Only one citizen, Dr. Michael Noll, came forward to speak with commissioners. Noll asked commissioners to speak with Industrial Authority board members about the 22.2 acre tract of land that is being considered for purchase by Wiregrass Power LLC. Noll is concerned the company will use the land to pursue previous plans to construct a biomass facility, a proposal which has seen considerable negative community backlash over the last year.According to usually reliable sources, it was Crawford Powell who pushed for the Commissioners to come out against biomass as soon as he was elected. Back in April, Ashley Paulk publicly did an about-face and asked if any commissioners still thought the biomass plant should proceed. All three voting commissioners sat mute at that time.“I think commissioners made this very clear that the Industrial Authority should have been done with this project,” said Paulk. “I don’t think we’ve changed our mind. I can’t speak for the City of Valdosta, but I think they’re prepared to make some moves and make a statement on their behalf in the immediate future. It’s a project that didn’t work and when things don’t work, move on to things that do. That’s my personal opinion.”
District 3 commissioner Crawford Powell offered his insight on the issue, “The issue the Industrial Authority has is they had a contractual agreement on the sale of the property and so they’re trying to work through that but I don’t think there’s any particular excitement on their behalf to continue down that road.”
This time, Crawford Powell spoke up and provided information the community needed to hear.
As my mother used to say, it takes a big man to admit it when he’s wrong.
Crawford Powell, like Ashley Paulk and George Bennett, is a big man about the biomass situation! Congratulations, Crawford Powell!
-jsq
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