In these LAKE videos of the February 27, 2024, Lowndes County Commission Regular Session, you can see they spent three minutes discussing the 6.e. Spring Creek Well Pilot Study. Everything else they breezed through.
They vote again this evening at 5:30 PM on three rezonings and other items.
![[Collage @ LCC 27 February 2024]](http://www.l-a-k-e.org/govt/loco/2024-02-27--regular-videos/many.jpg)
Collage @ LCC 27 February 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: Continue reading
Update 2024-03-09: ULDC Text Amendment Status @ LCC 2024-03-26.
Yesterday morning at the Lowndes County Commission Work Session, they went straight into the ULDC Text Amendment. The changes County Planner J.D. Dillard discussed were not in the board packet. I have filed an open records request to get them. It’s fine that they want to be business friendly for incoming businesses, as he said. A little more friendly to we the taxpayers and voters would also be good, for example by publishing the board packet and proposed ULDC changes on the county’s own website, lowndescounty.com.
They could even put the proposed ULDC Text amendments on lowndescounty.com before they vote this evening at 5:30 PM.
![[Collage @ LCC 26 February 2024]](http://www.l-a-k-e.org/govt/loco/2024-02-26--lcc-work-videos/many.jpg)
Collage @ LCC 26 February 2024
While discussing minutes for approval, Chairman Bill Slaughter asked when the rezoning cases that were not decided two weeks ago due to the meeting being cancelled due to Commissioner illness: when will those rezoning cases be heard? Answer: March 12 there will be five rezoning cases. So apparently the old ones plus the new ones from yesterday’s Planning Commission meeting. County Manager Paige Dukes further clarified that they had to go back through the process of public announcements of the rezoning Public Hearings. Thank you, Chairman, for asking that question.
Those were the two longest items, at 3 minutes and 30 seconds and one minute and 20 seconds, each. The entire meeting took eleven minutes.
About 6.e. Spring Creek Well Pilot Study, Gretchen noted, “I hope this money comes from the enterprise fund for water and sewer and not the general fund.”
About 7.d. Golden Oaks Subdivision Force Main she noted “$100,500 to service around 30 homes. Again, I hope this is funded by the enterprise fund. Perhaps in the interest of transparency, the source of funds could be mentioned.”
Below are links to each LAKE video of each agenda item, followed by a LAKE video playlist.
See also Continue reading
Update 2024-02-27: Videos: ULDC Text Amendment, new well, force main, and elevator with For Consideration and Bids from previous cancelled session @ LCC Work 2024-02-26.
In the board packet Lowndes County sent this morning in response to yesterday’s LAKE open records request, there is more information on the 6.e. Spring Creek Well Pilot Study and 7.d. Golden Oaks Subdivision Force Main, including bid sheets and a contract. There was nothing additional on the third new agenda item, 7.a. Bid to Upgrade the Main Elevator at the Human Resource Building.
The ULDC Text Amendment (TXT-2024-01) Update Presentation was not included in the board packet. I have filed an open records request to get it.
![[Packet: new well, force main, and elevator @ LCC 2024-02-26]](http://www.l-a-k-e.org/govt/loco/2024-02-26--lcc-packet/many.jpg)
Packet: new well, force main, and elevator @ LCC 2024-02-26
Since no map was included of the Golden Oaks Subdivision, I have added one from VALORGIS. Continue reading
Update 2024-02-27: Packet: Missing ULDC Text Amendment, new well, force main, and elevator with For Consideration and Bids from previous cancelled session @ LCC 2024-02-26.
Another stealth ULDC presentation heads this morning’s Work Session at the Lowndes County Commission. You will be able to see it in the LAKE videos Gretchen is taking. You won’t see it in Lowndes County’s own videos, because they no longer post video of their Work Sessions.
![[Old and new items @ LCC 2024-12-26]](http://www.l-a-k-e.org/govt/loco/2024-02-26--lcc-agenda/many.jpg)
Old and new items @ LCC 2024-12-26
Other new items are:
Everything else is carried forward from the cancelled previous Regular Session.
But none of the rezonings were carried forward, possibly because they had to advertise the Public Hearings again. I guess they’ll handle those next month along with the new ones on tonight’s Planning Commission agenda.
Here is the agenda.
I neglected to request the board packet after the previous meeting was cancelled due to lack of quorum due to Commissioner illness. However, I have included on the LAKE website the board packet items from the previous meeting’s packet.
LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
Continue reading
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2024, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2024, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor
EMA Director Ashley Tye reported that all the disaster recovery centers were closing after Hurricane Idalia, with Cook County still open for a bit. This was six weeks ago, at a Lowndes County Commission Regular Session.
That took six minutes of the seventeen-minute meeting. County Manager Paige Dukes took another three minutes for her report.
The Commissioners breezed through the other agenda items and unanimously approved them all.
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
And now the videos: Continue reading
Andrew Toussaint gave a report about the Small Business Administration and EMA Director Ashley Tye gave reports on hurricane assistance and local disaster group COAD, in this Lowndes County Commission Regular Session of September 26, 2023. Because of those reports and a second recognition of Leadership Lowndes (they showed up late), the meeting took 49 minutes.
![[Collage @ LCC 26 September 2023]](http://www.l-a-k-e.org/govt/loco/2023-09-26--lcc-regular-videos/many.jpg)
Collage @ LCC 26 September 2023
Like the previous morning, Commissioners were unusually chatty.
Commissioner Scottie Orenstein had some questions and comments about 5.a. Quiet Pines Golf Course Ezgo Golf Cart Lease Agreement. and 5.b. Mental Health Model Resolution for ACCG. Commissioners Clay Griner, Demarcus Marshall, County Manager Paige Dukes, and Chairman Bill Slaughter discussed which statehouse bills the mental health resolution mentions, and that it does not support any particular current bill, specifically not HB 520. They passed the resolution unanimously. Continue reading
Update 2023-09-16: by WWALS, Videos: Quarterman Road rezoning unanimously denied @ LCC 2023-09-12.
After five local residents spoke against and nobody for, the Lowndes County Commission unanimously denied the inappropriate 2.5-acre rezoning REZ-2023-04 on Quarterman Road.
![[Collage @ LCC 12 September 2023]](http://www.l-a-k-e.org/govt/loco/2023-09-12--lcc-regular-videos/many.jpg)
Collage @ LCC 12 September 2023
Then after Roy Copeland spoke for the R-21 rezoning REZ-2023-10 on Mt. Zion Church Road and nobody spoke against, the Commissioners unanimously approved that one.
They unanimously approved almost everything else, including appointing Dr. Anthony Johnson to the Lowndes County Board of Health. The Family Medicine Dr. Johnson; not the eye doctor, although we only know that because LAKE filed an open records request for the board packet and published the results.
The exception was 7.b. Hamilton Green Acceptance of Water – Sewer Infrastructure. Continue reading
Update 2023-09-12: WWALS blog, Clinch County Resolution against strip mine, for Okefenokee Swamp 2023-09-11.
The Clinch County Commission set aside $50,000 as cash match for a Dark Sky Observatory next to the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge (ONWR), and passed a resolution supporting the Okefenokee Swamp against the proposed titanium mine.
![[Collage @ Clinch County Commission 2023-09-11]](http://www.l-a-k-e.org/govt/clinch/2023-09-11--clinch-videos/many.jpg)
Collage @ Clinch County Commission 2023-09-11
The Dark Sky project involves a building with a rollaway roof. Superior Pine Products has donated some land next to ONWR; exactly where is not clear, although it has to be north up GA 177 near the refuge entrance, yet across the Suwannee River on the west or right bank. It will be interesting to see how people will get in to use it.
The resolution includes:
“7. Request the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to move the
Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge from a tentative list to become
a full UNESCO World Heritage Site, and support a bill by a
bipartisan coalition of members of Congress in support of that move.”
As Chairman Henry Moylan remarked, the UNESCO World Heritage List is a big deal, since it goes through the U.N. and includes sites like the Pyramids and the Grand Canyon. Getting ONWR on it should attract more visitors. That list also includes Yellowstone, Yosemite, Great Smoky Mountains, and Everglades National Parks, so it’s a bit puzzling why ONWR is not already on there.
That was in addition to regular business, including renewing a solid waste removal contract and building an EMS building: they decided to look into building a steel building first, and then see about the insides.
Clinch County is not one of the ones declared a federal disaster area (Lowndes, Cook, and Glynn), but it is among those eligible for public assistance for debris removal. Which requires hiring both a debris removal company and a monitoring company. As the representative from DebrisTech explained, that’s because of Hurricane Katrina, after which there was much fraud. So his firm follows each debris removal truck as it picks up and delivers, photographing with GPS coordinates. Homerville City Manager Wallace Mincey said the city had been looking into debris removal, but would probably go in with the county on that.
The Commissioners did not do anything about a Fargo Water Well Easement, because nobody could identify any land owned by the county inside Fargo City Limits. Nobody from Fargo was at the meeting.
Here is the agenda: Continue reading
The main Post Office on Inner Perimeter in Valdosta is mostly closed. You can pick up envelopes from the shelves, get postage from a kiosk, and mail things through slots. That’s about it.
More lingering results of Hurricane Idalia.
The tree contractor is an example of why. Many trees are still down on power and telephone lines.
-jsq
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![[Collage @ LCC 24 October 2023]](http://www.l-a-k-e.org/govt/loco/2023-10-24--lcc-regular-videos/many.jpg)
![[USPS sign, tree contractor]](http://www.l-a-k-e.org/govt/usps/2023-09-08--usps/many.jpg)