News about Hotchkiss Landing @ LCC 2013-02-11

After the Monday morning's Lowndes County Commission Work Session was over, a couple of Commissioners indicated to inquiring citizens that they had seen a contract by which Acree Investments LTD sold land on both sides of Old State Road to the Alapaha River to Phillip Connell. This contract has not been filed with the county, and that's why the Tax Assessors' database doesn't show it. I confirmed later today with Dr. Acree that he had sold 16 acres to Phillip Connell several years ago. Very interesting; if it is even Old State Road they're considering closing (see below).

What sort of public hearing is it going to be tomorrow evening when this new information was not revealed to the public even in the Work Session, and the only way the public could find out was by going and asking a Commissioner personally?

In positive news, various Commissioners expressed approval of the idea of

a park at the Alapaha River. But at least one of them said the Commission would vote to close the road tomorrow unless Dr. Acree personally appeared and said he didn't want it closed, or sent a letter to that effect.

All this about what Commissioners said is hearsay, of course, because none of it was said during the actual Commission meeting when the LAKE video camera was running. If not littering is a moral issue, as Commissioner Raines said during the actual meeting, why is informing the public of relevant information before a public hearing not a moral issue?

And why should one person be able to request a road be closed when the Commission already knows 450 people don't want it closed? And why should the Commissioners put the weight of the decision on the shoulders of one elderly doctor?

Finally, Brett Huntley reports:

Finally put the sign up, late Thursday afternoon.

That's the public hearing notice sign on Old State Road. I'm sure it's coincidental that it appeared later the same day I pointed out it wasn't there yet. Five days before the hearing isn't much public notice, is it?

Compare that sign to the one from 2010. See any difference beyond the dates? The old one says CO Road #16, which is Old State Road. But the new one says CO Road #126, which is Good Hope Road, according to the county's own list of roads. So has the Commission changed its mind and decided to close Good Hope Road tomorrow?

-jsq