VALDOSTA, Ga. — Service delivery negotiations between Lowndes County and the cities of Valdosta, Remerton, Hahira, Dasher and Lake Park came to a standstill Wednesday. 

Valdosta Mayor John Gayle halted negotiations with county and city officials, requesting to move directly into mediation. 

Lowndes County officials continuously requested the service agreements stay the same. The issues brought before the county were issues that could be addressed in different manners, county officials said.

A 14-point memo sent to the county on behalf of the five cities served as an agenda for the meeting. 

Litter control was the first issue discussed.

The county agreed litter control should be a county-wide program.  

Aaron Strickland, director of Keep Lowndes-Valdosta Beautiful, submitted a proposal to both city and county officials asking for the expansion of the organization at the start of the negotiations. The expansion would include an increased budget from $60,000 to more than $330,000. The proposal addressed concerns brought up during the negotiations, including gateway maintenance and litter control. 

“We feel like KLVB would be the ideal organization to handle a county wide litter program,” Gayle said. 

County Chairman Bill Slaughter expressed his opinions regarding Keep Lowndes-Valdosta Beautiful.  “KLVB does a fantastic job in the community. They have basically one employee. I truly believe they still have a place in this community,” Slaughter said. “In my opinion, if we need to amend the SDS, I do not know what it would look like at this time,” he said. 

The county road system presented another point of contention during the negotiations.

After claims from Valdosta officials that county roads inside the city limits are not being properly maintained by the county, Slaughter said any complaints should be reported and will subsequently be examined.  

“The city should be glad people are coming into the City of Valdosta and spending their money,” he said. “If you have a concern about a county road, report it and we will address those issues.” 

Valdosta City Manager Larry Hanson proposed the creation of a new tax for all roads in the county to be split among cities for maintenance. 

“Roads are connected and they move people in and out for transportation, jobs, economic development or whatever the case may be,” he said. “One idea the council had … is to treat the entire community road system as part of an organic whole. …  Let’s take all of the road miles of all of the governments and every one has a tax county wide for all road miles for all roads in the county and pay a percentage to those cities based on their percentage of road miles. The cities would be about 20 percent of all road miles in the county. The county would consider taxing county wide and making a contribution to each of those cities to maintain roads inside cities because all roads are part of an organic whole.”

The end to the discussion came from Slaughter who said, “The cities should be responsible for their maintenance and the county for theirs.” 

The funding for the Rainwater Conference Center and the Turner Center for the Arts was also questioned by Valdosta officials. 

County officials suggested funding for the two centers should come exclusively from hotel/motel tax revenues. The city is asking for the county to split additional funding for the centers. The city currently subsidizes the centers to the tune of $300,000, but according to County Manager Joe Pritchard the conference center has more than $2 million in its fund balance. 

Slaughter said, “We understand the conference center and the importance of those items are important in the community. We are getting away from the purpose of SDS. We have not had anyone approach us about these issues. If the board of directors look at it and they say ‘we need to be subsidized,’  then it is their responsibility to come and ask for that.”

Valdosta officials requested language stating the city would subsidize the centers be removed from the SDS. 

“It’s a discretionary decision of the city and county,” Hanson said. 

The issue of water and sewer services brought the cities of Hahira and Dasher into conversations along with Valdosta. 

The current agreement allows for landowners and developers to choose who will provide their water and sewer services, if there is no service currently in the area. 

If the owner or developer of a parcel of land in the county decided to use city water, they would have to request annexation if the land is touching city limits. If the land is not contiguous, the owner would have to agree on annexation in the future. 

Both Lowndes County and Valdosta must approve the annexation. Lowndes County has never denied an annexation request, Slaughter said.  

The City of Valdosta wants to change the current system to allow for customers to choose city services without getting permission from the county. 

The argument, according to city officials, is “If the county always approves annexation, why is it necessary to ask permission?”

County officials say it is important to the planning process they are kept in the loop of any requests of the sort. 

“We haven’t had any requests in our engineering department. Nobody had any problem asking us to help with the sewer lines. There are 120+ current users of city water system in the county area. My point is that it has worked. There has been no impediment to them being able to do so,” County Manger Joe Pritchard said.

The final point of discussion before Mayor Gayle called for mediation was whether or not agreements related to the Valdosta-Lowndes Regional Crime Lab should even be a part of service delivery negotiations. 

The county emphasized its appreciation for the crime lab and did not negate the importance of the facility. 

City officials advocated the crime lab be listed in the SDS since it is a service offered. County officials disagreed, saying the lab falls under the jurisdiction of the Valdosta Police Department and therefore does not belong in the SDS. 

Since the sheriff is a constitutional officer and is elected by the people, county officials cannot guarantee the sheriff will use the local crime lab, they said. 

Sheriff Chris Prine, as well as candidate Ashley Paulk, have both expressed their commitment to the crime lab. 

County Commissioner Clay Griner said, “The city is providing the service, the county is not. It is not our service to fund. You can say that your service is to the whole country if you want to. The sheriff can utilize this service at his discretion.”

Slaughter eventually conceded if the city wants to put the crime lab into SDS, they would have to stipulate that funding would be provided by the City of Valdosta. That is not to say the county would not pay for the services provided, but the payment would come from contracts with the lab, it would not be placed into the county budget, officials argued.  

At that point, Gayle called for mediation.

Michael Praats is a reporter at the Valdosta Daily Times. He can be reached at (229) 244-3400 ext. 1257.