{"id":5241,"date":"2013-08-20T18:11:31","date_gmt":"2013-08-20T22:11:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/?p=5241"},"modified":"2013-08-25T05:57:12","modified_gmt":"2013-08-25T09:57:12","slug":"traffic-study-john-page-who-pays-richard-raines-tax-exemption-demarcus-marshall-lcc-2013-08-13","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/2013\/08\/traffic-study-john-page-who-pays-richard-raines-tax-exemption-demarcus-marshall-lcc-2013-08-13.html","title":{"rendered":"Traffic study? –John Page; Who pays? Richard Raines; Tax exemption –Demarcus Marshall @ LCC 2013-08-13"},"content":{"rendered":"

\r\nTraffic and taxes were discussed by Commissioners about REZ-2013-09 Moody Family\r\nHousing on Val Del Road,\r\n\r\n<\/a>\r\nbut none of them thought those topics important enough to make them conditions,\r\nand they didn’t even discuss\r\n\r\nuse of local contractors<\/a>\r\nor\r\n\r\nsinkholes<\/a>\r\n\r\nlike the one in the Phase II site<\/a>,\r\nor the missing\r\n\r\ngeotechnical study<\/a>\r\nmentioned in the\r\n\r\nUSAF Draft Environmental Assessment<\/a> whose comment period wasn’t even ended\r\nwhen they voted\r\nat\r\n\r\nthe 13 August 2013 Lowndes County Commission Regular Session<\/a>.\r\n

\r\n\r\n\"Traffic<\/a>\r\nAs he had at the previous morning’s\r\n\r\nWork Session<\/a>,\r\nCommissioner John Page wanted to know if that traffic study\r\nwas going to be required before the development could start.\r\nPlanning Commissioner Tommy Willis had also asked about that\r\n\r\nback in July<\/a>.\r\nThis time Page didn’t ask about GA 122 or anywhere other than\r\n“Val Del and that area”.\r\n

\r\nAnswer from County Engineer Mike Fletcher:\r\n

\r\n\r\nWhenever construction plans are submitted,\r\nwe are going to require a traffic study to be done on Val Del Road.\r\nYes sir.\r\nThis will be required at the time of construction plans.\r\nWe have made that clear to the developer from the start.\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n

\r\nWhat county staff actually sent developer lawyers Tom Kurrie and Bill Holland\r\n\r\n29 July 2103<\/a>:\r\n

\r\nb) Additionally, although not a proposed condition, it should be noted on\r\nthis request that a future traffic study will be required. Acceleration\r\nlanes\/Deceleration lanes and\/or a dedicated left turn lane may be\r\nrequired.\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n

\r\nThere’s nothing in there about “at the time of construction plans”\r\nin\r\n\r\nthe county’s response to my open records request about REZ-2013-09<\/a>.\r\nWhere’s the documentation about this time frame?\r\n

\r\nPage wanted further clarification:\r\n

\r\nAnd the actual development will be contingent upon whether\r\nVal Del Road and any of the other connectors\r\nhave the ability\r\nto take the traffic\r\nload. Is that right?\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\nAnswer:\r\n
\r\nThat’s correct.\r\nYes sir, there may be improvements that are needed\r\nsuch as\r\naccel\/decel lanes,\r\ndedicated left turn lane.\r\nWe have talked to them about that as well.\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n

\r\nThose two items are in the above-quoted email to the developers’\r\nlawyers.\r\nBut of course\r\n\r\ntraffic calming measures<\/a> were in the thirteen\r\nspecific conditions approved by the Commission for the Nelson Hill\r\nsubdivision right up Val Del Road, and those never seem to have happened.\r\n

\r\n\r\n\"Who<\/a>\r\nCommissioner\r\nRichard Raines wanted to know:\r\n

\r\nMr. Fletcher, if improvements are needed,\r\nrelative to a traffic study,\r\nwho funds those improvements?\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n

\r\nAnswer:\r\n

\r\nThe developer would have to fund those.\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n

\r\nRemember that if a change order for Val Del Road turns up on\r\na Commission agenda,\r\nor if Val Del Road is on the SPLOST VII list,\r\n\r\n<\/a>\r\nespecially since I know of no documentation of that requirement on\r\nthe developer other than what Mike Fletcher said.\r\nRemember, widening Val Del Road, including turn lanes,\r\nwas on the\r\nT-SPLOST list for $3 million:\r\n\r\nRC11-000101: Val Del Road Additional Lane Width and Turning Lanes<\/a>.\r\nAnd it’s my impression that the projects the county listed for T-SPLOST\r\nwere mostly from the county’s general road wishlist,\r\nso don’t be surprised if many of them turn up on the county’s\r\nSPLOST VII list.\r\n

\r\n\r\n\"Tax<\/a>\r\nCommissioner Demarcus Marshall said:\r\n

\r\nMr. Chairman, I just wanted to verify that\r\nthis perhaps follows under the property tax exempt criteria,\r\nas in the previous base housing that began before, or not?\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n

\r\nSomebody, maybe Mike Fletcher, since Commissioner Marshall\r\nsuddenly looked in his direction, answered:\r\n

\r\nNo sir.\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n

\r\nSomeone else chimed in, barely audibly, as if from the audience:\r\n

\r\nThat’s correct, it does not.\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n

\r\nCommissioner Raines wanted confirmation:\r\n

\r\nSo this is a taxable property,\r\nthis is not tax exempt.\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n

\r\n\r\n\"Not<\/a>\r\nOnce again a Commissioner asked the Chairman,\r\nand got an answer from somebody else, maybe from somebody in the audience.\r\nThis time the answer was barely audible, but somebody, apparently\r\n\r\nlawyer for developer Balfour Beatty Communities\r\nScott Rafshoon<\/a>, can be seen nodding in the second row of the audience.\r\n

\r\nWhy didn’t the County’s Finance Director answer that question?\r\nDon’t county finance staff know the answer?\r\nWhy is the Commission accepting tax advice from a developer?\r\nIf the Commission is going to accept an answer from a developer,\r\nwhy didn’t they at least have him take the podium and state his name?\r\n

\r\n\r\n<\/a>\r\nCommissioner Marshall moved to approve the rezoning.\r\nCommissioner Evans seconded.\r\nUnanimous, with Commissioner Crawford Powell absent.\r\nThere were no conditions on the motion.\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\nHere’s\r\n\r\nthe video:<\/a>\r\n<\/p>\r\n

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