It’s a good thing the county held these first-ever (as far as I know)
comprehensive budget sessions.
Here are videos of the first day.
Most of the departments are asking for more money,
due to increased population and increased demand for services
during a period of economic downturn.
Something needs to be done, and these sessions are one step in
getting to doing something.
Here’s the agenda.
Seen on Silentdisaster.org’s facebook page. The EPA and GA-EPD meeting last November and later test results did not satisfy them. Wastewater from that Waycross contamination was shipped to the Pecan Row Landfill in Lowndes County, adding to the other toxic materials in that landfill. -jsq
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
April 1, 2014
By: Silentdisaster.org, a citizens group in Waycross, Georgia
Testing conducted by the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (EPD) have left residents frustrated and angry. Many children are sick and have died from being poisoned by toxic chemicals and residents who live, week-to-week on small budgets, are spending their own money to do testing because they don’t trust government officials who are paid to protect the people and keep them safe’. They should be spending their money on feeding their families and getting well. The lack of honesty in the EPD’s reports is a disgrace to our community and our State.
Newly released environmental testing results Continue reading
Once again, Valdosta famous into Florida again for wastewater spill, and Florida residents are tired of it.
WCTV 1 March 2014, Georgia Spill Leads To Warning In Florida
[Matt] Meersman and his friends enjoy visiting the Suwannee River to train for canoe races. According to the City of Valdosta, heavy rains have caused about 7.5 million gallons of highly treated waste water to wash into the Withlacoochee River, which connects to the Suwannee. Signs are posted around the Suwannee River State Park to let people know about the possible dangers of swimming in the water.
“When it’s impacted by stuff like this, it makes it hard on us to think about it as the pristine place that we like to think of it as,” said Meersman.
Meersman says there are other rivers around the area they can practice on in the meantime, but he says he’s tired of the spills.
“It’s bad enough Continue reading
Update 3:30 PM 29 January 2014: Thursday 30 January 2014 session cancelled due to weather; come to the 6 February 2014 meeting instead.
Received by email and there’s a facebook event. -jsq
Good Morning and Happy New Year!
We would like to invite you to one or more workshops to help us develop a Digital Economy Plan for our Region.
The Southern Georgia Regional Commission, in partnership with the Georgia Technology Authority, is coordinating and developing a Digital Economy Plan for the 18 counties in the South Georgia Region to identify the unique characteristics of the digital economy in our region, its strengths, weaknesses, its needs and its opportunities.
The focus and intent of the plan is to Continue reading
They vote tonight at 5:30PM. Probably there won’t be a repeat of
yesterday morning’s presentation
by
District Health Director Dr. Grow.
The county wants
an architect for a new roof and shower in one jail pod;
it’s considering two interagency agreements,
one for
Valdosta Inspections for Lake Park
and the other for
the county extension,
plus
setting election qualifying fees
and
a Special Assessment Rate for 2014.
There’s a
beer license
and acceptance of
infrastructure for part of Grove Pointe Subdivision.
Here’s the agenda with links to the videos:
LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERSContinue reading
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, JANUARY 13, 2014, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, JANUARY 14, 2014, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street — 2nd Floor
We can probably guess who
“Dr. Grow” is
and the general topic of his presentation,
but why does the county make us guess?
The county wants
an architect for a new roof and shower in one jail pod;
it’s considering two interagency agreements,
one for
Valdosta Inspections for Lake Park
and the other for
the county extension,
plus
setting election qualifying fees
and
a Special Assessment Rate for 2014.
There’s a
beer license
and acceptance of
infrastructure for part of Grove Pointe Subdivision.
Here’s the agenda: Continue reading
Do you want foreign corporations to be able to sue the U.S. because your county has implemented restrictions of pipelines feeding liquid natural gas exports? Or because your country hasn’t locked up enough people for unintentional infringement of copyright? Or because your state has implemented a GMO-labeling law? Then you oppose the TPP.
After the November
release of
the Intellectual Property Rights Chapter,
in December Wikileaks released
two documents from the secret
closed Salt Lake City TPP chief negotiators’ meeting
of the Trans-Pacific Partnership,
showing deep divisions between the negotiating countries that have
already caused a U.S.-imposed TPP deadline to be missed.
These documents add potential international treaty enforcement of
“mandates” against restrictions on trade to protect national products
or environment or labor to all the reasons
EFF gives for opposing this corporate-power-grab treaty
and the
LNG export pressures for TPP that would drive up the price of fracked
“natural” gas and push pipelines through numerous states for the profit
of a few fossil fuel and utility executives and investors.
The deep divisions among the negotiating countries exposed Continue reading
The VDT report doesn’t say when or where, and doesn’t say whether
Dexter Sharper (District 177) wasn’t invited or chose not to attend.
There’s nothing about this meeting in the online agendas or calendar, even though that calendar lists Pictures with Santa at the Historical Courthouse (12/19/2013).
There is this undated public notice with no agenda:
The Lowndes County Board of Commissioners will meet with members of Lowndes County’s Legislative Delegation on Friday, December 20, 2013, at 4:00 p.m. in the Commissioner’s Conference Room located on the 3rd floor of the Judicial-Administrative Complex, 327 North Ashley Street, Valdosta, Georgia.
K. Paige Dukes, County Clerk
pdukes@lowndescounty.com 229-671-2400
Matthew Woody wrote for the VDT 22 December 2013,
Commissioners host local delegation,
oddly omitting the when and where and much of the why from
the traditional
who, what, when, where, and why of journalism.
The Lowndes County Commission hosted Continue reading
The big event was that
citizens speaking about the pipeline got
four of five Commissioners to come down and listen afterwards.
And
in a surprise addition to the agenda
D.A. J. David Miller asked for and got approval for a victim assistance program.
All this and
insurance plan,
health plan,
a
road closing,
a grant proposal to renovate the
Library (did the Commissioners get the whole
board packet this time?)
and let’s not forget a special performance on fire by
Chairman Bill Slaughter,
plus apparently
the County Commission is in charge of rain
like it’s in charge of
alcohol.
Here’s the agenda with links to the videos, and a few notes. See also the previous morning’s Work Session.
LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERSContinue reading
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2013, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2013, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor
Blogged with permission from Joyce’s facebook page. -jsq
Ok, I rarely do this but after reading something on FB earlier, I just have to because I feel SO strongly about it! I have been a social worker for 28 years. Of the 28 years, I have spent almost 15 years in the mental health field. When I started with community mental health services, I was told the patient was the #1 priority and QUALITY of service was most important.
Through the years MH services have been significantly cut with treatment facilities for youth closing, mental health hospitals closing and HMOs refusing to pay for more and more outpatient services. Now the #1 priority is BILLING and treating the paperwork not the patient is most important.
When treatment facilities and hospitals were closed, we were told Continue reading
