Tag Archives: Politics

Rezoning materials for REZ-2025-11, potential datacenter site, on Coleman Road North 2026-08-03

Videos: Valdosta downtown multi-family residential development and office and storage in Lowndes County @ GLPC 2026-01-26

Update 2026-02-08:
Packet: 3 rezonings, 1 Utility Easement Termination, Orr Road Bids, Backup Generators for Pruitt Health Facilities @ LCC 2026-02-09.

They unanimously recommended approval of all items, at
the Greater Lowndes Planning Commission (GLPC),
at its January 26, 2026, Regular Meeting.

Collage @ GLPC 26 January 2026

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
agenda and the board packet,
received in response to a couple of LAKE open records requests.

Why should a private media firm have to pry these materials out of the county?

I’m not blaming the county staff.
They do what they are told to do by the County Commissioners.

I’m not blaming the Planning Commissioners.
They are merely an advisory body.

So please ask your Lowndes County Commissioners why they do not publish
important materials so the public can see what they the Commissioners are using to make decisions? Continue reading →

Packet: Valdosta downtown multi-family residential development and office and storage in Lowndes County @ 2026-01-26

Update 2026-02-08:
Videos: Valdosta downtown multi-family residential development and office and storage in Lowndes County @ GLPC 2026-01-26.

Not even the agenda is on lowndescounty.com for Monday’s Planning Commission meeting,
much less any of the board packet materials.

You can see all of those, plus the minutes from the previous meeting,
here on the LAKE website.

But why doesn’t Lowndes County put these materials on its own website,
so the taxpaying and voting public can see them?

Maybe you’d like to ask your Lowndes County Commissioners.
They have a Work Session Monday morning and a voting Regular Session Tuesday evening with Citizens Wishing to Be Heard.

Why does it take multiple open LAKE open records requests and further email interactions to pry these materials out of Lowndes County?

It’s not just the materials for the Greater Lowndes Planning Commission (GLPC)
that are not on the county’s website.
While the agenda and one-page agenda sheets for the Lowndes County Commission are
on the county’s website, none of the rest of their board packet materials are.

Why should a private media firm have to pry these materials out of the county?

I’m not blaming the county staff.
They do what they are told to do by the County Commissioners.

I’m not blaming the Planning Commissioners.
They are merely an advisory body.

So please ask your Lowndes County Commissioners why they do not publish
important materials so the public can see what they the Commissioners are using to make decisions?

Packet: Valdosta downtown multi-family residential @ GLPC 2026-01-26, Office & storage in Lowndes County; None of this on lowndescounty.com

The Valdosta item is for a dense residential development in an appropriate city character area, with appropriate conditions recommended by staff.
It’s the opposite of sprawl.
Seems like a good idea to me.

I’m less clear on the proposed office and storage facility in Lowndes County, REZ-2026-03.
It is not in an appropriate Character Area.
It has noise and lighting concerns.
It crosses a county sewer force main and a natural gas pipeline.
It crosses a creek that feeds into Franks Creek into the Little River.
The staff-recommended conditions seem like weak tea.

We only have the board materials for this third county case because LAKE
insisted on the county honoring the Georgia Open Records Act (GORA).
The materials for this city case and this county case are

on the LAKE website,
along with the agenda and the minutes from the previous GLPC meeting.

For the materials for the other two county cases, see the previous post:

http://www.l-a-k-e.org/blog/?p=25459

Here is the GLPC agenda, which is still not on the county’s own website:

Greater Lowndes Planning Commission

~ Lowndes County ~ City of Valdosta ~ City of Dasher ~

~ City of Hahira ~ City of Lake Park ~ City of Remerton ~

Tuesday, January 20, 2026 5:30 P.M. Work Session

Monday, January 26, 2026 5:30 P.M. Regular Session

Lowndes County South Health District Administrative Office
325 West Savannah Avenue, Valdosta, Georgia

Continue reading →

Rome-Floyd SPLOST Committee 2024-12-31

The

opaque SPLOST process the Lowndes County Commission is using,
in which it

just sent an Agreement and a Project List to
its cities for approval without the taxpaying citizens ever seeing either,
is not the only way.

Rome-Floyd County, GA, Citizen SPLOST Committee, Less Population than Lowndes, More transparent process

Rome and Floyd County, Georgia, have a citizen committee that decides what is on their Special Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) list.
That committee has open meetings and publishes its draft lists.

https://www.floydcountyga.gov/bc-splost

Floyd County, at 100,113 people, has

less population than Lowndes County, at 120,712.

If Floyd County can be transparent, Lowndes County can also choose to be transparent. Continue reading →

New and old site plans for REZ-2024-03 Southern Gardens, 4609 Bemiss Road @ LCC 2024-03-11

In addition to the support letter from Crown Real Estate Development,
the Bemiss Road rezoning has a revised conceptual site plan.

According to county staff, the applicant for REZ-2024-03 Southern Gardens
listened to suggestions by county staff and objections from neighbors
and changed their plan to add more parking and to move the community building to the back.

New and old Conceptual Site Plans for Southern Gardens, 4609 Bemiss Road

The Lowndes County Commission will vote on this and other rezonings
tonight at 5:30 PM.

Here is the agenda sheet for that item.
For information on the rest of the agenda, see
Packet: Petition against Gresham Event Venue and letter supporting Southern Gardens @ LCC 2024-03-11. Continue reading →

Videos: Tax Assessor appointed, Special Assessment Rate, VOCA, federal consultant @ LCC Regular

The new Tax Assessor is Richard Holcomb, nominated and appointed by acclamation.

That’s to fill the unexpired term of Gene Felts, who was appointed two weeks ago,
got sworn in, and resigned before his first Tax Assessor meeting.

This time,
Lowndes County Manager Paige Dukes did read out the list of remaining candidates.

However, we the taxpayers and voters still do not get to see the applications,
which are not in this board packet, either.

Collage @ LCC Regular 23 January 2024

The County Manager’s Report took six minutes.

Commissioner Mark Wisenbaker wanted to know more about the Animal Shelter budget, which took another minute.

A citizen waved around her Citizens Wishing to Be Heard (CWTBH) form and asked to speak,
but was predictably told by Chairman Bill Slaughter that she could not
because she did not turn in the form before the meeting.
I’m told her name is Kelley Saxon.

In Georgia, many other county commissions converse with citizens during the meeting without requiring a form.

Meanwhile, in Florida, by state law any citizen can speak on any agenda item.

The whole meeting took 16 minutes.

Videos: Appoint another Tax Assessor, Special Assessment Rate, VOCA, federal consultant @ LCC Work 2024-01-22

Update 2024-01-24:
Videos: Tax Assessor appointed, Special Assessment Rate, VOCA, federal consultant @ LCC Regular 2024-01-23.

They’re not actually appointing a successor for James Puckett, whose term expired.
They’re appointing a Tax Assessor to fill the unexpired term of Gene Felts.
At the Regular Session Monday morning, Lowndes County Manager Paige Dukes clarified that
Gene Felts was picked at the last meeting (2024-01-08) and he was sworn in on 2024-01-10 however he then resigned for personal reasons.

We the taxpayers and voters still do not get to see the applications, which are not in this board packet, either.
This time the County Manager did not even read out the names of the remaining applicants.

Maybe somebody should tell the appointees that substantial hours of training are required after being appointed.

They vote tonight at 5:30 PM.

Collage @ LCC Work 22 January 2024

About the Cornerstone state and federal lobbying contract,
the County Manager said they were concerned about

SB 349. Continue reading →

Packet: Appoint another Tax Assessor, Special Assessment Rate, VOCA, federal consultant @ LCC 2024-01-22

Update 2024-01-23:
Videos: Appoint another Tax Assessor, Special Assessment Rate, VOCA, federal consultant @ LCC Work 2024-01-22.

The Lowndes County Commission will try again to appoint a Tax Assessor to succeed James Puckett for a three-year term.
The board packet does not mention that they did this two weeks ago,
but Gene Felts resigned after being sworn in but before his first Tax Assessors meeting.
Maybe somebody should tell the appointees that substantial hours of training are required after being appointed.

And we the taxpayers and voters still do not get to see the applications,
which are not in this board packet, either.

Collage, Lowndes County Commission Board Packet 2024-01-22

The rest of the agenda is annual renewals, except for the
InfoSend contract to outsource billing.

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, JANUARY 22, 2024, 8:30 a.m.

REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, JANUARY 23, 2024, 5:30 p.m.

327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor

Continue reading →

Videos: Boat Ramps, Okefenokee Swamp, LMIG, Taxes @ Clinch County Commission 2023-08-07

Update 2023-09-12:
Videos: Grant match for Dark Sky and resolution against mine too near Okefenokee Swamp @ Clinch County Commission 2023-09-11

Update 2023-08-10:
Chainsaw cleanup, Outings, Boat Ramps, Okefenokee Swamp –Suwannee Riverkeeper @ Clinch County Commission 2023-08-07.

It was a brief agenda at the Clinch County Commission,
with roads and taxes, plus boat ramps and a proposed resolution against the strip mine too near the Okefenokee Swamp.

Collage @ Clinch County Commission 2023-08-07

Below are pictures, LAKE videos of each agenda item, and links to documents, followed by a LAKE video playlist.

Continue reading →

Finances and Okefenokee Swamp @ SGRC 2021-12-09

Here are LAKE videos of (most of) yesterday’s Southern Georgia Regional Commission (SGRC) Council meeting yesterday in Pearson, Georgia.

For some of the items, I have included photographs of the first sheet of the relevant handout(s).
For the rest of each handout, please contact SGRC.

Thanks to SGRC Council Chair Joyce Evans and Assistant Director Chris Strom
for inviting me to come speak about the Okefenokee Swamp in my other hat as Suwannee Riverkeeper; see the WWALS blog post.

Collage: Audit; New member John Clayton (Nashville); DCA Small Cities Conference; Okefenokee Swamp Resolutions –Suwannee Riverkeeper; Jody Redding, GA Gov. Field Rep.

Here is the complete agenda. Continue reading →

On the LAKE front

Citizen dialog for transparent process by the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange