Tag Archives: Lowndes County

Packet: Lake Alapaha rezoning to ag., Howell Road rezoning and annexation to Valdosta @ GLPC 2026-07-27

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Three cases with only two sets of applicants will be heard 5:30 PM, Monday, July 26, 2026, by the Greater Lowndes Planning Commission (GLPC).

[Collage: Packet @ GLPC 2026-07-27]
Collage: Packet @ GLPC 2026-07-27

In a seldom-seen type of case, Michael Jones of Mardun Ventures wants to rezone 10.7 acres from R-21 to E-A, Estate Agriculture, to use for silviculture operations. The property does contain wetlands and it is near the Alapaha River.

Sheldon Hill and Laine Chaney want to rezone two parcels from R-A to M-2 and C-H, and to annex it into the City of Valdosta, at the northeast corner of Inner Perimeter Road and Howell Road. “The applicants are proposing to market this property for future industrial and commercial development due to its strategic location adjacent to the railroad and its proximity to Inner Perimeter Road. The applicants are requesting annexation in order to allow access to municipal utilities and other City services.”

Here is the agenda.

The board packet, received in response to a LAKE open records request, is on the LAKE website, along with the minutes of the previous meeting, which surprisingly, were on the county’s own website!

Images of each page are below.

Greater Lowndes Planning Commission
~ Lowndes County ~ City of Valdosta ~ City of Dasher ~
~ City of Hahira ~ City of Lake Park ~ City of Remerton ~

Monday, July 20, 2026 5:30 P.M. Work Session
Monday, July 27, 2026 5:30 P.M. Regular Session
Valdosta City Hall Annex
300 North Lee Street, Valdosta, Georgia 31601

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Packet: Comprehensive Plan Update, Appointments to VLPRA and Library Board, Road Resurfacing and Widening @ LCC 2026-07-27

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According to page 2 of the agenda, “There will be an information sharing session to address data center ordinance considerations following the adjournment of the regular meeting.” That’s the 5:30 PM, Tuesday, July 28, 2026, Regular Session of the Lowndes County Commission, on the second floor of 327 N. Ashley Street, Valdosta, GA.

The draft Comprehensive Plan Update recommends under Intergovernmental Coordination Needs, “Strengthen transparency and communication between officials, staff, and the public”

And under Opportunities & Existing Resources, “Most of the local governments already use their websites and social media platforms to disseminate critical information and educational content.”

What draft Comprehensive Plan Update? The 300-page draft in the board packet for this week’s Lowndes County Commission meeting.

The draft that is nowhere on lowndescounty.com that I can find. So you get to see it only because LAKE got it via an open records request.

The irony.

[Collage, Packet @ LCC 2026-07-28]
Collage, Packet @ LCC 2026-07-28

It’s amusing that LAKE is not mentioned in that draft, but multiple LAKE images are used, at least one of them credited in the image itself.

After their Monday morning Work Session, at their Tuesday Evening voting Regular Session, the Lowndes County Commission will reappoint Suzan Garnett to the Valdosta-Lowndes County Parks and Recreation Authority (VLPRA) and will appoint to replace Timothy McCoppin one of these candidates: Mr. Brent Moore, Mr. Herb Reinhard, Mr. Timothy McCoppin, and Mr. Broc McDowell.

Recently they appointed William Booth to the Lowndes County Library System Board of Trustees, but since discovered he does not live in Lowndes County. Debra Carruth and Sarah FitzGerald are candidates.

The two usual suspects bid for $5,039,798.50 widening of Hickory Grove Road and Skipper Bridge Road, and Scruggs bid below Reames.

Getting into real money, Resurfacing Batch 1 P.I. # 0020532 will include resurfacing 36 county roads, with a budget of $13,134,000.00.

These road projects are apparently all to be paid for by funds from the Georgia Transportation Investment Act (TIA).

Here is the agenda:

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, JULY 27, 2026, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, JULY 28, 2026, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor

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Videos: New Library Board, Wisenbaker Rd rezoning, communications tower in Langdale Park, Pre-Disaster Logistics, Juvenile Justice, Lift Station Bypass @ LCC Regular 2026-07-14

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Update 2026-07-25: Packet: Comprehensive Plan Update, Appointments to VLPRA and Library Board, Road Resurfacing and Widening @ LCC 2026-07-27. Plus, “There will be an information sharing session to address data center ordinance considerations following the adjournment of the regular meeting.”

They voted separately on each of the nine posts on the reconstituted Library Board, and appointed someone to each. They ended up with one applicant left over somehow. This was the Lowndes County Commission in their Regular Session of Tuesday, July 14, 2026, where they also unanimously approved everything else.

Including the one actual rezoning, 6a. REZ-2026-14 Ray Colding, 6808 Wisenbaker Rd., Lake Park, ~8.5ac, M-1 & R-A to M-2, County Water and Septic.

https://youtu.be/u67fzIz5f_A?si=H-5SvDlHxdsPEny3

And of course they unanimously approved this in Langdale Park, 6.b. TWR-2026-02 Bermuda Run, New 159′ Telecommunications Tower near North Valdosta Road and Hyta Mederer Drive.

https://youtu.be/Yn_jbG5uM0g?si=TPgg7XvhVyEKR3EK

I did speak against it, and I pointed out they still weren’t in conformance with the ULDC, at least because the existing tower locations are not in VALORGIS. But they approved it anyway.

[Collage @ LCC Regular 2026-07-14]
Collage @ LCC Regular 2026-07-14

County Manager Paige Dukes in her Reports called on Fire Chief Billy Young, who called on someone else to explain grants they had recently applied for, and they got some.

https://studio.youtube.com/video/7UYGpYf1-Zc/edit

She also had EMA Director Ashley Tye about changes of policy at GEMA that affect hurricane disaster recovery centers. FEMA will no longer provide that service. The county would have to do that: building, setup, staffing, equipment.

https://youtu.be/893tG8BrjYw?si=KLJoce54y8Cjh2mR

Datacenters

The County Manager kicked off the now-traditional datacenter discussion at the end of her Report. She said the county staff were still working on a datacenter ordinance, and were taking advantage of work other locations had done in environmental, legal, and other studies. She noted there was still no application for a datacenter. I hope the county doesn’t wait around until there is one, after which any ordinance or moratorium they passed would not apply to that application.

https://youtu.be/pUmHRF7yfNE?si=GWOn-Iy9wUjTjHK2

Five Citizens were Heard about datacenters: Continue reading →

Videos: New Library Board, Wisenbaker Rd rezoning, communications tower in Langdale Park, Pre-Disaster Logistics, Juvenile Justice, Lift Station Bypass @ LCC Work 2026-07-14

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Not on the agenda for that Tuesday morning Work Session, Chairman Bill Slaughter introduced the new Executive Director of Legacy Behavioral Health, Paivi Parssinen. The LBH website says her title is Chief Executive Officer.

County Manager Paige Dukes said a bit more about obstacles to such care, in her County Manager Report.

[Collage of LCC Work, 2026-07-14 --LAKE]
Collage of LCC Work, 2026-07-14 –LAKE

They rotate the Vice-Chair seat. It just moved from Scottie Orenstein to Mark Wisenbaker.

On the Minutes for Approval, Chairman Bill Slaughter forgot that the Regular Session was for later that same Tuesday evening because the Work Session had been moved from Monday to Tuesday for reasons they never made public.

County Manager Paige Dukes explained the complicated staggered nine board slots for the revamped Lowndes County Library System Board of Trustees. At least two of the applicants were actually present.

There was some discussion about merging the current split zoning on 6.a. REZ-2026-14 Ray Colding, 6808 Wisenbaker Rd., ~8.5ac, M-1 & R-A to M-2.

Once again the County Planner presented slides that were not in the board packet for 6.b. WR-2026-02 New 159′ Telecommunications Tower in Langdale Park: tower inventory and why Verizon says they can’t cover what this tower could. See Propagation maps.

Cities in the county can participate if they want to, in 7.a. Award of Pre-Event Disaster Logistics Support Services Contracts.

Utilities Director Steve Stalvey continues to stay ahead of potential sewage spills, with 7.c. Lift Station Bypass Pump Request for Proposal.

Here is a YouTube playlist of the LAKE videos of each agenda item, with a few notes by Gretchen Quarterman.

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLBUxmZO8Jk-I&si=KsvfRMuC0MnJKlBG Continue reading →

Lowndes County budget and transparency –WTXL TV 2026-07-13

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WTXL reporter Malia Thomas told me Lowndes County Manager Paige Dukes had said that LAKE’s concerns were valid.

Well, LAKE’s main concern with the Lowndes County budget is the same as with most things the Lowndes County Commission does: lack of transparency.

The county can easily do something about that if it wants to.

[Lowndes County budget and transparency and LAKE, 2026-07-13 --WTXL TV, Malia Thomas]
Lowndes County budget and transparency and LAKE, 2026-07-13 –WTXL TV, Malia Thomas

Malia Thomas, WTXL, July 13, 2026, Lowndes County’s fiscal budget approved — here’s what it means for your tax dollars:
Lowndes County approved a $193 million FY2027 budget — up 16.5% over last year — while holding its general operating budget flat since 2018. Continue reading →

Packet: New Library Board, Wisenbaker Rd rezoning, communications tower in Langdale Park, Pre-Disaster Logistics, Juvenile Justice, Lift Station Bypass @ LCC 2026-07-14

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Update 2026-07-20: Videos: New Library Board, Wisenbaker Rd rezoning, communications tower in Langdale Park, Pre-Disaster Logistics, Juvenile Justice, Lift Station Bypass @ LCC Work 2026-07-14.

Here are the board packet materials for the Work Session and Regular Session, both tomorrow, Tuesday, July 14, 2026, of the Lowndes County Commission.

About the communications tower in Langdale Park, the packet still does not include the Propagation maps that are required by ULDC 5.05.05.B and 5.05.05.E; see Verizon tower in Langdale Park? @ GLPC 2026-06-29.

[Packet: New Library Board, Wisenbaker Rd rezoning, communications tower in Langdale Park, Pre-Disaster Logistics, Juvenile Justice, Lift Station Bypass @ LCC 2026-07-14]
Packet: New Library Board, Wisenbaker Rd rezoning, communications tower in Langdale Park, Pre-Disaster Logistics, Juvenile Justice, Lift Station Bypass @ LCC 2026-07-14

How are the County Commissioners supposed to decide without all the evidence, this “quasi-judicial decision whether the standards for a telecommunications tower in Section 5.05.05 of the ULDC are met”?

The agenda sheet says, “At the Planning Commission, the applicant’s representative spoke in support, while one citizen spoke in opposition, claiming that inadequate information was available to the GLPC for their consideration. Staff presented the information to the GLPC, who found it sufficient to recommend approval (7-2).”

If the information presented to the Planning Commission was sufficient, why does this County Commission packet include an additional signed and sealed letter from an engineer, which says, “As part of the proposed telecommunications site listed above, we are designing the site in compliance with the Section 5.05.04 (A) of the Lowndes County, Georgia Land Development Code….”

That would appear to satisfy the letter of ULDC 5.05.05.E. Unfortunately, it may not be accurate.

I still don’t see any of these points addressed:

  • An inventory in VALORGIS of the applicant’s existing towers or alternative tower structures. See ULDC 5.05.05.B.2
  • An argument for why Langdale Park would not be a “historic district” or a “scenic view corridor.” See 5.05.05.G.5
  • An argument for why hiking trails cleared by numerous citizens would not be public rights of way. See 5.05.05.I.I. and the Right-of-Way definition on page 1-25.
Continue reading →

Packet: Special Called Meeting to Adopt the Proposed FY 2027 Budget @ LCC 2026-06-30

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Update 2026-07-14: Lowndes County budget and transparency –WTXL TV 2026-07-13.

On July 9, I sent an open records request to Lowndes County asking for “the documents called out by Finance Director Stephanie Black:

  1. The Valdosta-Lowndes County Convention Center and Tourism Authority (VLCCCTA) plan for use of the proceeds provided for tourism, conventions, and trade shows.
  2. The budget plan for Hotel-Motel Proceeds for Fiscal Year 2027.
  3. the proposed county budget plan for 2027 for adoption.”

Less than two hours later, the county provided four documents. Apparently there were two resolutions that matched my third request.

[Packet: Special Called Meeting to Adopt the Proposed FY 2027 Budget @ LCC 2026-06-30]
Packet: Special Called Meeting to Adopt the Proposed FY 2027 Budget @ LCC 2026-06-30

Those documents are on the LAKE website. Images of each page are below.

I’m told they are also on the county’s website, but I cannot find them there under Finance, County Clerk, or County Manager.

It is a mystery to me why the county does not publish such documents on its own website, before it holds Budget Public Hearings.

And it’s a mystery why the county does not video its own Budget Public Hearings, which are held in the same room with the same audiovisual equipment they use to video the County Commission Regular Sessions.

See also the LAKE video of the Special Called Meeting to adopt the budget. That post includes the agenda and the relevant parts of the VDT story on the meeting. Continue reading →

Agenda: New Library Board, Wisenbaker Rd rezoning, communications tower in Langdale Park, Pre-Disaster Logistics, Juvenile Justice, Lift Station Bypass @ LCC 2026-07-14

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Update 2026-07-13: Packet: New Library Board, Wisenbaker Rd rezoning, communications tower in Langdale Park, Pre-Disaster Logistics, Juvenile Justice, Lift Station Bypass @ LCC 2026-07-14.

Tuesday evening the Lowndes County Commission will decide on a communications tower in Langdale Park.

They will also completely reconstitute the Library Board. “The Constitution of the Lowndes County Library System was amended in March 2026 to conform with Georgia law.” So they’re making a new nine (9) person board, for which these nine Lowndes County residents wish to apply: William Booth, Dr. Elveta Miller, Dr. Kendal Crawford, Greg Moore, Dean Poling, Debra Carruth, Jane Peeples, Gary Wisenbaker, and Mary Beth Brownlee. Their terms will all start on July 1, 2026, with staggered end dates: two in 2027, three in 2028, and three in 2029, all ending on June 30.

[Agenda: New Library Board, Wisenbaker Rd rezoning, communications tower in Langdale Park, Pre-Disaster Logistics, Juvenile Justice, Lift Station Bypass @ LCC 2026-07-14]
Agenda: New Library Board, Wisenbaker Rd rezoning, communications tower in Langdale Park, Pre-Disaster Logistics, Juvenile Justice, Lift Station Bypass @ LCC 2026-07-14

I know this because if on https://lowndescounty.com/AgendaCenter you click Download for the July 14, 2026, agenda, and select PDF, the result has links to the agenda sheets. For each sheet, if you refresh your screen you get an image of that page.

Why get them that way? Because if you select HTML or Packet, only the agenda proper has content. All the agenda sheet pages are blank.

Also, I set the wrong date to send an open records request for the board packet, so that only went out today.

If the county simply put the entire PDF of the board packet on its own website, as many other counties smaller and larger have been doing for years, nobody would have to go through this rigamarole.

I did find advertisement for the RFP for L8400.075 Pump Station Improvements and that is included here.

The files I got are on the LAKE website. Images of each page are below, even the blank pages.

Here is the agenda.

For the two Public Hearing items, the Wisenbaker Road rezoning and the communications tower in Langdale Park, see also the LAKE videos of the preceding Planning Commission meeting.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, TUESDAY, JULY 14, 2026, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, JULY 14, 2026, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor

Continue reading →

Videos: Special Called Meeting to Adopt the Proposed FY 2027 Budget @ LCC 2026-06-30

Update 2026-07-13: Packet: Special Called Meeting to Adopt the Proposed FY 2027 Budget @ LCC 2026-06-30.

Turns out there was another agenda item for the Special Called Meeting to Adopt the Proposed FY 2027 Budget, 8:30 AM, Tuesday, June 30, 2026, Lowndes County Commission. They did post the agenda on the county’s website, on June 26, 2026, the Friday before the Tuesday meeting.

On that Tuesday, first they adopted a budget plan for Hotel-Motel Proceeds for Fiscal Year 2027. That required first getting a plan from the Valdosta-Lowndes County Convention Center and Tourism Authority (VLCCCTA) their plan for use of the proceeds provided for tourism, conventions, and trade shows.

Finance Director Stephanie Black said, “You have a copy of the Authority’s budget plan and a proposed county budget plan for 2027 for adoption.”

I can’t find either of those documents on the county’s website nor on the VLCCCTA website. Naturally, LAKE has filed an open records request for those documents. Meanwhile, fortunately Malia Thomas was there to report for the Valdosta Daily Times and apparently got a copy of those documents; see below

[Videos: Special Called Meeting to Adopt the Proposed FY 2027 Budget & Hotel-Motel Budget @ LCC 2026-06-30]
Videos: Special Called Meeting to Adopt the Proposed FY 2027 Budget & Hotel-Motel Budget @ LCC 2026-06-30

They unanimously adopted the hotel-motel plan and then the county budget.

Why a special called meeting when they could have done these things in a Regular Session? If I’m not mistaken, the state requires counties to adopt a budget by the end of June. So they had an additional meeting on the last possible day to adopt these documents.

The entire meeting took 2 minutes and 14 seconds. Gretchen Quarterman drove an hour round trip to take this LAKE video for you.

The county could have videoed this meeting and put it on its YouTube channel the same way it handles its Regular Sessions. But it did not.

https://www.youtube.com/@lowndescountyboardofcommis7341

So here is the LAKE video of the June 30, 2026, Special Called Meeting to Approve 2027 Budget:

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLYr6CvpzLv2c&si=0LIfN6vq-MpzgZ8I Continue reading →

Draft Minutes: Lowndes County small subdivision and communications tower, Valdosta doublewide and contractor office @ GLPC 2026-05-26

And, finally, the draft minutes for the May 26, 2026, Greater Lowndes Planning Commission (GLPC).

[Draft Minutes: Lowndes County, small subdivision and comm. tower, Valdosta doublewide and, contractor office @ GLPC 2026-05-26]
Draft Minutes: Lowndes County, small subdivision and comm. tower, Valdosta doublewide and, contractor office @ GLPC 2026-05-26

In the LAKE videos of the following month’s June 29, 2026, GLPC meeting, Gretchen Quarterman noted, “The approval of the minutes was tabled until next meeting because not all commissioners had received, or reviewed the minutes.”

https://youtu.be/YbAOx7HWXEM?si=UNTUFyFILY2xKyfg

So maybe the May minutes will get approved in July.

These draft minutes are on the LAKE website, with images of each page below.

See also the Continue reading →