Tag Archives: Lake Park-Bellville Road

Roads, Water, and Taxes @ LCC 2021-02-22

Four million dollars in tax money discussed this morning,
to be voted on at 5:30 PM tomorrow (Tuesday) by the Lowndes County Commission.

[Table: Four Million Dollars]

Table: Four Million Dollars

Yet their video cameras seem to be broken and I haven’t seen anything
about paying to fix them or buy new ones.
Meanwhile, Valdosta City Council started online through an iphone,
and numerous other counties in Georgia and Florida have made their meetings
accessible online.

Cost What
$1,974,139.00 Georgia Environmental Finance Authority (GEFA) Loan Application for the Lake Park Bellville Road Widening Project
$1,875,000.00
Georgia Environmental Finance Authority (GEFA) Loan Application for Lift Station & Manhole Rehab Project
$219,000.00 Approve Purchase of West Savannah Avenue and Briggs Street Properties
$168,880.00 Purchase of Wetland and Stream Credits for Old US 41 North Widening Project
$59,500.00 Contract with Condrey and Associates, Inc.
$34,024.64 Request for the Purchase of Motorola Radios for Public Works
$19,167.00
Approval of the Solicitor General’s VAWA Competitive Grant Award
$10,195.00 Approval of Hightower Road and Cooper Road Right of Way Purchases
$6,000.00 GMASS Rural Land Maintenance Contract
$339.00 Just Compensation – Right of Way Parcel 10 Hightower Road and Cooper Road, TSPLOST Project
$4,366,244.64 Total

We don’t know where are the lift stations or manholes to be
financed through a GEFA loan for $1,875,000,
but I’d say that’s a good use of funds.
Not so sure about the

$1,974,139 for relocating utilities for widening
Lake Park Bellville Road,
because I’m not clear on why that road needs widening.
I do wonder why sewer and drinking water improvements have to be funded through loans
while road building gets tax funds.

Here is
the agenda.
The board packet is
on the LAKE website,
received Friday in response to a LAKE Open Records request.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS

PROPOSED AGENDA

WORK SESSION, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2021, 8:30 a.m.

REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2021, 5:30 p.m.

327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor

Continue reading →

Packet: Clyattstone Road rezoning yet again, Decorative lighting, Transportation, Alcohol, Taxes, Law, Cybersecurity, Pandemic @ LCC 2021-01-25

After discussion Monday morning, on Tuesday evening the Lowndes County Commission will approve spending $2 million tax dollars, mostly in $1.6 million on

Lake Park Bellville Road, including relocating water and sewer lines.
There’s another $90,000 on
Hightower Road and Cooper Road NE, Right of Way Purchases.

Cost What
$1,655,975.00 Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) Contract Item Agreement/Memorandum of Understanding Lake Park Bellville Road
$280,193.75 FY 2020 Hazard Mitigation Assistance Grant Application
$90,670.31 Approval of Hightower Road and Cooper Road NE, Right of Way Purchases
$29,400.00 Cybersecurity Maturity Tier 1
$12,500.00 Agreement with SGRC to Develop 2021 Lowndes County Comprehensive Plan Update
$20,000.00 FY 2020 Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention Grant (to be fully reimbursed)
$2,068,739.06 Total

REZ-2020-20 Ballyntyne 6712 Clyattstone Road
is back yet again, this time probably to be improved.
The agenda sheet says no cost for that rezoning,
but remember last time we added up more than $3 million the county
has already spent on Clyattstone Road and water and sewer infrastructure.

The least expensive item with dollars listed is
FY 2020 Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention Grant, because it will be fully reimbursed.

Also inexpensive and probably cost-effective is
Agreement with SGRC to Develop 2021 Lowndes County Comprehensive Plan Update.

[Subdivisions in northwest Lowndes County, GA]

Subdivisions in northwest Lowndes County, GA

Listed at no cost to the county is
Addition to Basic Decorative Street Lighting District – Creekside West, Ph. 6 & 7 and Val Del Villas,
which includes maps of subdivisions in northwest Lowndes County,
allowing you to see the extent of sprawl so far in that direction.

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


http://www.l-a-k-e.org/govt/loco/2021-01-25–lcc-packet/

We look forward to board packets being on the county’s own website along with

the agenda.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS

PROPOSED AGENDA

WORK SESSION, MONDAY, JANUARY 25, 2021, 8:30 a.m.

REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, JANUARY 26, 2021, 5:30 p.m.

327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor

Continue reading →

Videos: 2 appointments, Tower, GDOT Utilities, various agreements @ LCC Regular 2019-05-28

Animal welfare was the topic of the one
Citizen wished to be Heard: Ed Barr, a former VSU faculty member,
who said he spoke for a group of people
who want a better-designed animal shelter,
with better accessibility, as in closer to a residential area,
or maybe redesigned like

Miss Kitty Feline Sanctuary in Thomasville;
he never said quite what features that meant.


The Regular Session was double-booked at the same time as the
Planning Commission, so Gretchen went to the Planning Commission.
The county’s own video was not available yesterday,
but it appeared after I inquired.

They appointed Continue reading →

Videos: Tower, GDOT Utilities, 2 appointments, various agreements @ LCC Work 2019-05-28

The Work Session was at 4PM on Tuesday.
The longest item was

7d. Corrections Software Solutions Probation Tracking System.


On the

6 a. TWR-2019-01 US Hwy 84 E. E-A, New 300′ Telecommunications Tower,
tabled last time,
staff did hear from Moody AFB that the tower was no problem for helicopter
pilots, and the FAA has said no hazard.
But they didn’t say whether Moody had issued its TERPS report.

Berinda Nwakamma did introduce herself very briefly as an applicant for the

5a. Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities (DBHDD).
County Manager Joe Pritchard said
“her information is in your agenda,”
but it was not among the
board packet documents the county sent LAKE in response
to an open records request.
What we dug up about her is below.

The Chairman had to speak for the one applicant for the

5b. Appointment – Southern Georgia Area Agency on Aging,
since Commissioner Joyce Evans declined to say anything.

They had an

Executive Session to discuss pending litigation.

Below are links to each LAKE video of each agenda item, followed by a LAKE video playlist.
See also Continue reading →

Packet: Lowndes County Commission @ LCC 2019-05-28

Received in response to an open records request by LAKE.
The county supplied it onto the same USB drive with the

documents from the previous County Commission packet.
The county charged LAKE $6.65 for that USB stick.

[Page 1]

GDOT to Lowndes County, Actual Cost Preliminary Engineering Agreement, Cover Letter

These documents are

on the LAKE website.

LAKE looks forward to the county putting all these packet documents
on the county’s own website, along with the
agenda and agenda sheets.

Missing from what the county sent: Continue reading →

Tower, GDOT Utilities, 2 appointments, various agreements @ LCC 2019-05-28

Both the Work Session and the Regular Session are Tuesday,
due to Monday being a holiday.
That puts the Regular Session at the same time as the
Planning Commission.

The

proposed 300′ tower is back on
the agenda.
Its agenda sheet says they’re still waiting for Moody AFB to do a

Terminal Instrument Procedures (TERPS) analysis,
and for a response from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
So the County Commission could make a decision and adjourn
before the
Planning Commission
even gets that far on its agenda.

Utilities has a
Standard Utility Agreement/Preliminary Engineering Agreement with GDOT that
“that covers the engineering cost of Water and Sewer Distribution
facilities relocations incurred by Lowndes County for improvements of the
interchange on CR 274/Lake Park-Bellville Road. The amount of the contract
is $49,270.00, of which the DOT will bear 100 percent of the cost.”

Two appointments:
somebody unnamed resigned from the
Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities (DBHDD) and

Berinda Nwakamma wants to be appointed.
Naturally, the agenda says nothing about who she is,
but
linkedin says “Program Director at Georgia Home Visiting Program”,
ResearchGate
says “Valdosta State University | VSU ยท department of social work”,
and
Great Start thanks providers,
by Daniel DeMersseman, VDT, 10 June 2017,
says “GSGL [Great Start Georgia Lowndes] supervisor.”
I’m guessing she’s the one in the front left of the picture, not holding a certificate, because she’s the one organized giving them out.





Daniel DeMersseman | The Valdosta Daily Times
Great Start Georgia Lowndes thanks social services providers at its Thank-a-Provider event.

Commissioner Joyce Evans’ term Continue reading →

Videos: Turnberry, Branham, Peterson Road Lift Station, and Commissioner Comments @ LCC 2016-12-13



24 minutes on
REZ-2016-19 Turnberry at Thompson E-A to R-21 which changed to R-1
at the last minute,
14 minutes on
Bill Branham’s

REZ-2016-23 Copeland Road development,
4 on
REZ-2016-24 Martin< 3 on REZ-2016-25 Cain’s Creekside RV Park,
and
3 on the

Peterson Road Lift Station Rehab,
plus
almost 5 minutes of

Chairman and Commission Comments!
Real discussion and revealing their opinions in public?
What’s gotten into them?
Did they see in advance

the VDT’s Sunlight on the horizon?

Yet the Chairman said nobody could ask the audience to stand up on

REZ-2016-19 Turnberry at Thompson
and while they were waiting for the room to clear before

the next item could start, Continue reading →

Videos: Health appointment, 7 rezonings, abandonment, Soil Erosion, Wastewater, and alcohol @ LCC 2016-12-12



Bill Branham’s

Copeland Road development
got six minutes of discussion, the longest in yesterday morning’s Work Session,
with others of the seven rezonings also getting discussion,
plus, surprisingly, the

proposed VOCA grant, because the outgoing DA spoke.
They vote tonight at 5:30 PM.
I would like to compliment the Commissioners on asking questions and
having discussion in the Work Session.
Even ever-silent Joyce Evans spoke up about

the MIDS on-call bus system grant re-application.

They’re going to

reappoint Dr. Randy Smith to the Board of Health.
Chairman Bill Slaughter said:
“Inside your packets you have a letter from Dr. Grove supporting Dr. Smith.”

But we the citizens, taxpayers, and recipients of health care didn’t get to see that letter.
The Chairman went on to recommend Dr. Smith, and I thank him for making that recommendation in public where we could all see and hear it.
Dr. Smith is probably a fine board member: that’s not the point.
The point is if the public could see these things they might have useful input,
not to mention it’s the public’s business the Commission is doing.
Similarly Commissioners had

a quarterly financial report “before you”,
but the public couldn’t see it.
If

tiny Effingham County can publish its County Commission packets,
mighty Lowndes County could to it, too.

Below are links to each of the LAKE videos, with Continue reading →

Health appointment, 7 rezonings, abandonment, Soil Erosion, Wastewater, and alcohol @ LCC 2016-12-12


Longest agenda in recent memory, for this morning’s Work Session
and tomorrow evening’s Regular Session of the Lowndes County Commission.

For the rezonings, see also the LAKE videos of the preceding Planning Commission meeting.
For the abandonment of unopened right of way on Avenue I, see the LAKE videos of last month’s Lowndes County Commission meeting.

-jsq

Investigative reporting costs money, for open records requests, copying, web hosting, gasoline, and cameras, and with sufficient funds we can pay students to do further research. You can donate to LAKE today!

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS

PROPOSED AGENDA

WORK SESSION, MONDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2016, 8:30 a.m.

REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2016, 5:30 p.m.

327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor

Continue reading →