Tag Archives: Gretchen Quarterman

Videos of ZBOA March meeting @ ZBOA 2013-03-05

Here are videos of the March meeting of the Valdosta-Lowndes County Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBOA). They had two cases, one each for Lowndes County and Valdosta.

ZBOA is setting an example for local elected and appointed authorities by publishing its own agendas and minutes which you can find here on the City of Valdosta website. The minutes for the March 2013 meeting are not up yet, but the agenda is. Here are the two cases from that agenda:

LOWNDES COUNTY CASES

2. VAR-2013-02 — Cracker Barrel Old Country Store (4914 Timber Drive, Lake Park)
(TABLED from the February meeting)
Variance to ULDC Chapter 9.01.06(A)(3) as it pertains to nonconforming signs.

CITY OF VALDOSTA CASES:

3. APP-2013-01 — Macedonia First Baptist Church (715 J.L. Lomax Drive)
Variance to LDR Section 230-9(D)(8) as it pertains to the size of a freestanding sign.

Here’s a video playlist:


Videos of ZBOA March meeting
Regular Session, Valdosta-Lowndes County Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBOA),
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE), Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 5 March 2013.

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Road abandonment, deannexation, and a mysterious special presentation @ LCC 2013-04-08

The Lowndes County Commission is holding a Special Presentation; apparently so special they don’t say what it is. Come see for yourself Monday morning at 8:30 or Tuesday evening at 5:30, whichever meeting they’re going to have the Special Presentation; the agenda doesn’t say that, either. And see what they do about an abandonment of a road and a deannexation request.

Here’s the agenda.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, APRIL 8, 2013, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, APRIL 9, 2013, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor

  1. Call to Order
  2. Invocation
  3. Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag
  4. Special Presentation
  5. Minutes for Approval
    1. Work Session — March 25, 2013
    2. Regular Session — March 26, 2013
  6. For Consideration
    1. Abandonment of Log Road (CR 8)
    2. Deannexation Request, Houser, 2990 Stallings Rd, 148-58A, ~36 acres, R-15 (City)
  7. Bid — Six Month Fuel Contract
  8. Reports-County Manager
  9. Citizens Wishing to be Heard Please State Name And Address

-jsq

Videos: Tourism Authority February meeting @ VLCCCTA 2013-02-27

Here are videos of the February meeting of the Valdosta-Lowndes County Convention Center and Tourism Authority. We can guess they met again 27 March 2013, but there’s nothing on their website or their facebook page to indicate that. Their Chair did say 27 March 2013 was the next meeting right at the end of this meeting. And their executive did promise the new website will have meeting times, list of board members, etc. They’re spending money on security cameras and VCRs; hm, maybe they could use some of those cameras to record their own events? Maybe record other board and authorities, and maybe even elected bodies?

I would post the agenda, but I don’t have one; only this picture of the announcement on the door of the Convention Center.

They talked about financials and events vs. event days; they had 25 events in January, down slightly from the same month a year ago, but event-days were similar. Perhaps someone would like to listen to the whole thing and report back on what they did?

Here’s a video playlist:

Videos: Tourism Authority February meeting
Regular Session, Valdosta Lowndes County Conference Center and Tourism Authority (VLCCCTA),
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 27 February 2013.

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Videos: Beer, filters, roads, weather, and executive session @ LCC 2013-03-25

A beer license, and some filters for public works: that's all that's on the agenda for the unquestioning Lowndes County Commission. They did have two very brief reports on the weekend's weather and how they dealt with it. Then they went into executive session for real estate and litigation, which seems to have been the real purpose of this meeting, which otherwise lasted four minutes. They vote on the agenda items Tuesday at 5:30 PM.

Here's the agenda, with links to the videos and some notes.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, MARCH 25, 2013, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, MARCH 26, 2013, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor
Continue reading →

Beer and filters at the Lowndes County Commission @ LCC 2013-03-25

A beer license, and some filters for public works: that’s all that’s on the agenda for the Lowndes County Commission. Maybe they’ll have a report on this weekend’s weather; any damage it caused; how they dealt with it.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, MARCH 25, 2013, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, MARCH 26, 2013, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor
  1. Call to Order
  2. Invocation
  3. Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag
  4. Minutes for Approval
    1. Work Session — March 11, 2013
    2. Regular Session — March 12, 2013
  5. For Consideration – Beer License — Race Way — 1177 Lakes Blvd., Lake Park
  6. Bid — Filters for Public Works
  7. Reports-County Manager
  8. Citizens Wishing to be Heard Please State Name And Address

-jsq

Industrial Authority already met; what about open meetings law? @ VLCIA 2013-03-08

Wanting to go to the Industrial Authority meeting tonight? Oops, you missed it: they held it 11 days ago. Did you want to speak there? Nope, no Citizens to be Heard on that agenda, and not much else, either.

To find that agenda on VLCIA’s website: Home → About Us → Industrial Authority → Meeting Schedule,

There will be a Special Called Meeting of the Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority on Friday, March 8, 2013, 11:00 am at the Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority Offices. This Special Called Meeting will also serve as the Regular March 2013 Meeting.

Agenda (PDF) There will be no meeting on Tuesday, March 19, 2013.

I don’t know when they put that on their website, but they announced the same thing on their facebook page on March 4th. Much of the usual agenda boilerplate is replaced by an executive session, and the agenda doesn’t even say for what. I seem to recall the Industrial Authority’s attorney on several occasions reminding the Chair that before going into executive session it was necessary to say for what purpose. As the Association of County Commissioners of Georgia (ACCG) puts it:

What is the procedure for going into and holding an “executive session” or “closing a meeting”?

Continue reading →

Videos: Two rezonings and a lease @ LCC 2013-03-11

A surprising number of questions were asked by Commissioners at yesterday morning’s Work Session, yet still nobody asked about the well near one of the proposed rezonings. We had a microphone failure during the first few items; sound picks up as the Commissioners start asking questions on 5.b. REZ-2013-04. Because of the sound glitch you can’t tell that for sure from the videos that nobody discussed SPLOST, but Gretchen was there from call to order to adjournment, and she didn’t hear anything about SPLOST. Maybe they’ll say something about it tonight at their 5:30 PM Regular Session, at which they vote on these rezonings and contract.

Here’s the agenda with links to the videos and some notes.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, MARCH 11, 2013, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, MARCH 12, 2013, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor
Continue reading →

Videos: Solar Dublin High School groundbreaking @ DHS Solar 2013-03-11

Breaking ground Groundbreaking for solar power to save Dublin High 40%, thus reducing teacher furloughs, financed by municipal bonds, made possible by cooperation among a wide range of government officials, private companies, and individuals: that was the groundbreaking story in Dublin, Laurens County, yesterday, videod by Gretchen Quarterman for LAKE.

Dublin City Schools are willing to try something new, and that’s why they were groundbreaking, said Chuck Ledbetter, Superintendent, yesterday. He recognized members present of the Dublin City Council, the Laurens County Commission, the Dublin-Laurens Development Authority, and state representative Matt Hatchett, and Public Service Commissioner Bubba McDonald. Ledbetter’s theme,

News camera and speaker Everybody worked together to make this happen.

was echoed over and over by many other speakers. What they worked for was economic help for Dublin City Schools through solar power, financed by municipal bonds.

The Mayor of Dublin, Phil Best added to the list Continue reading →

Videos: Rezoning, two grants, fire, water, diversity and transparency @ VCC 2013-03-07

Still more about the recent flooding and water issues in these videos of the 7 March 2013 Valdosta City Council Regular Session, by City Manager Larry Hanson, Council Robert Yost excoriated the VDT, former City Engineer Von Shipman defended the city. Multiple citizens brought up issues of diversity and local government transparency.

Here’s the agenda, with links to the videos and a few notes.

AGENDA
REGULAR MEETING OF THE VALDOSTA CITY COUNCIL
5:30 PM Thursday, March 7, 2013
COUNCIL CHAMBERS, CITY HALL
Continue reading →

Azalea Festival in Drexel Park, Valdosta, GA 2103-03-09

Men, women, children, babies in strollers, old folks with walkers, dogs, and a large yellow chicken in a time-lapse movie from the wildlife camera Gretchen set up at the Thirteenth Annual Azalea Festival yesterday, plus other videos and stills, and WCTV.

Here’s a video playlist:

Here’s a flickr slideshow:

Continue reading →