The Southern Georgia Regional Commission (SGRC) is seeking public comments on the Draft Participation Plan (PP) for the Valdosta-Lowndes Metropolitan Planning Organization, the transportation planning agency for the Valdosta metropolitan area. The PP will be available for public comment from October 17, 2019 through November 30, 2019 to allow the public time to comment on how the agency educates, informs, and involves the public in the transportation decision-making process. The draft document is available at local libraries, government offices, and online at www.sgrc.us.
 
The SGRC is the federally designated transportation planning agency for the Valdosta-Lowndes County area. Federal regulations require that a Participation Plan is developed and reviewed annually to outline how the agency proposes to inform, educate, and involve the public about transportation policies, projects, and the decision-making process in their local communities.

This annual review included the addition of several Civil Rights-related federal regulations and how the SGRC proposes to address the requirements of those regulations. US Census data has shown an increase in Limited-English Proficient speakers in Lowndes County, based on this information the SGRC will now publish critical documents related to the transportation planning activities in not only English, but also Spanish, Korean, Chinese, and Gujarati.
 
After the public comment period the Citizen, Technical and Policy Committees for the Valdosta-Lowndes Metropolitan Planning Organization will review the comments and formally adopt the PP as amended at its meetings on December 3rd and 4th.
 
The SGRC will host a public open house for the PP on Monday, November 4, 2019, from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM at the SGRC offices located at 327 W. Savannah Ave. in Valdosta. Comments can be emailed to Corey Hull at [email protected]. For more information about the PP, contact Corey Hull by phone at 229.333.5277 or by email at [email protected].
 
The Southern Georgia Regional Commission is a regional planning and intergovernmental coordination agency which serves 45 municipalities in the 18 counties (Atkinson, Bacon, Ben Hill, Berrien, Brantley, Brooks, Charlton, Clinch, Coffee, Cook, Echols, Irwin, Lanier, Lowndes, Pierce, Tift, Turner, and Ware) of South Georgia. Our dedicated staff team with local governments to increase the prosperity and quality of life in our region through programs including: Area Agency on Aging, Community and Economic Development, Transportation and Environmental Planning, Geographic Information Systems, Information Technology, Workforce Development and Small Business Loans.
 
The Southern Georgia Regional Commission is the designated Valdosta-Lowndes Metropolitan Planning Organization (VLMPO) is a multi-county, federally funded transportation planning agency for the Valdosta Urbanized Area. The VLMPO conducts long range and short range transportation planning in areas including: highways and bridges, public transit, bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure, freight movement among other areas.