Tag Archives: wine

Videos: Seven minutes for three appointments, one subdivision streets, and alcohol, plus long County Manager Reports @ LCC 2022-05-10

Two weeks ago, the six-minute Reports took almost as long as the entire rest of the Regular Session of the Lowndes County Commission.

[Appointments and Reports]

Appointments and Reports

Clay Griner did show up to vote on an item in his district, but Scottie Orenstein did not:

6.b. Adopt Resolution Accepting Infrastructure for Grove Pointe Phase V Sect 2.
Commissioner Demarcus Marshall was also absent.
Commissioners Joyce Evans and Mark Wisenbaker were present both at the Work Session and this Regular Session.
Chairman Bill Slaughter was present.

County Manager Paige Dukes was also present, giving many

Reports, assisted in a video about Griner Park at Webster and Ashley Street.

Commissioner Joyce Evans provided some amusment, Continue reading →

Videos: Five minutes for three appointments, one subdivision streets, and alcohol @ LCC 2022-05-09

Update 2022-05-23:
Regular Session
Videos: Seven minutes for three appointments, one subdivision streets, and alcohol, plus long County Manager Reports @ LCC 2022-05-10.

In the five-minute Work Session yesterday morning, the few Commissioners who showed up breezed through everything with no discussion.
Commissioners Scottie Orenstein and Clay Griner were absent,
even though this is in their districts:

6.b. Adopt Resolution Accepting Infrastructure for Grove Pointe Phase V Sect 2.
But of course it is expected that the Commission will approve that item this evening at 5:30 PM.
County Manager Paige Dukes was also absent, in her case due to illness.

Below are links to each LAKE video of each agenda item,
followed by a LAKE video playlist.
There are no notes, because nothing happened worth commenting on.
See also Continue reading →

Three appointments, one subdivision streets, and alcohol @ LCC 2022-05-09

The Lowndes County Commission continues to pretend that accepting streets for a subdivision won’t cost taxpayers anything in future maintenance,
nor previously in running water and sewer there.
Back in October 2019, when the county accepted infrastructure for Phase V, County Engineer Mike Fletcher said that was “the last phase of Grove Pointe”.
Yet here we are with
Adopt Resolution Accepting Infrastructure for Grove Pointe Phase V Section 2.

[Beer and Streets]

Beer and Streets

Connecting Grove Pointe to Val Del Road by the Nelson Hill subdivision
was planned since at least 2006,
and that’s why Simpson Lane and Clyattstone Road got paved.
Despite all that, today’s Grove Pointe agenda item is marked “BUDGET IMPACT: N/A”.

Also on the agenda Continue reading →

Videos: VLPRA, RV sales, Moody AFB Fire Dept., Tax Assessors @ LCC 2021-09-13

By far the longest item at the Lowndes County Commission Work Session yesterday morning was the

presentation on the VLPRA Master Plan by their consultant David Barth, taking 34 minutes.

Second longest was

8.d. GMASS Commercial Contract for the Tax Asessors office.
Each of these got more than a minute:
the
RV sales expansion item,
and

8.b. Fire and Emergency Services Agreement between Lowndes County and MFAB.

[VLPRA, RV sales, Moody AFB Fire Dept., Tax Assessors]

VLPRA, RV sales, Moody AFB Fire Dept., Tax Assessors

Below are links to each LAKE video of each agenda item, followed by a LAKE video playlist.
See also Continue reading →

GMASS for Tax Assessors, Fire, Foam, Moody, RV, Courthouse, Alcohol @ LCC 2021-09-13

Update 2021-09-14:
LAKE videos.

The Tax Assessors having no commercial appraisers left are hiring
GMASS
to appraise commercial properties, for $108,000 over three years.

Four times as much will go to early cleanup work at the historic Courthouse.

Cost What
$411,125.00 Lowndes County Historic Courthouse Early Demolition and Abatement GMP (Guaranteed Maximum Price)
$108,000.00
GMASS Commercial Contract for Tax Assessors
$519,125.00 Total

This is on
the agenda
this morning for the Lowndes County Commission.
At this Work Session, they have two extra items:
Code Enforcement Appreciation and
VLPRA Adopted Master Plan Presentation by Dr. David Barth (Work Session).

They will vote Tuesday evening, on these and other items including
a Fire Department agreement with Moody AFB, expansion of an RV sales company,
and beer and wine sales.

[Alcohol, RV, Tax Assessors contractor]

Alcohol, RV, Tax Assessors contractor

Below is the agenda. Update 2021-09-14: The board packet is on the LAKE website due to a LAKE open records request.

See also the preceding Planning Commission agenda and board packet
and LAKE videos.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS

PROPOSED AGENDA

WORK SESSION, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2021, 8:30 a.m.

REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2021, 5:30 p.m.

327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor

Continue reading →

Lowndes Co. Dev. Auth. Reappointments, Insolvent property, subdivision infrastructure, wine license, radios, bottled water, trucks, clothes washers, mowers, tractors, backup generator 2021-05-24

Less than a million tax dollar expenditures to be decided upon Tuesday
after discussion Monday,
by the Lowndes County Commission.
Not counting future expenses from accepting streets for a subdivision,
and not county almost half a million in insolvent taxes to be written off.

[Wine license, Subdivision Infrastructure]

Wine license, Subdivision Infrastructure

Cost What
$274,780.32 Purchase of Trucks for Various Departments on State Contract
$236,056.00 Bid for Four (4) Tractors for Public Works
$71,600.00 Bid for Four (4) Bat-Wing Mowers for Public Works
$60,421.00 Bid for Washers/Dryers for Fire Stations
$47,500.00 Val-Tech Booster Station Generator
$6,000.00 Bids for Bottled Water Service
$696,357.32 Total

This,
Acceptance of Infrastructure for Two Oaks Subdivision Phase II,
will result in ongoing tax dollar expenses for sending school buses, sheriff, fire and rescue, and repairs to water and sewer and streets.
But the County Commission never counts that in its budget.
They also don’t count as related however many millions they’ve already spent preparing roads, water, and sewer for a subdivision.

Also not included is the $437,823.30

to be written off the tax rolls as insolvent,
due to statute of limitations, moved property out of the county, etc.,
at the request of the Tax Commissioner.

Not the same as the Valdosta-Lowndes Development Authority:
“The terms of Commissioner Clay Griner, Mr. Crawford Powell, and Mr. Barry
Broome to the Lowndes County Development Authority will expire on June 8, 2021. They have all expressed
an interest in being reappointed.”

I wonder what this was about, in the

May-10-2021-Work-Session-Minutes.pdf”>
Minutes of the previous Work Session?
“County Attorney, Walter Elliott, requested in writing, that the regular session minutes be revised regarding the motion to enter the executive session meeting.”

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

https://www.l-a-k-e.org/govt/loco/2021-05-24–lcc-packet

Here is

the agenda.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS

PROPOSED AGENDA

WORK SESSION, MONDAY, MAY 24, 2021, 8:30 a.m.

REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, MAY 25, 2021, 5:30 p.m.

327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor

Continue reading →

Packet: Clyattstone Road rezoning yet again, Decorative lighting, Transportation, Alcohol, Taxes, Law, Cybersecurity, Pandemic @ LCC 2021-01-25

After discussion Monday morning, on Tuesday evening the Lowndes County Commission will approve spending $2 million tax dollars, mostly in $1.6 million on

Lake Park Bellville Road, including relocating water and sewer lines.
There’s another $90,000 on
Hightower Road and Cooper Road NE, Right of Way Purchases.

Cost What
$1,655,975.00 Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) Contract Item Agreement/Memorandum of Understanding Lake Park Bellville Road
$280,193.75 FY 2020 Hazard Mitigation Assistance Grant Application
$90,670.31 Approval of Hightower Road and Cooper Road NE, Right of Way Purchases
$29,400.00 Cybersecurity Maturity Tier 1
$12,500.00 Agreement with SGRC to Develop 2021 Lowndes County Comprehensive Plan Update
$20,000.00 FY 2020 Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention Grant (to be fully reimbursed)
$2,068,739.06 Total

REZ-2020-20 Ballyntyne 6712 Clyattstone Road
is back yet again, this time probably to be improved.
The agenda sheet says no cost for that rezoning,
but remember last time we added up more than $3 million the county
has already spent on Clyattstone Road and water and sewer infrastructure.

The least expensive item with dollars listed is
FY 2020 Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention Grant, because it will be fully reimbursed.

Also inexpensive and probably cost-effective is
Agreement with SGRC to Develop 2021 Lowndes County Comprehensive Plan Update.

[Subdivisions in northwest Lowndes County, GA]

Subdivisions in northwest Lowndes County, GA

Listed at no cost to the county is
Addition to Basic Decorative Street Lighting District – Creekside West, Ph. 6 & 7 and Val Del Villas,
which includes maps of subdivisions in northwest Lowndes County,
allowing you to see the extent of sprawl so far in that direction.

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


http://www.l-a-k-e.org/govt/loco/2021-01-25–lcc-packet/

We look forward to board packets being on the county’s own website along with

the agenda.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS

PROPOSED AGENDA

WORK SESSION, MONDAY, JANUARY 25, 2021, 8:30 a.m.

REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, JANUARY 26, 2021, 5:30 p.m.

327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor

Continue reading →

Videos: Val Del subdivision tabled second time @ LCC 2018-11-13

The same Val Del Road subdivision

on today’s agenda for the third time
was

tabled at the applicant’s request the second time it came up,
a month ago.

The longest item was

6 h/i/j Tyler Technology Repository/Processing/E-filing,
in which Georgia is catching up to Florida.

Below are links to each LAKE video of the 13 November 2018 Regular Session,
with a few comments.
See also

the agenda, the
LAKE videos of the 12 November 2018 Work Session,
and the
LAKE blog of the county’s own videos of its 9 October 2018 Regular Session.

Videos: Subdivisions, solar, and alcohol @ LCC 2018-11-12

The same Val Del Road subdivision

on today’s agenda for the third time
was tabled the second time it came up,
a month ago.
Here

it is in the LAKE videos
in the Work Session of November 12, 2018,
when the applicant hadn’t even responded to the Commissioners’ previous request to consider 1.5 acre lots.


By far the longest thing that day, at half an hour,
was

7. Reports – Special Presentation ABM Industries Inc..

Below are links to each LAKE video of the 12 November 2018 Work Session,
with a few comments.
See also Continue reading →

Subdivisions, solar, and alcohol @ LCC 2018-11-12

Back on
the agenda
for Monday morning
is

the subdivision that does not match any of the criteria
the Lowndes County Commission is supposed to consider,
so will they approve

REZ-2018-17 The Settlement North, 5999 Val Del Road?

The Planning Commission recommended denying that one, but has since

recommended approving this one:

REZ-2018-18 Knights Landing, Phase III, 3982 Bemiss Knights Academy Road.

County staff want

ABM to help reduce energy costs.
How about add some solar panels to the roof of the county palace
and over its parking lot, while you’re at it?


On the roof, A Year of Firsts, ABM

As ABM says:

With the cost of solar installations rapidly declining, and the
number of government and utility incentives increasing, solar has
undergone a radical evolution from a feel good environmental story
to a source for businesses to gain a financial advantage over their
competitors.

See
ABM Energy Vice President Ted O’Shea,

Leveraging Solar to Gain a Competitive Financial Advantage:
Why go Solar at Your Facility: White Paper.

The rest of the agenda is Continue reading →