How about if Lowndes County buys the land next to Old State Road
at Hotchkiss Crossing on the Alapaha River and turns it into
Acree Park?
That would be a much better solution to the trash, tresspassing,
and hunting problems there than closing the road.
And Lowndes County itsels claims it has plenty of money available
for just such a purpose.
As we’ve seen, Lowndes County’s own Comprehensive Plan says
the county has $500,000 in Acquisition Funds Available to
“Adopt, implement, and update provisions of the Greenspace Initiative Plan to include land acquisition and resource enhancement/protection.”
And that it plans to
“Continue preparation and implementation of the Withlacoochee River Greenway Plan.”
What say the county acquires parkland at Hotchkiss Landing
from
Old State Road at the Alapaha River is a county-maintained public road.
How could Lowndes County not have known that it was
blocked by two huge blocks of concrete
at Hotchkiss Landing from late 2010 through at least early 2012?
Why did Code Enforcement do nothing about it?
These blocks of concrete have to be quite heavy.
This is not random litter, and no partier or hunter or 4-wheeler would
have any motivation to block the road, much less with blocks this size.
Who would?
Why didn’t the county find out and do something about it?
YOU ARE HEREBY NOTIFIED that pursuant to O.C.G.A. 32-7-2(b)(1) the
Lowndes County Board of Commissioners has determined that a section
of Old State Road (CR # 16) has ceased to be used by the public to
the extent that no substantial purpose is served or by it that its
removal from the county road system is otherwise in the best public
interest. The section of Old State Road that is proposed for
abandonment lies .85 miles to the east of Good Hope Road (CR # 126)
and travels approximately .17 miles before termination at the
Alapaha River.
YOU ARE ALSO HEREBY NOTIFIED that pursuant to said Code section the
Lowndes County Board of Commissioners will hold a public hearing for
the purpose of determining whether to declare the subject section of
the subject road abandoned. The public hearing will be at 5:30 P.M.
on February 12, 2013, at the Lowndes County Administration Building
located at 327 North Ashley Street, Valdosta, Georgia.
Any citizen of Lowndes County or any person wherever residing may be
heard by the Lowndes County Board of Commissioners during the
aforesaid public hearing.
This 28th day of January, 2013.
Joseph D. Pritchard
County Manager
Lowndes County, Georgia
00046658
2/1,8/13
Note that last part:
“or any person wherever residing may be heard by the
Lowndes County Board of Commissioners during the aforesaid public hearing.”
That means you do not have to be a citizen or resident or taxpayer
of Lowndes County to speak at this public hearing.
There’s no public hearing sign on the affected portion of that road.
Why is that?
Here’s
O.C.G.A. 32-7-2(b)(1):
This access to the Alapaha River is the only remaining public access
within Lowndes County. It has great historical significance to the
Naylor community. It continues to be used by boaters, fishermen and
families for recreation.
To:
Lowndes County Commission
Keep County Road 16 leading to the Alapaha River open to public access.
The camera aim is a bit erratic, and you can see why we hadn't already
posted this video (which is actually several briefer videos pasted together
with a few gaps).
Yet you can clearly see, after Glenda Cofield and
Steve Bays
spoke against closing the road,
someone else
started speaking from the audience.
Then
Commissioner Joyce Evans asked those opposed to stand up,
and many people did.
You can see County Engineer Mike Fletcher in the background.
Presumably some of the people who stood were among the 450 people
mentioned in
the minutes:
Glenda Cofield, Mullins Lane, spoke against the request, and presented
a petition submitted prior to the work session with the unverified
signatures of 450 area residents included.
Why were the signatures still unverified if she submitted the petition
before the work session of the previous day?
In 2010, 450 people signed a petition to keep open
the road leading to Hotchkiss Landing on the Alapaha River,
according
the Lowndes County Commission minutes
for the 26 October 2010 Public Hearing.
Photograph by Brett Huntley.
Abandon a portion of Old State Road (CR 16), County
Manager, Joe Pritchard, presented the road closure for consideration,
adding that the engineering department had indicated twenty-five
vehicles per day on the road. Glenda Cofield, Mullins Lane, spoke
against the request, and presented
Richard Lee congratulated the current Commissioners
on being willing to serve.
He pointed at Commissioner Joyce Evans as having been to this rodeo before.
He said they could trust County Manager Joe Pritchard.
And he asked them to find money to stripe roads.
So if y’all can find some coins, and
Mr. Prichard has a real knack for doing that,
we’d appreciate it up in my end of the county.
If Lowndes County owed $0 (zero dollars) on the county palace in November 2010,
why are we paying on
$8,965,000 in bonds for it in December 2012?
If that palace was “100% Paid by SPLOST” in 2010,
why in 2012 is the county pledging our property tax dollars to pay those bonds?
In November 2010:
$22,380,000
Judicial Building Cost
$6,728,000
Administrative Building Cost
100%
Paid by SPLOST
$0
Balance Owed
So says a double-page flyer about “the Lowndes County Judicial &
Administrative Complex”
produced by the Valdosta Daily Times for Lowndes
County in 2010 and signed “Highest regards, Joe Pritchard, County Manager”.
There’s no dateline, but it invites the public to a dedication of the Complex
“on Friday, November 12, 2010.”
The Bonds are payable solely from payments to be made by Lowndes County,
Georgia (the “County”) pursuant to an Intergovernmental Contract,
dated as of December 1, 2012 (the “Contract”), between the Issuer
and the County. Under the Contract, the County has agreed to levy and
collect an annual tax on all taxable property located within the County
as may be necessary to produce in each year revenues which are sufficient
to make the payments required by the Contract.
The city of Valdosta was approved for a CWSRF loan of $18,500,000 to
finance phase two of the Mud Creek Water Pollution Control Plant
project, which includes increasing capacity from 3.2 million gallons
per day (GPD) to 5.7 million GPD, and additional improvements and
modifications to the facility. Valdosta will also design a new
solids treatment system. The city of Valdosta will pay 3 percent
interest on the 20-year loan for $18,500,000.
So why is the County of Lowndes having to float bonds?
And are bonds on the commercial
bond market really a better financial deal for the county?
More than a million dollars will be saved by refinancing county bonds,
the Chairman and staff indicated at
yesterday morning’s
Lowndes County Commission Work Session.
Congratulations!
But who is this shadowy Lowndes County Public Facilities Authority
that is responsible for that?
8.i. Refunding Revenue Bonds
County Manager Joe Pritchard said
the county was refinancing two bond packages, for the
Public Facilities Authority
and for the
Central Valdosta Development Authority.
County Attorney Walter Elliott said the
Public Facilities Authority was meeting 4PM tomorrow (now today 11 Dec 2012)
to approve an ordinance similar to what the County Commission was
being asked to approve Tuesday night.
There’s also a purchase agreement with the underwriter,
in the packet only the board gets to see.
Chairman Ashley Paulk said he spoke Friday to somebody named Mr.
Bucky Kensey(?) who wouldn’t tell him a number but said the
bond market had moved in the county’s favor.
The Chairman also said:
I want the public to understand these are not new bonds
these are old bonds that are at a higher interest rate
that are going to be refinanced at a lower rate,
and I believe the last savings was close to a million dollars.
The Chairman indicated Mr. Kensey(?) thought there would be a pleasant
surprise with even more savings than that.
The Commissioners reappointed Antonio Henderson and Harry Sullivan
to the Lowndes County Public Facilities Authority. Their terms will
expire May 31, 2010. Joseph Stevens was appointed, and his term will
expire May 31, 2009.
The primary purpose of the meeting is for the Authority to consider
a Bond Resolution to provide for the issuance of Refunding Revenue
Bonds for the purpose of refunding in part Public Facilities Authority
Revenue Bonds (Lowndes County Water and Sewerage Project), Series 2005,
and Central Valdosta Development Authority Revenue Bonds (Lowndes County
Judicial/Administrative Complex), Series 2003, to authorize and approve
the execution and delivery of an Intergovernmental Contract with Lowndes
County, and related purposes. The meeting will be open to the public in
accordance with the Georgia Open Meetings Act.
NEW YORK, November 15, 2012 —Moody’s Investors Service has
assigned a Aa2 rating and a stable outlook to Lowndes County’s (GA)
$9.1 million Refunding Revenue Bonds (Lowndes County
Judicial/Administration Complex), Series 2012 and $7.2 million
Refunding Revenue Bonds (Lowndes County Water and Sewerage Project),
Series 2013, both issued by the
Lowndes County Public Facilities Authority.
At this time, Moody’s has also affirmed the Aa2 ratings
to $15.5 million of general obligation bonds and $193.7 million of
bonds issued through the Hospital Authority of Valdosta and Lowndes
County, the Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority, the
Central Valdosta Development Authority and the Lowndes County Public
Facilities Authority…
You know, the county could just tell us all this stuff, so we wouldn’t
have to try to google it.
It is our tax money they are spending, after all.
