Discussion on LMS sidewalks, safety set

Local News

Discussion

April 7, 2009

Johnna Pinholster The Valdosta Daily Times Tue Apr 07, 2009, 10:42 PM EDT

VALDOSTA — Sidewalks and safety will be open for discussion on April 27 at 6 p.m. at Lowndes Middle School.

Faculty, parents and community members will have the opportunity to learn more about a grant that could make the walk to the middle school much safer for students.

There are currently no sidewalks on Copeland Road, where the school is located. Though a county school, there are several neighborhoods surrounding Lowndes Middle School.

Safety concerns and a desire to see more kids walk to school has prompted the school and the Lowndes County Board of Commissioners to enlist the help of the South Georgia Regional Development Center in applying for a grant to address these issues.

Safe Routes to School is a federally funded grant that has become highly competitive in Georgia recently, said Corey Hull, South Georgia Regional Development Center Metropolitan Planning Organization coordinator.

Grant moneys are awarded once a year, usually in the fall, Hull said.

Consideration of the grant revolves around two aspects, infrastructure and non-infrastructure, said David Morgan, Georgia Department of Transportation planner.

Non-infrastructure is the data collected about the viability of the infrastructure.

The more data collected and sent with the grant proposal, the higher the chances of getting approved for the grant, Hull said.

Morgan said the coming months will involve the preparation of documents to go with the grant.

Information on how many students walk to school, the neighborhoods they walk from and who would like to walk but doesn’t will need to be documented, he said. Surveys will be dispensed to the school’s local neighborhoods to gain an accurate number of students within walking distance to the school.

Morgan will host the public presentation on April 27 to discuss the purpose of the grant and community involvement. The open meeting will be a kickoff to get the project off the ground, Morgan said.

They will be looking for potential volunteers to help compile data for the grant, he said.

Last year more than 60 proposals were submitted for the grant money, which totaled around $4 million, Hull said.

The total cost of the proposals were more than $25 million.

Lowndes Middle School parent Gloria Rose is heading up the parent involvement aspect of the grant and will be working closely with the South Georgia Regional Development Center on the project.

“It’s a good program for the county school to help our children be safe,” Rose said.

Though Rose’s son attends Lowndes Middle School, they do not live in a neighborhood near the school.

That doesn’t mean the issue is not important to Rose.

“This is not just about my children. It’s about the overall picture,” she said.

Those interested in volunteering can contact the school at 245-2280.

Text Only

Local News

Don Giovanni: VSU presents Mozart’s most famous opera

VALDOSTA — Editing Mozart isn’t for sissies.
It takes a certain knowledge, talent and sheer chutzpah to perform surgery on Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Alas, in our age of short-attention spans, it is a challenge which many opera productions must consider, given that many of Mozart’s originals stretched as long as four hours.

February 3, 2012 4 Photos
Traffic Unit coming to Hahira
HAHIRA — The Hahira City Council voted to allow the addition of a Traffic Enforcement Unit to the Hahira Police Department at Thursday night’s regular session council meeting.
The Traffic Enforcement Unit will patrol two miles of Interstate 75 and according to Hahira Police Chief Terry Davis, has nothing to do with making money and everything to do with the safety of Hahira’s citizens.

February 3, 2012
Life’s a Drag
Theatre Guild Valdosta unleashes some of its leading players this week to star in its newest comedy, “Leading Ladies.”

February 2, 2012 2 Photos
Driving into the Future
President John F. Kennedy once said that children are the world’s most valuable resource and its best hope for the future. You hear a variation of this every day, but it’s not often that you come across a teacher that whole-heartedly believes it.

February 2, 2012 1 Photo
Lowndes' Harvey-Clemons sends letter of intent to Georgia
Regarded as the state of Georgia’s best player, Lowndes’ Josh Harvey-Clemons announced Wednesday that he will be staying in-state to play college football.

February 2, 2012 2 Photos
Lowndes' grading guide stirs controversy
The Lowndes County school system has implemented a new guide to grading for students in the third through eighth grades that has caused alarm among parents in the community.

February 1, 2012 1 Photo
Giving Back: Boys and Girls Club honors volunteers
Seventeen-year-old Jacob Beverly thought he was invited to the 66th Annual Dinner Meeting of the Boys & Girls Club of Valdosta Tuesday night only to give a speech.
He didn't realize that he was also being honored as the recipient of the 2011 “Youth of the Year” award by the organization.

February 1, 2012 2 Photos
Deer Fest coming in March as an all new adventure
When the 8th annual Deep Woods Deer Fest opens on Saturday, March 3 it will have evolved into the South Georgia OutdoorFest.

February 1, 2012 1 Photo
Hahira website manager fired
The City of Hahira terminated its website manager after a number of city council minutes went missing from the database, according to Hahira City Manager Jonathan Sumner at Monday night’s city council work session.

January 31, 2012 1 Photo
Ramona Quimby: Bringing a children’s book to life
Monday may have been the “Ramona Quimby” cast’s first time stepping on stage in costume, but they will become used to these clothes. Very used to them.
In addition to Valdosta State University Theatre & Dance’s two public performances this weekend, these student actors will wear these costumes in approximately 20 more shows.

January 31, 2012 1 Photo
More Local News Headlines

Local News

Search Results

Discussion

Discussion on LMS sidewalks, safety set

Who's your Super Bowl pick?

Site Map

Contact VDT