Tag Archives: VLPRA

Proposed abandonment of the only public access to the Alapaha River in Lowndes County —April Huntley

Received Monday; she sent it to all the Commissioners; I added a few links. -jsq

To the Lowndes County Commission:

My name is April Huntley, and I have lived in Naylor for over 13
years. I have used the boat ramp at the end of Old State Rd. that

April Huntley
gives access to the Alapaha River for most of those years. Until
yesterday, when I spoke to Phillip Connell, I didn’t know I was
trespassing when I swam in the river. I thought this was public
access. I thought this belonged to Lowndes County.

I thought about this some more and questions rose up in my mind. Why
hadn’t the game wardens and sheriff deputies that came to check the
area at times notified me and others we were trespassing? Why would
Lowndes County not claim their ONLY boat ramp to the Alapaha River
for the benefit of their residents?


Commisioners Raines and Powell
Ok, so I had these questions, but then I started thinking about the
Commission work session I attended yesterday morning, and when

I talked to Commissioner Powell and Raines afterward. They told me

that despite what the tax assessor has on their website and in their
records, their attorney viewed the deeds showing Phillip Connell
bought the property from Dr. Acree 2 or 3 years ago. His lawyer (I’m
assuming Mr. Connell’s) filed something wrong and that’s why it
isn’t showing up with the tax assessor. The story when

Chairman Bill Slaughter

I spoke to
Bill Slaughter, Commission Chairman, Friday afternoon was that we
need to prove ownership because he and Commissioner Evans had walked
the property with Phillip Connell. Mr. Connell says he owns both
sides of the road.

So from Friday afternoon to
Monday morning deeds have been found to
prove ownership of the land? And these deeds contradict tax records?
So is it 2 or 3 years? Doesn’t a deed have an exact date on it? Who
has been paying the taxes for the last 2 or 3 years? Wouldn’t
somebody notice if they were paying taxes on land they didn’t own
for 2 or 3 years?

In light of these new discoveries, the people immediately request
information on what exactly the lawyer filed wrong which caused
Phillip Connell’s supposed property along Old State Rd. not to show
up in the tax assessor’s records, the exact date Mr. Connell
purchased the property from Dr. Acree which gives him ownership of
the land on both sides of Old State Rd. and the deeds. Most
importantly the people request to know when and why Lowndes County
lost the boat ramp to private property.

Oh, one more question, did the state of Georgia build the boat ramp
with prison labor?

Commissioners, I respectfully request this information and that you
deny the proposed abandonment of .17 miles of County Road 16, Old
State Rd., leading to the Alapaha River.

Sincerely,

April Huntley

Please deny abandonment of Old State Rd. leading to the Alapaha River —Brett Huntley

Received Monday; he sent it to all the Commissioners. -jsq

To the Lowndes County Commission:

My name is Brett Huntley. I have lived in Naylor Georgia for 13
years. I am also a business owner in Lowndes County.

Brett Huntley

In the past 13 years I have used the location at the end of Old
State Rd. as an entry point to the Alapaha River for all kinds of
outdoor recreation. An example of these things are fishing, camping,
boating, hiking, canoeing and family get togethers.

This location is the only public access point to the Alapaha River
in Lowndes County. It would deeply sadden me to lose this place that
I have grown to love over the years.

I would also like to not only suggest keeping this location open to
the public, but ask the county to consider spending money on it. It
would benefit the county to fix this location so it can be easier
maintained and the public can access it.

I would also like to point out that this time the idea of shutting
down the entry point to the river has been a lot more under the
radar. I would like to know why a counter has not been placed across
the road to show proof of how many people use this location. Also
why was the sign notifying the public of this matter not put up
until the last minute?

Thank you!

Brett Huntley

Please deny abandonment of Old State Rd. leading to the Alapaha River —Travis Bennett

Received Monday; he sent it to all the Commissioners; I added a few links. -jsq

To the Lowndes County Board of Commissioners:

My name is Travis Bennett, and I’ve lived in Naylor for 9 years. One
of the reasons I moved to Naylor was the river.

Travis Bennett
When I moved here
there were picnic tables and trash cans down there. It was really
nice to have a picnic and family get together!

I live less than a mile from the boat ramp. My step son, Levi
Giddens, and I go down and fish all the time. He loves fishing that
river!

I’ve worked with

the local DNR officer, Keith, on the litter and
unruly people. In the past couple of years the river has stayed a
lot cleaner. So I’m not sure why it is being said it is trashed down
there.



I am disappointed that it took until late last week to get the
public hearing sign up. I was at

the last hearing on this and spoke
with Joyce Evans. She stated the river should remain open. I hope
she still thinks the same thing. I just wanted to state a few things
I was thinking about.

Thanks!

Travis Bennett

Speak at the work session? —April Huntley

Received Friday; she sent it to Chairman Slaughter.
He didn’t let her speak at the Work Session, but he did talk to her. -jsq

Dear Mr. Slaughter,

I am writing you to follow up on a message I left with your office
this morning. I would like a chance to speak at your Monday morning
work session about the matter of the proposed abandonment of a
portion of Old State Rd. leading to the Alapaha River and also have
Mr. Connell present. I have been circulating paper and online
petitions to the community to display the public use and enjoyment
of this area. I do understand the concerns of some of the
surrounding land owners about trash and trespassing. I am working on
a project to get the community, individuals in the public, to make
donations to purchase a portion of Dr. Acree’s land which will be
donated to Lowndes County Parks and Recreation. The community would
also like to work to resolve issues on trespassing and the trash
dumping. I hope that we can work together on this issue and keep
this beautiful, historic area an asset to Lowndes County. Thank you
for your thought and consideration!

Sincerely,

April Huntley

Keep County Road 16, leading to the Alapaha River open to public access —Christopher L. Graham

Received Sunday; he sent it to all the Lowndes County Commisioners. -jsq

My name is Christopher L. Graham I’m a citizen of Naylor. I am
concern about the river shutting down to the public. Because it is

Christopher L. Graham
the only public access to the Alapaha river in Lowndes county.
Because then we have to go to lake land in Lanier county to there
public access boat ramp to put in or go to Stateville in Echols
county to there DNR public access boat ramp to put in. The
Hotchkiss Bridge or now people are calling it Hotchkiss landing is a
good check point for the fisherman. I’m concern because there is
not many public a ccess on this Alapaha river. Well if Naylor ever
expands there wouldn’t be any water recreation use in this
community. That is not good for our community. People all over this
area use this public access for fishing & they bring there kids and
there family together to have a family picnic, swimming. People go
down there to relax and listen to the water hitting the rocks and
hear the birds making different noise. This is a nice place to take
picture of the nature. The Hotchkiss Bridge is a top location for
bird watching in the State of Georgia. Birding enthusiasts
interested in experiencing the many wonderful bird families in the
surrounding areas of Hotchkiss Bridge. The Hotchkiss Bridge has a
historic value to our community. It use to be the old major highway
to go to the next town. Many of our community had there ancestry use
that old Hotchkiss Bridge. I know the bridge has been gone for many
years. Now it’s a public boat ramp. The Hotchkiss Bridge has history
and It would be a good asset for Lowndes county to have….

P.S. I would like a park down there and a sign that tell the history
of the old Hotchkiss Bridge.

Videos: Surprise trash, Hotchkiss Landing, 3 rezonings, 3 contracts @ LCC 2013-02-11



Surprise! Veolia, excuse me, Advanced Disposal showed up to try to
defend their record so far with their new exclusive franchise solid
waste contract.
Also at this morning’s Work Session of the Lowndes County Commission,
three rezonings, three contracts,
and some new wrinkles on

the proposed closing of
the part of Old State Road leading to Hotchkiss Landing on the Alapaha River,
revealed after the session was over.
They vote Tuesday evening at 5:30 PM.

Here’s

the agenda,
with links to the videos, and a few notes, followed by a video playlist.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS

PROPOSED AGENDA

WORK SESSION, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2013, 8:30 a.m.

REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2013, 5:30 p.m.

327 N. Ashley Street — 2nd Floor

Continue reading →

News about Hotchkiss Landing @ LCC 2013-02-11



After the

Monday morning’s Lowndes County Commission Work Session
was over, a couple of Commissioners indicated to inquiring citizens
that they had seen a contract by which Acree Investments LTD
sold land on both sides of Old State Road to the Alapaha River
to Phillip Connell.
This contract has not been filed with the county,
and that’s why the Tax Assessors’ database doesn’t show it.
I confirmed later today with Dr. Acree that he had sold 16 acres
to Phillip Connell several years ago.
Very interesting; if it is even Old State Road they’re considering closing (see below).


Public Hearing sign on Old State Road
What sort of public hearing is it going to be tomorrow evening
when this new information was not revealed to the public even
in the Work Session, and the only way the public could find out
was by going and asking a Commissioner personally?

In positive news, various Commissioners expressed approval of the
idea of

Continue reading →

Acree Park at Hotchkiss Landing?



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

Continue reading →

Hotchkiss Landing Road Closing, 3 rezonings, 3 contracts @ LCC 2013-02-11

Monday morning and voting Tuesday evening at the Lowndes County Commission,
three rezonings, three contracts, and the proposed closing of


the part of Old State Road leading to Hotchkiss Landing on the Alapaha River,
with all its complications
such as

why did Code Enforcement do nothing about that road being blocked for many months?
And why was there

no public hearing sign on the road
until (I hear) it suddenly appeared late yesterday?

Here’s

the agenda. -jsq

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS

PROPOSED AGENDA

WORK SESSION, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2013, 8:30 a.m.

REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2013, 5:30 p.m.

327 N. Ashley Street — 2nd Floor

Continue reading →

Why did Lowndes County do nothing about a blocked public road?

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

Seen by google earth 2012-01-24
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?

-jsq