{"id":20801,"date":"2019-03-04T14:56:00","date_gmt":"2019-03-04T19:56:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/?p=20801"},"modified":"2019-03-04T14:56:00","modified_gmt":"2019-03-04T19:56:00","slug":"videos-service-delivery-strategy-sds-meeting-lowndes-county-and-cities-sds-2019-02-04","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/2019\/03\/videos-service-delivery-strategy-sds-meeting-lowndes-county-and-cities-sds-2019-02-04.html","title":{"rendered":"Videos: Service Delivery Strategy (SDS) Meeting: Lowndes County and cities @ SDS 2019-02-04"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\r\nThe longest topic was\r\n<a href=\"#Water-and-Waste-Water\">\r\nwater and wastewater<\/a>, when\r\nelected officials from Lowndes County and its cities, Valdosta,\r\nLake Park, Dasher, and Hahira (but apparently not Remerton),\r\ngathered on neutral ground to discuss tax revenue allocation,\r\nin a public meeting.\r\nCuriously, the Chairman and the Mayors were not invited.\r\nIt&#8217;s not clear whether omitting them helped or not.\r\nThere was actually mention that\r\n<a href=\"#sprawl\">\r\ngrowth close to existing services is better than sprawl<\/a>.\r\n<p>\r\nBelow are links to each WWALS video Gretchen took,\r\nwith a few notes,\r\nfollowed by a WWALS video playlist.\r\nSee also\r\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/2019\/01\/service-delivery-strategy-sds-meeting-lowndes-county-and-cities-sds-2019-02-04.html\">\r\nthe meeting announcement<\/a>.\r\n<ul>\r\n<li>\r\n<a name=\"Welcome-by-Commissioner-Clay-Griner\" href=\"#Welcome-by-Commissioner-Clay-Griner\">\r\n      Welcome by Commissioner Clay Griner\r\n    <\/a>\r\n<a title=\"video: \r\n      Welcome by Commissioner Clay Griner\r\n    \" href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=pjmiCdVFvRk&#038;list=PLshUv86fYkiFE2hjNPzJE_Fvf_8Rr2Drf&#038;index=2&#038;t=0s\"><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"border:none\" alt=\"\r\n      Welcome by Commissioner Clay Griner\r\n    \" src=\"https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/pjmiCdVFvRk\/hqdefault.jpg?sqp=-oaymwEiCKgBEF5IWvKriqkDFQgBFQAAAAAYASUAAMhCPQCAokN4AQ==&#038;rs=AOn4CLBgCH8qsMo2FZQDuo-oc_4a_KHJtA\"><\/a>\r\n<p style=\"font-style:normal\">\r\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=pjmiCdVFvRk&#038;list=PLshUv86fYkiFE2hjNPzJE_Fvf_8Rr2Drf&#038;index=2&#038;t=0s\">Video.<\/a>\r\nApparently this meeting was his idea.\r\n<\/p>\r\n<li>\r\n<a name=\"Invocation-and-Pledge\" href=\"#Invocation-and-Pledge\">\r\n      Invocation and Pledge\r\n    <\/a>\r\n\r\n<p style=\"font-style:normal\">\r\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=BwlDkyJK508&#038;list=PLshUv86fYkiFE2hjNPzJE_Fvf_8Rr2Drf&#038;index=3&#038;t=0s\">Video.<\/a>\r\nDirectly in front of the camera is Thomas Lynn, reporter for the Valdosta Daily Times (VDT).\r\n\r\n<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align:center;font-size:80%;font-style:italic\">\r\n<a title=\"video: \r\n      Invocation and Pledge\r\n    \" href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=BwlDkyJK508&#038;list=PLshUv86fYkiFE2hjNPzJE_Fvf_8Rr2Drf&#038;index=3&#038;t=0s\"><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"border:none\" alt=\"\r\n      Invocation and Pledge\r\n    \" src=\"https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/BwlDkyJK508\/hqdefault.jpg?sqp=-oaymwEiCKgBEF5IWvKriqkDFQgBFQAAAAAYASUAAMhCPQCAokN4AQ==&#038;rs=AOn4CLCb6CcE7hNEmc-cQEbn8Cmq8CUzrg\"><\/a>\r\n<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"font-style:normal\">\r\nHis report was published<!--more-->\r\n\r\n 5 February 2019,\r\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.valdostadailytimes.com\/news\/local_news\/in-the-same-boat-city-county-hash-out-principles-of\/article_dceb9219-83b8-5413-bf28-eaf5cae7faf5.html\">\r\n&#8216;In the same boat&#8217;: City, county hash out principles of cooperation:\r\nCity, county hash out principles of cooperation<\/a>.\r\n<p style=\"font-style:normal\">\r\nThe VDT chimed in with an Editorial, 7 February 2019,\r\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.valdostadailytimes.com\/opinion\/editorials\/editorial-a-few-words-about-service-delivery\/article_b05998a5-4bcd-56e3-98a1-5b1a3dc1085a.html\">\r\nA few words about service delivery<\/a>, which concludes:\r\n<blockquote>\r\n<p>\r\nYou don&#8217;t want to be hamstrung by an eight- or nine-year-old\r\nagreement.\r\n<\/p>\r\n<p>\r\nSo, if it is not absolutely required by the state&#8217;s SDS mandate,\r\ndon&#8217;t include it. If it is required, word it as broadly as possible.\r\n<\/p>\r\n<p>\r\nNarrow the talks, stick with the essentials and get this done.\r\n<\/p>\r\n<p>\r\nWe have one more word for you.\r\n<\/p>\r\n<p>\r\nASAP.\r\n<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n<li>\r\n<a name=\"Introductions-and-Goals\" href=\"#Introductions-and-Goals\">\r\n      Introductions and Goals\r\n    <\/a>\r\n<a title=\"video: \r\n      Introductions and Goals\r\n    \" href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=blRYohz8Sbk&#038;list=PLshUv86fYkiFE2hjNPzJE_Fvf_8Rr2Drf&#038;index=4&#038;t=0s\"><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"border:none\" alt=\"\r\n      Introductions and Goals\r\n    \" src=\"https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/blRYohz8Sbk\/hqdefault.jpg?sqp=-oaymwEiCKgBEF5IWvKriqkDFQgBFQAAAAAYASUAAMhCPQCAokN4AQ==&#038;rs=AOn4CLDBJAf8n5OxidMkGopY5HitUafwJg\"><\/a>\r\n<p style=\"font-style:normal\">\r\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=blRYohz8Sbk&#038;list=PLshUv86fYkiFE2hjNPzJE_Fvf_8Rr2Drf&#038;index=4&#038;t=0s\">Video.<\/a>\r\nClay Griner asked for each attendee to introduce\r\nthemselves and say why they were there.\r\n<p style=\"font-style:normal\">\r\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.valdostacity.com\/city-council\">\r\nValdosta<\/a>.\r\nTwo said their names; then Griner asked them\r\nto go back and say why.\r\n<ul style=\"font-style:normal\">\r\n<li>\r\nTim Carroll (Valdosta District 5)\r\n&ldquo;First of all, I didn&#8217;t have a choice.\r\nI&#8217;m here to represent the people who elect us.&rdquo;\r\nHe continued about wanting to improve on the mediation process.\r\n<li>\r\nEric Howard (Valdosta District 4) Howard: to reach some resolution,\r\n<li>\r\nAndy Gibbs (Valdosta District 6)\r\nto find common ground to agree on.\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<p>&nbsp;\r\n<p style=\"font-style:normal\">\r\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cityoflakeparkga.com\/departments-and-services\/mayor-city-council\/\">\r\nLake Park<\/a>.\r\nTwo more \r\nintroduced themselves inaudibly,\r\nbefore County Clerk Paige Dukes asked for a microphone to be passed.\r\nThey didn&#8217;t give reasons for being there (that I could hear).\r\n<ul style=\"font-style:normal\">\r\n<li>\r\nRonald Carter (Lake Park),\r\n<li>\r\nTom Barr (Lake Park).\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<p>&nbsp;\r\n<p style=\"font-style:normal\">\r\nThey weren&#8217;t grouped by their councils.\r\n<ul style=\"font-style:normal\">\r\n<li>\r\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.valdostacity.com\/city-manager\">\r\nMark Barber (Valdosta City Manager)<\/a> for dialogue,\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<p>&nbsp;\r\n<p style=\"font-style:normal\">\r\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.hahiraga.gov\/municipal-officials\">\r\nHahira<\/a>.\r\n<ul style=\"font-style:normal\">\r\n<li>\r\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.hahiraga.gov\/municipal-departments\">\r\nJonathan Sumner (Hahira City Manager)<\/a>,\r\nbecause his city council sent him,\r\n<li>\r\nKenny Davis (Hahira Mayor Pro Tem and District 2)\r\nfor more understanding of rationale and perspective.\r\n<li>\r\nMason Barfield (Hahira District 4) to represent his constituents and to listen,\r\n<li>\r\nPatrick Warren (Hahira District 3) to represent his constituents.\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<p>&nbsp;\r\n<p style=\"font-style:normal\">\r\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.lowndescounty.com\/181\/Board-of-Commissioners\">\r\nLowndes County<\/a>.\r\n<ul style=\"font-style:normal\">\r\n<li>\r\nClay Griner (Lowndes County Superdistrict 5) to see an agreement come together,\r\n<li>\r\nDemarcus Marshall (Lowndes County Superdistrict 4) because everyone pays taxes, we&#8217;re all in this together, and it&#8217;s all about the service\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<p>&nbsp;\r\n<p style=\"font-style:normal\">\r\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.valdostachamber.com\/city-of-dasher-council-lowndes-county.html\">\r\nDasher<\/a>.\r\n<ul style=\"font-style:normal\">\r\n<li>\r\nJeff Guilliams (Dasher Post 1) to work together,\r\n<li>\r\nBill Hatfield (Dasher Post 3) to listen and learn,\r\n<li>\r\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.valdostacity.com\/city-manager\">\r\nTonia Walker (Dasher City Clerk)<\/a> because requested,\r\n<li>\r\nAnita Armstrong-Scott (Dasher Post 4) for resolution for everybody.\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<p>&nbsp;\r\n<p style=\"font-style:normal\">\r\nValdosta again.\r\n<ul style=\"font-style:normal\">\r\n<li>\r\nSonny Vickers (Valdosta District 3) for negotiation and consensus,\r\nplus a small committee to hammer out a solution,\r\n<li>\r\nVivian Miller-Cody (Valdosta District 1) for actions and understanding for her constituents,\r\n<li>\r\nSandra Tooley (Valdosta Mayor Pro-Tem and District 2) to work together for home rule.\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<p>&nbsp;\r\n<p style=\"font-style:normal\">\r\nLowndes County again.\r\n<ul style=\"font-style:normal\">\r\n<li>\r\nMark Wisenbaker (Lowndes County District 3) to identify whey we can&#8217;t get along so we can finish,\r\n<li>\r\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.lowndescounty.com\/130\/County-Manager\">\r\nJoe Pritchard (Lowndes County Manager)<\/a> what everybody else said,\r\n<li>\r\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.lowndescounty.com\/131\/County-Clerk\">\r\nPaige Dukes (Lowndes County Clerk)<\/a> at request of Commission and this is an open meeting,\r\n<li>\r\nScott Orenstein (Lowndes County District 2) was involved before and disgusted with self and others that not resolved already,\r\n<li>\r\nJoyce Evans (Lowndes County District 1) after years hope can leave with resolution.\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<p>&nbsp;\r\n<p style=\"font-style:normal\">\r\nValdosta again.\r\n<ul style=\"font-style:normal\">\r\n<li>\r\nBen Norton (Valdosta At Large) for agreement.\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<p>&nbsp;\r\n<p style=\"font-style:normal\">\r\nApparently there was nobody there from Remerton.\r\nI don&#8217;t know why.\r\n<\/p>\r\n<li>\r\n<a name=\"Water-and-Waste-Water\" href=\"#Water-and-Waste-Water\">\r\n      Water and Waste Water\r\n    <\/a>\r\n<a title=\"video: \r\n      Water and Waste Water\r\n    \" href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=XiewB7VtQzY&#038;list=PLshUv86fYkiFE2hjNPzJE_Fvf_8Rr2Drf&#038;index=5&#038;t=0s\"><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"border:none\" alt=\"\r\n      Water and Waste Water\r\n    \" src=\"https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/XiewB7VtQzY\/hqdefault.jpg?sqp=-oaymwEiCKgBEF5IWvKriqkDFQgBFQAAAAAYASUAAMhCPQCAokN4AQ==&#038;rs=AOn4CLCQIt9ibKtOoNVboL4DFLSlITiRzA\"><\/a>\r\n<p style=\"font-style:normal\">\r\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=XiewB7VtQzY&#038;list=PLshUv86fYkiFE2hjNPzJE_Fvf_8Rr2Drf&#038;index=5&#038;t=0s\">Video.<\/a>\r\nLowndes County Commissioner Clay Griner gave a long introduction,\r\naided by County Clerk Paige Dukes.\r\n<p style=\"font-style:normal\">\r\nEventually Valdosta City Council Sonny Vickers asked, &#038;what is the issue on which you&#8217;re stuck?&rdquo;\r\nGriner was vague,\r\nso Vickers suggested water and wastewater.\r\nGriner said he only knew of two times in ten years\r\nthat anybody had asked Lowndes County\r\nfor an extraterritorial agreement about water and sewer,\r\nas in where the county would grant a city permission to supply\r\nthose outside their city limits, or the reverse.\r\nHe said the first happened in Lake Park, and the latter in Hahira.\r\nHe indicated the county would not stand in the way of such requests.\r\n<p style=\"font-style:normal\">\r\nVicker recounted his impression that the county is deliberately\r\npreventing Valdosta from growing (by expanding its territory).\r\nGriner said all the cities and the county need to grow.\r\n<a name=\"sprawl\" href=\"#sprawl\">\r\nHe did actually say<\/a> the city could grow in its high density areas,\r\n&#8220;instead of way out in the county.&#8221;\r\n<p style=\"font-style:normal\">\r\nValdosta City Council Eric Howard wanted further clarification.\r\nGriner reiterated there were only two case in the past ten years.\r\nValdosta City Council Tim Carroll followed up on why people think that,\r\nsaying he knew of several instances, including a plant that located\r\nhere only because of Valdosta&#8217;s water and sewer, and that only got\r\npermission from the county at the last minute.\r\nHe recommended that as long as a request doesn&#8217;t cross county water and sewer lines\r\nsuch brinksmanship shouldn&#8217;t be necessary.\r\n<p style=\"font-style:normal\">\r\nLowndes County Manager Joe Pritchard proceeded to differ,\r\nsaying the case Carroll brought up came to only a feet that prevented\r\nan island being created.\r\nHe brought up another case, of an industrial development along Inner Perimeter Road,\r\nthat did not want to move into the city,\r\nand wanted county water and sewer, which became a point of contention and did not happen.\r\n<p style=\"font-style:normal\">\r\nValdosta City Council Sandra Tooley asked whether the county would object\r\nif a business located in the county wanted city water.\r\nPritchard noted Carroll had brought up state law.\r\nPritchard said state law says it is necessary to have service delivery areas.\r\nHe said the Valdosta city charter says Valdosta can provide water anywhere\r\nin the county.\r\nBut state law says there are service areas.\r\nYet he said &#8220;it will not be unreasonably withheld&#8221; and can happen within thirty days.\r\n<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"font-style:normal\">\r\nGriner said all the parties had put money into their systems,\r\nwhich need to pay for themselves.\r\nSo each of them want new subscribers.\r\n<p style=\"font-style:normal\">\r\nTooley wanted to know if county roads and water and sewer covered the same area.\r\nGriner said in the city they did, but the county is different.\r\n<p style=\"font-style:normal\">\r\nValdosta City Manager Mark Barber attempted to diffuse contention by saying\r\nservice delivery isn&#8217;t really the bone of contention: annexation is.\r\nGriner indicated there was a connection between the two.\r\nBarber acknowledged that after somebody receives a city service\r\nthe city is allowed to talk to them about annexation,\r\nbut the service could be fire; it doesn&#8217;t have to be water and sewer.\r\nHahira City Manager Jonathan Sumner said state law requires territory\r\nto be contiguous to be eligible for annexation.\r\nBarber wanted to know why a prospect eligible for water and sewer\r\nshould take 30 days to get approval.\r\nGriner said the 30 days is a maximum, and the actual time could be less with\r\nan agreed-upon process.\r\n<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"font-style:normal\">\r\nThat&#8217;s a summary of the first 30 minutes.\r\nThey continued for another half hour in this discussion.\r\nFor example,\r\nPatrick Warren (Hahira District 3)\r\nsaid the elephant in the room is the litigation between Valdosta and\r\nLowndes County, which is causing Hahira to suffer sanctions.\r\nHe also indicated that the attorneys would say no agreement could be reached at this meeting.\r\nLowndes County Commissioner Scottie Orenstein (in whose district Hahira is)\r\nsaid he was unaware that anybody was under sanctions.\r\nHe said technically Hahira is not under sanctions; they just can&#8217;t get\r\nDCA (state of Georgia) money.\r\nI&#8217;m not sure that distinction was very satisfying to Hahira.\r\n<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"font-style:normal\">\r\nLater Orenstein said Valdosta had indicated it wanted its service area\r\nto be the entire county, and Orenstein wanted to know on behalf  of\r\nhis constituents who Valdosta was talking to.\r\nHe wondered what Valdosta would think if Remerton\r\n(which is wholly within Valdosta) said it could by right\r\nrun water and sewer anywhere inside Valdosta?\r\n<p style=\"font-style:normal\">\r\nValdosta City Council Andy Gibbs quoted from letters from\r\nLowndes County Attorney G. Walter Elliott to the state,\r\nyet ended up wondering why this contention is happening?\r\nHe thought it sounded like everything is about the unincorporated.\r\nHe indicated he thought the five cities took care of a lot of things in\r\nthis county.\r\n<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"font-style:normal\">\r\nI would love to summarize the rest of this, but other tasks call&#8230;.\r\n<\/p>\r\n<li>\r\n<a name=\"Do-we-have-agreement-Communication\" href=\"#Do-we-have-agreement-Communication\">\r\n      Do we have agreement? Communication, 24 hours notification, 5 days to decide\r\n    <\/a>\r\n<a title=\"video: \r\n      Do we have agreement? Communication, 24 hours notification, 5 days to decide\r\n    \" href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=E6zlg3oIVLs&#038;list=PLshUv86fYkiFE2hjNPzJE_Fvf_8Rr2Drf&#038;index=6&#038;t=0s\"><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"border:none\" alt=\"\r\n      Do we have agreement? Communication, 24 hours notification, 5 days to decide\r\n    \" src=\"https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/E6zlg3oIVLs\/hqdefault.jpg?sqp=-oaymwEiCKgBEF5IWvKriqkDFQgBFQAAAAAYASUAAMhCPQCAokN4AQ==&#038;rs=AOn4CLBewf9-IZFD_dil8q7Ahareo_e8nA\"><\/a>\r\n<p style=\"font-style:normal\">\r\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=E6zlg3oIVLs&#038;list=PLshUv86fYkiFE2hjNPzJE_Fvf_8Rr2Drf&#038;index=6&#038;t=0s\">Video.<\/a>\r\nSeems like they came up with a process agreement for water and sewer delivery.\r\nI don&#8217;t know if that resolves any of their differences about tax distribution\r\nor annexation.\r\n<\/p>\r\n<li>\r\n<a name=\"How-does-money-for-roads-get-allocated\" href=\"#How-does-money-for-roads-get-allocated\">\r\n      How does money for roads get allocated?\r\n    <\/a>\r\n<a title=\"video: \r\n      How does money for roads get allocated?\r\n    \" href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=65JoyyUrHxs&#038;list=PLshUv86fYkiFE2hjNPzJE_Fvf_8Rr2Drf&#038;index=7&#038;t=0s\"><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"border:none\" alt=\"\r\n      How does money for roads get allocated?\r\n    \" src=\"https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/65JoyyUrHxs\/hqdefault.jpg?sqp=-oaymwEiCKgBEF5IWvKriqkDFQgBFQAAAAAYASUAAMhCPQCAokN4AQ==&#038;rs=AOn4CLBLPk0n1wHmKE9Ha4jiMHrHCNKZQg\"><\/a>\r\n<p style=\"font-style:normal\">\r\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=65JoyyUrHxs&#038;list=PLshUv86fYkiFE2hjNPzJE_Fvf_8Rr2Drf&#038;index=7&#038;t=0s\">Video.<\/a>\r\nIn which there was some confusion about who pays taxes for what.\r\n<\/p>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<p>\r\nHere&#8217;s\r\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/playlist?list=PLshUv86fYkiFE2hjNPzJE_Fvf_8Rr2Drf\">\r\na LAKE video playlist:<\/a>\r\n<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align:center;font-size:80%\">\r\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/videoseries?list=PLshUv86fYkiFE2hjNPzJE_Fvf_8Rr2Drf\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\r\n<br>\r\nVideos: Service Delivery Strategy (SDS) Meeting: Lowndes County and cities\r\n<br>\r\nSDS Meeting, Lowndes County Commission (SDS),\r\n<br>\r\nVideo by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE),\r\n<br>\r\nValdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, February 4, 2019.\r\n<\/p>\r\n<p>\r\nHere is\r\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dca.ga.gov\/local-government-assistance\/planning\/intergovernmental-coordination\/service-delivery-strategies-sds\">\r\nan explanation of Service Delivery Strategies (SDS)<\/a>\r\nby the Georgia Department of Community Affairs.\r\n<p>\r\nValdosta and Lowndes County have in past years\r\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.valdostadailytimes.com\/news\/local_news\/lawyer-up-exploring-the-costs-of-government-attorneys\/article_edad62bf-0ce0-5d37-befd-7324de1cb03c.html\">\r\nspent a lot of money\r\non attorneys litigating their SDS disagreements<\/a>.\r\n<p>\r\nHere is\r\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.valdostacity.com\/%E2%80%8Bclarifying-sds-concerns\">\r\nan overview by the City of Valdosta<\/a>, dated 11 January 2017.\r\n<p>\r\nHere are some\r\n<a href=\"http:\/\/lowndescounty.com\/DocumentCenter\/View\/1380\/Service-Delivery-Presentation?bidId=\">\r\nslides by the county<\/a>, apparently from 2016.\r\nThey itemize what sorts of services are at issue.\r\n<p>\r\nI don&#8217;t know if there have been any further developments on negotiations\r\nsince\r\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.valdostadailytimes.com\/news\/local_news\/state-funding-restored-to-county-cities-amidst-sds-lawsuit\/article_450a3334-4001-5ed7-b450-8f14cbdbf586.html\">\r\nin June 2017 a Superior Court Judge restored access to state funding<\/a>\r\nfor Valdosta and Lowndes County,\r\nleaving the 2008 SDS active.\r\n<\/p>\r\n<p>\r\n -jsq\r\n<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align:center;font-style:italic\">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 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/donate\">donate to LAKE today<\/a>!<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The longest topic was water and wastewater, when elected officials from Lowndes County and its cities, Valdosta, Lake Park, Dasher, and Hahira (but apparently not Remerton), gathered on neutral ground to discuss tax revenue allocation, in a public meeting. Curiously, the Chairman and the Mayors were not invited. It&#8217;s not clear whether omitting them helped [&hellip;]","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[601,2,602,603,88,604,3,54,450],"tags":[10610,10676,8790,10660,8701,8699,10,8791,8702,8792,12,7,8734,8793,10661,10659,10662,60,8700,6,8726,10663,8768],"class_list":["post-20801","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-dasher","category-government","category-hahira","category-lake-park","category-lowndes-county-commission","category-remerton","category-transparency","category-valdosta-city-council","category-vlpra","tag-10610","tag-2019-02-04","tag-dasher","tag-february-4","tag-georgia","tag-government","tag-gretchen-quarterman","tag-hahira","tag-lake","tag-lake-park","tag-lowndes-area-knowledge-exchange","tag-lowndes-county","tag-lowndes-county-commission","tag-remerton","tag-sds","tag-sds-meeting","tag-service-delivery-strategy","tag-tax","tag-transparency","tag-valdosta","tag-valdosta-city-council","tag-valdosta-lowndes-county-parks-and-recreation-facility","tag-vlpra"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p585fK-5pv","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20801","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20801"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20801\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20816,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20801\/revisions\/20816"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20801"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20801"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20801"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}