A to M-2, County Water and Septic.

https://youtu.be/u67fzIz5f_A?si=H-5SvDlHxdsPEny3

And of course they unanimously approved this in Langdale Park, 6.b. TWR-2026-02 Bermuda Run, New 159′ Telecommunications Tower near North Valdosta Road and Hyta Mederer Drive.

https://youtu.be/Yn_jbG5uM0g?si=TPgg7XvhVyEKR3EK

I did speak against it, and I pointed out they still weren’t in conformance with the ULDC, at least because the existing tower locations are not in VALORGIS. But they approved it anyway.

[Collage @ LCC Regular 2026-07-14]
Collage @ LCC Regular 2026-07-14

County Manager Paige Dukes in her Reports called on Fire Chief Billy Young, who called on someone else to explain grants they had recently applied for, and they got some.

https://studio.youtube.com/video/7UYGpYf1-Zc/edit

She also had EMA Director Ashley Tye about changes of policy at GEMA that affect hurricane disaster recovery centers. FEMA will no longer provide that service. The county would have to do that: building, setup, staffing, equipment.

https://youtu.be/893tG8BrjYw?si=KLJoce54y8Cjh2mR

Datacenters

The County Manager kicked off the now-traditional datacenter discussion at the end of her Report. She said the county staff were still working on a datacenter ordinance, and were taking advantage of work other locations had done in environmental, legal, and other studies. She noted there was still no application for a datacenter. I hope the county doesn’t wait around until there is one, after which any ordinance or moratorium they passed would not apply to that application.

https://youtu.be/pUmHRF7yfNE?si=GWOn-Iy9wUjTjHK2

Five Citizens were Heard about datacenters: Continue reading →

Videos: New Library Board, Wisenbaker Rd rezoning, communications tower in Langdale Park, Pre-Disaster Logistics, Juvenile Justice, Lift Station Bypass @ LCC Work 2026-07-14

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Not on the agenda for that Tuesday morning Work Session, Chairman Bill Slaughter introduced the new Executive Director of Legacy Behavioral Health, Paivi Parssinen. The LBH website says her title is Chief Executive Officer.

County Manager Paige Dukes said a bit more about obstacles to such care, in her County Manager Report.

[Collage of LCC Work, 2026-07-14 --LAKE]
Collage of LCC Work, 2026-07-14 –LAKE

They rotate the Vice-Chair seat. It just moved from Scottie Orenstein to Mark Wisenbaker.

On the Minutes for Approval, Chairman Bill Slaughter forgot that the Regular Session was for later that same Tuesday evening because the Work Session had been moved from Monday to Tuesday for reasons they never made public.

County Manager Paige Dukes explained the complicated staggered nine board slots for the revamped Lowndes County Library System Board of Trustees. At least two of the applicants were actually present.

There was some discussion about merging the current split zoning on 6.a. REZ-2026-14 Ray Colding, 6808 Wisenbaker Rd., ~8.5ac, M-1 & R-A to M-2.

Once again the County Planner presented slides that were not in the board packet for 6.b. WR-2026-02 New 159′ Telecommunications Tower in Langdale Park: tower inventory and why Verizon says they can’t cover what this tower could. See Propagation maps.

Cities in the county can participate if they want to, in 7.a. Award of Pre-Event Disaster Logistics Support Services Contracts.

Utilities Director Steve Stalvey continues to stay ahead of potential sewage spills, with 7.c. Lift Station Bypass Pump Request for Proposal.

Here is a YouTube playlist of the LAKE videos of each agenda item, with a few notes by Gretchen Quarterman.

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLBUxmZO8Jk-I&si=KsvfRMuC0MnJKlBG Continue reading →

Packet: New Library Board, Wisenbaker Rd rezoning, communications tower in Langdale Park, Pre-Disaster Logistics, Juvenile Justice, Lift Station Bypass @ LCC 2026-07-14

Update 2026-07-20: Videos: New Library Board, Wisenbaker Rd rezoning, communications tower in Langdale Park, Pre-Disaster Logistics, Juvenile Justice, Lift Station Bypass @ LCC Work 2026-07-14.

Here are the board packet materials for the Work Session and Regular Session, both tomorrow, Tuesday, July 14, 2026, of the Lowndes County Commission.

About the communications tower in Langdale Park, the packet still does not include the Propagation maps that are required by ULDC 5.05.05.B and 5.05.05.E; see Verizon tower in Langdale Park? @ GLPC 2026-06-29.

[Packet: New Library Board, Wisenbaker Rd rezoning, communications tower in Langdale Park, Pre-Disaster Logistics, Juvenile Justice, Lift Station Bypass @ LCC 2026-07-14]
Packet: New Library Board, Wisenbaker Rd rezoning, communications tower in Langdale Park, Pre-Disaster Logistics, Juvenile Justice, Lift Station Bypass @ LCC 2026-07-14

How are the County Commissioners supposed to decide without all the evidence, this “quasi-judicial decision whether the standards for a telecommunications tower in Section 5.05.05 of the ULDC are met”?

The agenda sheet says, “At the Planning Commission, the applicant’s representative spoke in support, while one citizen spoke in opposition, claiming that inadequate information was available to the GLPC for their consideration. Staff presented the information to the GLPC, who found it sufficient to recommend approval (7-2).”

If the information presented to the Planning Commission was sufficient, why does this County Commission packet include an additional signed and sealed letter from an engineer, which says, “As part of the proposed telecommunications site listed above, we are designing the site in compliance with the Section 5.05.04 (A) of the Lowndes County, Georgia Land Development Code….”

That would appear to satisfy the letter of ULDC 5.05.05.E. Unfortunately, it may not be accurate.

I still don’t see any of these points addressed:

  • An inventory in VALORGIS of the applicant’s existing towers or alternative tower structures. See ULDC 5.05.05.B.2
  • An argument for why Langdale Park would not be a “historic district” or a “scenic view corridor.” See 5.05.05.G.5
  • An argument for why hiking trails cleared by numerous citizens would not be public rights of way. See 5.05.05.I.I. and the Right-of-Way definition on page 1-25.
Continue reading →

Agenda: New Library Board, Wisenbaker Rd rezoning, communications tower in Langdale Park, Pre-Disaster Logistics, Juvenile Justice, Lift Station Bypass @ LCC 2026-07-14

Update 2026-07-13: Packet: New Library Board, Wisenbaker Rd rezoning, communications tower in Langdale Park, Pre-Disaster Logistics, Juvenile Justice, Lift Station Bypass @ LCC 2026-07-14.

Tuesday evening the Lowndes County Commission will decide on a communications tower in Langdale Park.

They will also completely reconstitute the Library Board. “The Constitution of the Lowndes County Library System was amended in March 2026 to conform with Georgia law.” So they’re making a new nine (9) person board, for which these nine Lowndes County residents wish to apply: William Booth, Dr. Elveta Miller, Dr. Kendal Crawford, Greg Moore, Dean Poling, Debra Carruth, Jane Peeples, Gary Wisenbaker, and Mary Beth Brownlee. Their terms will all start on July 1, 2026, with staggered end dates: two in 2027, three in 2028, and three in 2029, all ending on June 30.

[Agenda: New Library Board, Wisenbaker Rd rezoning, communications tower in Langdale Park, Pre-Disaster Logistics, Juvenile Justice, Lift Station Bypass @ LCC 2026-07-14]
Agenda: New Library Board, Wisenbaker Rd rezoning, communications tower in Langdale Park, Pre-Disaster Logistics, Juvenile Justice, Lift Station Bypass @ LCC 2026-07-14

I know this because if on https://lowndescounty.com/AgendaCenter you click Download for the July 14, 2026, agenda, and select PDF, the result has links to the agenda sheets. For each sheet, if you refresh your screen you get an image of that page.

Why get them that way? Because if you select HTML or Packet, only the agenda proper has content. All the agenda sheet pages are blank.

Also, I set the wrong date to send an open records request for the board packet, so that only went out today.

If the county simply put the entire PDF of the board packet on its own website, as many other counties smaller and larger have been doing for years, nobody would have to go through this rigamarole.

I did find advertisement for the RFP for L8400.075 Pump Station Improvements and that is included here.

The files I got are on the LAKE website. Images of each page are below, even the blank pages.

Here is the agenda.

For the two Public Hearing items, the Wisenbaker Road rezoning and the communications tower in Langdale Park, see also the LAKE videos of the preceding Planning Commission meeting.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, TUESDAY, JULY 14, 2026, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, JULY 14, 2026, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor

Continue reading →

Videos: 2 of 4 Presentations, 4 Appointments, 2 Rezonings, 1 Dec. Lighting, 16 For Consideration, 1 Pump Station Upgrade @ LCC Regular 2025-12-09

Could be a record: an hour and 14 minutes for Tuesday’s Lowndes County Commission Regular Session.

After many months, they had Recognition of return of Commissioner Joyce Evans. She is clearly still recovering from her medical issues, but Commissioner Demarcus Marshall wheeled her in. She didn’t say anything then, but, then, she seldom does. She did thank them at the end of the meeting.

[Collage @ LCC 9 December 2025]
Collage @ LCC 9 December 2025

The did not reappoint incumbent Tommy Willis to the Planning Commission. Instead they appointed John “Mac” McCall by a vote of 3-2. As near as I can tell, Commissioners Mark Wisenbaker and Demarcus Marshall were the 2.

By acclamation they reappointed incumbent Felicia Williams to the Lowndes County Board Of Assessors. Nobody even nominated Gretchen Quarterman. Ms. Williams later spoke about the Tax Commissioners in Citizens Wishing to Be Heard (CWTBH).

Mr. Gary Wisenbaker was appointed to the Lowndes County Library Board after he recused himself from the vote.

The seat reserved for Wild Adventures on the Valdosta-Lowndes County Conference Center And Tourism Authority had a new WA General Manager appointed: Donald Spiller III.

The meeting length was because of many agenda items, some postponed from last month, some because there’s only one Regular Session in each of November and December, and some year-end items.

The only item that took more than ten minutes was Continue reading →

Videos: 4 Presentations, 4 Appointments, 2 Rezonings, 1 Dec. Lighting, 16 For Consideration, 1 Pump Station Upgrade @ LCC Work 2025-12-08

Monday morning’s Work Session took 55 minutes, despite many measures to power through it.

They vote tomorrow (Tuesday) evening at 5:30 PM.

[Collage @ LCC 8 December 2025]
Collage @ LCC 8 December 2025

Lowndes County Chairman Bill Slaughter said two of the presentations would be made Tuesday evening at the Regular Session. Ditto for the appointments to four boards.

They did spend almost nine minutes on 7.b. REZ-2025-16 2480 Copeland Rd, ~18ac, R-10/C To R-10, for example about ingress and egress.

And almost six minutes on 8.k. 2026 Public Defender Contracts, which they moved to the front of section 8 because the presenter had to get to another appointment.

Plus more than three minutes each on three other items.

If I heard correctly, 8.g. Transportation Investment Act (TIA) Val Del Road Widening, they’re going to four-lane at least part of Val Del Road.

They said the reason 8.h. Design-Build Contract For Lowndes County Animal Shelter. took this long because of requiring the contractor to stay within a tight budget.

Commissioners had some cost questions about 8.o. Motorola Migration Assurance Plan (MAP).

Below are links to each LAKE video of each agenda item, with a few notes by Gretchen Quarterman, followed by a LAKE video playlist.

See also the Continue reading →

Packet: 4 Presentations, 4 Appointments, 2 Rezonings, 1 Dec. Lighting, 16 For Consideration, 1 Pump Station Upgrade @ LCC 2025-12-08

Update 2025-12-08: Videos: 4 Presentations, 4 Appointments, 2 Rezonings, 1 Dec. Lighting, 16 For Consideration, 1 Pump Station Upgrade @ LCC Work 2025-12-08.

Many people have asked when this would happen. 8.h. Design-Build Contract for Lowndes County Animal Shelter is to award a contract to Kellerman Construction, Inc.

“The breakdown for the contract is $450,000.00 for sitework, $4,050,000.00 for construction, $200,000.00 for contingency, and $300,000.00 for Architectural & Engineering. If approved, the design process will begin immediately and the Design-Builder will submit a final proposal for construction to Lowndes County for approval in April 2026.”

That firm was selected out of seven proposals by a scoring process.

[Collage, LCC Packet 2025-12-08]
Collage, LCC Packet 2025-12-08

For 9.a. LAS Pump Station Upgrade they’re upgrading from 3 to 4 pumps at the Land Application Site (LAS), plus adding a backup generator.

Last month the Lowndes County Commission tabled appointments to two boards, Library and Planning Commission. This month they will appoint to those and also to the Board of Tax Assessors.

They also postponed a rezoning on Copeland Road. This month it’s back, plus one on Shiloh Road.

For 6.a. Greater Lowndes Planning Commission, the term of Tommy Willis expired. He and John McCall want to be appointed.

For 6.b. Lowndes County Board of Assessors, the term of Felicia Williams expired. She and Gretchen Quarterman want to be appointed.

For 6.c. Lowndes County Library Board, Catherine Ammons resigned after she resigned as Valdosta Assistant City Manager. Kendal Crawford, Dean Poling, and Gary Wisenbaker want to be appointed.

Last month they postponed 7.b. REZ-2025-16 Copeland Road Subdivision, 2480 Copeland Rd, ~18ac, County Utilities, R-10/c to R-10 because of an error in the advertisement, so it’s on the agenda for December.

Plus 7.c. REZ-2025-17 Shiloh Road, ~8.2 ac 6641 Shiloh Road, E-A to R-A, Well & Septic, which the Planning Commission heard at its most recent meeting.

This week the Commissioners will consider about $15.5 million in the items on the agenda. Some of that is paid via state or federal grants. The biggest item (MAP) is split over five years. The next most expensive item, the Animal Shelter, comes from SPLOST. Then the LAS upgrades come from federal ARPA money. But the insurance payments appear to come out of the general fund, i.e., property taxes. The power line relocation comes from TSPLOST, i.e., another penny sales tax. Continue reading →

Videos: Appointments to Planning Commission & Library Board, Copeland Road rezoning, Holiday and meeting schedule, Jumping Gully Road Bridge over Bevel Creek @ LCC Regular 2025-11-12

Update 2025-12-06: Packet: 4 Presentations, 4 Appointments, 2 Rezonings, 1 Dec. Lighting, 16 For Consideration, 1 Pump Station Upgrade @ LCC 2025-12-08.

At their Regular Session, the Lowndes County Commission tabled all the appointments, both to the Planning Commission and to the Library Board. As mentioned in the Work Session, they postponed the Copeland Road rezoning due to an error in advertising it. All those items will be heard in December, because in November and December they only have one meeting each month, working around the winter holidays.

They did unanimously approve the holiday and meeting schedules. And they approved 8.a. Local Bridge Replacement Project 0019937 Jumping Gully Road at Bevel Creek, although as For Consideration, since it is not a bid.

Both of these two meetings were on Wednesday because of the Memorial Day Holiday: the Work Session at 8:30 PM and the Regular Session at 5:30 PM of the Lowndes County Commission.

[Collage @ LCC Regular Session 12 November 2025]
Collage @ LCC Regular Session 12 November 2025

Below are links to each LAKE video of each agenda item, with a few comments by Gretchen Quarterman, followed by a LAKE video playlist.

See the Continue reading →

Videos: Appointments to Planning Commission & Library Board, Copeland Road rezoning, Holiday and meeting schedule, Jumping Gully Road Bridge over Bevel Creek @ LCC Work 2025-11-12

Update 2025-11-26: Videos: Appointments to Planning Commission & Library Board, Copeland Road rezoning postponed, Holiday and meeting schedule, Jumping Gully Road Bridge over Bevel Creek @ LCC Regular 2025-11-12.

Looks like they’re going to postpone the Copeland Road rezoning due to an error in advertising it. So that will be heard in December, because in November and December they only have one meeting each month, working around the winter holidays.

They’re also moving 8.a. Local Bridge Replacement Project 0019937 Jumping Gully Road at Bevel Creek on the agenda to be For Consideration, since it is not a bid.

Both of these two meetings were on Wednesday because of the Memorial Day Holiday: the Work Session at 8:30 PM and the Regular Session at 5:30 PM of the Lowndes County Commission.

[Collage @ LCC Work Session 12 November 2025]
Collage @ LCC Work Session 12 November 2025

Below are links to each LAKE video of each agenda item, with a few comments by Gretchen Quarterman, followed by a LAKE video playlist.

See also the agenda and the board packet, received in response to a LAKE open records request.

For the rezoning case, see also the preceding Planning Commission meeting. Continue reading →

Packet: Appointments to Planning Commission & Library Board, Copeland Road rezoning, Holiday and meeting schedule, Jumping Gully Road Bridge over Bevel Creek @ LCC 2025-11-12

Both meetings are on Wednesday this week because of the Memorial Day Holiday: the Work Session at 8:30 PM and the Regular Session at 5:30 PM of the Lowndes County Commission.

[Collage, LCC Packet, 2025-11-12]
Collage, LCC Packet, 2025-11-12

Here is the agenda.

They’ve got a rezoning asking for conditions to be removed from the Copeland Road subdivision, appointments to two boards (Planning and Library), a bridge replacement on Jumping Gully Road over Bevel Creek, and the 2026 Holiday Schedule and Commission Meeting Calendar.

Turns out that when Catherine Ammons resigned as Valdosta Assistant City Manager, she also quit the Lowndes County Library Board. Three people want to replace her.

The board packet, received in response to a LAKE open records request, is on the LAKE website. Images of each page are below.

For the rezoning case, see also the preceding Planning Commission meeting.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2025, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2025, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor

Continue reading →