There are a bunch of changes to the Comprehensive Plan and the
Land Development Regulations (LDR) that people ought to pay attention to,
scheduled for tonight’s Valdosta City Council (VCC) meeting.
But the one many people are going to see is this one:
6.a) Consideration of a Position Statement on School Consolidation.
Nolen Cox seems to think CHIP grant recipients don’t work.
Chairman Paulk declined to let Mrs. Cox speak because he said in a letter
to the Commission she called them idiots.
When he let Nolen Cox speak, Cox said:
I think it’s interesting that the comments
about the CHIP grant comes after the vote.
Y’all must be an all-wise group.
Chairman Paulk referred to that as sarcastic.
Cox disagreed.
Paulk said it was in his opinion and he decided such things there.
Cox asserted that:
to get a $300,000 grant it takes about $420,000
of tax money accumulated from citizens.
He didn’t cite any source for those figures.
He did claim the Commission was luring people into homebuying
while home prices are going down.
Somebody had to work for the money that they didn’t get
to give to somebody who didn’t work.
Sounds like he was saying CHIP grant recipients don’t work.
I wonder how they pay their mortgages then, since CHIP grants
as near as I can tell only help with down payments?
This grant will serve people who are in the 80% or below median income bracket.
These people probably would not be able to afford purchasing a house
without down payment assistance.
And especially in today’s economic times these people need a hand up.
Instead of renters, they become taxpayers, and that certainly helps our economy.
Thanks for accepting the CHIP grant –Carolyn Selby @ LCC 27 Sep 2011
Regular Session, Lowndes County Commission (LCC),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 27 September 2011.
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.
A citizen (didn’t get his name; sorry) stood up to remark on the stray dogs
that kept getting loose in his neighborhood, and how when animal control came
they just took the dogs back to their owners, who let them loose again.
Chairman Ashley Paulk had no hesitation in saying the sheriff should be called
on the owners.
Stray dogs and the law @ LCC 27 Sep 2011
Regular Session, Lowndes County Commission (LCC),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 27 September 2011.
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.
Twice Tuesday Ashley Paulk broke a tie to vote for assistance state-funded
assistance for poor people for affordable housing.
Joyce Evans made the motion, Crawford Powell said nothing,
Richard Raines was absent, and Paulk seconded and broke the tie for.
Tuesday the Lowndes County Commission considered a routine acceptance of a
Community HOME Investment Program (CHIP)
grant.
The previous morning at the work session, Commissioner Raines had
(according to the VDT) said he was against it.
(This is the same Richard Raines who thought
NOAA Weather Radios were “wasteful spending” back in March.)
However, Raines was not at the regular session Tuesday;
presumably he was on one of his many sales trips.
Twice, Commissioner Evans made a motion related to CHIP,
and Commissioner Powell did nothing.
Twice, Chairman Paulk exercised his privilege in such a case
and broke the tie, seconding and voting for the CHIP grant.
Tuesday the Lowndes County Commission voted to renew a land lease contract
with a saddle club for I’m pretty sure they said $100 a year.
Commissioner Powell made the motion.
Yet he said nothing at all a few minutes before and after when two
votes came up about routine acceptance of a
Community HOME Investment Program (CHIP)
grant to help relatively less affluent people afford housing.
Commissioner Raines, who grandstanded about CHIP the previous
morning at the work session, apparently had no problem with the
saddle club subsidy.
He didn’t show up Tuesday to vote for or against either.
Now I have nothing against the saddle club; I know little about it. It’s the double standard that bothers me.
If you have trouble hearing what is said in this video,
thank the Commissioners for
the award they gave LAKE.
Commission votes to subsidize saddle club
Regular Session, Lowndes County Commission (LCC),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 27 September 2011.
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.
Working on Eagle Scout badges @ LCC 13 September 2011
Regular Session, Lowndes County Commission (LCC),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 13 September 2011.
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.
Jane Osborn talked about two health issues:
the downside of coal mining,
and no institutions for mental health.
…also related to
the solar discussion that was begun yesterday,
I think a piece we don’t talk about very often
is the extraordinary negative side of coal mining.
We are taking the tops off of mountains in Appalachia,
leaving pristine streams clogged with the debris and the toxic waste of that.
So coal is not just the price you see that we pay for it.
Coal is seen in the price of people still dying of black lung,
every time a mine collapses, and every time another mountain
is taken down.
I would guess if they were taking mountains down in North Georgia,
we’d be fussing about it.
She said she has been a social worker for 33 years.
She said starting June the DBHDD there would be a new service
she recommended the county advertise on its website.
The extraordinary negative side of coal mining —Jane Osborn @ LCC 13 September 2011
Regular Session, Lowndes County Commission (LCC),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 13 September 2011.
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.
Dr. Noll made the case for the cost-effectiveness of solar energy
through, among other things, an analogy to finaninc buying a car.
First Dr. Noll thanked people who had supported
WACE’s anti-biomass work,
and hoped people had had time to read his recent LTE in the VDT,
Waste Not, Want Not.
Then he addressed Commissioner Raines’
comments of the previous day.
Dr. Noll pointed out that solar is
fast becoming less expensive
and with financing costs little more than a car or truck.
Solar is cost-effective —Dr. Noll @ LCC 13 September 2011
Regular Session, Lowndes County Commission (LCC),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 13 September 2011.
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.
Dan Bremer of the
Lake Park Chamber of Commerce talked about their
Exit Strategy, which encourages drives to exit I-75 and spend money
in Lowndes County.
He thanked two Lowndes County employees.
And he asked for some use of a prison detail for cleanup before
events in south Lowndes.
The Exit Strategy —Dan Bremer @ LCC 13 September 2011
Regular Session, Lowndes County Commission (LCC),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 13 September 2011.
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.
Land Development Regulations (LDR) that people ought to pay attention to,
scheduled for tonight’s Valdosta City Council (VCC) meeting.
But the one many people are going to see is this one:
