Tag Archives: Gretchen Quarterman

Open Records Officer at Lowndes County Commission @ LCC 2012-09-10

Apparently the Lowndes County Commission has noticed the new provisions of the Georgia Open Records and Open Meetings laws that VLCIA’s lawyer explained to the Industrial Authority back in May, seeing these two items on the agenda for Monday morning and Tuesday evening:

5.a. Adopt Resolution Appointing an Open Records Officer
5.b. Resolution Regarding Review & Approval of Minutes of Executive Sessions

Plus infrastructure for two subdivsisions, one of them the famous Glen Laurel, several well/septic rezonings, approval of USGS Funding Agreement for HWY 122 Stream Gauge (one of the four that let us know about river flooding in Lowndes County less than a month ago), a beer license, and approval of the changes to the ULDC that were discussed in the recent Planning Commission meeting, in the public hearing the public didn’t know about. And more.

Here’s the agenda.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2012, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2012, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor
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Sinkhole under the shed

The sinkholes are not just in the garage and under the front steps, Michael McCormick walking towards his shed there’s one under Michael McCormick’s tool shed. He already jacked up the shed and put blocks under it after the ground sunk underneath it. With all these sinkholes on his lot (and more in the yard), how are they connected underground? How will they expand?

Here’s a video playlist:

Videos by Gretchen Quarterman and John S. Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE), Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 28 August 2012.

-jsq

Sinkholes towards the house

The sinkholes are not just in Michael McCormick’s garage. Sinkholes there there and there Michael McCormick showing ground scans of sinkholes to Gretchen Quarterman According to groundscan radar by a VSU professor and students, the sinkholes are also spreading under his front steps and his house.

The steps are sinking and there’s a crack on the wall inside the house.

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Sinkhole in garage

In what the County Planner calls “central Lowndes County” there’s a sinkhole in a garage, deeper than a hoe handle.

Michael McCormick called me up yesterday and told me about this sinkhole in his garage at 4326 Norman Hall Road. Naturally he’s a bit concerned about this problem. He thinks his insurance may cover it, but he’s looking for other options in case. So far, nobody seems to know what to do. Which can’t be the case: this isn’t the first sinkhole in Lowndes County. We’re helping get the word out to help find whoever does know more about sinkholes and what resources are available to deal with them.

It’s not only straight down and under the carport concrete.

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Changes to Lowndes County’s Unified Land Development Code (ULDC) @ GLPC 2012-08-27

Did you know last night’s Planning Commission meeting included a public hearing about changes to the county’s Unified Land Development Code (ULDC) related to land disturbances and water quality? You wouldn’t have found out about that in the agenda, because it wasn’t posted anywhere you’d be likely to see it. (Where does GLPC post the one physical copy of the agenda required by law, anyway?) Supposedly it was advertised in the Valdosta Daily Times, but a search of Public Notices in Statewide Database of Public Notices from Georgia’s Legal Organ Newspapers for 1 June 2012 through 27 August 2012 finds nothing.

Here’s what the agenda item for the 27 August 2012 GLPC meeting (that we only know about because Gretchen went to that GLPC meeting and asked County Planner Jason Davenport) says:

From a procedural standpoint the amendment has been advertised in the Valdosta Daily Times to fulfill legal requirements. Beyond legal requirements staff has plans to post this agenda item and draft ULDC on the Lowndes County Website at http://www.lowndescounty.com/content.asp?pid=23&id=224. Regarding staff review of the amendments, the TRC recommended for their approval at their 08/16 regular meeting.

If you’d happened to look several levels deep on the Lowndes County website you would have found that undated announcement:

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Planning Commission meets tonight: no agenda @ GLPC 2012-08-27

This month LAKE didn’t get an agenda from GLPC, but they are meeting tonight at 5:30 PM. According to the City of Valdosta’s calendar,

Greater Lowndes Planning Commission

Date: 7/30/2012 5:30 PM
Location: Lowndes County South Health District Administrative Office
325 W. Savannah Avenue
Valdosta, Georgia 31601

The Lowndes County Commission’s calendar does not list this meeting; it doesn’t list any Planning Commission meetings. The county website also has no description of GLPC that I can find. It does get a mention three levels deep, under Planning.

Valdosta’s description page for GLPC has the information appended below.

Greater Lowndes Planning Commission

Purpose:
The mission of the Greater Lowndes Planning Commission (GLPC) is to look beyond short-term solutions in planning for the future of the Greater Lowndes community; to improve the public health, safety, convenience and welfare; and to provide for the social, economic and physical development of communities on a sound and orderly basis, within a governmental framework and economic environment which fosters constructive growth and efficient administration.

Members:

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LAKE videoing George videoing Gretchen canvassing @ GretchenForLowndes.com 2012-08-25

Gretchen Quarterman canvassed on Summerlin Street in Valdosta Saturday:

The number one thing we need to do is to make the government accessible and transparent, so that the business of the people goes on in public.

Here’s a video playlist:

LAKE videoing George videoing Gretchen canvassing on Summerlin Street in Valdosta,
Canvassing, Lowndes County Commission (GretchenForLowndes.com),
Videos by John S. Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE),
and by George Boston Rhynes for bostongbr on YouTube,
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 25 August 2012.

Gretchen mentioned she’d been going to County Commission meetings for about four years now, and thought it was her turn to serve. George asked why she was canvassing on the west side of Valdosta, and she answered:

The thing that is important for people to know is that every single citizen in the county gets to vote, Whether you live in Valdosta, Hahira, Lake Park, Dasher, Remerton, or the unincorporated areas. Every single person who lives in Lowndes County who is a registered voter gets to vote.

You have until October 8th to register to vote for the November 6th election. You can register at the Board of Elections at 2808 North Oak Street, or there are people going around with forms you can fill in and mail in or they will hand carry down there.

Participatory media! Doing what traditional media could do, George Boston Rhynes interviewed Gretchen Quarterman as she canvassed on Summerlin Street in Valdosta Saturday. Doing what traditional media can’t do, I videoed George videoing Gretchen, and he later videoed me helping Gretchen canvass.

-jsq

Lowndes County Commission meetings cancelled @ LCC 2012-08-27

Where and when did the preliminary information or discussion happen? And among whom? According to the county's website:

Lowndes County Work & Regular Session Meetings Cancelled (8/28/2012)

Due to lack of agenda items requiring additional information or discussion, the Lowndes County Work and Regular Session meetings for August 27-28, 2012, have been cancelled. For more information please call County Clerk, Paige Dukes, at 229-671-2400.

According to Georgia's new sunshine law modifications, as explained by VLCIA's attorney in an open meeting, open meetings now include any time a quorum discusses business, even if there was no scheduled meeting.

And if you wanted to address the Commission about a matter of interest to the public? Not this week.

The scheduled next meetings on their calendar are a Work Session on Monday 10 September 2012 and a Regular Session on Tuesday 11 September 2012.

-jsq

 

Clean streams to attract business —Al Browning

Al Browning of WWALS made a point yesterday that I haven’t heard mentioned by local Chambers of Commerce or economic development agencies:

Suppose there’s a business looking to south Georgia, to move into an area. They can go to the Adopt-A-Stream website for that particular area, and get an idea of where the best water is. And they may choose… that Berrien County has terrible water; I’m going to go to Cook County, or Lowndes!

Here’s the video:

That’s Georgia Adopt-A-Stream, which currently doesn’t show any water quality testing sites for any of those counties, but that could change soon. Maybe economic development organizations should help it change, because that lack could be steering businesses elsewhere.

A prominent local economic development appointee asked me last year,

Why would you want absolutely clean ear or water?

Well, businesses considering moving here might want those things because their employees do. And their employees might want those things because they don’t want to get sick. And besides, who doesn’t like clean air and water?

-jsq

LOST Lawsuits Ahead?

Looks like history may repeat itself like last decade, now that LOST negotiations between the cities and the county have failed. Except this time apparently the law has changed so they can’t sue each other directly. Gretchen on LOST Instead next it goes to Superior Court “baseball arbitration”. However, I bet that still involves lawyers at taxpayer expense, not to mention the Court’s time.

Greg Gullberg reported for WCTV yesterday, Tax Negotiations Hit Another Dead End In Lowndes County, and asked Gretchen down at the County Extension, who said,

It’s sort of sad because it is a waste, if you will, of taxpayer dollars. That the elected officials can’t get together and come to some agreement to say that they all understand how the money has to be divided up Yeah, it’s sad that more money has to go to lawyers insted of being spent on services.

I continue to think the local governments could spend their time together better trying to increase the size of the pie instead of squabbling over slices of it.

-jsq