Tag Archives: Hightower Road

Packet: Millages, Opioid Litigation, Hightower Road, SPLOST IX, TREES Act, PFAS Groundwater Claims @ LCC 2025-08-25

The board packet includes the SPLOST IX Agreement and Project Lists, as well as the agreements for the Opioid and Groundwater Claims and the Hightower Road Quit Claim and a resolution for the TREES Act.

This is for yesterday’s Work Session and this evening’s Regular Session of the Lowndes County Commission.

[Collage, Packet @ LCC 2025-08-25-26]
Collage, Packet @ LCC 2025-08-25-26

The SPLOST IX Agreement and Project Lists are the same as LAKE already published two weeks ago from a usually reliable source.

The entire board packet, obtained in response to a LAKE open records request, is on the LAKE website, and images of each page are below.

It is still mysterious why Lowndes County does not publish its board packets on its own website, like many counties larger and smaller have done for years in Georgia and Florida.

See also the Continue reading

Videos: Millages, Opioid Litigation, Hightower Road, SPLOST IX, TREES Act, PFAS Groundwater Claims @ LCC Work 2025-08-25

Only twelve minutes for the Lowndes County Commission to consider millages, taxes, lawsuit claims, and a quit claim, at their Work Session yesterday morning.

Here are LAKE videos of each agenda item, with a few notes by Gretchen Quarterman, followed by a LAKE video playlist.

[Collage @ LCC 25 August 2025]
Collage @ LCC 25 August 2025

See also the agenda.

We don’t have the board packet, because I forgot to send in the open records request until the other day.

It is still mysterious why Lowndes County does not publish its board packets on its own website, like many counties larger and smaller have done for years in Georgia and Florida. Continue reading

Agenda: Millages, Opioid Litigation, Hightower Road, SPLOST IX, TREES Act, PFAS Groundwater Claims @ LCC 2025-08-25

Update 2025-08-26: Videos: Millages, Opioid Litigation, Hightower Road, SPLOST IX, TREES Act, PFAS Groundwater Claims @ LCC Work 2025-08-25.

Millages and taxes are the top topics for the Lowndes County Commission this week, plus lawsuit settlements for opioids and PFAS, and a road abandonment quit-claim to the Air Force.

  • The property tax millage will be set at the rollback rate of 5.051 mills. That is a reduction of 0.232 mills or about 4.4% from the 5.283 rate of 2024. Your property taxes are a product of valuation and millage, minus various exemptions such as for homestead or conservation easements. Since many valuations went up, your taxes may go up.
  • VLCIA got its rate reduced to 0.823 mills last year, but this year it will be back to 1.00 mill like it always was before for the Valdosta Lowndes County Industrial Authority, aka the Valdosta-Lowndes Development Authority (VLDA).
  • Same 1.25 mills as always for the Valdosta-Lowndes County Parks and Recreation Authority (VLCIA).
  • Same as last year: 2.50 mills for the Special District Millage for Fire Services. That’s right, twice VLPRA’s millage, and 2.5 times VLCIA’s millage.

In November you get to vote on the SPLOST IX projects the County Commission is approving this week for the penny Special Local Option Sales Tax. The county has not published that project list, but LAKE already published it more than a week ago:
http://www.l-a-k-e.org/blog/?p=25175

And those of us who are tree farmers may get some tax relief after Hurricane Helene, from the TREES Act Resolution. This is presumably the same ACCG Summary of the TREES ACT as Lowndes County put in its board packet.

Lowndes County may get some money from settlements for lawsuits about opioids and PFAS.

[Agenda: Millages, SPLOST IX, TREES Act, Opioid Litigation, Hightower Road, PFAS Groundwater Claims @ LCC 2025-08-25]
Agenda: Millages, SPLOST IX, TREES Act, Opioid Litigation, Hightower Road, PFAS Groundwater Claims @ LCC 2025-08-25

The Air Force wants the county to quit-claim the right of way for Hightower Road, which the county already abandoned in 2023. Moody Air Force Base is directly south of it, and the Air Force now owns the field north of it. Included in this post are the maps from the May, 2023, board packet from when the county abandoned that stretch of Hightower Road.
http://www.l-a-k-e.org/blog/?p=23550

Here is the agenda.

We don’t have the board packet, because I forgot to send in the open records request until today.

It is still mysterious why Lowndes County does not publish its board packets on its own website, like many counties larger and smaller have done for years in Georgia and Florida.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, AUGUST 25, 2025, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, AUGUST 26, 2025, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor

Continue reading

Videos: Loch Laurel Road subdivision tabled; Pine Grove Road townhouses passed; TIA Orr Road Extension @ LCC Regular 2024-09-10

Update 2024-09-29: One Lowndes County Case, six Valdosta cases @ GLPC 2024-09-30.

They tabled the Loch Winn Farms subdivision until it could be heard by the Planning Commission.

But they passed the Pine Grove Road Townhouses, without any Planning Commission review.

I guess the Planning Commission doesn’t matter if it’s in the Lowndes County Commission’s preferred development corridor in what staff call Central Lowndes County. Also, nobody spoke against, and Jack Langdale spoke for.

[Collage @ LCC 10 September 2024]
Collage @ LCC 10 September 2024

Commissioner Demarcus Marshall asked for a timeline for 6.a. Orr Road Extension, P.I. 0016273 TIA Project Agreement. Answer from County Engineering Services Director Chad McLeod: late 2025 bid process.

One citizen spoke: William Cary, about plastic recycling, saying Waste Management will no longer pick up plastic.

Below are links to each LAKE video of each agenda item, with a few notes by Gretchen Quarterman, followed by a LAKE video playlist.

See also the Continue reading

Videos: Rezonings Loch Laurel Road subdivision & Pine Grove Road townhouses; TIA Orr Road Extension @ LCC Work 2024-09-09

Update 2024-09-11: Videos: Loch Laurel Road subdivision tabled; Pine Grove Road townhouses passed; TIA Orr Road Extension @ LCC Regular 2024-09-10.

The Lowndes County Commissioners spent quite a while discussing whether they would table 5.a. REZ-2024-15 Loch Winn Farms, LTD, ~62ac, R-A to R-1 – R-A, indicating they probably would, but informing the public was difficult, because the actual decision would be made at the Regular Session the next day.

They did not have as much discussion about tabling for 5.b. REZ-2024-16 Pine Grove Road Townhouses, 6.3ac, C-H to P-D, which may well be a signal that they won’t table.

Both rezoning cases were not heard by the Planning Commission due to a lack of quorum.

[Collage @ LCC 9 September 2024]
Collage @ LCC 9 September 2024

They didn’t have much to say about the $1,175,000 6.a. Orr Road Extension, P.I. 0016273 – TIA Project Agreement. Sure, that’s state money, but it’s still your tax dollars.

Below are links to each LAKE video of each agenda item, with a few notes by Gretchen Quarterman, followed by a LAKE video playlist.

See also the Continue reading

Packet: Rezonings Loch Laurel Road subdivision & Pine Grove Road townhouses; TIA Orr Road Extension @ LCC 2024-09-09

Update 2024-09-11: Videos: Rezonings Loch Laurel Road subdivision & Pine Grove Road townhouses; TIA Orr Road Extension @ LCC Work 2024-09-09.

We will see how irrelevant the Planning Commission is.

The preceding GLPC meeting was cancelled due to lack of a quorum, yet the two county rezonings are on this Lowndes County Commission agenda for a decision this week. If the County Commission decides without hearing from the Planning Commission, that will be quite interesting.

Since both rezonings get Public Hearings, you can stand up and speak during those, without waiting for the Citizens Wishing to Be Heard ghetto at the end of the meeting.

[Packet: Collage @ GLPC 2024-08-26]
Packet: Collage @ GLPC 2024-08-26

Also on the agenda is Orr Road Extension, P.I. 0016273 – Transportation Improvement Act (TIA) Project Agreement, for $1,175,000. That’s in addition to the previous TIA projecta:

  • $2,400,000 Clyattstone and Simpson Road Grading, Drainage, Base, and Paving
  • $3,750,000 Hightower Road and Cooper Road NE Paving Project

Which totals to $7,325,000 in TIA money for just these three road projects. Sure, that’s state money, but it’s still your tax dollars.

Here is the agenda.

The board packet is on the LAKE website.

See also the board packet for the preceding meeting of the Greater Lowndes Planning Commission (GLPC), which was cancelled due to lack of a quorum.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2024, 8:30 A.M.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2024, 5:30 P.M.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor

Continue reading

Videos: Hospital Authority appointment, 6 rezonings, paving and resurfacing, subdision infrastructure, probationers @ LCC Regular 2024-05-14

An hour-long Regular Session is very unusual for the Lowndes County Commission. Much of it was taken up by two rezonings: REZ-2024-08 on River Road (10:43) and REZ-2024-09 Dasher Grove Subdivision (12:24). For River Road, the applicant discussed setbacks and fire trucks and answered Commissioner questions about house prices and lot sizes. For Dasher Grove, Commissioner questions were mostly about how many lots and when T-SPLOST road work on Val Del Road would take place. Remember, that road work is your tax dollars going to subsidize subdivisions.

Nobody spoke against those rezonings nor against any of the others. All the rezonings and everything else passed unanimously, including they reappointed Hospital Authority incumbent Shirley Garland as expected.

[Collage @ LCC Regular 14 May 2024]
Collage @ LCC Regular 14 May 2024

There was discussion about the apparent price rise by 8.b. Pronto Consulting for Software as a Service to manage probationers. It is actually just that Pronto started with a discount, and this time is not supplying a discount. The total undiscounted amount was always in the county budget.

In Citizens Wishing to Be Heard, Mark Perkins of Lake Park had some questions about the burn ordinance.

Also, Representative John LaHood (R-175) was recognized by the Association of County Commissioners of Georgia (ACCG) for his work on legislation regarding Service Delivery Strategies.

Below are links to each LAKE video of each agenda item, with a few notes by Gretchen Quarterman, followed by a LAKE video playlist.

See also the Continue reading

Videos: Hospital Authority appointment, 6 rezonings, paving and resurfacing, subdision infrastructure, probationers @ LCC Work 2024-05-13

Update 2024-05-27: Videos: Hospital Authority appointment, 6 rezonings, paving and resurfacing, subdision infrastructure, probationers @ LCC Regular 2024-05-14.

This Work Session was long by Lowndes County Commission standards, more than half an hour.

[Collage @ LCC 13 May 2024]
Collage @ LCC 13 May 2024

Almost half of that, 13 and a half minutes, was on 7.c. REZ-2024-08 River Road, 4374 River Road, mostly about spacing between houses and fire risk.

Another five minutes was on 7.d. REZ-2024-09 Dasher Grove, about the timeline for Val Del Road improvements.

Notice the Val Del Road improvements are TIA projects, which means tax-paid road improvements to benefit a private developer. Yet this and other such rezonings appear in the agenda as “BUDGET IMPACT: NA”.

Commissioner Mark Wisenbaker asked if the packet materials could be projected on the screen for 6.a. Appointment – Hospital Authority of Valdosta and Lowndes County. ITS Director Aaron Kostyu said he did not have the ability to do that.

Well, the County Planner manages to project all the materials for the rezonings. Why can’t the ITS Director project materials for other board agenda items?

Or the County Commissioners can look at the LAKE website, I suppose.

Or county staff could put the board packet on the county’s own website.

Either way, the Commissioners could use the Internet to look at it on their tablets.

The Commissioners could just direct staff to put the packet on the county’s website.

Commissioners also had some questions about why the increases in Continue reading

Packet: Hospital Authority appointment, 6 rezonings, paving and resurfacing, subdision infrastructure, probationers @ LCC 2024-05-13

Update 2024-05-17: Videos: Hospital Authority appointment, 6 rezonings, paving and resurfacing, subdision infrastructure, probationers @ LCC Work 2024-05-13.

This week the Lowndes County Commission takes on six rezonings and other business, including $1,194,081.20 in 2024 Local Maintenance and Improvement Grant (LMIG) Resurfacing Bids, paid for by your Transportation Improvement Act (TIA) sales tax.

[Hospital Authority, 6 rezonings, probationers, paving and resurfacing, subdivision infrastructure, road abandonment @ LCC 2024-04-13]
Hospital Authority, 6 rezonings, probationers, paving and resurfacing, subdivision infrastructure, road abandonment @ LCC 2024-04-13

Here is the agenda.

The board packet, received in response to a LAKE open records request, is on the LAKE website.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, MAY 13, 2024, 8:30 A.M.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, MAY 14, 2024, 5:30 P.M.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor

Continue reading

Videos: Appointment to Land Bank Authority, Mutual Aid Agreement, SetterPointe Subdivision, grants, offsite alcohol, data center switches, and failed land sale @ LCC Regular 2024-04-23

With no discussion, the Lowndes County Commission unanimously appointed James Miller to the Land Bank Authority. Gretchen note, “I’m guessing that this was pre-discussed because there was no discussion at either the work session, nor at this meeting. How do they decide? It’s a mystery.”

At that same Regular Session of April 23, 2024, they also approved everything else unanimously.

There was some discussion of how many single-parent families would be affected by the 6.a. FY 2025 Juvenile Justice Incentive Grant.

Commissioner Clay Griner asked where are the 6.g. North Lowndes Data Center Switches. Answer from Aaron Kostyu: “I would be happy to discuss that with you offline, but it’s probably not best for us to discuss data center locations in a public meeting.”

Jeff Hardy asked in Citizens Wishing to be heard about the timeline for replacement of the Frank’s Creek Bridge on Shiloh Road and about emergency services. The Chairman said he would speak to him after the meeting. Seems to me more citizens would like to know the answers.

No rezonings were on the agenda.

[Collage @ LCC 23 April 2024]
Collage @ LCC 23 April 2024

Below are links to each LAKE video of each agenda item, with a few notes by Gretchen Quarterman, followed by a LAKE video playlist.

See also the LAKE videos of the previous morning’s Work Session, and the agenda and board packet. Continue reading