Tag Archives: Snake Nation Road

Sign variances @ ZBOA 2017-12-05

“[V]ariances are
designed to provide an opportunity for relief in circumstances beyond design’s control where it would be
difficult if not impossible to meet the regulations,”
said city staff, about

APP-2017-07 — Messiah Lutheran Church,
on the the agenda
for this afternoon at the decision-making Valdosta-Lowndes Zoning Board of Appeals.
Ditto
APP-2017-06 — Axis Infrastructure,
but they like the signs proposed in

APP-2017-05 — Staten Station.


APP-2017-05 Tax Parcels Aerial

You can see all the details of the three Valdosta cases on

on the LAKE website.
I don’t have the packet items for the four Lowndes County cases.

Valdosta – Lowndes County Zoning Board of Appeals

Matt Martin,
Valdosta Planning and Zoning Administrator

300 North Lee Street, Valdosta, Georgia

(229) 259-3563

Carmella Braswell,
Lowndes County Zoning Administrator

327 North Ashley Street, Valdosta, Georgia

(229) 671-2430

AGENDA

December 5, 2017

2:30 p.m.

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Videos: Ten cases @ ZBOA 2017-10-03



A backlog since June is a lot of cases, and in the interests of time
I have not watched the whole thing; instead I’m posting now.
A
Summary of Actions
should appear soon on the Valdosta website for
the decision-making Zoning Board of Appeals.
See also

the agenda
and board packet,
is
which is on the LAKE website,
courtesy of ZBOA member Gretchen Quarterman.
Gretchen also set up the LAKE video camera behind the board this time.
Links to the two LAKE videos appear below, followed by a LAKE video playlist.

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Ten cases @ ZBOA 2017-10-03

They haven’t met since June, and today the decision-making Zoning Board of Appelas has
the longest agenda ever.
The packet, courtesy of ZBOA member Gretchen Quarterman,
is on the LAKE website.


Valdosta – Lowndes County Zoning Board of Appeals

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Suwannee County sinkholes —WCTV



Sinkholes in

Seffner, Fort Myers,
Tallahassee,
and now even closer.
Follow the Withlacoochee River south to the Suwannee River,
and two counties south of us in Suwannee County, Florida,
they’ve got dozens of sinkholes,

one of them massive, with another one this month,
including apparently a cavern under some yards.
This is in the same Floridan Aquifer that underlies Lowndes County,
where we had

a road drop into a sinkhole three years ago
and sinkholes were discovered under a man’s garage and yard last year.

Greg Gullberg 4 March 2013,

The Science Behind Sinkholes,

Mikell Cook says he and his neighbors have learned more about
Geology than they ever cared to since last summer when Tropical
Storm Debby swept through much of Florida leaving Live Oak and
surrounding areas peppered with sinkholes.

He and his neighbors live in the town of McAlpin, where

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Tallahassee sinkhole

Even closer than
Tampa Bay
or
Fort Myers,
Tallahassee has sinkhole problems in our same Floridan Aquifer
just across the state line.
Will the Lowndes County Commission do anything about our sinkhole
problems before people start losing their insurance and get sucked
into holes in the ground?

Andy Alcock wrote for WCTV Wednesday,

Tallahassee Woman Faces Sinkhole Problem,


Imagine living in a home you can’t insure, no one wants to buy and
it may not be safe.

A Tallahassee woman is currently facing that problem.

At first glance, her home in Tallahassee’s Mission Manor
neighborhood on the city’s northwest side doesn’t look much
different from any of the other homes in the neighborhood.

Then about two years ago, homeowner Vickie Gordon found a problem.

“I started noticing that the doors were getting stuck in the
bathroom, couldn’t open them,” said Gordon.

Then the issues became more noticeable.

Cracks started showing up all over the house.

After Gordon contacted her insurance company, investigators found
sinkhole activity at her home.

I wish this part was a joke:

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Florida sink hole evicts church

More

sinkholes in Florida in the same Floridan Aquifer that’s under us,
this time evacuating a church.
Maybe sinkhole safety should be important here, too.

WCTV carried an AP story today,

Suspected Sinkhole Forces Church Move



Pastor Rick Shuck told WBBH in Fort Myers on Monday the sinkhole has
caused uneven floors, cracks in the walls and a hole in the ground
so large that a landscaper fell into it.

Shuck says they had to end Faith Community Church’s Sunday service
early because “it’s just not safe anymore.” He says some cracks in
the walls are a half-inch wide and part of the auditorium floor has
dropped about 4 1/2 inches.



Geological engineers say it’s definitely a sinkhole. But the
church’s insurance company sent engineers who determined there is no
problem. So next month the two sides are heading to mediation.

That second picture above was taken in Lowndes County,
showing

printouts of analysis by a VSU professor of sinkholes
under a yard in Lowndes County.


And they’re

under Michael McCormick’s shed (see picture on the right),
and they’re

in his garage.

The same Floridan Aquifer is underground here as in Florida.
Perhaps something needs to be done about sinkholes right here in Lowndes County?

-jsq

Sinkholes in Florida, and in Lowndes County, Georgia

The sinkhole that formed under a man’s bed and pulled him in has
made a lot of news in Florida, plus another one a few miles away.
But the news seems to neglect why those sinkholes are forming.
Could it be the same reason sinkholes are forming in Lowndes County, Georgia?
And will the Lowndes County Commission do anything about that
before we see news about somebody here falling into a sinkhole?

Will Hobson, Laura C. Morel and Jodie Tillman wrote for the Tampa Bay Times 1 March 2013,

Seffner sinkhole 911 call: ‘Bedroom floor just collapsed’,

Jeremy Bush just went to bed when he heard what sounded like a car
hitting the house. Then screams from his brother Jeffrey’s bedroom.

“Help me! Help me!”



Someone flipped the lights. Jeremy, 36, threw the door open,
revealing a sight that defied belief: The earth had opened beneath
his brother’s bedroom and was swallowing everything in it. The tip
of Jeffrey’s mattress was the only thing left, and it was sinking
into a churning sinkhole.

The Tampa Bay Times has a long series on what happened afterwards,
rescue workers who didn’t find him, the demolition of the house,
objects found, etc.
They never quite get around to saying why the sinkhole was there.
They first say

(Shelley Rossetter 2 March 2013),

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Snake Nation Road at Lowndes County Commission Monday 8:30AM, Tuesday 5:30PM

No rezonings this time, but plenty of money to be spent on this and that.
The one I wonder about is

5.a. Change Order to Snake Nation Road Contract

We heard last time from Joe Pritchard that
the county had received some estimates for resurfacing on Snake Nation Road, but he needed some time to organize funding before presenting details.
OK, fair enough, but why is it a Change Order?
Didn’t they just vote on realignment of Snake Nation Road in June?
Why two months later a Change Order, which usually means
have to do it right now with no competitive bids?



Here’s a backgrounder from the VDT about
a sinkhole being discovered on Snake Nation Road last December.
And here’s the VDT in May on
costs for fixing it:

“We are purchasing the property to the north, 5.22 acres, for $40,000
to reroute the road,” said County Manager Joe Pritchard.

Rerouting the road will cost approximately $300,000 versus at least
twice that amount to reinforce the hole, put in concrete supports,
and fill it to prevent the road from collapsing again.

Here’s
the agenda for this morning and tomorrow evening.


LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA

WORK SESSION, MONDAY, AUGUST 22, 2011, 8:30 a.m.

REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, AUGUST 23, 2011, 5:30 p.m.

327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor

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