This is part 2 about the July 8th
town Hall meeting about the biomass plant proposed for Valdosta.
First let’s hear George Rhynes explain that it’s never too late to reregulate our minds:
Here I’ve selected videos of local County Commission candidates: Continue reading
On July 8th there was a
town Hall meeting about the biomass plant proposed for Valdosta.
Pastor Angela Manning of New Life Ministries sums up why she called this Town Hall meeting:
Speakers included: Continue reading
The VDT writes about Foxborough two days in a row:
Several dozen residents of the Foxborough subdivision came to the Lowndes County Commission meeting Tuesday to again express their dismay at the possibility of having a McDonald’s fast food restaurant located by the neighborhood’s entrance.Candelario (I believe that’s the actual spelling of his name) provided a list of suggestions to the Commission, which Chairman Paulk addressed, including: Continue readingResident Pete Candelaria said he has been living in Foxborough for six years and was speaking on behalf of the residents.
It looks like the strategy I recommended
to the Foxborough opponents to McDonalds worked:
go to the County Commission work session and you may get in the newspaper.
Kay Harris writes in the VDT about
Issues with development,
Neighborhood upset about commercial encroachment:
According to Vince Schneider, the spokesman for the residents, the majority of the neighborhood is opposed to the possibility of a McDonald’s restaurant openin g there. The property is currently listed with Lowndes County as owned by First State Bank, but the county engineer, Mike Fletcher, confirmed Monday at the Lo wndes County Board of Commissioners work session that he has received a plat fo r the proposed development.Many of the residents only found out aboout the proposed McDonalds from a cryptic mention by Kay Harris in the VDT a few weeks ago. Naturally, the VDT ends the current story on a note of finality: Continue readingSchneider appeared before commissioners at the work session to request they rec onsider the commercial zoning in the area.
Complaints are more frequent along Mary Street, a short stretch a few hundred yards south of the plant. Residents there deal with more intense noise and odors.Nonetheless he didn’t say it affected his property values. However, that’s not the only issue.Craig Walworth’s home is among the closest to the plant. He walked up to his Jeep — a vehicle he cleaned the day before — and dragged his finger through a layer of film on the hood.
“Every morning, you have that to look forward to,” he said. “I clean my screens three times a year during the summer because they clog up.”
Meanwhile, about an hour north on the edge of Lake Michigan, in Traverse City local activism caused cancellation of a proposed biomass plant: Continue reading
In the VLCIA meeting with concerned citizens of 10 June 2010, one of the action items taken by the VLCIA was:
Obtain, if available, an analysis of the property value trends of residential/ commercial property adjacent to the Cadillac Michigan biomass electric generating plant.Col. Ricketts has reported back on that action item.
My transcription of what he said is rather long, so please follow the link.
Allan Ricketts’ summary: nobody could find a systematic analysis of property value trends. He did get various personal analyses (as above).
I agreed he’s made a good effort to find what he could find.
And that we would continue looking in other sources.
-jsq
Natasha Fast (SAVE), Pastor Angela Manning (New Life Ministries), Allan Ricketts (Project Manager), Geraldine Fairell, Ken Klanicki, Brad Lofton (Executive Director), picture by John S. Quarterman (LAKE) |
Lying in the center of the table in the picture is this document:
Biomass carbon neutrality in the context of forest-based fuels and productsThe copy on the table is dated April 7, 2010; the online version is dated May 2010. It’s a powerpoint presentation that makes many good points, among them that coal doesn’t grow back, while trees do. So in theory it would be possible, by organizing harvesting of biomass over a region to make burning biomass for electricity carbon neutral.
by Reid Miner, NCASI, Al Lucier, NCASI
The document comes right out and says:
At point of combustion, CO2 emissions per unit of energy produced are generally higher for biomass fuels than for fossil fuels.Continue reading
This is about exclusion zones around wells, and maybe about
restrictions on putting new wells next to pollution sources such
as cotton fields.
At their 8 June 2010 regular meeting, the Lowndes County Board of Commissioners, at the recommendation of County Planner Jason Davenport, tabled revisions to the Uniform Land Development Code (ULDC) about wellhead protection. Such protections are a new requirment by the Georgia EPD, and it’s taking a while to figure out what is appropriate for the ten wells operated by the county and the 140 private community wells, many of which have trust indentures with the county that require the county to take them over if their current operators do not supply enough water, or of good enough quality.
Picture by John S.Quarterman, video by Gretchen K. Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange, 8 June 2010.
-jsq
Previously, the Valdosta City Council appointed City Council member
Robert Yost to the
Valdosta-Lowndes County Parks & Recreation Authority (VLPRA).
The Lowndes County Board of Commissioners debated appointing a Commissioner
to the VLPRA at their June 8 meeting:
They decided to appoint their chairman, Ashley Paulk, to the VLPRA. Chairman Paulk said he would serve, but as a private citizen. I wonder then what the point was of appointing him, rather than someone else.
When Valdosta appointed Yost, Ashley Paulk provided this statement to the VDT: Continue reading
In the regular meeting, Hahira City Council, June 3,
Mr. Benjamin speaks up in Citizens Wishing to be Heard:
As you can see by the pan around the room, the meeting was pretty well attended. The average local government session around here gets maybe a couple of people who aren’t elected or staff. This one had probably half a dozen.
Each Council member, Ralph Clendenin (District 3), Allen Cain (District 2), Terry Benjamin (District 1), and Rose Adams (District 4), made a statment, followed by Jonathan Sumner (City Manager) and Wayne Bullard (Mayor).
Here’s a playlist. Videos by John S. Quarterman and Gretchen Quarterman for LAKE.
Hahira Elected Officials and Staff. Minutes of previous meetings and future schedule.