VALDOSTA – Lowndes County Board of Commissioners was awarded a $50,000 grant to continue its Strengthening Families Program during last week’s regular meeting.
Emergency Management Director Ashley Tye presented the grant information to the board. He said this is the third year Lowndes County has received the Delinquency Prevention Grant.
The grant will allow the provision of services to at least two cohorts in the county’s Strengthening Families Program, which is an evidence-based family skills training program for high-risk and general population families that is recognized both nationally and internationally.
Participating youth and families attend weekly skills classes together. Guardians learn parenting skills and youth learn life and refusal skills. A separate class training for both parties is held prior to the joint family practice session in the second hour. Each cohort has a minimum of 8 and a maximum of 12 youth and their families.
“During the past grant year, between October 1, 2022 and September 30, 2023, there were a total of 21 youth who successfully graduated from the SFP program,” shared documents said.
Tye said the agenda item was to approve the award acceptance and authorization for Chairman Bill Slaughter to sign a service agreement with Peaceway Counseling-Mediation of Valdosta.
Commissioner Joyce Evans of District 1 made a motion for unanimous approval.
Other actions
Emergency Management Director Ashley Tye reminded the commissioners that the FEMA Disaster Recovery center was to close Tuesday, Oct. 31. He said if a person would like to physically visit a center the nearest location would be in Cook County.
“The last number I saw we had over 8,200 people register in Lowndes County with FEMA. The last number I saw was about $3.1 million worth of assistance has been given to Lowndes County residents,” he told the board.
The Disaster Recovery Center in Cook County is located at the Cook County Extension Services on 206 E. Ninth St. in Adel. It will operate until 6 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 6, which is the deadline to apply for FEMA assistance. After DRCs close, residents can still contact FEMA by visiting DisasterAssistance.gov, calling the FEMA Helpline at 800-621-3362 (TTY 800-462-7585) or by using the FEMA mobile app.
The board approved a resolution to accept infrastructure for Val Del Estates. Director of Engineering Services Chad McLeod said the Engineering and Utilities staff have completed all inspections, construction and paperwork for Phase 5 of the project. The subdivision includes 22 residential lots.
The purchase of a generator in the amount of $48,068 for the Land Application System (LAS) was also approved. Utilities Director Steve Stalvey said it needed an upgrade in order to run the aerators in the treatment pond.
A contract extension for services not to exceed $15,000 between Lowndes County and Goodwyn Mills Cawood was approved.
The commissioners lastly approved the Refunding Revenue Anticipation Certificates issued by the Hospital Authority in 2019. The authority is now planning to lease the hospital facilities financed or refinanced by the 2019 Certificated to a new corporation named South Georgia Medical Center, Inc, documents showed.
The next Lowndes County Board of Commissioners meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 14, at 5:30 p.m.