Tag Archives: Suwannee Riverkeeper

Packet: Lead Service Line Inventory and MCWTP Micro Screen, Lakeland Ave. Stormwater, New water wells @ VCC 2024-01-25

The board packet for tonight’s Valdosta City Council meeting, full of wastewater, stormwater, and trash items, is on the LAKE website, all 137 pages of it.

The packet includes some details about the proposed Lakeland Avenue Regional Stormwater Facility, which is item 5.c) on the agenda.

[Collage, Valdosta City Council Packet 2024-01-25]
Collage, Valdosta City Council Packet 2024-01-25

If you can’t attend in person, you can watch it on facebook live on Valdosta, A City Without Limits.
https://www.facebook.com/CityofValdosta

-jsq

Investigative reporting costs money, for open records requests, copying, web hosting, gasoline, and cameras, and with sufficient funds we can pay students to do further research. You can donate to LAKE today!
http://www.l-a-k-e.org/blog/donate

Agenda: Lead Service Line Inventory and MCWTP Micro Screen, Lakeland Ave. Stormwater, New water wells @ VCC 2024-01-25

Update 2024-01-25: Packet: Lead Service Line Inventory and MCWTP Micro Screen, Lakeland Ave. Stormwater, New water wells @ VCC 2024-01-25.

Tonight’s Valdosta City Council agenda is full of wastewater, stormwater, and trash items.

[Agenda, Valdosta City Council, 2024-01-25 and Lakeland Avenue map]
Agenda, Valdosta City Council, 2024-01-25 and Lakeland Avenue map

If you can’t attend in person, you can watch it on facebook live on Valdosta, A City Without Limits.
https://www.facebook.com/CityofValdosta

Here is the agenda.

[Agenda, Valdosta City Council, 2024-01-25]
Agenda, Valdosta City Council, 2024-01-25
PDF

AGENDA
REGULAR MEETING OF THE VALDOSTA CITY COUNCIL
5:30 PM Thursday, January 25, 2024
CITY HALL, COUNCIL CHAMBERS

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]
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

Videos: Wild Adventures and Weather Report @ LCC Work 2023-02-13

Update 2023-03-13: Firefighters grant, Madison Highway rezoning, Webster Street purchase, Wild Adventures expansion, Peterson Road Sewer Main Open Cut @ LCC Regular 2023-02-14.

Wild Adventures wants to make a 50 space short term RV park on their property. Their General Manager Jon Vigue gave a slide presentation.

[Collage @ LCC 13 February 2023]
Collage @ LCC 13 February 2023

Commissioner Scottie Orenstien wanted to know did they own the land: yes. Would they connect to county water and sewer? yes. Lowndes County Utilities Director affirmed that the county already has the necessary infrastructure for them to connect to.

Commissioner Demarcus Marshall wanted to be sure 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]
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

Videos: One Valdosta-Lowndes, Troupville River Camp, Hospital Authority re-appointment, Godfrey rezoning, VAWA staffing @ LCC 2021-11-08

By far the longest item at 33 minutes at the Lowndes County Commission Work Session was a presentation about One Valdosta-Lowndes (OVL).

[OVL River Camp, Hospital Authority appointment, Godfrey rezoning, VAWA staffing]
OVL River Camp, Hospital Authority appointment, Godfrey rezoning, VAWA staffing

Second longest at almost five minutes was 8.e. Request For Cash Match Increase For VAWA ASG Salary Supplement, about the Violence Against Women Act. Third at four minutes was 7.c. REZ-2021-24 Barry Godfrey, Mt. Zion Church Road.

The likely re-appointee to the Hospital Authority did attend.

Everything else got little discussion, including the final approval of the Comprehensive Plan Update.

They voted the following Tuesday evening.

Below are LAKE videos of each agenda item, with a few notes, followed by

Videos: Appointment Development Authority, Mutual Aid, Quit Claim White Water Road @ LCC 2020-01-28

The Lowndes County Commission approved all items in four and a quarter minutes, at its Regular Session a month ago, including reappointing Teri Lupo to the Valdosta-Lowndes Development Authority. There were no other nominees.

The longest item at less than a minute was 6.a. 2020 Statewide Mutual Aid Agreement. Commissioners had no questions about that or any other item.

Lowndes County Emergency Management Director Ashley Tye

Below are LAKE videos for each agenda item, followed by a LAKE video playlist. See also Continue reading

Videos: Appointment Development Authority, Mutual Aid, Quit Claim White Water Road @ LCC 2020-01-27

One month ago, the entire Lowndes County Commission Regular Work Session took eight and a half minutes. Plus an Executive Session for Real Estate.

Lowndes County Attorney Walter G. Elliott

Below are LAKE videos for each agenda item, followed by a LAKE video playlist. See also the agenda. The board packet is on the LAKE website.

Videos: New Valdosta Mayor, Mayor Pro-Tem, and $2 million budget surplus while record raw sewage was spilling @ VCC 2020-01-09

A month ago at the Valdosta City Council we learned that Valdosta has a $2,410,000 budget surplus.

Valdosta municipal audit and budget surplus
5b) Presentation of the Municipal Audit for Fiscal Year 2019

Maybe they could spend some of that to help fix the well and river testing costs downstream on the Withlacoochee River of Valdosta’s record 7.5 million gallons of raw sewage spill into Sugar Creek, which has taken two months to maybe finally get diluted down the Withlacoochee River, twice entering Florida, with three Florida river advisories, and with Georgia warning signs on the Withlacoochee River downstream of Sugar Creek by Lowndes County and by WWALS (but not by Valdosta).

One City Council member tells me that audit doesn’t mean Valdosta has $2 million cash lying around. But they do have several hundred thousand unspent.

Maybe they could also budget some of that surplus to help fix the stigma, the decades-long reputational damage to all our rivers, caused by Valdosta’s chronic sewage spills. That would involve for example water quality testing or paying for testing downstream on the Withlacoochee River and doing marketing.

Four Citizens spoke at the end of the meeting: Continue reading

Lowndes County Commission Annual Planning Meeting 2020-02-04-06

The annual Lowndes County retreat, er, Planning Meeting, is in the middle of this week, starting tomorrow morning.

When: 8:30 AM – 5:00 PM, Tuesday – Thursday, February 4-6, 2020

Where: Quail Branch Lodge, 7601 Zeigler Road, Lake Park, GA 31636
The lowndescounty.com calendar item says “Board of Commissioners Administration Building”, but nevermind that.

Agenda: They never post an agenda in advance for these retreats.

Yes, LAKE will be videoing this meeting.

-jsq

Investigative reporting costs money, for open records requests, copying, web hosting, gasoline, and cameras, and with sufficient funds we can pay students to do further research. You can donate to LAKE today!