Tag Archives: Suzan Prince

Budget, Bevel Creek Lift Station, Val Tech Road widening, Appointments: ZBOA, Library, VLPRA, Construction @ LCC 2020-06-22

The big item on the Lowndes County Commission agenda for Monday to vote on Tuesday evening
is the
Adoption of Fiscal Year 2021 Budget totaling $59,443,920, with $22,774,781 or 38% to Public safety, i.e., the Sheriff’s department, including the jail.

A RESOLUTION ADOPTING THE FISCAL YEAR 2021 OPERATING BUDGET

PDF

The board packet is
on the LAKE website after we obtained it through an open records request.

Although I hear the hotel/motel tax is down 80% due to virus pandemic,
the
Hotel/Motel Tax FY 2021 County Budget
Budgeted Proceeds are $400,000.00.
They are budget to go to:

$171,429.00
Transfer to Lowndes County’s Special Services Fund from which the County funds
(i) services the County provides primarily for the benefit of the unincorporated area and

(ii) the County’s share of funding of services the County
and one or more municipalities jointly fund

$171,429.00 Transfer to Valdosta-Lowndes County Conference Center and Tourism Authority

to promote tourism, convention, and
trade shows in accordance with the FY 2021 Budget Plan of
said Authority for same which is made a part of this Budget Plan

$57,142.00 Transfer to Valdosta-Lowndes County Parks and Recreation
Authority

for capital costs and operating expenses of parks and
recreational facilities owned and operated by said Authority

A rare no-match federal grant: Acceptance of FY20 Coronavirus Emergency Supplemental Funding brings the total expected expenditures from this Tuesday’s Regular Session down to less than a quarter million dollars:

Cost	What
$148,345.58	Val Tech Road Grading, Drainage, Base and Paving
$82,000.00	Bevel Creek Manhole Emergency Repair
$57,300.00	The Modernization/Upgrade of the Elevator in the Governmental Building
($58,008) in Federal Funding. There is no local match requirement.	Acceptance of FY20 Coronavirus Emergency Supplemental Funding
$229,637.58	Total

I commend Lowndes County Utilities for moving ahead to fix the recent manhole collapse at the Bevel Creek Lift Station on GA 376 near Loch Laurel Road. See also Sewer line repair between manholes, Bevel Creek Lift Station @ LCC 2020-06-22.

Photo: Terry Richards, The Valdosta Daily Times,

Heavy rains cause problems in Lowndes 2020-06-08.

It’s a busy agenda for appointments, to Continue reading →

Videos: Appointments to Hospital Authority and Parks and Rec + well pump @ LCC 2017-07-11

Two Regular Sessions back,
they started with a moment of silence for Mike Everett, recently deceased employee
of the Public Works department.
The

obituary in the VDT, 14 July 2014,

Michael Thomas Everett, a senior heavy equipment operator with
Lowndes county and long time resident of Berrien County, GA, died
unexpectedly on July 9, 2017 at the age of 58 at his home. Mike was
born in Miami, Florida on December 29, 1958 to Hermon J. Everett and
Mary C. Everett both deceased and is survived by his loving
Step-Mother Nora N. Everett. Mike also known as Mr. Mike to many of
his close friends and co-workers was an avid race car fan, loved
cooking, enjoyed tending to his many gardens. He also loved music
and often played guitar with family and friends. He was a magnet for
all dogs taking great care of any that showed up on his doorstep.
Mike was a very kind and generous man who will be deeply missed by
his family, close neighbors, friends, co-workers and all who knew
him. There is no service scheduled at this time.

No surprise on the

pump or
for the

Hospital Authority,
but news about Ashley Paulk and

VLPRA.
They approved everything else unanimously, as they usually do.

Below are links to each LAKE video, with a few notes, followed by a LAKE video playlist.
See also the agenda.
There are no LAKE videos of the previous morning’s Work Session,
because, they moved it half an hour early and didn’t send a notification.
But there is a blog post about one Commissioner’s response to that.
The county apparently does video its work sessions, but not that one,
and not this Regular Session, either.

Continue reading →

Videos: Appointments to Hospital Authority and Parks and Rec + well pump @ LCC 2017-07-10

Nope, there are no LAKE videos of yesterday morning’s Work Session,
because, remember,

they moved the meeting half an hour earlier so when Gretchen showed up it was already over.
The county does not video its Work Sessions, so there is no county video, either.
Since the Valdosta Daily Times apparently did not run a story (I don’t even know if they had a reporter there),
this means you won’t know what the Commissioners discussed nor who else was there Monday morning before they vote this evening at 5:30 PM.

City of Valdosta PR 2017-07-10:

Valdosta City Manager Larry Hanson welcomes new 23d Wing Commander Col. Jennifer Short at the July 10 Change of Command ceremony.

Commissioner Scottie Orenstein asked, on facebook, in response to

yesterday’s LAKE blog post about the moved meeting: Continue reading →

Videos: 3 Hospital Authority appointments, 3 road abandonments @ LCC 2016-11-08

They

appointed Ben Copeland to the Hospital Authority.
More later on why they seem to be doing it backwards.
Nobody spoke in the

Public Hearing for abandonment of Excession RoW off Payton Place,
so they abandoned it and

quit-claimed it to the adjoining landowner.
Then they determined to hold a Public Hearing to

abandon unopened RoW of Avenue I,
although there was an ownership question from Commissioner Clay Griner,
which County Engineer Mike Fletcher answered.
They approved in this public meeting

a list of three elected officals using county-issued credit cards,
but they did not reveal to the public who was on the list.
The County Manager had

no report
and there were

no citizens wishing to be heard
so they adjourned.

Here are links to each LAKE video of the Tuesday 8 November 2016 Regular Session, with a few notes, followed by
a video playlist.
See also Continue reading →

Videos: 3 Hospital Authority appointments, 3 road abandonments @ LCC 2016-11-07

Discussion at Monday morning’s Work Session of the

Hospital Authority appointment clarified that it’s just for one opening,
but didn’t explain why they seem to be doing it
backwards to what Georgia law says.
Commissioner Demarcus Marshall asked for resumes for the applicants.
The Commissioners vote tonight at 5:30 PM.

New intern,

Hampton Rawlinson(sp?), working with Finance and Clerk.
Finance reported on

credit cards for elected officials.
Commissioner Mark Wisenbaker

stumped County Engineer Mike Fletcher.
County Manager Joe Pritchard

had no report.

Here are links to each LAKE video, with a few notes, followed by
a video playlist. Continue reading →

3 Hospital Authority appointments, 3 road abandonments @ LCC 2016-11-07

On this morning’s

Work Session agenda,
Lowndes County is replacing 3 of its 4 Hospital Authority board members.
Of those, 2 of 3 are on the Hospital Foundation board, so how much change is this?
And why does the Lowndes County Commission seem to be doing this appointment backward to the way Georgia law requires?

These appointments are especially interesting after the
Valdosta City Council’s call for Hospital Authority resignations
back in September.
The city’s list of Authority board members
is out of date, still listing Continue reading →

Kickoff speeches @ SPLOST 2012-09-28

Apparently

WCTV’s “at the South Georgia Medical Center Parking Garage”>
meant actually in the nearby parking lot, because that’s where we found
some city and county employees and a few volunteers

standing in the shade of a Valdosta Police van.
An invocation and six speeches from five speakers ensued,
all in support of SPLOST VII,
the Special Local Option Sales Tax on the November ballot.
Several of the speakers were not so positive off the podium about the
library and auditorium projects, and nobody from the library board spoke.

Here are

videos of all of the speeches.

Also

the VDT was there,
and
Jason Schaefer wrote for the VDT yesterday,

Committee kicks off SPLOST campaign,

The major theme of the event was a firm reminder that SPLOST VII is
not a new tax, just a continuation of a penny sales tax that has
been in place since 1987.

Fair enough.
However, Sam Allen’s second talk summed up what’s wrong with SPLOST VII: