Tag Archives: Gretchen Quarterman

Real discussion! Video Playlist @ GLPC 2012-04-30

Here are videos of the entire 30 April 2012 Regular Session of the Greater Lowndes Planning Commission, which actually discusses cases when there are points to be clarified or positions to be debated. Here’s the agenda.

GLPC had four cases to be decided 10 May 2012 by the Valdosta City Council:

And three cases to be decided 6 May 2012 by the Lowndes County Commission:

Continue reading →

I’m really trying to develop the property as full as it could be. —Jason Davenport @ GLPC 2012-04-30

In a rezoning case we heard the de facto motto of the Lowndes County Commission:

“I’m really trying to develop the property as full as it could be.”

This was in discussion about REZ-2012-07 McNeil Property, 6888 & 6870 McNeil Road, Hahira, on the agenda for the Greater Lowndes Planning Commission meeting of 30 April 2012. According to the tax assessors’ database, they spelled it wrong: it’s McNeal Road. This rezoning was for lot width, such as would have to happen for the Gloria Dave property to be subdivided. Nathan Smith spoke for, representing multiple people. There was concern among the GLPC board that the rezoning would permit more houses than were currently being requested.

This was the only case in that meeting with speakers against. Elizabeth Daniels, lives nearby (I think she said across the road), pointed out that four lots on one section would permit 4 lots on another section, and that would be a problem on that narrow road.

Donya Rigal, 6840 McNeal Road, the property next door, pointed out dust from traffic and other problems. McNeal Road is a county road, 35 feet wide.

County Planner Jason Davenport said:

“They did actually reserve 12 and a half feet of each of these properties in anticipation of improvement, but I don’t know that that’s on any list for improvement any time soon”

On questioning about whether further subdivision would be possible with the requested rezoning, he pointed out that Continue reading →

JLUS Transparency and Videos @ SGRC 2012-06-08

The South Georgia Regional Commission held a public hearing on Wednesday June 6th to give an overview of the current Implementation Phase draft of the Joint Land Use Study (JLUS) for Moody Air Force Base and surrounding communities.

Todd Miller, the project coordinator, gave a power point presentation. When asked if the presentation could be made available on the SGRC web site, he said yes (and then called to make sure I could find it).

The complete draft implementation phase documents are available at http://www.sgrc.us/JLUS/implementation.htm and the comment period is open until the end of June. Comments should be sent to Todd Miller at tmiller (at) sgrc.us.

Here's a video playlist:

JLUS Transparency and Videos
Public Hearing, Southern Georgia Regional Commission (SGRC), Todd Miller,
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, Fri, 8 Jun 2012 10:21:39 -0400.
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE).

-gretchen

Videos @ SGRC 2011-09-19

Almost all the speakers from Lowndes County or Valdosta opposed T-SPLOST at the 19 September 2011 public hearing, as you can see in these videos.

Some of the videos have already been blogged separately, along with some closely related posts:

And finally, beware! Most of the discussion in these videos is about specific lists of non-discretionary projects. There’s also 25% of the T-SPLOST money that could be spent on discretionary projects, which are already being specified by the local governments, and which may include many of the same projects that were on the original unconstrained project list but got bumped off the constrained list.

Here’s a video playlist:

Videos
T-SPLOST Public Meeting, Southern Georgia Regional Commission (SGRC),
Corey Hull, Travis Harper,
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 19 September 2011.
Video by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE).

-jsq

Aviation Projects, and Valdosta is a substantial donor –Larry Hanson @ T-SPLOST 2011-09-19 @ SGRC 2011-09-19

Larry Hanson, Valdosta City Manager, asked for the regional council to reconsider aviation projects, especially considering that the tax was supposed to be for projects of regional significance. Then he pointed out

Out of that $503 million about 40% of it or $212 million is projected to be generated here in Lowndes County. And when you look at what's being returned, for instance to the city of Valdosta, it's $47 million. It is certainly one thing to be a donor, but that's a pretty substantial donor.

He said he appreciated all the other counties, but much of the money would go to counties that are not contiguous to Lowndes County and are not part of the Valdosta Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), which includes the four counties of Lowndes, Brooks, Lanier, and Echols. He continued:

Lowndes County is about 26% of the region's population and we generate about 38% of the revenue, and we're not quite getting that back in terms of the distribution.

You may wonder why a City of Valdosta official was speaking for Lowndes County. County Manager Joe Pritchard was there at the start of the meeting, and I think County Engineer Mike Fletcher was, as well. County Chairman Ashley Paulk came in late and summoned Pritchard and Fletcher outside the glass doors of the meeting room. They stood there for quite some time, peering in, and then vanished.

Here's the video:

Aviation Projects, and Valdosta is a substantial donor –Larry Hanson @ T-SPLOST 2011-09-19
T-SPLOST Public Meeting, Southern Georgia Regional Commission (SGRC),
Corey Hull,
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 19 September 2011.
Video by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE).

-jsq

Why did old US 41 N increase from $8 M to $12 M? —John S. Quarterman @ SGRC 2011-09-19

I asked why the Old US 41 North widening project changed from $8 million on the unconstrained list to $12 million on the constrained list, an increase of $4 million or 50% when the description did not change? The answer indicates GDOT and local governments want to drive development north in the county, leaving pedestrians and bicyclists stranded yet having to pay.

Corey Hull responded:

Halfway through we received new cost estimates….

GDOT did the cost estimates, in cooperation with the local government that was responsible for that.

A state employee told me after the meeting that GDOT raised some estimates because it thought the local government, in this case the Lowndes County Commission and staff, didn’t put in enough to cover the project. I don’t know whether GDOT was figuring by Atlanta costs or not…. At least the cost didn’t go up further in the final project list; I just checked and it’s still $12 million.

Corey elaborated that some projects increased and some decreased. I asked him which ones did which. He said he’d have to go back and compare. Later he helped me produce a list of comparisons of costs of Lowndes County projects, which shows that one went down by 30% and three went up by 50% or more. One, RC11-000099 St. Augustine at Norman Intersection Improvements, went up by 131.5%.

That $12 million for widening less than 3 miles of one road is more than one item that was in the unconstrained list but cut from the constrained list: $7.5 million for a bus system, with three bus lines that would connect Wiregrass Tech, Five Points, Downtown, Moody, East Side, South Side, West Side, and the Mall. A bus system recommended by the Industrial Authority’s Community Assessment to aid in employee attendance, industry recruitment, and workforce.

You could probably even start up a substantial commuter rail system using existing freight line tracks for less than $12 million. Even though GDOT apparently only believes in roads and bridges, busses and trains are actually more cost-effective, especially for lower-income people. The same lower-income people who will be disproportionately taxed by T-SPLOST as a percentage of their income.

Instead, the description for the Old US 41 North project admits the county is driving Continue reading →

Gasoline tax? —Roy Taylor @ SGRC 2011-09-19

Roy Taylor pointed out gas taxes are higher in Florida, and:

The people who use the gas pay the tax.

Then he told a story about a woman he knows who can't afford T-SPLOST.

Yes, he seemed to be proposing a gasoline tax to pay for transportation projects, an idea which I've been floating for some time. That's how Eisenhower paid for the Interstate Highway System: gasoline and diesel fuel taxes.

Here's the video:

Gasoline tax? —Roy Taylor
T-SPLOST Public Meeting, Southern Georgia Regional Commission (SGRC),
Corey Hull,
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 19 September 2011.
Video by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE).

-jsq

St. Augustine and Gornto Road in Final T-SPLOST list @ SGRC 2011-09-19

Maybe you’d like to know what are the T-SPLOST projects and how much they cost, so you can decide whether you think the tax is worth it (in addition to all the other considerations). That can take some work. Here’s an example.

Since Gretchen Quarterman asked what $5 million for one intersection would buy, T-SPLOST plans have been filed and a constrained list and then a final list approved by GDOT. Price tags jumped wildly up and down in the constrained list. For example, widening less than 3 miles of Old US 41 North from North Valdosta road to Union Road jumped from $8 million in June 2011 to $12 million in August.

In the final list, this item seems to be the one Gretchen was talking about:

RC11-000100 St Augustine Road at Gornto Road Intersection Improvements

You can find that one line on www.t-splost.com, which seems to be the state’s propaganda site for pushing T-SPLOST.

To find the current dollar amounts, you have to rummage around elsewhere until you find Continue reading →

Five million dollars for one intersection? —Gretchen Quarterman @ SGRC 2011-09-19

Gretchen Quarterman wanted to know what the money was going for, with an example:

…at Gornto. That's a total of 5 million dollars! I'm having trouble imagining what you could do for $5 million in that one block. Do you have to buy the new McDonald's that they're building? I mean what are we doing there?

Corey Hull said he didn't know, since at that time many of the projects didn't actually have plans. See the next post for what eventually happened with that one.

Here's the video:

Five million dollars for one intersection? —Gretchen Quarterman
T-SPLOST Public Meeting, Southern Georgia Regional Commission (SGRC),
Corey Hull,
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 19 September 2011.
Video by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE).

-jsq

Not a special Local tax: it’s a Regional tax —Nolen Cox @ SGRC 2011-09-19

T-SPLOST is a misnomer: it's not a Special Location Option Sales Tax, since it's voted on as a region.

I think maybe we should have a gasoline tax to pay for roads.

Here's the video:

Not a special Local tax: it's a Regional tax –Nolen Cox
T-SPLOST Public Meeting, Southern Georgia Regional Commission (SGRC),
Corey Hull,
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 19 September 2011.
Video by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE).

-jsq