Tag Archives: Transportation

Packet: Rezoning on Glenn Road, Abandon part of Valencia Street, pave Kinderlou Clyattville Road @ LCC 2024-06-10

Update 2024-06-11: Videos: Career Academy, Glenn Road Rezoning, Valencia Street Abandonment, Kinderlou Clyattville Road paving @ LCC Work 2024-06-10.

It’s a light agenda for the Lowndes County Commission this week, with an uncontested rezoning, a road abandonment continued from 2005, and two bids for paving a road.

[Collage, LCC Packet 2024-06-10]
Collage, LCC Packet 2024-06-10

The road paving is a TSPLOST project, so presumably that’s where the three and ahalf million dollars comes from.

Cost What
$3,495,208.06Pl# 0016278 Kinderlou Clyattville Road Paving and Drainage Improvements Bids
$3,495,208.06Total

Here is the agenda.

The board packet, received in response to a LAKE open records request, is on the LAKE website.

See also the LAKE videos of the preceding Planning Commission meeting. Continue reading →

Agenda: Budget, Personal Care Home, streets and transit, 2 sewer repairs @ VCC 2024-06-06

Nobody attended the First Hearing of the proposed FY 2025 Valdosta Budget, so Thursday is your last chance, at the Second Hearing, at the Valdosta City Council meeting.

[Agenda: Budget, sewers, Personal Care Home, streets, and transit @ VCC 2024-06-06]
Agenda: Budget, sewers, Personal Care Home, streets, and transit @ VCC 2024-06-06

That budget includes a pending $67 million bond for water and sewer projects, with interest to be paid from the Water and Sewer Revenue Fund.

The agenda also includes a Conditional Use Permit (CUP) for a Personal Care Home, two street resurfacing projects, an amendment to the contract for the on-call transport cars, and two sewer repair projects.

Here is the agenda.

See also the preceding Planning Commission meeting.

AGENDA
REGULAR MEETING OF THE VALDOSTA CITY COUNCIL
5:30 PM Thursday, June 6, 2024
CITY HALL, COUNCIL CHAMBERS

  1. Opening Ceremonies
    1. Call to Order
    2. Invocation
    3. Pledge of Allegiance to the American Flag
  2. Minutes Approval
    1. The Minutes from the May 9, 2024 Regular Meeting and the May 15, 2024 Special Called Meeting are forthcoming.
  3. Public Hearings
    1. Public Hearing for the Adoption of the Fiscal Year 2025 Budget. (Second Hearing)
    2. Consideration of an Ordinance for a Conditional Use Permit (CUP) for a Family Personal Care Home in a Single-Family Residential (R-6) Zoning District as requested by Roche Kempson (File No. CU-2024-04). The property is located at 1206 West Magnolia Street. The Planning Commission reviewed this at their May 20, 2024 Regular Meeting and recommended approval subject to four conditions (5-0 Vote).
  4. Ordinances and Resolutions
    1. Consideration of a Resolution authorizing the execution of a Contract with the Georgia Department of Transportation for the Patterson Street Resurfacing and Utility Adjustments Project.
  5. Bids, Contracts, Agreements and Expenditures
    1. Consideration of bids for the resurfacing of streets in the City of Valdosta through the SPLOST VIII Funding and GDOT Local Maintenance and Improvement Grant.
    2. Consideration of a request to amend the Contract with River North Transit, LLC and extend Via On-Demand Transportation Services for the City of Valdosta.
  6. Local Funding and Requests
    1. Consideration of a request to authorize payment for an emergency bypass and sewer repairs on Pebblewood Drive.
    2. Consideration of a request to authorize payment for Phase III final billing for emergency sewer repairs at Knights Creek near the intersection of U. S. Highway 84 and Blanchard Street.
  7. Citizens to be Heard
  8. City Manager’s Report
  9. Council Comments
  10. Adjournment

-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

Videos: Budget award, LMIG for Val Del Road widening, Jail addition max price, service and software agreements @ LCC Work 2024-05-28

Update 2024-06-11: Videos: Budget award, LMIG for Val Del Road widening, Jail addition max price, service and software agreements @ LCC Regular 2024-05-28.

For the 18th year, Lowndes County won a Distinguished Budget Award from the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA). That was the first item ihis morning at the Lowndes County Commission Work Session.

They vote this evening at 5:30 PM.

[Collage @ LCC Work 28 May 2024]
Collage @ LCC Work 28 May 2024

We heard some clarification about the almost $9 million dollars in jail additions. Gretchen says, “This is for the proposed new medical area at the jail. Some of the money is ARPA 2021 money.”

With the changeover from Code Red to RAVE Alert, everyone will have to sign up again, because Code Red had an option not to share personal information, which included with the county. However, Ashley Tye said the new system would provide more functionality for less price. That was the longest discussion in the meeting, at more than six minutes.

Hurricane Idalia provided incentive to look for a faster way to do damage assessment. The county is buying Crisis Track damage assessment software, which is a smartphone or table app for faster input to the Georgia Emergency Management Agency (GEMA). That was the second longest discussion, at more than five minutes.

They ended with an executive session to discuss client-attorney privilege for real estate acquisition.

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 board packet, received in response to a LAKE open records request. Continue reading →

Videos: Hospital Authority appointment, 6 rezonings, paving and resurfacing, subdision infrastructure, probationers @ LCC Regular 2024-05-14

An hour-long Regular Session is very unusual for the Lowndes County Commission. Much of it was taken up by two rezonings: REZ-2024-08 on River Road (10:43) and REZ-2024-09 Dasher Grove Subdivision (12:24). For River Road, the applicant discussed setbacks and fire trucks and answered Commissioner questions about house prices and lot sizes. For Dasher Grove, Commissioner questions were mostly about how many lots and when T-SPLOST road work on Val Del Road would take place. Remember, that road work is your tax dollars going to subsidize subdivisions.

Nobody spoke against those rezonings nor against any of the others. All the rezonings and everything else passed unanimously, including they reappointed Hospital Authority incumbent Shirley Garland as expected.

[Collage @ LCC Regular 14 May 2024]
Collage @ LCC Regular 14 May 2024

There was discussion about the apparent price rise by 8.b. Pronto Consulting for Software as a Service to manage probationers. It is actually just that Pronto started with a discount, and this time is not supplying a discount. The total undiscounted amount was always in the county budget.

In Citizens Wishing to Be Heard, Mark Perkins of Lake Park had some questions about the burn ordinance.

Also, Representative John LaHood (R-175) was recognized by the Association of County Commissioners of Georgia (ACCG) for his work on legislation regarding Service Delivery Strategies.

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 Continue reading →

Packet: LMIG for Val Del Road widening, Jail addition max price, service and software agreements @ LCC 2024-05-28 2024-05-28

The jail additions should cost less than $9 million dollars.

The state will supply $1.5 million for Val Del Road (CR 57) widening and turn lanes north from North Valdosta Road (SR 7, aka US 41), and $175,000 for restriping 35 miles of various other roads.

[LMIG for Val Del Road widening, Jail addition max price, Service and software agreements @ LCC 2024-05-28]
LMIG for Val Del Road widening, Jail addition max price, Service and software agreements @ LCC 2024-05-28

The county is switching from Code Red (OnSolve) to RAVE Alert (Motorola).

And the county is buying Crisis Track damage assessment software, which is a smartphone or table app for faster input to the Georgia Emergency Management Agency (GEMA).

These items will be considered at the Work Session Tuesday morning, and voted on at the Regular Session Tuesday evening, both on the same day because today (Monday) is a holiday.

Cost What
$8,965,053.00A New Addition to the Lowndes County Jail Guaranteed Maximum Price (GMP)
$1,656,734.49 2024 Local Road Assistance (LRA) Administration Funds Application
$29,900.00 RAVE Alert Service Agreement
$6,237.00 Crisis Track Damage Assessment Software
$10,657,924.49Total

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, TUESDAY, MAY 28, 2024, 8:30 A.M.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, MAY 28, 2024, 5:30 P.M.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor

Continue reading →

Videos: Hospital Authority appointment, 6 rezonings, paving and resurfacing, subdision infrastructure, probationers @ LCC Work 2024-05-13

Update 2024-05-27: Videos: Hospital Authority appointment, 6 rezonings, paving and resurfacing, subdision infrastructure, probationers @ LCC Regular 2024-05-14.

This Work Session was long by Lowndes County Commission standards, more than half an hour.

[Collage @ LCC 13 May 2024]
Collage @ LCC 13 May 2024

Almost half of that, 13 and a half minutes, was on 7.c. REZ-2024-08 River Road, 4374 River Road, mostly about spacing between houses and fire risk.

Another five minutes was on 7.d. REZ-2024-09 Dasher Grove, about the timeline for Val Del Road improvements.

Notice the Val Del Road improvements are TIA projects, which means tax-paid road improvements to benefit a private developer. Yet this and other such rezonings appear in the agenda as “BUDGET IMPACT: NA”.

Commissioner Mark Wisenbaker asked if the packet materials could be projected on the screen for 6.a. Appointment – Hospital Authority of Valdosta and Lowndes County. ITS Director Aaron Kostyu said he did not have the ability to do that.

Well, the County Planner manages to project all the materials for the rezonings. Why can’t the ITS Director project materials for other board agenda items?

Or the County Commissioners can look at the LAKE website, I suppose.

Or county staff could put the board packet on the county’s own website.

Either way, the Commissioners could use the Internet to look at it on their tablets.

The Commissioners could just direct staff to put the packet on the county’s website.

Commissioners also had some questions about why the increases in Continue reading →

Packet: Hospital Authority appointment, 6 rezonings, paving and resurfacing, subdision infrastructure, probationers @ LCC 2024-05-13

Update 2024-05-17: Videos: Hospital Authority appointment, 6 rezonings, paving and resurfacing, subdision infrastructure, probationers @ LCC Work 2024-05-13.

This week the Lowndes County Commission takes on six rezonings and other business, including $1,194,081.20 in 2024 Local Maintenance and Improvement Grant (LMIG) Resurfacing Bids, paid for by your Transportation Improvement Act (TIA) sales tax.

[Hospital Authority, 6 rezonings, probationers, paving and resurfacing, subdivision infrastructure, road abandonment @ LCC 2024-04-13]
Hospital Authority, 6 rezonings, probationers, paving and resurfacing, subdivision infrastructure, road abandonment @ LCC 2024-04-13

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, MAY 13, 2024, 8:30 A.M.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, MAY 14, 2024, 5:30 P.M.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor

Continue reading →

Videos: Appointment to Land Bank Authority, Mutual Aid Agreement, SetterPointe Subdivision, grants, offsite alcohol, data center switches, and failed land sale @ LCC Regular 2024-04-23

With no discussion, the Lowndes County Commission unanimously appointed James Miller to the Land Bank Authority. Gretchen note, “I’m guessing that this was pre-discussed because there was no discussion at either the work session, nor at this meeting. How do they decide? It’s a mystery.”

At that same Regular Session of April 23, 2024, they also approved everything else unanimously.

There was some discussion of how many single-parent families would be affected by the 6.a. FY 2025 Juvenile Justice Incentive Grant.

Commissioner Clay Griner asked where are the 6.g. North Lowndes Data Center Switches. Answer from Aaron Kostyu: “I would be happy to discuss that with you offline, but it’s probably not best for us to discuss data center locations in a public meeting.”

Jeff Hardy asked in Citizens Wishing to be heard about the timeline for replacement of the Frank’s Creek Bridge on Shiloh Road and about emergency services. The Chairman said he would speak to him after the meeting. Seems to me more citizens would like to know the answers.

No rezonings were on the agenda.

[Collage @ LCC 23 April 2024]
Collage @ LCC 23 April 2024

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 LAKE videos of the previous morning’s Work Session, and the agenda and board packet. Continue reading →

Videos: Appointment to Land Bank Authority, Mutual Aid Agreement, SetterPointe Subdivision, grants, offsite alcohol, data center switches, and failed land sale @ LCC Work 2024-04-22

Update 2024-05-10: Videos: Appointment to Land Bank Authority, Mutual Aid Agreement, SetterPointe Subdivision, grants, offsite alcohol, data center switches, and failed land sale @ LCC Regular 2024-04-23.

At their Work Session Monday morning, April 22, 2024, the Lowndes County Commission did not reveal which of three applicants they favor to appoint to the Land Bank Authority.

They breezed through everything else, with few questions, mostly wanting to know if there would be any surprises, to which the answer was always no.

This one was not anticipated in the original agreement: 5.d. TIA Supplemental Agreement for Hightower Road/Cooper Road NE.

No rezonings were on the agenda.

They voted the next evening.

[Collage @ LCC 22 April 2024]
Collage @ LCC 22 April 2024

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 board packet. Continue reading →

Videos: Race Track Road SE abandonment and TXT-2024-01 ULDC Amendments @ LCC Regular 2024-04-09

“We’re down to one!” said Commissioner Scotti Orenstein, seeing Commissioners Joyce Evans and Demarcus Marshall coming out of the elevator before the April 9, 2024, Lowndes County Commission Regular Session.

“Due to an issue with some advertising, staff is requesting this item be tabled until until the May 14, 2024, meeting,” said Engineering Director Chad McLeod, in 5. Public Hearing a. Abandonment of a Portion of Race Track Road SE.

[Collage @ LCC 9 April 2024]
Collage @ LCC 9 April 2024

They meet again this morning at 8:30 AM for their Work Session, and Tuesday at 5:30 PM for their voting Regular Session.

Their Regular Session two weeks ago would have been very brief, except for Continue reading →