That was
Ashley Paulk, Chairman of the Lowndes County Commission (LCC),
talking at the Lowndes County Democratic Party (LCDP) monthly meeting
about T-SPLOST.
Ashley Paulk, Chairman of the Lowndes County Commission (LCC),
explains T-SPLOST (HB 277) and the Transportation Investment Act of 2010
at the monthly meeting of the Lowndes County Democratic Party (LCDP),
Gretchen Quarterman (Chair), Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia.
Video by John S. Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.
Gretchen Quarterman, Chair of the Lowndes County Democratic Party (LCDP),
thanks
Corey Hull of VLMPO and says the next speaker will give us
some inside knowledge about T-SPLOST.
Ashley Paulk, Chairman of the Lowndes County Commission (LCC)
is not a fan of T-SPLOST.
He says:
Y’all know I’m on the executive committee, so I guess I should be a salesman.
But I’m sorry.
Y’all know me pretty well, I’ve got to really be
not just a little bit correct,
but it’s got to be good for the people.
I think what disturbs me,
is when you’ve got to put something in the law that’s a stick,
carrot and stick,
you don’t do what I’ve said you’re going to get punished.
Public meetings will be held in August and September before the
regional transportation roundtable meets before
October 15th; that’s what their deadline is to vote….
The referendum will be in the summer of 2012 … July or August 2012….
Corey Hull of the Valdosta-Lowndes County Metropolitan Planning Organization (VLMPO)
explains T-SPLOST (HB 277) and the Transportation Investment Act of 2010
at the monthly meeting of the Lowndes County Democratic Party (LCDP),
Gretchen Quarterman (Chair), Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia.
Video by John S. Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.
Part 1: T-SPLOST Explained —Corey Hull of VLMPO at LCDP
Part 2:
T-SPLOST Business plan —Corey Hull of VLMPO at LCDP
Part 3: T-SPLOST Project Lists —Corey Hull of VLMPO at LCDP
Part 4:
T-SPLOST Penalties and LMIG —Corey Hull of VLMPO at LCDP
Part 5: T-SPLOST Projects to GDOT —Corey Hull of VLMPO at LCDP
Corey Hull of VLMPO explains that next they go to GDOT and then back.
On April 13th we have to turn those projects in to the Georgia
Department of Transportation.
…
On June 1st or thereabouts, the executive committee that
Chairman Paulk is on is gonna receive the unconstrained project list.
It won’t be … constrained to the amount of money the economists
say we will receive.
…
It is that executive committee’s responsibility
to go through and select projects and select the projects off
that we can afford for the region.
Corey Hull of the Valdosta-Lowndes County Metropolitan Planning Organization (VLMPO)
explains T-SPLOST (HB 277) and the Transportation Investment Act of 2010
at the monthly meeting of the Lowndes County Democratic Party (LCDP),
Gretchen Quarterman (Chair), Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia.
Video by John S. Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.
If the regional transportation roundtable does not agree on a list
to present to the voters by October 15th of 2011,
then each jurisdiction in this region must match their
Local Maintenance and Improvement Grant … at a rate of 50%.
That’s
Local Maintenance and Improvement Grant Program (LMIG).
So if they get $100,000 from LMIG they’ll have to match that with $50,000.
This will affect smaller communities the most, since they use the
most LMIG funds proportionally.
And the most likely way to raise the funds to match is to raise property taxes.
So what if there is a list on the ballot but the voters vote it down?
Continue reading →
Scott Orenstein made a very good point at the end of the 7 March 2011
Valdosta City Council meeting:
…spirit of concern and participation in the community.
I’d just like the videographer to pan around and see how many
people are still here at the conclusion of the meeting.
And then talk about their true concern for the community.
Are they really concerned
when they get up and leave in the middle of the meeting?
Regular monthly meeting of the Valdosta City Council (VCC),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 7 April 2011,
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.
The mayor re-opened Citizens to Be Heard at the end of the meeting
so
Continue reading →
Regular monthly meeting of the Valdosta City Council (VCC),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 7 April 2011,
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.
Adjournment!
Little joke there.
But adjournment is not the end of interacting with the city government at a city council meeting.
For example,
Council Deidra White stopped on the steps of City Hall
to talk to people.
Three people were there.
All of us lived in the county outside Valdosta.
Not a single person who lives in Valdosta stayed
to talk to her.
Among other things, she said she thought she made clear at the end of
the last Council meeting that the mayor didn’t speak for her.
That was at the end of the meeting, in the
“Council Comments” item on the agenda.
However, apparently nobody stayed to hear that, either.
The 75% pot of T-SPLOST funds is what the project lists recently
submitted by Lowndes County
and the City of Valdosta are about,
according to
Corey Hull, continuing his presentation on T-SPLOST at the Lowndes County
Democratic Party (LCDP) meeting.
Those are projects of regional significance
that the local jurisdictions want the voters to actually
vote on that project.
The other 25% goes to local jurisdictions, like this:
Corey Hull of the Valdosta-Lowndes County Metropolitan Planning Organization (VLMPO)
explains T-SPLOST (HB 277) and the Transportation Investment Act of 2010
at the monthly meeting of the Lowndes County Democratic Party (LCDP),
Gretchen Quarterman (Chair), Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia.
Video by John S. Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.
The plan identifies
$35 billion to meet the needs in Georgia today.
However, $72 billion are needed to meet the transportation
needs to sustain Georgia’s economy into the future.
Of course, that’s according to the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT),
which notoriously is not interested in trains or other mass transit:
if it’s not a road or a road bridge, forget it.
Continuing:
And $1 billion is needed here in Lowndes County.
Lowndes County’s transportation plan through the
Metropolitan Planning Organization
has about a billion dollars in projects.
He says there’s a lot more to learn,
T-SPLOST has got a good regional executive committee,
etc., but:
