Category Archives: Activism

Proposed abandonment of the only public access to the Alapaha River in Lowndes County —April Huntley

Received Monday; she sent it to all the Commissioners; I added a few links. -jsq

To the Lowndes County Commission:

My name is April Huntley, and I have lived in Naylor for over 13 years. I have used the boat ramp at the end of Old State Rd. that April Huntley gives access to the Alapaha River for most of those years. Until yesterday, when I spoke to Phillip Connell, I didn’t know I was trespassing when I swam in the river. I thought this was public access. I thought this belonged to Lowndes County.

I thought about this some more and questions rose up in my mind. Why hadn’t the game wardens and sheriff deputies that came to check the area at times notified me and others we were trespassing? Why would Lowndes County not claim their ONLY boat ramp to the Alapaha River for the benefit of their residents?

Commisioners Raines and Powell Ok, so I had these questions, but then I started thinking about the Commission work session I attended yesterday morning, and when I talked to Commissioner Powell and Raines afterward. They told me

that despite what the tax assessor has on their website and in their records, their attorney viewed the deeds showing Phillip Connell bought the property from Dr. Acree 2 or 3 years ago. His lawyer (I’m assuming Mr. Connell’s) filed something wrong and that’s why it isn’t showing up with the tax assessor. The story when Chairman Bill Slaughter I spoke to Bill Slaughter, Commission Chairman, Friday afternoon was that we need to prove ownership because he and Commissioner Evans had walked the property with Phillip Connell. Mr. Connell says he owns both sides of the road.

So from Friday afternoon to Monday morning deeds have been found to prove ownership of the land? And these deeds contradict tax records? So is it 2 or 3 years? Doesn’t a deed have an exact date on it? Who has been paying the taxes for the last 2 or 3 years? Wouldn’t somebody notice if they were paying taxes on land they didn’t own for 2 or 3 years?

In light of these new discoveries, the people immediately request information on what exactly the lawyer filed wrong which caused Phillip Connell’s supposed property along Old State Rd. not to show up in the tax assessor’s records, the exact date Mr. Connell purchased the property from Dr. Acree which gives him ownership of the land on both sides of Old State Rd. and the deeds. Most importantly the people request to know when and why Lowndes County lost the boat ramp to private property.

Oh, one more question, did the state of Georgia build the boat ramp with prison labor?

Commissioners, I respectfully request this information and that you deny the proposed abandonment of .17 miles of County Road 16, Old State Rd., leading to the Alapaha River.

Sincerely,

April Huntley

Please deny abandonment of Old State Rd. leading to the Alapaha River —Brett Huntley

Received Monday; he sent it to all the Commissioners. -jsq

To the Lowndes County Commission:

My name is Brett Huntley. I have lived in Naylor Georgia for 13 years. I am also a business owner in Lowndes County. Brett Huntley

In the past 13 years I have used the location at the end of Old State Rd. as an entry point to the Alapaha River for all kinds of outdoor recreation. An example of these things are fishing, camping, boating, hiking, canoeing and family get togethers.

This location is the only public access point to the Alapaha River in Lowndes County. It would deeply sadden me to lose this place that I have grown to love over the years.

I would also like to not only suggest keeping this location open to the public, but ask the county to consider spending money on it. It would benefit the county to fix this location so it can be easier maintained and the public can access it.

I would also like to point out that this time the idea of shutting down the entry point to the river has been a lot more under the radar. I would like to know why a counter has not been placed across the road to show proof of how many people use this location. Also why was the sign notifying the public of this matter not put up until the last minute?

Thank you!

Brett Huntley

Please deny abandonment of Old State Rd. leading to the Alapaha River —Travis Bennett

Received Monday; he sent it to all the Commissioners; I added a few links. -jsq

To the Lowndes County Board of Commissioners:

My name is Travis Bennett, and I’ve lived in Naylor for 9 years. One of the reasons I moved to Naylor was the river. Travis Bennett When I moved here there were picnic tables and trash cans down there. It was really nice to have a picnic and family get together!

I live less than a mile from the boat ramp. My step son, Levi Giddens, and I go down and fish all the time. He loves fishing that river!

I’ve worked with the local DNR officer, Keith, on the litter and unruly people. In the past couple of years the river has stayed a lot cleaner. So I’m not sure why it is being said it is trashed down there.

I am disappointed that it took until late last week to get the public hearing sign up. I was at the last hearing on this and spoke with Joyce Evans. She stated the river should remain open. I hope she still thinks the same thing. I just wanted to state a few things I was thinking about.

Thanks!

Travis Bennett

Speak at the work session? —April Huntley

Received Friday; she sent it to Chairman Slaughter. He didn’t let her speak at the Work Session, but he did talk to her. -jsq

Dear Mr. Slaughter,

I am writing you to follow up on a message I left with your office this morning. I would like a chance to speak at your Monday morning work session about the matter of the proposed abandonment of a portion of Old State Rd. leading to the Alapaha River and also have Mr. Connell present. I have been circulating paper and online petitions to the community to display the public use and enjoyment of this area. I do understand the concerns of some of the surrounding land owners about trash and trespassing. I am working on a project to get the community, individuals in the public, to make donations to purchase a portion of Dr. Acree’s land which will be donated to Lowndes County Parks and Recreation. The community would also like to work to resolve issues on trespassing and the trash dumping. I hope that we can work together on this issue and keep this beautiful, historic area an asset to Lowndes County. Thank you for your thought and consideration!

Sincerely,

April Huntley

Keep County Road 16, leading to the Alapaha River open to public access —Christopher L. Graham

Received Sunday; he sent it to all the Lowndes County Commisioners. -jsq

My name is Christopher L. Graham I’m a citizen of Naylor. I am concern about the river shutting down to the public. Because it is Christopher L. Graham the only public access to the Alapaha river in Lowndes county. Because then we have to go to lake land in Lanier county to there public access boat ramp to put in or go to Stateville in Echols county to there DNR public access boat ramp to put in. The Hotchkiss Bridge or now people are calling it Hotchkiss landing is a good check point for the fisherman. I’m concern because there is not many public a ccess on this Alapaha river. Well if Naylor ever expands there wouldn’t be any water recreation use in this community. That is not good for our community. People all over this area use this public access for fishing & they bring there kids and there family together to have a family picnic, swimming. People go down there to relax and listen to the water hitting the rocks and hear the birds making different noise. This is a nice place to take picture of the nature. The Hotchkiss Bridge is a top location for bird watching in the State of Georgia. Birding enthusiasts interested in experiencing the many wonderful bird families in the surrounding areas of Hotchkiss Bridge. The Hotchkiss Bridge has a historic value to our community. It use to be the old major highway to go to the next town. Many of our community had there ancestry use that old Hotchkiss Bridge. I know the bridge has been gone for many years. Now it’s a public boat ramp. The Hotchkiss Bridge has history and It would be a good asset for Lowndes county to have….

P.S. I would like a park down there and a sign that tell the history of the old Hotchkiss Bridge.

Ways to fix the trash problem

I commend Commissioner John Page for his op-ed in the VDT today, attempting to do what no other Commissioner has tried: to explain the trash issue. Indeed, like him, most of the people I talked to while campaigning for Gretchen were for keeping the waste collection centers open, and of those the vast majority were willing to pay more, which is the main reason the previous Commission made a big mistake in closing those centers. Unfortunately his letter seems to indicate nothing can be done. Well, here are some things that can be done.

Let the contract lapse.

Commissioner Joyce Evans insisted on the contract with the sole provider being only for one year. Let it lapse after that year!

Publish the contract.

What’s in the contract? How do we even know it’s for only one year? The new Commission already had to do over a decision of the previous Commission (remove license fee from Sunday alcohol sales) because the ordinance written up afterwards wasn’t what they thought they passed. Publish the contract and let everyone see!

Publish an accounting for the waste collection sites.

Commissioner Page wrote:
The county was losing hundreds of thousands of dollars each year because the fees for the permits were not bringing in enough money to fully fund the sites.
How do we know that? Continue reading →

Return of water misinformation by Forrest H. Williams in the VDT

Seen today on the WACE facebook page is an image of an op-ed in the VDT, and alongside it I include here Michael Noll’s initial comments, plus a few links.

There is good reason why Stephen Hawkins once said “the greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge.” When entities like Fox News can claim that “solar won’t work in America because it’s not as sunny as Germany”, we shouldn’t be surprised by the results of such “educational” efforts. The fact is that we have a number of clean and renewable forms of energy (e.g. wind, solar, geothermal) that already work. Just go to Spain, Germany, Denmark, Iceland, or simply stay in the US and visit places like from New Jersey and New York to California and Arizona. Combine these pieces of a larger energy puzzle with meaningful initiatives of energy conservation and energy efficiency, and we find a way out of our current predicament (i.e. continuing dependence on finite and dirty sources of energy), while saving money (see solar vs. nuclear), preserving our natural resources (e.g. water, forests), and providing clean, healthy and safe environments to live in (e.g. wind and solar do not produce radioactive waste, pollute our air and groundwater).

The guest columnist appearing above is the same individual who thought

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HB 267 Financing costs; construction of nuclear generating plant

As promised, a bipartisan bill was filed Thursday to stop Georgia Power from charging for nuclear cost overruns on Plant Vogtle; this could free up some financing for Georgia to move ahead on solar and wind power.

2013-2014 Regular Session – HB 267 Financing costs; construction of nuclear generating plant; change calculation that utility can recover from customers,

A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Code Section 46-2-25 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to the procedure for changing any rate, charge, classification, or service and the recovery of financing costs, so as to change the calculation used under certain circumstances to determine the costs of financing associated with the construction of a nuclear generating plant that a utility may recover from its customers; to provide for related matters; to provide an effective date; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.

The bill would add this text to Georgia Code:

…provided, however, that in the event the amounts recorded in the utility’s construction work in progress accounts plus the amount of all financing costs accrued on any construction work in progress accounts exceeds the costs approved by the commission in the original certificate of the nuclear generating plant granted under Code Section 46-3A-5, the cost of equity portion of the financing costs shall be calculated using a rate no higher than the utility’s actual cost of debt.

Let’s see what Georgia Power does to fight this one. So far, it’s Continue reading →

About that flyer

Sent Wednesday. -jsq

Date: Wed, 06 Feb 2013 19:43:49 -0500

Dear Mr. Pritchard,

Thank you for your message of 1 February.

Yes, the binders of the documents for the closings of the various bonds are the sort of financial instruments I requested in my message of 28 January, and that Chairman Slaughter listed in his letter dated 18 January (that I received 28 January). Monday 11 Feb 2013 after the Work Session will be a good time for me to inspect and copy those binders. I will bring a camera and a photocopier. If that time will not work, please advise me of times that would.

Yes, there are other documents I would like to inspect. Please provide

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Members of the press or citizens are not welcome at library board? —George Boston Rhynes

Received today. To quote a VDT editorial of 3 March 2012:

When officials act like they have something to hide, they often do….

Here’s George’s Open Records Request. -jsq

George Boston Rhynes February 7, 2013

George Boston Rhynes (229-251-8645)
5004 Oak Drive
Valdosta, Georgia 31605

TO: Valdosta-Lowndes County; South Georgia Regional Library Director/Chair person along with Board Members Respectively, Georgia News Media Outlets concerned about open government and the sunshine brightness…

SUBJECT: An open records request on behalf of the general public right to know…

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