{"id":21699,"date":"2020-04-29T12:56:19","date_gmt":"2020-04-29T16:56:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/?p=21699"},"modified":"2023-09-26T12:34:44","modified_gmt":"2023-09-26T16:34:44","slug":"teleconference-stream-monitoring-trash-franchises-wetlands-credits-force-main-quit-claims-paving-and-accountability-court-lcc-2020-04-28","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/2020\/04\/teleconference-stream-monitoring-trash-franchises-wetlands-credits-force-main-quit-claims-paving-and-accountability-court-lcc-2020-04-28.html","title":{"rendered":"Teleconference: Stream monitoring, trash franchises, wetlands credits, force main, quit claims, paving, and Accountability Court @ LCC 2020-04-28"},"content":{"rendered":"

Update 2020-05-10<\/strong>:\r\n\r\nLowndes County, GA, Stream Monitoring and Stormwater Permit 2020-04-28<\/a>.\r\n

Update 2020-05-09<\/strong>:\r\n\r\nBoard packet<\/a>.\r\n

Update 2020-05-02<\/strong>: Gretchen’s notes<\/a> on each agenda item.\r\n

\r\nWas this even a public meeting?\r\nThe Lowndes County Commission approved everything on its agenda yesterday,\r\neven though only really perceptive citizens could figure out how to listen to the teleconference.\r\nIn which they approved everything, with only one split vote,\r\nfor a $45,120.00 single-source item.\r\n

\r\n\"[Agenda<\/a>\r\n
Agenda Versions<\/a>\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\nAt 2:38 PM, less than three hours before the 5:30 PM voting Lowndes County Commission Regular Session<\/a>,\r\nthey made this one change to the online agenda<\/a>:\r\n

\r\nOld:\r\n
\r\n“The call in number is 813-769-0500 and the access code is 373-829-614#”\r\n

\r\nNew:\r\n
\r\n“The call in number is 813-769-0500 and the access code is 584-852-611#”\r\n

\r\nCan you spot the change? It’s the access code.\r\n

\r\nI didn’t notice the agenda had changed, so I used the old access code.\r\nWhich only started a teleconference five minutes late, and then had 18+ minutes of silence.\r\n

\r\nGretchen did notice the agenda had changed, but there was no indication of what<\/em> had changed.\r\nShe carefully looked to find that different access code.\r\nIt’s a good bet Gretchen was the only citizen on the conference call,\r\nbecause likely few other people figured that out.\r\n

\r\nBut that didn’t stop the Commissioners from approving everything on the agenda. \r\n

\r\nThe only split vote was for:\r\n\r\n\r\n
\r\n5.c. Professional Services for Sampling, Monitoring and Reporting of Impaired Streams<\/a>\r\n

\r\n\"[BUDGET<\/a>\r\n
BUDGET IMPACT: $45,120.00<\/a>\r\n\r\n

\r\nNevermind the Commissioners did not have before them the plan for that monitoring.\r\nNevermind there had been no competitive bidding.\r\nNevermind that as a private company the contractor is not required to respond to open records requests.\r\nNevermind that the contractor is only required to report annually,\r\nmaking whatever monitoring they do useless for the work everyone else\r\nis doing finding, fixing, and verifying contamination sources,\r\nand also useless for warning people using the rivers.\r\n

\r\nCommissioner Mark Wisenbaker questioned the lack of bids.\r\nCommissioner Scotti Orenstein remarked that he thought local was good.\r\n

\r\nCommissioner Clay Griner moved to accept.\r\nCommissioner Demarcus Marshall seconded.\r\nCommissioner Mark Wisenbaker was the lone nay vote.\r\nAll the others, including Commissioner Joyce Evans, voted aye.\r\nMotion passed, 4:1.\r\n

\r\nThere were no Citizens Wishing to Be Heard,\r\nnot that it would have mattered,\r\nbecause as usual that was after<\/em> the Commissioners voted.\r\nThis is the only County Commission of the many counties I’ve been to in two states that does not let citizens speak either at the beginning of the session or on each agenda item as it comes up.\r\n

\r\nThese are the agenda items sorted by highest cost first:\r\n\r\n
Cost<\/th>What<\/th><\/tr>\r\n
$6,545,729.00\r\n<\/td>5.h. Coleman Road Force Main Replacement<\/a><\/td><\/tr>\r\n
$228,400.95\r\n<\/td>6.a. LMIG Resurfacing Contract<\/a><\/td><\/tr>\r\n
$48,079.00\r\n<\/td>5.f. Approval of Clyattstone Road-Simpson Lane ROW Purchases<\/a><\/td><\/tr>\r\n
$45,120.00\r\n<\/td>5.c. Professional Services for Sampling, Monitoring and Reporting of Impaired Streams<\/a><\/td><\/tr>\r\n
$26,246.11\r\n<\/td>5.i. Lowndes County Accountability Court Grant Approval and Cash Match<\/a><\/td><\/tr>\r\n
$20,000.00\r\n<\/td>5.e. Purchase of Wetland Credits for Clyattstone Road – Simpson Lane Paving Project<\/a><\/td><\/tr>\r\n
$0\r\n<\/td>5.a. Advanced Disposal Services Residential Solid Waste Franchise<\/a><\/td><\/tr>\r\n
$0\r\n<\/td>5.b. Deep South Sanitation Residential Solid Waste Franchise<\/a><\/td><\/tr>\r\n
$6,913,575.06<\/td>Total<\/td><\/tr>\r\n<\/table>\r\n

\r\nAll the items that could be bid were, except the one about stream monitoring.\r\n

\r\nI’d still like to compliment Lowndes County Utilities for pro-actively replacing that Coleman Road Force Main.\r\nThey already did an emergency repair for about $100,000 in October 2018<\/a>\r\nafter\r\nsewage spills in July 2018 and September 2017<\/a>.\r\nLowndes County has reported no recent spills, not even as recent as Valdosta’s notorious December 2018 record spill.\r\n

Update 2020-05-02<\/strong>: Gretchen’s notes<\/a> on each agenda item.\r\n

\r\nThe agenda sheets are\r\non the LAKE website<\/a>.\r\nWe do not yet have the full agenda packet, although we did file an open records request.\r\nWe also do not have the stream monitoring plan, even though we filed\r\na separate open records request for that.\r\nAnd so far as we know, the Commissioners who voted for that $45,000 sole-source opaque project hadn’t seen that plan, either.\r\n

\r\n -jsq\r\n<\/p>\r\n

Gretchen’s notes on each agenda item<\/a><\/H4>\r\n
\r\n
    \r\n\r\n
  1. \r\n\r\nCall to Order<\/a>\r\n

    \r\nChairman Slaughter called the meeting to order.\r\nCounty Clerk Page Dukes made a roll call of attendance of commissioners.\r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n

  2. \r\n\r\nInvocation<\/a>\r\n

    \r\nCommissioner Marshall lead the invocation and pledge.\r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n

  3. \r\n\r\nPledge of Allegiance to the Flag<\/a>\r\n\r\n
  4. \r\n\r\nMinutes for Approval<\/a>\r\n\r\n
      \r\n\r\n
    1. \r\n\r\nWork Session, March 9, 2020, Regular Session, March 10, 2020, & Special Called Meeting, April 16, 2020<\/a>\r\n

      \r\nMinutes were approved by voice vote.\r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/ol>\r\n\r\n

    2. \r\n\r\nFor Consideration<\/a>\r\n\r\n
        \r\n\r\n
      1. \r\n\r\nAdvanced Disposal Services Residential Solid Waste Franchise<\/a>\r\n\r\n

        \r\nBoth solid waste franchises had been granted a one month temporary extension and the contracts were approved from May 1, 2020 to March 31, 2021.\r\nthese items were presented by Human Resources Director Kevin Beals. Each passed unanimously.\r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n

      2. \r\n\r\nDeep South Sanitation Residential Solid Waste Franchise<\/a>\r\n\r\n
      3. \r\n\r\nProfessional Services for Sampling, Monitoring, and Reporting of Impaired Streams<\/a>\r\n\r\n

        \r\nThe contract for sampling had actual discussion.\r\nPresented by County Engineer Mike Fletcher.\r\n

        \r\nQ: Why was there no bidding? A: Lovell is only qualified local engineer.\r\nThe local bit seemed important to Commissioner Orenstein\r\nWhat will annual cost be? About 68K. \r\nWhy is 3 months 45K? Because firm needs to buy instream dissolved oxygen monitoring equipment.\r\nWhat if a different vendor is picked in for annual contract? Will we have to pay this again? \r\n

        \r\nIt seemed to me as a listener that there would be no consideration of other vendors.\r\n

        \r\nRoll Call Vote: Commissioner Griner made motion to accept the bid. Comissioner Marshall Seconded. Joyce, Scott, Demarcus, Clay voted yes. Mark voted no.\r\n<\/p>\r\n

      4. \r\n\r\nQuit Claim Deeds for Abandoned Right of Way off Ivandale Circle<\/a>\r\n\r\n

        \r\nItems 5.d-g. were presented by County Engineer Mike Fletcher.\r\nFor all the items there was a roll call vote. Everyone voted yes.\r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n

      5. \r\n\r\nPurchase of Wetland Credits for Clyattstone Road – Simpson Lane Paving Project<\/a>\r\n\r\n
      6. \r\n\r\nApproval of Clyattstone Road-Simpson Lane ROW Purchases<\/a>\r\n\r\n
      7. \r\n\r\nAbandonment of Unopened ROW – Gay Road<\/a>\r\n\r\n
      8. \r\n\r\nColeman Road Force Main Replacement<\/a>\r\n\r\n

        \r\nPresented by Utilities Director Steve Stalvey. \r\nThere was some negotiation with the vendor to have the county buy some of the equipment and parts and that got the price down into the correct budget range.\r\nRoll call vote. Unanimous Yes.\r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n

      9. \r\n\r\nLowndes County Accountability Court Grant Approval and Cash Match<\/a>\r\n\r\n

        \r\nPresented by County Manager Joe Pritchard.\r\nRoll call vote. Unanimous Yes.\r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/ol>\r\n\r\n

      10. \r\n\r\nBid<\/a>\r\n\r\n
          \r\n\r\n
        1. \r\n\r\nLMIG Resurfacing Contract<\/a>\r\n\r\n\r\n

          \r\nReames and Sons was awarded the bid.\r\n

          \r\nCommissioner Marshall asked about a road that goes from Madison to 41. I thought he said Coleman but it must have been Copeland.\r\nEngineer answered yes from Madison to 41.\r\nThere was no list in the online packet.\r\n<\/p>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n\r\n

        2. \r\n\r\nReports – County Manager<\/a>\r\n\r\n
        3. \r\n\r\nCitizens wishing to be heard should email County Clerk, Paige Dukes at pdukes@lowndescounty.com or call 229-292-6142 during normal business hours to register to speak. Please register prior to 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday, April 28th. Thank you.<\/a>\r\n

          \r\nThere were no citizens to be heard.\r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n

        4. \r\n\r\nAdjournment<\/a>\r\n

          \r\nMeeting was adjourned at 6:06PM (attached)\r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/ol>\r\n\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n

          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<\/a>!<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Update 2020-05-10: Lowndes County, GA, Stream Monitoring and Stormwater Permit 2020-04-28. Update 2020-05-09: Board packet. Update 2020-05-02: Gretchen’s notes on each agenda item. Was this even a public meeting? The Lowndes County Commission approved everything on its agenda yesterday, even though only really perceptive citizens could figure out how to listen to the teleconference. In […]","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":[2,20,88,3,449,55],"tags":[11085,10358,11087,10433,7187,11086,8701,8699,609,10,548,8702,8710,91,1180,12,7,11089,8734,1183,3110,4,7058,11084,11088,11038,8700,8767,6,8727,1805],"class_list":["post-21699","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-government","category-law","category-lowndes-county-commission","category-transparency","category-transportation","category-water","tag-2020-04-28","tag-cash-match","tag-clayttstone-road","tag-coleman-road","tag-force-main","tag-gay-road","tag-georgia","tag-government","tag-grant","tag-gretchen-quarterman","tag-john-s-quarterman","tag-lake","tag-law","tag-lcc","tag-lmig","tag-lowndes-area-knowledge-exchange","tag-lowndes-county","tag-lowndes-county-accountability-court","tag-lowndes-county-commission","tag-paving","tag-purchase","tag-regular-session","tag-right-of-way","tag-row","tag-sampling","tag-simpson-lane","tag-transparency","tag-transportation","tag-valdosta","tag-water","tag-water-quality"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p585fK-5DZ","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21699","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=21699"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21699\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23931,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21699\/revisions\/23931"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21699"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21699"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21699"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}