{"id":6648,"date":"2013-11-12T12:09:22","date_gmt":"2013-11-12T17:09:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/?p=6648"},"modified":"2013-11-12T12:19:30","modified_gmt":"2013-11-12T17:19:30","slug":"no-sabal-trail-dollar-general-3-special-tax-lighting-districts-and-mosquitos-lcc-2013-11-11","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/2013\/11\/no-sabal-trail-dollar-general-3-special-tax-lighting-districts-and-mosquitos-lcc-2013-11-11.html","title":{"rendered":"No Sabal Trail, Dollar General, 3 special tax lighting districts, and mosquitos @ LCC 2013-11-11"},"content":{"rendered":"

\r\n\r\n<\/a>\r\n“We apologize for any inconvenience.”\r\n\r\nNo Sabal Trail pipeline presentation<\/a> this time;\r\nyes it really is December 9th like\r\nthe front page of the VDT said<\/a>.\r\nSo the online agenda was incorrect, and\r\n\r\nit’s still incorrect<\/a>\r\nabout\r\n\r\nGreen Lane<\/a>\r\nwhich is still listed as “For consideration” when it should be listed\r\nas a Public Hearing.\r\nAnd another item<\/a> was listed so obscurely on the\r\nagenda that a Commissioner had to ask “exactly where is this?”\r\nA report turned into an agenda item for the\r\nAlapaha Water Treatment Plant<\/a>,\r\nand an item for\r\n“Consideration of Back Pay for 911 Employees”<\/a>\r\nhas appeared on\r\n\r\nthe amended agenda with no public discussion<\/a>.\r\nHow are citizens to know what their elected officials are going to\r\nvote on tonight at 5:30 PM if the agenda changes all the time\r\nyet is still incorrect?\r\n

\r\nPlus they could take up Nottinghill even though\r\n\r\nthe Planning Commission recommended tabling<\/a>,\r\nthere’s yet another Dollar General proposed\r\n(see\r\n\r\nPlanning Commission video<\/a>,\r\nthree decorative special tax lighting districts,\r\nmosquito control, pump replacement, the annual MIDS bus service \r\ncontract, a beer license,\r\nthe return of Green Lane (why isn’t that one\r\n\r\na pubic hearing as promised last time<\/a>?)\r\nsomething about NOAA, and an agreement with the Lowndes County\r\nBoard of Elections:\r\nwill they stop\r\n\r\nchanging the precincts every year<\/a>?\r\n

\r\nHere’s\r\n\r\nthe agenda<\/a>.\r\n

\r\nLOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS \r\n
\r\nAMENDED AGENDA \r\n
\r\nWORK SESSION, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2013, 8:30 a.m. \r\n
\r\nREGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2013, 5:30 p.m. \r\n
\r\n327 N. Ashley Street \u2013 2nd<\/sup><\/small> Floor \r\n
\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n
\r\n
    \r\n
  1. \r\nCall to Order 4. Minutes for Approval<\/a>\r\n\"Call<\/a>\r\n

    \r\nVideo.<\/a>\r\n<\/p>\r\n

  2. \r\nInvocation \r\n

    \r\nOnly in the Regular Session.\r\n<\/p>\r\n

  3. \r\nPledge of Allegiance to the Flag \r\n

    \r\nOnly in the Regular Session.\r\n<\/p>\r\n

  4. \r\nMinutes for Approval \r\n
      \r\n
    1. \r\nWork Session — October 21, 2013 \r\n
    2. \r\nRegular Session — October 22, 2013 \r\n<\/ol>\r\n
    3. \r\nPublic Hearings \r\n
        \r\n
      1. \r\n<\/a>\r\nREZ-2013-11 Nottinghill, Orr Rd R-A to R-21<\/a>\r\n\"REZ-2013-11<\/a>\r\n

        \r\nVideo.<\/a>\r\nStill not enough signatures, said County Planner Jason Davenport,\r\nwho asked to give the developer yet another opportunity\r\nby asking the Commission to table it again.\r\n<\/p>\r\n

      2. \r\n<\/a>\r\nREZ-2013-15 Teramore Development, Old US 41 N PD to C-G<\/a>\r\n\"REZ-2013-15<\/a>\r\n

        \r\nVideo.<\/a>\r\nHow many Dollar Generals do we really need?\r\n<\/p>\r\n

      3. \r\nDecorative Special Tax Lighting District-Grove Pointe Phase 4<\/a>\r\n\"Decorative<\/a>\r\n

        \r\nVideo.<\/a>\r\nTRC asks for approval.\r\n<\/p>\r\n

      4. \r\nDecorative Special Tax Lighti ng District-Barrington Phase One<\/a>\r\n\"Decorative<\/a>\r\n

        \r\nVideo.<\/a>\r\nTRC asks for approval.\r\n<\/p>\r\n

      5. \r\nDecorative Special Tax Lighting District-Ivy Gate<\/a>\r\n\"Decorative<\/a>\r\n

        \r\nVideo.<\/a>\r\nTRC asks for approval.\r\n

        \r\nCommissioner John Page asked:\r\n

        \r\nMr. [County Planner Jason] Davenport, exactly where is this?\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n

        \r\nAnswer:\r\n

        \r\nJust north of the old school on Cat Creek Road.\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n

        \r\nHe was unsure what school that was, but guessed correctly\r\nthat it’s the closed Pine Grove Elementary.\r\n

        \r\nI pointed out to the County Planner later\r\nthat if the agenda had the address on it, people would be able to\r\ntell where these subdivisions were, and we just had a demonstration\r\nthat even Commissioners were confused.\r\nHe said that information was in the board packet, which he had in front\r\nof him.\r\nI noted that even so, we just had a demonstration that even Commissioners\r\ndidn’t always find that information in the board packet\r\n(which is actually a three ring binder of materials with tabs for each item),\r\nand nobody else got to see that packet before the meeting.\r\nWhile I didn’t object to a special tax lighting district near the old\r\nPine Grove Elementary, anybody who had concerns might not know that\r\nthey should be concerned.\r\nHe said he had noted my point.\r\n<\/p>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n

      6. \r\nFor Consideration \r\n
          \r\n
        1. \r\nAgreement between Board of Elections and Board of Commissioners<\/a>\r\n\"Agreement<\/a>\r\n

          \r\nVideo.<\/a>\r\nCounty Manager Joe Pritchard said Commissioners “have before you”\r\nan agreement based on a conversation\r\nbetween the Chairman and the Board of Elections\r\nfor hours worked, “no more than 24 hours but not to exceed 29 hours”\r\n(so which is it?).\r\n

          \r\nCommissioner Joyce Evans wanted to know how many full time employees\r\nthe Board of Elections has.\r\nPritchard said he believed the number is seven.\r\nShe wanted to know if that was for the entire year.\r\nHe said except for poll workers.\r\n

          \r\nChairman Bill Slaughter clarified that more than 30 hours\r\nwould make them full time employees.\r\nCommissioner Evans wanted to be sure they were talking about\r\ntemporary workers during the election.\r\nChairman said they were.\r\n<\/p>\r\n

        2. \r\nMosquito Control Contract<\/a>\r\n\"Mosquito<\/a>\r\n

          \r\nVideo.<\/a>\r\nCommissioner John Page wondered didn’t they have something about that\r\na couple of months ago.\r\nPublic Works Director Robin Cumbus said yes, she gave an overview of the program.\r\nHere it is:\r\n\r\n<\/a>\r\n\r\nMosquito trapping and spraying @ LCC 2013-04-23<\/a>.\r\n

          \r\nCounty Manager Joe Pritchard said this was the first time they\r\nhad contracted with VSU; previously they had contracted with the Health Department,\r\nbut the Health Department had recommended the contract with VSU.\r\n

          \r\nCommissioner Page asked if the $44,290 would come out of the\r\nbudget for Public Works.\r\nCumbus said yes.\r\n<\/p>\r\n

        3. \r\n<\/a>\r\nPump Replacement and Repair for two Lift Stations<\/a>\r\n\"Pump<\/a>\r\n

          \r\nVideo.<\/a>\r\nUtilities Director Mike Allen asked to replace Pombroke(?) Lift Station\r\nfor\r\n$13,132\r\nand to repair\r\nFoxborough Lift Station for\r\n$16,723.\r\n<\/p>\r\n

        4. \r\nContract for 5311 Public Transport<\/a>\r\n\"Contract<\/a>\r\n

          \r\nVideo.<\/a>\r\nCounty Engineer Mike Fletcher said\r\nit’s the usual renewal for MIDS, Inc. to run the county’s on-call bus system.\r\nNobody else responded to an RFP.\r\n

          \r\nI will have copies in the room for everyone tomorrow night.\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n
        5. \r\nAbandonment of a Portion of Green Lane<\/a>\r\n\"Abandonment<\/a>\r\n

          \r\nVideo.<\/a>\r\nCounty Engineer Mike Fletcher noted that\r\n\r\nlast Regular Session<\/a> they had agreed to hold a Public Hearing.\r\nChairman Bill Slaughter said they’d move this item to the Public Hearing\r\narea on the agenda if there were no objections; there were none.\r\n

          \r\nThe online agenda\r\n\r\nis still incorrect<\/a>, still listing this item\r\nas “For consideration” when it should be listed as a Public Hearing.\r\n<\/p>\r\n

        6. \r\nAgreement to purchase Geospatial Services NOAA<\/a>\r\n\"Agreement<\/a>\r\n

          \r\nVideo.<\/a>\r\nEmergency Services Director Ashley Tye said after flooding in February\r\nthere had been several meetings with cities and counties,\r\nthe Army Corps of Engineers, NOAA, etc.\r\nWhy yes, those would be the meetings that\r\n\r\nno citizens or watershed groups have been invited to attend<\/a>.\r\nHe said updating flood maps was a goal and LIDAR for elevations\r\nwould be useful.\r\nLowndes County could maybe get LIDAR data from NOAA coastal services,\r\nwhich already does the contracting and has high quality data,\r\nso setting up as a vendor with them would get the data at a much\r\nreduced cost and with less time.\r\nSpecifically, a reduction from about\r\n$450\/square mile\r\nto about\r\n$275\/square mile.\r\nThe current agreement wouldn’t obligate any payment,\r\nmerely to reserve the right to contract at a later date if that\r\nseemed to be in the county’s best interests.\r\n

          \r\nCommissioner Demarcus Marshall wanted to know if it was an annual renewal.\r\nAnswer: yes, with required review every three years.\r\n<\/p>\r\n

          \r\nCommissioner Richard Raines wanted to know if, when they ever used\r\nthese services, they would be sharing costs with other municipalities\r\nwithin the county.\r\nAnswer: would have to work that out at the time.\r\nCity of Valdosta had already indicated they were going to do something\r\nin a smaller area anyway.\r\nDoing the whole county would be sensible, due to setup cost involving\r\nan airplane, etc.\r\n

        7. \r\nBeer License-Bacon Bunker-4644 Bemiss Rd, A<\/a>\r\n\"Beer<\/a>\r\n

          \r\nVideo.<\/a>\r\nFinance Director Stephanie Black presented.\r\nCommissioners joked about bacon and beer for breakfast.\r\n<\/p>\r\n

        8. \r\n<\/a>\r\n<\/a>\r\nAlapaha Plantation Subdivision Water System Consent Order\r\n

          \r\nAdded to the agenda for the Regular Session.\r\nSee below<\/a>.\r\n<\/p>\r\n

        9. \r\n<\/a>\r\n<\/a>\r\nConsideration of Back Pay for 911 Employees\r\n

          \r\nThis item has appeared on\r\n\r\nthe amended agenda<\/a> for the Regular Session with no public discussion.\r\n<\/p>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n

        10. \r\nReports-County-Manager\r\n