[0:00] i'll call the meeting to order if you would please rise i'm going to call on

[0:03] commissioner marshall for the invocation and the pledge

[0:10] still we'd like to thank you for this day that you blessed us with a beautiful

[0:13] day in our county like thank you uh for

[0:17] the position to be able to make a difference in our communities with a

[0:20] mission to be able to make decisions and best interests are the citizens of our

[0:23] district your lord we'd like to thank you for the many blessings you've sowed

[0:27] on us and our family we like thanks to the blessings it sold on the staff

[0:32] created to continue to shine and bless and guide them to be the best

[0:36] interest of this citizenry in our county we pray for our

[0:40] elected officials at the local state and federal levels and their

[0:44] law we pray and would like that special prayer for those uh suffering from

[0:48] mental illness those types of suicide those who

[0:52] are just depressed suffering from coverage and dear lord i like also

[0:57] special prayer for those teenagers who were in the wreck earlier this week

[1:01] thank you for their recovery and blessing them to get to see another day

[1:05] last of all we'd like to continue to thank you for all the mercy and grace

[1:09] that you blessed us with on a day-to-day basis even when we don't and do not

[1:13] realize it all these blessings and i thank you and

[1:17] jesus in our prayers amen amen pleasure

[1:22] through the flag

[1:28] one nation under god indivisible with liberty and justice

[1:44] thank you miss marshall uh first off we've got some folks we

[1:49] like to recognize we've got the class of leadership lounge 2021

[1:55] if there's any of those members that's in the audience if you would please

[1:59] stand up and be recognized

[2:02] there we go good thank y'all

[2:08] you know each class of leadership lounges always claim that it's the best

[2:12] class ever this class will be able to claim it's

[2:15] the longest class ever so congratulations on staying in there i

[2:19] know it's been a tough uh process

[2:22] certainly would covet and everything the interruptions that you've had but as you

[2:26] probably know certainly with the time that you have had there is a tremendous

[2:31] amount that you'll be learning about this community as you go through that

[2:34] process i thank you for doing it i hope you do enjoy it but as well i would also

[2:39] encourage anyone in the community that really wants to understand how

[2:44] their community operates how it functions then leadership lounge is one

[2:49] of the best opportunities that you'll ever have to be able to get that good

[2:52] understanding it does take a commitment and these

[2:56] folks here that you just recognized has made that commitment as i said

[3:01] the longest commitment that's been made so far so again thank you all i'm glad

[3:05] y'all are enjoying

[3:08] all right commissioners inside your package you'll find your work session

[3:11] minutes of september the 27th and your regular session minutes from

[3:16] september the 28th as well as the comprehensive planned stakeholder

[3:20] meeting that was also held on the 28th if there are no additions deletions or

[3:25] corrections i'll entertain a motion to approve the minute mr chairman i'm

[3:29] moving through can we have a motion to approve do we

[3:32] have a second we have a second any discussion on the

[3:35] motion hearing none all in favor signify by eye

[3:40] any opposed like sign hearing none

[3:43] the motion carries the minutes are approved

[3:47] we'll move now into our public hearing items our first case is agenda item five

[3:52] a this is rec 2021-515

[3:58] beaver run subdivision beamless knights academy road it is currently ea the

[4:04] request is for r10 it will have water and sewer and this

[4:08] involves 10 acres mr dillard thank you mr chairman good evening commissioners

[4:12] this is again a request to change the zoning on approximately 10 acres of a

[4:15] 21-acre tract from its current ea to r10 suburban density access is off famous

[4:20] nights academy road and the map subject property is within the urban

[4:24] service area and depicted as a suburban character area on the future plan

[4:29] land use map for conference plan guidance r10 zoning currently is listed

[4:33] as permitted zoning and staff found this request consistent with the

[4:36] comprehensive plan and the planning commission recommends approval by

[4:39] unanimous vote 9-0 before you now is a concept of the proposed subdivision

[4:45] there are 25 lots depicted lot one in the bottom right hand corner is proposed

[4:49] to be used as a common mailbox area in green space as well as storm water

[4:53] detention and the proposed ingress egress there will be shifted farther to

[4:58] the west away from hoi lane to provide greater separation

[5:03] any questions for mr dillard okay we'll move into the public hearing

[5:08] portion of the meeting is there anyone in the audience that would like to speak

[5:12] in opposition to this request anyone that would like to speak in

[5:16] opposition hearing none is there anyone that would

[5:20] like to speak in favor of this request please come forward and state your name

[5:24] and address for the record please

[5:28] david 24 22 bemis road val oscar mr diller did a great presentation but i

[5:34] just like got any questions

[5:37] any questions for mr glade thank you mr blood

[5:45] okay if there's no one else in support of this then we'll close the public

[5:49] hearing portion of the meeting and i'll turn it back over to the commissioner

[5:52] for your consideration mostly approval do we have a motion to

[5:56] approve do we have a second second i have a second any discussion

[6:02] hearing none i'll call the vote all in favor signify by i

[6:06] any opposed like sign hearing none motion carries

[6:12] agenda item 5b this is rez 2021-16

[6:19] farms it is located at 59.99 valve dale road it is currently ra the request is

[6:26] for r1 it will have well inseptics uh and this involves

[6:32] 98.95 acres mr dillard thank you mr chairman again this was requested to

[6:37] take the property from its current residential agricultural zoning to r1

[6:41] low destiny residential in order to be subdivided at a greater density of

[6:44] approximately 73 lots according to the applicant's uh

[6:48] letter of intent the preliminary site plan is attached for your consideration

[6:52] with proposed four-bedroom homes with two and three-car garages and average

[6:55] tile sizes of 1900 square feet or more of the proposed lots approximately 20 or

[6:59] greater than one acre minimum and a community pool common area is proposed

[7:02] within the development subject property does possess road

[7:06] frontage on valdel road overall planning found the request

[7:09] inconsistent with the comprehensive plan and the trc reviewed the application and

[7:12] noted any development would require soil evaluation by the department of public

[7:15] health for well and septic and adherence to supplemental engineering students for

[7:19] properties containing or adjacent to wetlands

[7:22] the planning commission recommended denial of the request by a split vote of

[7:24] seven to two you'll note here on the proposed site

[7:27] plan that i believe lot 60 in the upper

[7:31] uh upper third here middle cul-de-sac is the one proposed

[7:34] for the development of a community pool okay

[7:39] there's any questions for mr dillon you said

[7:43] that you've done the uh calculations in 20 lots or larger than one

[7:48] yes or based upon this preliminary cycle

[7:54] any other questions

[7:58] okay hearing on then we'll move into the public hearing portion of the meeting

[8:02] is there anyone in the audience that would like to speak in opposition to

[8:06] this request please come forward and state your name and address for the

[8:09] record please yes sir my name is chuck dunman i live

[8:12] at 5930 valedale road i live directly across from the proposed development

[8:17] i'm not going to waste your time on track account we can all agree by now

[8:22] even using mr greiner's uh mathematical formula for population growth with

[8:26] traffic count 3 916 49.50 and 19 is probably 6 000 by now

[8:33] um 73 one acre lots an acre is roughly 200 feet by 200 feet

[8:40] state law dictates that a well cannot be within 50 feet of a set tank cannot be

[8:45] within 100 feet of a drain field the septic tank drain field cannot be

[8:49] within 10 feet of a building foundation or property line or within 15 feet of an

[8:54] embankment stream or weapon so that's going to be some interesting

[8:58] mathematical calculations taking place there on that property

[9:02] i'm also curious is the perk test going to be done on all 73 lots prior to

[9:06] construction because i'm wondering how those tests

[9:10] would react if you have active drain fields on adjacent

[9:14] lots and obviously me being on the downhill

[9:16] side of this development we all know what goes downhill

[9:20] so i have a concern from that from an environmental standpoint

[9:23] storm water storm water law dictates that a

[9:28] development cannot force more water onto an adjacent property than what currently

[9:33] existed pre-development up to a 25-year storm

[9:39] a 25-year storm is 7.68 inches of rainfall in a 24-hour

[9:45] period there are two drainage points

[9:49] for the entire 98 acres one goes through my neighbor's property

[9:53] and into a five-acre pond and a 12-acre pond that four of us property owners

[9:58] share the other drainage point goes through my

[10:01] property when i bought this land in 1994 and went

[10:06] through the dnr permitting process to build a 12 acre pond

[10:10] a 36 inch drainage structure was used to control

[10:14] the elevation of our pond um and uh

[10:19] and and also i use the 36 inch pipe to go through to access my property across

[10:26] the other drainage dish that goes through my property when valdelle road

[10:30] was widened a few years back that pipe was replaced with a larger

[10:35] diameter price without a downstream study being done

[10:40] but so what i want to tell you is that um when the engineer looks at the

[10:44] retention pond and needed to develop this property they by law have to do

[10:49] what is called a downstream analysis which means he's got to see what is

[10:55] downstream from where he's turning this water loose which means now he has to

[10:59] use the 36 inch pipe is his control he can't use what's at the root

[11:05] um the reason this is the law is not just a quick design criteria i want to

[11:10] remind you this is a lifetime commitment this is a maintenance law this law

[11:16] exists as long as the development is there

[11:19] so if this pond ever silts in and it can no longer retain the 25 year

[11:24] storm in the quarters with law whoever owns that development at that

[11:28] point in time whether it's the county or the developer

[11:31] somebody's got to dig out the pond so i just want you to be aware of that

[11:35] scenario the comprehensive plan

[11:39] i came to the public marine hearing a couple of weeks back and i

[11:43] must say i learned a lot from both sides mr ornstein you stated that everyone

[11:47] wants to live in the north end of the county i understand your statement but

[11:51] is that fair to the current landowners why does the potential buyer's wants

[11:56] take precedent over current homeowners and homestead

[12:00] your job is hard but it should never be hard to be fair

[12:04] i have a suggestion that would eliminate most of your issues with zoning and

[12:08] could be done with somewhat of a clear conscience

[12:10] draw a circle three miles around the city of valdosta city limits and start

[12:14] your development which is what the comprehensive plan basically says

[12:18] and when you're within ninety percent of development expand your circle

[12:22] this way you're impacting all taxpayers of lowndes county equally and that would

[12:27] be fair the way this way it doesn't look like

[12:31] you're overburdening one particular sex sector of the county

[12:35] mr griner if the population numbers are going to be where you predict then this

[12:39] report will have to go in this direction at some point why not now

[12:43] the hot comprehensive plan calls for urban development stay close to urban

[12:46] areas and to maintain and protect the integrity of our rural areas

[12:50] a 73 lot subdivision is an urban development trying to be placed in the

[12:55] middle of a rural area we live eight miles outside of the

[13:00] valdosta city limits and one mile south of the cook county line

[13:04] how far do i have to be out to maintain my rural status

[13:09] please be cautious of the precedence you can set tonight when all of your checks

[13:13] and balances the county has implemented encourage you to deny this request

[13:18] thank you for your time one question one question

[13:25] hey ladies

[13:27] how close how close is this property to a higher

[13:31] probably four miles four miles yes

[13:36] okay

[13:40] all right is there anyone else would like to speak in opposition to this

[13:43] request mr please come forward and state your

[13:46] name and address for the record and after this speaker i will allow one

[13:50] more speaker in opposition i think we

[13:53] understand where everybody's at um

[13:58] and my driveway is exactly across from where the kansas city substitution would

[14:03] be and i appreciate what he just said but

[14:06] i'm coming from more of my investment as a citizen of pay higher

[14:11] and jim and i've developed two businesses downtown and the reason why

[14:15] we moved to bowdale was the character of the neighborhood

[14:18] and i think part of planning for the mission is to either enhance the

[14:22] character of the neighborhood or to at least protect it so i just want to read

[14:26] something because i'm not eloquent of just speaking

[14:28] uh the situation is a repeat of an attempt to have the same property zoned

[14:32] a year or so ago the arguments against rezoning have not changed since that

[14:36] time to think that this piece of land will be divided into one acre plots with

[14:41] separate wells and septic tanks additional pressure on schools emergency

[14:45] services fire and police departments is daunting

[14:48] we understand that there's a plan to poor lane bowdale we certainly don't

[14:52] want to become another beams road while a high-ranking school administrator

[14:56] supports growth in this area of the county and so do we

[15:00] we have talked with local administrators and teachers and they're stretched

[15:03] belong beyond their limit right now in addition an environmental study would

[15:08] need to be done to find an impact on the aquifer

[15:11] to our knowledge there are no small houses mobile homes or even slots the

[15:14] size of this proposal on valedale road between mcmillan road to the cook county

[15:19] line as pointed out prior the professional planners which are

[15:24] lowndes county employees have posted no in the last two proposals just drive out

[15:29] there and look and there is a reason people are wanting to come

[15:32] but is that just simply to expand the digest

[15:35] zoning is a tool for protection to property owners or it should be

[15:40] this type of zoning uh degrades will certainly do suggest

[15:44] significant damage not only to adjacent properties to those that are further

[15:48] removed down the road on valdez we would request that the powers in lown county

[15:52] retain current zoning on bowdale from mcmillan road to lowndes county kirkland

[15:56] adhere to your master plan and recognize and follow the advice of your

[16:00] professional planners on the lowndes county staff

[16:04] we just don't want politics to be played on a very serious serious thing thank

[16:08] you

[16:11] all right one more speaker please folks just let's not have any

[16:15] applause or any comments or anything like we're trying to do the businesses

[16:19] we need to do and i would appreciate it is there anyone else that would like to

[16:22] speak in opposition to this request john you were halfway down the aisle

[16:28] before i even asked so is there anyone else that would like to speak in

[16:31] opposition to this request all right john

[16:35] take your name and address for the record please hi john quarterman 65 65

[16:40] quarterman road and i got to say i'm gratified to see the planning commission

[16:44] and the staff are recommending against this rezoning

[16:48] because this is this proposal is one logical outcome of what the previous

[16:54] commission and previous staff started back in 2007

[16:58] when the commission rezoned for nelson hill

[17:02] and then ran water explicitly up fouldale to nelsonville

[17:07] since then the commission and the staff have been

[17:10] approving more subdivisions pushing the water lines farther up

[17:15] paving roads to connect the subdivisions and what's going to happen when these

[17:20] septic tanks start to fail if if you unfortunately approve this

[17:25] then we'll hear an outcry we've got to have county water extended all the way

[17:28] to this subdivision which will put further pressure

[17:32] on all the landowners nearby because their taxes will go up

[17:37] and um i can tell you something else that will

[17:40] happen if you plug a subdivision like this in the middle of an agricultural

[17:43] and farming area because i've got one grandfathered in next to my west field

[17:48] which we planted in longleaf pine also back in 2007

[17:53] and what we get is every time we burn those trees somebody from the

[17:57] subdivision calls the county fire department get used to it i'm going to

[18:01] call them again i'm going to burn again this winter

[18:04] and they dump their trash over the fence into my trees because they think it's

[18:08] just empty land and they trespass and they leave trash

[18:13] and they poach and they run their four-wheelers that's what you're gonna

[18:17] get if this thing gets approved this is why character areas matter

[18:22] this is why the subdivision should be denied this is why

[18:27] the character area should stay the same as it is

[18:31] this is why there's no need for an extra million dollar water main to

[18:36] close a loop that's already closed and this is why the county commission

[18:41] should be looking forward to preserve the rural character of the rural parts

[18:45] of the of the county

[18:48] not just for this generation of these people

[18:52] but for their descendants seven to seven generations owned so please deny

[18:58] this rezoning thank you

[19:02] okay all right is there anyone in the

[19:05] audience that would like to speak in favor of this request

[19:09] please come forward and state your name and address for the record please

[19:16] richard coleman 109 south ashley street i'm here

[19:21] i represent gw farms and um i'll try to be brief as i can

[19:28] um as we said it's 98 acres and of course

[19:32] it'll be 72 acres will actually be developed in the in the in the front of

[19:35] the property there's approximately 25 acres it'll be

[19:39] left and it'll be of course it's

[19:44] the detention pond and it'll be as well a uh it's undisturbed wetlands and those

[19:49] will be there next to the detention pond and that's in the front

[19:52] um now there also will be 72 lots and not

[19:57] 73 lots in the back which is lot 60 will be a pool area dedicated so that lot

[20:03] will be taken out um i will mention a little bit about the

[20:07] traffic on the valedale road when i attended the

[20:11] planning commission meeting i did mention also that this property is on

[20:15] the west side of the road and therefore at least when traffic

[20:19] turns coming out of the subdivision it'll be turning to the right it won't

[20:22] be crossing uh the road at least going to work in

[20:25] the mornings um

[20:28] the traffic count i had mentioned at the planning commission meeting as well that

[20:32] there was a the traffic count was three thousand with a six thousand capacity

[20:37] but i called uh and

[20:39] and uh got a lot of objection to that and i

[20:43] called chad macleod um and just to find out exactly what

[20:48] that was and that is actually 4 000 uh 260 uh vehicles a day and he

[20:54] explained to me that this 6 000 capacity is not really

[20:59] capacity is not the right word he said what what he explained to me was

[21:03] that 6000 is simply a classification

[21:07] and that's a classification that the county would use then to say okay

[21:12] we've got to do something with this uh road we've either got to uh

[21:18] make some turn lanes or widening or stop lights or whatever

[21:24] and of course it is a it is a major uh he explained to me this is a lot of

[21:28] things a major collector arterial road is what it is so so it's

[21:34] not a it's not a little country road anymore i

[21:37] don't believe

[21:40] and of course it is moving toward development lowndes county is

[21:44] moving that way it will just me even if you turn down this development it'll be

[21:48] a matter of time before uh that road will need some will reach that capacity

[21:53] i think everybody agrees with that um

[21:56] and if you take 4 000 260 vehicles and you considered two cars

[22:03] for each house and i'm just

[22:06] thinking out loud you got two cars each house and each

[22:10] each car goes to valdosta every day and comes home every day i

[22:15] mean if you say that then you've got

[22:18] a 144 added to the traffic count and if you drive that into 4260 that's a

[22:25] 3.38 percent increase in the traffic on valhalla road

[22:30] which is rather minimal uh i know that's a conclusion

[22:34] that appears to be rather minimal

[22:38] i also discussed with chad the intersection

[22:41] at valdel and north in valdez north valdosta road

[22:46] where where the traffic comes in and had you know stopped by that stoplight and

[22:50] he he said that they're working on that and

[22:54] have been working with d.o.t and and you all probably already know that there's

[22:58] gonna instead of that one lane going across over to um

[23:02] uh 41 041 they're gonna they're trying to figure a way to make it turn to the

[23:06] left so there'll be two turning lanes going into valdosta and he also said

[23:12] that right now they're just working on they've got to figure out how long the

[23:15] lanes need to be or whether the media in there and the budget and all of that

[23:20] they all consider getting prices etcetera

[23:25] as far as the water runoff was an issue

[23:29] of course the detention pond and the natural

[23:33] area is intended to keep the water within the subdivision and it is right

[23:42] again no comment please and if you look at that map it does it

[23:47] is kind of in the middle in other words the houses are all built will be

[23:50] developed around that with that uh

[23:53] coming that direction at any rate um

[24:00] so actually i mean if you if you if you could actually

[24:04] maybe make an argument that the subdivision may

[24:08] may solve some of the water runoff issues on any davis property

[24:12] um

[24:16] we've heard about septic tanks and and i didn't hear it tonight but we heard

[24:20] earlier that those septic tanks may contaminate neighbors wells all of that

[24:25] and certainly uh the county uh

[24:29] we'll give you about another half a minute if you can go ahead and wrap it

[24:32] up okay all right so we

[24:36] tend to do that i'll make the last uh a couple one two quick points and that is

[24:41] the uh as everybody knows the inventory for

[24:44] housing is very low in lowndes county and right now i was told it's 60 percent

[24:47] lower than normal and it uh certainly we need housing uh

[24:52] there's a great need at moody um

[24:55] and um we understand that the uh of course is

[24:58] another uh thing that i'd like to say very quickly

[25:02] and that is we understand jobs are important to lowndes county and of

[25:05] course if you you've got a lot of jobs that go to subcontractors if when houses

[25:10] are built you've got painters and you've got framers and

[25:13] you've got all of these people electricians and everybody else

[25:16] everybody's aware of and and in this particular case the

[25:20] contractor that will build uh these houses has built 565 houses in

[25:25] the past years with 96 million spent in lowndes county

[25:29] and that's all right so i'll stop thank you sir

[25:35] is there anyone else that would like to speak in favor of this request

[25:40] please come forward and state your name and address to the record please

[25:50] hi i'm steve doherty i've been listening to what some owner

[25:55] or landowners around their site and hey it's something to think about

[26:01] i know that i've lived in an area i live north of moody moody this grew like

[26:06] everything but one thing that i can stand here and stay or we don't say

[26:11] clowns county stop growing don't grow no more

[26:15] we cannot stop lowndes county from growing it's going to grow

[26:20] what are we going to do as people in lounge camp we're going to use our head

[26:26] i heard individuals say about water and surf

[26:30] i think my opinion my son is builder licensed bill

[26:34] i thank our uh

[26:36] special paper uh down here that proves sexy fantasy well

[26:41] wells no that does that i think they do an excellent job they go each side

[26:48] and they do a study on it hey i don't know what that study is they know who it

[26:53] is they give you the approval or disapproval of that study that is

[26:58] something to think about if there's something wrong with that land then

[27:02] they're going to deny putin well in second tank there all

[27:06] right let's let them

[27:10] make that decision for i don't know what it is i can't stand here and say

[27:15] hey no this can't be done they know let's do what lowndes county needs

[27:21] lounge county is growing let people have jobs let people work

[27:27] and let's don't stop browns county works hey

[27:30] anyone can say in my area i invite anyone to come to my area and

[27:36] look it in i've got 20 acres of land and i'll stand

[27:39] here today i'll give it to somebody if they want to build on me

[27:43] i'll give it to them and that ain't okay i won't see lowndes

[27:47] counties grow and we need to be wise about it and open

[27:51] up some subdivisions because there's people i have called today

[27:55] someone's coming in lounge county to steal a hundred houses this coming year

[28:00] and what are you going to do stay out of browns county no invite him

[28:05] to come in because we need the money and i appreciate it

[28:09] okay we'll allow one more speaker is there anyone else that would like to

[28:13] speak in favor of this request anyone that would like to speak in favor

[28:19] hearing none will close the public hearing portion of the meeting and

[28:22] commissioners i'll turn it over to you for your consideration

[28:28] is um coffee drinks being paid for their

[28:35] apartments on the west west side

[28:42] and i had a question i know the ones representing the farm i just want to

[28:46] miss the market just hang on just a minute that's good

[28:50] that's all you need okay i'm sorry then go ahead i noticed the sign still has

[28:54] for sale on the on the sign up there pending this independence disapproval or

[29:00] have anyone else made an offer on the property that's what i was going to ask

[29:04] i do not know that

[29:08] did anyone else make an offer on the property

[29:14] yeah just hold up

[29:17] the market we don't need to get in back in with no i'm closed the public portion

[29:22] of the meeting i want to know basically had anybody

[29:25] else been given an opportunity to purchase the property well i think they

[29:28] have it's been for sale for quite a while

[29:31] so yeah someone's had the opportunity to buy it

[29:33] i think you can certainly assume that i think that sign's been up here for

[29:37] quite a while because i don't know i don't know what

[29:41] vital for what purpose is what i've been trying to think of yeah i can't answer

[29:46] that and probably the owner is the only one that could really answer that

[29:50] and i don't think the owners here we

[30:05] we have spent hours and money on a uldc document

[30:10] and on the conference plan and that's what we need to do is follow

[30:15] that lead

[30:20] so are you putting that in the form of a motion don't make that money

[30:24] okay so we have a motion to deny we'll have a second

[30:31] motion dies for the lack of a second okay

[30:35] that'll entertain a motion mr chairman i move we approve the

[30:38] v-zoning from ra to r1

[30:42] okay we have a motion to approve from ra to r1 with the

[30:48] um condition

[30:50] that has 20 foot buffer

[30:54] between the road between bowdale road and the

[30:57] first property owners

[31:02] okay so we have a motion do we have a second

[31:07] okay maybe we have a second we have a motion

[31:10] in a second i'll call the vote we'll do it by show of hands all in favor signify

[31:14] by raising your right hand

[31:18] okay three in opposition same

[31:24] pretty soon three two three

[31:29] okay so the motion cares

[31:34] all right we'll move on then to agenda item 5c

[31:37] and this is rec 2021-17 and we'll give everybody a chance

[31:43] anybody that wants to leave we'll give them a chance to do just

[31:51] that voted for you scotty you are part of our fishery

[31:57] ma'am ma'am order please

[32:01] come on

[32:41] all right we'll move on then to agenda item 5c and this is rec 2021-17

[32:49] jeffrey atkinson 4365

[32:53] williams road it's currently r1 the request is for ra

[32:58] it has well and septic and it involves eight acres mr dillard thank you mr

[33:03] chairman commissioners again this request is from r1 to ra in order for

[33:07] the applicant to provide dog training services in a more rural setting which

[33:11] is only allowed in the ea and ra zonings subject properties in the urban service

[33:16] area and suburban character area and ra zoning is listed as recommended zoning

[33:21] trc had no objectionable comments and the applicant is working through the

[33:24] state department of agricultural agriculture contains the necessary

[33:28] licensing and permits to operate a kindling training facility staff finds a

[33:31] request consistent with the conference of plan and the planning commission

[33:34] recommends approval by unanimous vote 9-0

[33:38] any questions for mr dillard okay

[33:42] we'll move into the public hearing portion of the meeting is there anyone

[33:46] in the audience that would like to speak in opposition to this request

[33:51] anyone that would like to speak in opposition

[33:54] hearing none is there anyone in the audience that would like to speak in

[33:57] favor of this request anyone that would like to speak in favor

[34:03] hearing them will close the public hearing part of the meeting and

[34:06] commissioners i'll turn it back over to you for your consideration mr chairman

[34:10] motion to approve this request here we have a motion to approve the

[34:14] request do we have a second second we have a second

[34:19] okay in a discussion on the motion hearing none i'll call the vote all in

[34:24] favor signify by eye any opposed like sign

[34:29] hearing none the motion carries agenda item 5d is rec

[34:36] 2021-18 the villages located at b on bemis road is currently

[34:42] a pd and this is a pd site plan amendment it has water and sewer and

[34:46] this involves three acres mr dillard thank you mr chairman again this is an

[34:50] amendment to an approved pd site plan that was approved back in 2020 the

[34:55] original site plan uh listed 25 single-family homes it has since changed

[35:00] hands by developers and is now being requested for 11

[35:05] duplex homes this is consistent with the current the growth pattern out there as

[35:09] there are four existing duplexes immediately to the north as well as a

[35:12] multi-family compound the subject property is within the urban

[35:16] service area and neighborhood activity center and pd is a recommended zoning

[35:20] for that character area the trc had no objectional comments and the glpc

[35:23] considered it and recommends approval by a vote of nine to zero

[35:27] okay any questions for mr dillard okay we'll move into the public hearing

[35:32] portion of the meeting is there anyone in the audience would like to speak in

[35:35] opposition to this request anyone that would like to speak in

[35:39] opposition hearing none is there anyone in the

[35:42] audience that would like to speak in favor of this request

[35:46] anyone that would like to speak in faith hearing none we'll close the public

[35:50] hearing portion of the meeting and commissioners i'll turn it back over to

[35:53] you for your consideration listen to approval if we have a motion

[35:57] to approve the request and we have a second

[36:00] of a second any discussion hearing none i'll call the vote all in

[36:05] favor signify by eye any opposed like sign

[36:10] hearing none motion carries

[36:13] agenda item 5e is rec 2021-19 this is the lounge county board of

[36:21] commissioners on behalf of frank wetherington's living trust

[36:25] 4224 bowdale road currently pd the request is for ra it

[36:31] has well in septic and it involves five acres mr dillard thank you mr chairman

[36:36] uh this is a pd property that was rezoned back in 2020 as part of the

[36:40] landing subdivision it was since amended in 2021 back in july if you recall

[36:45] and the updated site plan excludes this particular portion as well as the one to

[36:49] the south which will be our next case you note the property here on the

[36:52] original site plan and has now been excluded

[36:56] it is part of a rural residential character area and the request is to

[36:59] return it to ra which was the prior zoning to the pd and

[37:03] to remove the pd restrictions from this property as it's no longer included in

[37:06] the subdivision trc had no objectionable comments and the planning commission

[37:10] recommended approval by unanimous vote any questions from mr dillard

[37:16] okay we'll move into the public hearing portion of the meeting is there anyone

[37:19] in the audience that would like to speak in opposition to this request

[37:23] any anyone that would like to speak in opposition

[37:27] hearing none is there anyone that would like to speak in favor of this request

[37:31] anyone that would like to speak in favor hearing none i'll call i'll close the

[37:35] public hearing portion of the meeting and commissions i'll turn it back over

[37:38] to you for your consideration mr chairman

[37:42] we have a motion to approve the request do i have a second

[37:46] we have a second in a discussion hearing none i'll call the vote all in

[37:51] favor signify by eye any opposed like sign

[37:56] hearing none the motion carries agenda item 5 f is r e z

[38:03] 2021-20 this is lounge county board of

[38:07] commissioners on behalf of harold and gina war

[38:10] located at 4154 valedale road it's pd the request is for ra it has

[38:17] well in septic and involves 2.9 acres mr dillon thank you mr chairman again this

[38:22] is the similar to the previous case in that this subject property is now not

[38:27] part of the landing subdivision as a result of july 2021 rezoning case

[38:33] you can see the particular details here it is now 2.9 acres and again rural

[38:38] residential character area ra is listed as recommended crc had no additional

[38:42] objectionable comments and the planning commission again recommended approval

[38:45] plague as well

[38:48] any questions for mr dillard hearing none

[38:52] i'll entertain a motion i'm sorry public hearing

[38:56] is there anyone in the audience that would like to speak in opposition to

[38:59] this request anyone that would like to speak in

[39:02] opposition hearing none is there anyone that would like to speak in favor of

[39:06] this request anyone that would like to speak in faith

[39:09] hearing none we'll close the public hearing and commissioners i'll turn it

[39:13] over to you for your consideration

[39:18] mr chairman i'll move we approve this request okay we have a motion to approve

[39:22] the request do i have a second second

[39:25] a second any discussion on the motion hearing none i'll call the vote all in

[39:30] favor signify by eye any opposed like sign

[39:35] hearing none the motion carries agenda item five g is r e z 2021-21

[39:44] this is lounge county board of commissioners on behalf of valdez states

[39:48] on bowdale road it as well as a this is a pd amendment it has water and sewer

[39:54] and this involves 56 acres mr dillard thanks sir again this is an update to a

[39:59] previously approved site plan uh from a development standpoint again there were

[40:03] some issues with covet as far as timelines

[40:06] and normal operation of services again future is a suburban character

[40:11] area pd is recommended you see the property does contain wetlands to the

[40:15] south this was the previously approved site plan you'll note some minor changes

[40:19] between this plan and the approved plan or the updated

[40:22] proposal here presumably in the location of the green space and a few minor

[40:25] changes to the cul-de-sac industry infrastructure

[40:28] the trc had no additional comments and the planning commission recommended

[40:31] approval by again unanimous vote 9-0 thank you mr dylan any questions for mr

[40:37] dillon hearing none we'll move into the public

[40:40] hearing portion of this agenda item is there

[40:44] anyone in the audience that would like to speak in opposition to this request

[40:48] anyone that would like to speak in opposition

[40:51] hearing none is there anyone that would like to speak in favor to this request

[40:56] anyone that would like to speak in favor hearing none i'll close the public

[40:59] hearing portion of the meeting and commissioners i'll turn it back over to

[41:02] you for your consideration

[41:09] okay we have a motion to approve do we have a second

[41:14] we have a second any discussion hearing none all in favor signify by eye

[41:20] any opposed like sign hearing on motion carries

[41:27] agenda item 6a is the abandonment of a portion of salem church road known as

[41:32] county road number 68 and wells road known as county road

[41:37] number 68 and county road 69 mr mccloud yes sir the county has received a

[41:43] request to abandon a portion of salem church road and wells road

[41:48] the portion of salem church road begins at the intersection of old

[41:52] valdosta road and goes to the intersection of wales road

[41:56] the portion of wales road begins at the intersection of georgia highway 122

[42:02] to salem church road then north to the property line of map zero zero zero two

[42:08] parcel zero zero five owned by the stalwarts

[42:13] georgia statute requires an initial determination

[42:16] either a that the section of the county road system has for any reason cease to

[42:20] be used by the public to the extent that no substantial public

[42:24] purpose is served by it or b that its removal from the county

[42:28] road system is otherwise in the best public interest or both

[42:33] if the board makes either or both of these determinations the statute

[42:37] provides for notice to adjoining property owners

[42:40] notice to the public by newspaper publication

[42:43] and the public hearing a few other notes

[42:47] this request came from plb limited partnership

[42:51] which now owns the 1228 plus acres which used to be owned by lakewood farms

[42:58] the request according to the request i mean the

[43:02] request was signed by all property owners that have

[43:05] a property that would have access to their property off of either road

[43:09] where plb limited partnership has proposed the roads to be closed

[43:14] currently both wales road and salem church road are used by citizens in the

[43:18] surrounding area for public use as a shorter means of

[43:22] travel for vehicles and farm equipment wells road continues going north into

[43:27] cook county and eventually ends at old valdosta road inside of cook county

[43:32] if the commission decides to close wells row they turn around would have to be

[43:36] constructed on the north end of the proposed closed

[43:40] location the entrance to the little river boat

[43:43] ramp and to the mary turner lynching memorial landmarker are located at the

[43:48] intersection of wells road and highway 122.

[43:51] if the commission decides to close wells road staff would recommend keeping it

[43:55] open to a point north of highway 122 so the public can still have access to

[44:00] both staff would also have to research to see

[44:04] where exactly the georgia d.o.t right-of-way is located at the

[44:07] intersection to determine the exact closing location

[44:12] okay commissioners any questions for mr mccloud

[44:16] all right here you go i'll entertain a motion just turn our move that we deny

[44:21] the request based on it isn't that either one of the criteria

[44:25] okay we have a motion to deny do we have a second second we have a second any

[44:29] discussion hearing on a call for the vote all in

[44:32] favor signify by i any opposed like sign

[44:38] hearing none the motion is approved good night

[44:44] denied i'm sorry no your motion was possible most

[44:49] for the dial yeah sorry who's wrong

[44:52] yeah i'm dealing with a motion

[44:56] sorry all right we'll move on with agenda item

[45:00] 6b this is the american rescue plan funding

[45:04] application for utility repairs and expansion mr tower

[45:08] yes sir the american rescue plan provides for funding for local

[45:13] municipalities to upgrade their water and sewer infrastructure

[45:17] lowndes county in conjunction with carter and sloop has identified several

[45:20] projects that meet this criteria the total amount of these projects is

[45:24] ten million five hundred dollars the ground amount we would be requesting

[45:28] would be five million two hundred fifty 000

[45:32] with a county match of the same amount 5 million 250 000

[45:36] staff recommends approval for carter and sleep engineer to submit the arp funding

[45:42] application all right any questions for mr staubel

[45:47] hearing none i'll entertain a motion

[45:52] mr chairman i'll move we approve the grant application for

[45:57] carter and salute engineering okay we have a motion to approve the

[46:02] grant application that's estimated by carter and slough we'll have a second

[46:07] i have a second in a discussion hearing none i'll call the vote all in

[46:13] favor signify by eye any opposed like sign

[46:18] hearing none the motion carries agenda item 7a is the improvement to the

[46:24] historic carnegie library museum mr mccloud

[46:28] yes sir improvements to the historic carnegie library museum is an approved

[46:32] project for splost eight improvements including new roof for the

[46:36] facility including structural work waterproofing the basement area and a

[46:41] little cosmetic work the bid opening was held september 21st

[46:46] and staff received one bid from kellerman construction

[46:50] for 237 168 and 120 days

[46:56] and miss lover has the contracts for the

[47:01] contractor in her possession any questions for mr mccloud

[47:08] hearing none i'll entertain a motion okay we have a motion to approve by ms

[47:13] evans have a second mr weiser baker any discussion

[47:18] hearing none i'll call the vote all in favor signify by eye

[47:22] any opposed like sign here none motion is here it carries

[47:28] agenda item seven i mean agenda item eight is our final accounting report

[47:34] thank you mr chairman good evening commissioners

[47:37] over the past couple of months in accordance with the direction the

[47:40] commission has given staff to explore opportunities for broadband expansion

[47:45] here in lowndes county we have met with several providers

[47:49] that there is arp funding that is available through the state

[47:53] the grant deadline was moved to the end of october

[47:56] for that and in all of those discussions that also included jason shaw our public

[48:01] service commission representative um the most viable

[48:05] grant request that we have received is from winstream and so staff would like

[48:09] to request permission to move forward as the lead applicant with winstream this

[48:14] is no financial obligation on part of the county

[48:17] but we have looked at their plan extensively they've used dca's map for

[48:22] those without service and those underserved which means they don't have

[48:25] enough broadband to actually be able to to get out or for their internet to work

[48:29] very well the the winstream plan does include 18 900 locations at a total cost

[48:36] of 36.3 million the grant request is for 16.2 million and then one stream plans

[48:42] an investment of 20.1 million there's also a good not quite as efficient

[48:47] proposal from hargre for 10 300 locations at a cost of 54

[48:52] million and they plan to split that if awarded

[48:56] 27 to 27. the positive thing mediacom also has a

[49:00] proposal we have not seen that the positive thing for us is that if any of

[49:04] these are approved we are in good shape these are all great providers their

[49:09] plans are good we've looked at all of them but the more specific request is

[49:13] from winstream for the county to be the lead applicant on that grant if you all

[49:17] have no objection any objection to lowndes county taking

[49:22] the lead no no this is extremely important to

[49:25] this community

[49:28] thank you commissioner

[49:34] thank you mr chairman we'll take care of that on october the 5th um staff along

[49:38] with the county attorney and the chairman attended an accg local option

[49:42] sales tax meeting the end result is that we are putting a

[49:46] plan in place to gather the research data that we will need to formulate our

[49:50] proposal related to local option sales tax and at your february retreat we will

[49:54] have an in-depth report for you on that so that you can give us some direction

[49:57] and we'll be ready to move forward also the regional commission's annual

[50:01] appreciation dinner for elected officials in adel is on october the 26th

[50:07] which would be the normal day of our next meeting and so the chairman has

[50:12] asked staff to move the regular meeting to that monday evening so we would have

[50:16] the work session on monday morning at 8 30 and then the meeting on monday at 5

[50:20] 30 so that you all are all available to attend

[50:24] the the dinner in adel also flu shots a couple of you have asked about that i

[50:28] checked with hr and they will be available for county employees at

[50:31] various locations to meet any of our shift requirements on october the 26th

[50:35] and 28th and then we will also leave that open at airport medical until

[50:40] the end of november for anyone who would like to stop by

[50:43] also we're putting together a communication for the employees i think

[50:46] there'll be some skeptic skepticism maybe some confusion about the vaccine

[50:51] versus flu shots and so we're putting together some faqs to hopefully clear

[50:56] that up also the lounge county sheriff's office and the vassal police department

[50:59] have moved trick-or-treating until october the 30th so you all might get

[51:03] some questions about that it seems to be the talk of the town right now

[51:07] so let me know if there's any problems there and then also i just want to thank

[51:10] everyone for the river cleanup this past saturday some of you participated

[51:14] certainly engineering and megan with public information were

[51:19] extremely involved there we had a great turnout thanks to walls certainly the

[51:23] quarterman's were a great part of that and we appreciate their partnership

[51:27] and we look forward to the river cleanup next year

[51:30] and planning for the holiday season has officially become so with the work at

[51:35] the historic courthouse we're planning an alternative for

[51:39] our tree lighting this year will be at the city and we're looking at some

[51:42] changes in our decorations there good thank you great report as always we

[51:48] appreciate it all right we uh we do have some citizens

[51:52] wishing to be heard our first citizen is sandra jones

[51:58] please come forward

[52:04] and state your name and address for the record ms john

[52:11] good evening my name is mrs sandra d s jones i live

[52:16] at 49.40 copies rolled in hey howard georgia

[52:21] first of all i would like to thank the board for allowing me to be heard

[52:27] i'm here am i requesting that taxpayers 65 and older be exempt from

[52:32] paying school taxes in lowndes county i respectfully request that you

[52:39] contact the lowndes county and city school boards

[52:43] and discuss this issue with them a round table discussion

[52:48] on this matter along with a few taxpaying citizens

[52:53] could get this issue resolved we have seniors

[52:58] in lowndes county that are making choices

[53:03] whether to pay taxes or purchase food

[53:08] a much needed medication

[53:12] is there resolution in place to assist

[53:16] citizens that are experiencing hardships

[53:20] concerning paying their taxes and who is in charge of assisting them

[53:26] most seniors are not looking for a handout

[53:30] but for a handoff i realize

[53:34] our outstanding school systems have budgets

[53:39] that needs to be considered but i also ask that you consider

[53:44] the needs the needs of our seniors you as a board can provide that for them

[53:53] by finding a way to exempt our seniors 65 and older from paying school taxes

[54:01] our seniors 65 and older need your compassion

[54:06] and action on this matter when can i

[54:11] expect a response concerning my request

[54:15] one of the things that i looked at when i was thinking about coming before this

[54:19] board i looked at your mission statement and it's stated to provide an efficient

[54:25] effective and responsive local government to all

[54:29] citizens of lowndes county while maintaining the

[54:33] financial strength to meet any contingency

[54:37] i ask you to please consider our seniors i have interviewed several seniors

[54:42] and a lot of them are having difficult times at this time like i said buying

[54:46] food purchasing much needed medication

[54:51] and you are our elected officials sometimes i feel like we cast the

[54:57] seniors out but let's do something for them

[55:01] please think about them i had one woman that i

[55:05] interviewed she told me this she said since my husband passed away

[55:10] i don't get half of the money that we used to get when he was alive

[55:14] she said i had my separate tank to go out and i had to buy a freezer

[55:18] she said i don't have any extra money to pay taxes

[55:22] so please y'all think about those people that have been paying taxes for 20 30

[55:27] and 40 and 50 years and now they're not receiving the extra

[55:32] income but taxes are going over let's do something for them

[55:36] and you all have the power to do that get with the city

[55:40] you know get with the county and discuss with them what they can do with lowering

[55:44] their budget you know when i was growing up i just heard my granddaddy so you

[55:47] need to trim the fat so maybe they can trim some fat so we

[55:51] can help some of these seniors 65 and older

[55:54] cut your budget because if the money is not there then you can't make these

[55:57] extra purchases but the seniors don't have that luxury

[56:00] they don't have the money so think about those that are 65 and

[56:04] older i'm getting there i'm not here yet i'm

[56:08] just speaking on their behalf but please think about that

[56:12] we have a responsibility to our seniors think about who's been paying their

[56:17] taxes one lady told my husband little to be 92

[56:20] years old and he was still paying taxes oh no no no

[56:24] a change needs to be made and i thank you all for listening to me

[56:28] i really do and i hope you have a wonderful evening

[56:32] and where can i hear from you all oh i'll get with you a little bit later

[56:37] miss jones we don't normally have dialogue

[56:40] oh that's fine later it's fine and just to know that you're thinking about what

[56:44] i actually did opportunity but not stay in touch with me okay i appreciate that

[56:48] and i appreciate it coming from the commissioner that means a lot the

[56:50] chairman that's in a lot thank y'all very much thank you

[56:56] all right our next citizen wishing to be heard is

[57:00] gretchen forderman

[57:04] please come forward and state your name and address for the record please

[57:11] my name is gretchen quarterman and i live at 6565 quarterman road um in hay

[57:16] hira and i just want to say uh like paige did thank you very much for an

[57:20] excellent trash pickup at the rivers and um throughout the city uh we picked up

[57:24] i'm still waiting on the final uh tonnage but quite a bit of trash and we

[57:28] had a lot of people helping out and it's really awesome and the by keeping trash

[57:34] out of the rivers then we have more people who want to come and use them

[57:37] thank you for not closing wells road because that's when a very important

[57:41] location for the water trails and we appreciate that so i just want to say

[57:45] thank you very much and we look forward to doing it again thanks

[57:51] our next speaker is john quarterman but i think john your issue was taken care

[57:56] of

[58:02] i'm sorry oh yes but i want to thank you as well

[58:07] good thank you for several things obviously for voting

[58:11] not to close wells road thank you very much

[58:14] and also at trash cleanup um there were a couple of things that were

[58:20] announced that i hope you don't mind if i repeat

[58:23] one is i'd like to thank chairman and the mayor of valdosta for saying they're

[58:27] continuing to work on purchasing the land at the little river confluence for

[58:31] eventual use as a nature park and for treatment boat ramp and for agreeing

[58:37] that january 29th that saturday will be the chairman and mayor's battle from

[58:42] truthville boat ramp down to

[58:45] spook bridge and today the wagondale company agreed they're good with that so

[58:49] that's on so that's a good thing

[58:53] and i wrote up this nice letter about wells row but now i don't have to talk

[58:57] about it so

[58:59] also just one other thing we're making some progress with finding sources of

[59:04] trash upstream like 80 percent of valdosta is drained

[59:08] by sugar creek and a lot of that stuff is coming out of

[59:11] parking lots on saint augustine road and ashley street

[59:15] one of the major parking lot owners stafford at st augustine in high tower

[59:19] creek has actually modified their contracts with their contractors so

[59:23] they're keeping it much cleaner so they should be less coming downstream which

[59:26] means less washing down to the land between the rivers below troop

[59:30] belt boat ramp so that's good too thank you

[59:33] thank you any comments questions

[59:39] mister thank you for what you do i i certainly is one appreciate it

[59:44] motion to adjourn we're adjourned it's been a long night

Oct12Meeting

Transcript