Tag Archives: Economy

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 →

LAKE meeting Tuesday after County Commission 2016-02-09

County government and local issues: change orders, sole-source contracts, suing local companies, meetings with little notice, going back on their own resolutions, can’t see what they are voting on, and what are their ordinances?


If you want to help, we have a little list of tasks you can do.
And two County Commission seats and the Chair are up for election this year,
plus county school board, sheriff, and a bunch of other offices.

What:
LAKE Meeting

When:
6:15PM Tuesday 9 February 2016

after the

Lowndes County Commission meeting

Where:
Michael’s Deli

1307 N Ashley St.

Valdosta, GA 31601

If you’re on Facebook,
please Like the

LAKE facebook page.
You can sign up for

the meeting event there,
Or just come as you are.

-jsq

Public Hearing, 2016 Comprehensive Plan Update @ SGRC 2016-01-19

Received Friday 5 January 2016:



Subject: Lowndes Comprehensive Plan Kickoff Jan. 19th

The kick-off public hearing for the joint Lowndes County and Cities of
Dasher, Hahira, Lake Park, Remerton, and Valdosta 2016 Comprehensive
Plan Update will be held on:

Tuesday, January 19, 2016, 5:30 p.m.

Lowndes County South Health District Administrative Office

325 W. Savannah Avenue

Valdosta, Georgia

The purpose of this public hearing will be Continue reading →

Videos: Why Emergency bridge fixes? Appoint Tax Assessors? Rush Project Max? @ LCC 2016-01-12




Citizen Billy Rowland complained about poor road grading,
his dogs being shot, and misuse of Knights Ferry Landing on the Withlacoochee River.
Maybe the Commission will listen to what he said this time, at last Tuesday’s Lowndes County Commissioner Regular Session.
Apparently G. Norman Bennett wants Hall Web Road paved for the mile to his house at the Little River, but

Julia Bass,

Ralph Niehenke,
and

Diane Guess
spoke up saying they don’t want it paved.
Commissioner Mark Wisenbaker tried to ask them questions,
but Chairman Bill Slaughter cut him off.
Slaugher did have time earlier fo
an extra announcement of a joint governmental meeting Tuesday morning.
It’s not clear citizens will even get to speak there, much less get questions answered.
See
separate post.

They passed

the resolution to ask the legislature to start the proecess
to appoint rather than elect Lowndes County Tax Assessors.

They already did emergency repairs to
Clyattville Nankin Road Bridge (problem discovered by a local citizen)
and
Jumping Gully Road Bridge (found by GDOT),
and the Commissione approved payment after the fact.
So two more no-bid contracts were let, this time without even a Commission vote before the work was done.

They agreed to the

North Lowndes Park Quitclaim and Custodial Agreement
by which Valdosta-Lowndes Parks & Rec. Authority (VLPRA) takes
charge of some land west of I-75 north of Hahira for a soccer field.

A few citizens spoke about rezoning for the mysterious

Project Max, but of course they passed the rezoning anyway,
even though apparently none of the Commissioners know who the prospective tenant is.

The
Lowndes County Commission agenda
contained quite a few other items as the Commission caught up after the holidays.
See also
the LAKE videos of the previous morning’s Work Session.
Below are links to each LAKE video of the Tuesday evening 12 January 2016 Regular Session, followed by a video playlist. Continue reading →

Videos: Why Emergency bridge fixes? Appoint Tax Assessors? Rush Project Max? @ LCC 2016-01-11



Why did
bridge repairs turn up on the agenda for yesterday morning’s Work Session and tonight’s Regular Session only after problems were reported by citizens (Clyattville Nankin Road) or
GDOT (Jumping Gully Road)?
Also, “>neither GDOT restriping nor county road resurfacing
take into account the complete streets initiative for bike lanes or sidewalks, even though two Commissioners asked about that.
Hm, three Commissioners could vote to require it.

County Clerk didn’t have the

minutes of December’s Work Session ready, so Lowndes County Commissioners will get very little time to review them before voting this evening.

This is the only county in Georgia that does not appoint its Tax Assessors,
and the County Commission is considering
a resolution to ask the General Assembly to start the process to change that.

For hush-hush Project Max, the big-fish container manufacturing plant proposed for Rocky Ford Road,
next to the protected watershed of Mud Swamp and near Valdosta Airport,
see separate post for what little the public (or the Planning Commission) is allowed to know.
Also on
the Lowndes County Commission agenda
for Monday morning and voting Tuesday evening,
are quite a few other items as the Commission catches up after the holidays.

Below are links to each LAKE video of yesterday morning’s Work Session, followed by a video playlist. Continue reading →

Agenda Item for Project Max before County Commission @ LCC 2016-01-11

Here’s the item summary for the hush-hush REZ-2016-01 Project Max

Summary
on Monday morning’s
the Lowndes County Commission agenda,
after the rush-rush
Special Called Planning Commission meeting. -jsq

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS

AGENDA ITEM

SUBJECT: Rezoning Case REZ-2016-01

DATE OF MEETING: January 12th 2016

Regular Meeting (x)

Work Session (x)

Recommendation (x)

Policy/Discussion ( )

Report ( )

BUDGET IMPACT:

FUNDING SOURCE:

( ) Annual ( ) SPLOST ( ) Capital (X) N/A

REZ-2016-01 Project Max, Rocky Ford Rd

E-A to M-2, County Water and Sewer, ~123 acres

ACTION REQUESTED ON:

 

HISTORY, FACTS AND ISSUES:
Continue reading →

Appoint Tax Assessors? Rush Project Max? @ LCC 2016-01-11

Appointing
Tax Assessors will take an act of the legislature and a local referendum to repeal


the 1972 state law that made Lowndes County the only county in Georgia to
elect them, but the Lowndes County Commission Monday morning will consider

a resolution to ask the General Assembly to start that process.
in Lowndes County, subject to approval by voters, so after 1 January 2021 they’d be appointed, not elected.
This is the only county in Georgia that does not appoint its Tax Assessors,
and after

the extremely unusual rural land revaluation last year,
it does seem something needs to be changed.

For hush-hush Project Max, the big-fish container manufacturing plant proposed for Rocky Ford Road,
next to the protected watershed of Mud Swamp and near Valdosta Airport,
see separate post for what little the public (or the Planning Commission) is allowed to know.
Also on
the Lowndes County Commission agenda
for Monday morning and voting Tuesday evening,
bridge repairs on
Clyattville Nankin Road
and
Jumping Gully Road,
and quite a few other items as the Commission catches up after the holidays.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS

PROPOSED AGENDA

WORK SESSION, MONDAY, January 11, 2016,  8:30 a.m.

REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, January 12, 2016, 5:30 p.m.

327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor

Continue reading →

Beneath Woodland, NC solar

There’s more to

the North Carolina solar town story:


they have already approved other solar farms, one of which is almost built,
and they approved the one in question once it was moved to a different location.
And there are real reasons they are concerned about solar farms;
reasons which solar developers can address (unlike pipeline companies).


Snopes reviewed the original story and found it mostly true.
The town of Woodland posted
its own update 14 December 2015,
which clarifies what they were up to, concluding: Continue reading →

First Miller Bus. Park occupant: Nature Nate

An organic food company is the first thing it finally lands,
after trying for years to lure traditional “industrial” businesses to

Miller Business Park, and after the Industrial Authority renamed itself the Development Authority.
Well, go real food!
And congratulations Development Authority!
For more local agriculture, come to

South Georgia Growing Local Saturday 26 February 2016 at Pine Grove Middle School.


VALDOSTA AND LOWNDES COUNTY WELCOMES NATURE NATE’S!:
NATURE NATE’S CHOOSES VALDOSTA GA FOR NEW
HONEY OPERATIONS FACILITY,



Valdosta, Georgia — December 15, 2015—The
Valdosta-Lowndes Development Authority (VLCDA) and Nature Nate’s
announce the expansion of Nature Nate’s honey processing operations
to Valdosta, GA. The project represents a $1.75 million investment,
will create 10 jobs immediately and at least 15 jobs after 36
months.

“We welcome Nature Nate’s as our first tenant within Miller
Business Park and Continue reading →

Planning prevents crises: Eisenhower decisions

A local elected official recently confused “crisis” with “important”.


Yet a crisis is something that is both urgent and important,
and if we spend more time on things that are important and not urgent,
such as planning, we won’t have as many crises.
Instead, the corporate media and social media
would have us spend most time on interruptions that are urgent but not important
(traffic slowdowns or obstructions) or, worse, trivia that is neither urgent nor important
(which celebrities are seeing whom).
This confusion affects everything from attracting jobs to electing candidates to clean air and water.

Dwight D. Eisenhower had a solution:

In a 1954 speech to the Second Assembly of the World Council of
Churches, former U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who was
quoting Dr J. Roscoe Miller, president of Northwestern University,
said: “I have two kinds of problems: the urgent and the important.
The urgent are not important, and the important are never urgent.”
This “Eisenhower Principle” is said to be how he organized his
workload and priorities.

—
Eisenhower’s Urgent/Important Principle:
Using Time Effectively, Not Just Efficiently by Mind Tools; see also Quote Investigator for several variant versions.

Even though it often seems to be forgotten,
this has to be one of the most popular business and personal improvement methods ever, so there are plenty of graphics and explanations.





First Things First, book by Stephen Covey, 1994, described in Wikipedia

Do we really want to spend all our time putting out fires?
If not, maybe we should Continue reading →