VALDOSTA —The Lowndes County Board of Commissioners unanimously agreed to provide county maintenance to a new subdivision off of Bemiss Knights Academy Road at its Sept. 27 meeting.

The Knights Landing Subdivision contains six streets that will now be the county’s responsibility.

“When a new subdivision is built, most developers want to turn the new streets, drainage, etc., over to the county for maintenance once the infrastructure is complete,” Lowndes County Clerk Paige Dukes said. “To do this, the roads must be built to county specifications and be inspected and approved by the county engineer. Then, the commission adopts a resolution to approve the acceptance of the streets.”

At the meeting, the board also approved the purchase of three new lift station pumps, located at Pine Grove Middle School, Moody Housing and Blue Lake.

Lift stations are used to pump sewage from a lower to a higher elevation, moving the waste to its appropriate location when gravity cannot do so.

The combined cost of the three new pumps is about $60,000, according to the meeting agenda.

Although repairing existing pumps would have saved the county about $12,000, the refurbished pumps only offered a one-year warranty, and the board decided it made economic sense to buy new pumps, which come with a five-year warranty.

Additionally, the updated Local Emergency Operations Plan was approved, along with renewed funding for the Little River stream gauge on Highway 122, which monitors flooding and other weather conditions.

Langdale Fuel Company was awarded a year-long, $30,000 contract for Public Works oil products.

Also, Dr. Wilhelmenia Howell was appointed to the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities Board.

The board renewed Motorola’s annual $225,000 contract with the Public Safety Radio System and approved a Georgia Department of Transportation project that will install interchange lighting at Interstate 75 exits 2 and 11 in 2019.