Tag Archives: Gretchen Quarterman

Give back what I’ve had for 37 years –Lamar Clements @ LCC 2013-05-14



A Lowndes County resident asked for school bus safety and his land back
that the county took; this was in the

Lowndes County Commission Regular Session Tuesday:

I was asked to do this for the benefit of our community.
Lamar Clements is my name,
and my wife Winona.
We live at 5138 Coppage Road, out in Hahira.
So you’d know, we’re not new residents out there.
We’ve lived there 37 years.
We’ve seen a lot of change.


Coppage and Griffin Roads
My concern is the corner of Coppage Road and Griffin Road.
I know Mike Fletcher has been recently, visited that location.
I want to report that
I have seen personally as a resident; I’ve seen two county
school buses that could have been a fatal accident
because of the structure around it.
My concern, it needs to be eliminated; that will, bottom line save lives.

Secondly, I live on the corner, and the county has progressively moved
the road over to the west, which is literally taking my some of my yard.
All I ask is: give back what I’ve had for 37 years.
And for goodness sake, when I saw those two school buses
that makes a chill go down your spine
when you’ve got that many children in danger.

So it’s in good hands.
You guys know what to do.
Go for it. Continue reading →

Why can’t we choose our trash pickup service? –Tom Hallman @ LCC 2013-05-14

Hahira life-long resident Tom Hallman asked a simple question
in the

Lowndes County Commission Regular Session Tuesday:


I just can’t for the life of me figure out why,
myself as a resident, I don’t have a choice to choose who
picks up my trash.

Chairman Bill Slaughter said he’d be glad to explain it to Hallman
after the meeting.
Chairman didn’t offer to explain it to the public.
And the Executive Session lasted so long all the citizens
left before it was over, so I don’t know if Tom Hallman
ever got an explanation.

Here’s

the video:



Why can’t we choose our trash pickup service? –Tom Hallman

Regular Session, Lowndes County Commission (LCC),

Video by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE),

Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 14 May 2013.

-jsq

Videos: Why do we need to pave those roads? @ LCC 2013-05-13



Half a million dollars for paving without any competitive bid:
it’s the county way!
Only one of three potential board appointees showed up.
Commissioners asked a surprising number of questions,
including about a water system trust indenture,
but not enough.
They vote this evening at 5:30 PM.

Here’s

the agenda
with links to the videos and a few notes.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS

PROPOSED AGENDA

WORK SESSION, MONDAY, MAY 13, 2013, 8:30 a.m.

REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, MAY 14, 2013, 5:30 p.m.

327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor

Continue reading →

Paving questioned @ LCC 2013-05-13

Commissioners asked a few questions about the half a million
for paving with no apparent competition at yesterday morning’s

Lowndes County Commission Work Session.

Mike Fletcher, County Engineer
Maybe you have more questions; you could ask them tonight at the Regular Session.
You’ll have to catch them before the session starts, because you don’t get to speak
in the session until after they vote.

8. Bid – Soil cement, bituminous prime (with sand), and paving for Bayhill Drive, Pinewood Drive, Grand Pine Drive, Glenn Hill Drive, Bay Wood Drive, Bemiss Knights Academy Road North, a portion of Old Bemiss Road, Payton Place, and Dodd Road


Kari Sands, Purchasing Director
Purchasing Director Kari L. Sands said staff recommendation is to award
the bid to Scruggs Company for $495,845.
No other bids were mentioned.
County Engineer Mike Fletcher said the money was already received from the
LMIG program.

LMIG is Continue reading →

Why a water system trust indenture? @ LCC 2013-05-13



Commissioners had questions when
Utilities Director Mike Allen said a trust indenture was required by the state
for any new water system, so if anything fails the trustee
can step in and operate it, in this case for
Merciful Community Center Trust.
This was at yesterday morning’s

Lowndes County Commission Work Session.

Commissioner John Page wanted to know if a site plan had been seen.

A: Nope.

Page also wanted to know if the indenture
was for running a pipeline to the site.

A: Nope: it’s for a well.

Commissioner Richard Raines wanted to know whether the indenture
was necessary because of the size of the well.

A: Because it’s for a business, not a private residence.

Here’s

the video: Continue reading →

Appointees: Airport Authority @ LCC 2013-05-13



Only one of two potential appointees to the Airport Authority showed up.

No mic for County Manager Joe Pritchard at yesterday morning’s

Lowndes County Commission Work Session,
but by turning the sound way up I think he said
the term of Wayne Edwards on the

Valdosta-Lowndes County Airport Authority
expired this month,
and there were two applicants:

Jeff Sykes president and CEO of First American Prescription Drugs
and



Kevin McCraney of Georgia Power.
Jeff Sykes was present and spoke.
McCraney didn’t.
Maybe the Commissioners assumed everybody knows McCraney.
I do; but do you?
Sykes said:

Continue reading →

Videos: trucks and row crops @ LCC 2013-04-23



Plus
a presentation to Joyce Evans,
all about

mosquitoes, and

a love fest between the county and the VDT!

Here’s

the agenda with a few notes, and links into the video.
See also the LAKE videos of

the previous morning’s work session.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS

PROPOSED AGENDA

WORK SESSION, MONDAY, APRIL 22, 2013, 8:30 a.m.

REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, APRIL 23, 2013, 5:30 p.m.

327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor

Continue reading →

Mosquito trapping and spraying @ LCC 2013-04-23



A logical and systematic plan for mosquito trapping and spraying
is what

Public Works Director Robin Cumbus described at the

23 April 2013 Regular Session of the Lowndes County Commission.

She said the county contracts with VSU for trapping and surveillance.
Mosquitoes

trapped either by the county or by VSU are sent to Public Health Atlanta for testing.


Mostly in July, Aug, Sep
This testing is
presumably for

mosquito-borne diseases;
According to

USGS disease maps using CDC data,
there were 15 cases of positive test results for
West Nile virus in Lowndes County in 2012;
that’s 13% of the total of 113 for the whole state.


15 West Nile Cases in Lowndes County in 2012

She continued:

Continue reading →

Valdosta Farm Days begins today

9 AM to 1PM today
at the
historic Lowndes County Courthouse, 100 West Central Avenue,
it’s

Valdosta Farm Days,
and every first and third Saturday from May through October.


Downtown Valdosta Farm Days

Come downtown to find the delicious taste of farm fresh food picked
just for you, at Downtown Valdosta Farm Days! The market showcases
locally sourced produce, food items, and arts and crafts from
surrounding areas.

Come for the freshness and stay for the fun at Downtown Valdosta
Farm Days!

We Accept EBT, CREDIT, and DEBIT!


DVFD on Facebook.

Gretchen with rosemary and Yellow Dog:

Continue reading →

Videos: trucks and row crops, and Earth Day again @ LCC 2013-04-22



Seven minutes, with some discussion about trucks
and irrigation of row crops on a liquid waste application site.
There was no special presentation, not about
the Westside Archives,
nor about anything else.
They did mention this morning’s Earth Day event again,
and added a little bit of detail.

Here’s

the agenda with a few notes, and links into the video.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS

PROPOSED AGENDA

WORK SESSION, MONDAY, APRIL 22, 2013, 8:30 a.m.

REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, APRIL 23, 2013, 5:30 p.m.

327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor

Continue reading →