Category Archives: Lowndes County Commission

Traffic study? –John Page; Who pays? Richard Raines; Tax exemption –Demarcus Marshall @ LCC 2013-08-13

Traffic and taxes were discussed by Commissioners about REZ-2013-09 Moody Family Housing on Val Del Road, but none of them thought those topics important enough to make them conditions, and they didn’t even discuss use of local contractors or sinkholes like the one in the Phase II site, or the missing geotechnical study mentioned in the USAF Draft Environmental Assessment whose comment period wasn’t even ended when they voted at the 13 August 2013 Lowndes County Commission Regular Session.

Traffic study? --John Page As he had at the previous morning’s Work Session, Commissioner John Page wanted to know if that traffic study was going to be required before the development could start. Planning Commissioner Tommy Willis had also asked about that back in July. This time Page didn’t ask about GA 122 or anywhere other than “Val Del and that area”.

Answer from County Engineer Mike Fletcher: Continue reading →

Karst subsidence beneath a house in Lowndes County –Don Thieme @ LCC 2013-08-13

Received yesterday on Florida sinkholes spreading real estate effects in same Aquifer as under Lowndes County. -jsq

Scanning John — Thank you for pressing forward on this important issue for the airmen and their families at Moody AFB as well as for all citizens of Lowndes County. My colleagues and I are also concerned and hope that we can eventually obtain the Phase I geotechnical study. Of course, we have our own research agendas as well as a desire to see our students working on these problems close to their own university campus. In particular, one of my undergraduate students just completed his thesis on karst subsidence beneath a house in Lowndes County. Here is a link to a poster where he presented those finding to our undergraduate research conference: GPR Investigation of Subsidence.

-Don Thieme

Ground-Penetrating Radar Investigation of Subsidence
in Covered Karst near Valdosta

Benjamin Davis, Department of Physics, Astronomy, and Geosciences
Faculty Sponsor: Donald M. Thieme

Abstract

Continue reading →

7.b. Lovell Eng. letter to EPD for Lowndes County @ LCC 2013-07-23

in the 22 July 2013 Work Session Here is the letter discussed (“So at this point, in order to comply with the deadline submitted by EPD, it was necessary to go ahead and work with Lovell on this.”) and approved (“The water is good, right?”) at the 23 July Regular Session of the Lowndes County Commission, obtained through an Open Records Request by April Huntley, plus a transcription. You may wonder, as I do, why the county didn’t just put it online along with the agenda, like so many other county commissions and city councils do. Continue reading →

The water is good now, right? –Demarcus Marshall about Alapaha Water Treatment @ LCC 2013-07-23

A County Commissioner wanted the Utilities Director to confirm that the water was already good before the county fixes the treatment plant at Alapaha Plantation, at the 23 July Regular Session of the Lowndes County Commission.

7.b. Letter to Environmental Protection Division concerning Alapaha Water Treatment Plant Upgrade

The water is good now, right? --Demarcus Marshall Regarding the letter written by Lovell Engineering to GA EPD on behalf of the county, discussed in the previous morning’s 22 July 2013 Work Session, Commissioner Demarcus Marshall asked:

I just had a question regarding the timing of the letter. I know it says eight month pilot study. And I just wanted to know for the record, that the water is good now, right? It’s drinkable, and so forth, just for the public to be aware that it’s not some public health risk out there.

Answer from Utilities Director Mike Allen: Continue reading →

Florida sinkholes spreading real estate effects in same Aquifer as under Lowndes County

Florida real estate effects of sinkholes in the same Floridan Aquifer that underlies Lowndes County would be worth looking at before rushing to build Moody Housing around a sinkhole on Val Del Road. It’s not just the sinkhole that may widen, it’s housing prices that may drop.

Diana Olick wrote for CNBC 15 August 2013, Overdevelopment widens Florida sinkhole problem,


DAVID MANNING / Reuters
A section of the Summer Bay Resort lies collapsed after a large sinkhole opened on the property’s grounds in Clermont, Fla. on Aug. 12.
Sinkholes may be as old as the earth itself, but the increase in sinkhole activity is new. The rush to reason why has put scientists, engineers and real estate developers at odds.

Some geological experts believe the sinkhole activity is increasing because developers are pumping more water out of the ground for new projects or for agricultural use. While acid in the water itself is what causes the limestone under much of Florida to dissipate and create the holes, the water also acts as a support. Add water from heavy rains on the top soil, and you’ve got a bigger problem.

It is even beginning to weigh on the recovering real estate market in Florida.

Recent sinkholes of note in Lowndes County include: Continue reading →

How will Moody personnel go to housing on Val Del Road? –Gretchen Quarterman @ LCC 2013-08-13

Gretchen Quarterman said she was concerned not just about traffic on Val Del Road, but

Once they leave Val Del, how will they get to the base safely?

Also what happened at Nelson Hill, just up Val Del Road, even though she was neither for nor against REZ-2013-09, at the 13 August 2013 Lowndes County Commission Regular Session.

Gretchen Quarterman on REZ-2013-09 and Nelson Hill both on Val Del Road She specifically expressed concerns about GA 122, Hambrick Road and Radar Site Road, among others, as she had done at the Planning Commission. The previous morning at the Work Session, Commissioner John Page had asked about McMillan Road and GA 122 and had gotten an answer from County Engineer Mike Fletcher which only addressed Val Del Road.

Gretchen Quarterman also expressed concern about another development out in the county going bad like Nelson Hill did, with many of its 13 conditions not being met.

Here’s the video:

Continue reading →

USAF Environmental Assessment for Moody Housing on Val Del Road (REZ-2013-09) @ LCC 2013-08-13

No geotechnical study was seen from the developer before drawing the sinkhole buffers shown in the the Air Force Draft Environmental Assessment for the proposed Moody Housing on Val Del Road, just rezoned as REZ-2013-09, PDF courtesy of Prof. Michael Noll of VSU. You can see sinkholes and wetlands in its maps:

Most of the site area, including all of the Phase I area subject of REZ-2013-09, is colored for medium wetland habitat quality: Continue reading →

Geotechnical conditions and maybe sinkholes –Michael Noll @ LCC 2013-08-13

A VSU professor said he was in favor of the economic benefits, but geotechnical issues should determine whether the new Moody Housing on Val Del Road (REZ-2013-09) should be built, and those were still unclear, at the 13 August 2013 Lowndes County Commission Regular Session.

Dr. Michael Noll of VSU said he was speaking because he had been referred to by previous speakers (Jason Davenport and Tom Kurrie), and he was neither for nor against REZ-2013-09. Dr. Noll’s neither-in-favor-nor-against position seemed to puzzle County Engineer Mike Fletcher. Noll said he and his colleagues had looked at the Environmental Assessment (EA) which has been available at the public library and concluded that they had a number of questions they’d like answered, and he was sure the developers had similar concerns for safety of the project.

Dr. Noll said they’d been trying to get a copy of the geotechnical analysis Continue reading →

Not botched like the old Moody housing –Tim Coombs @ LCC 2013-08-13

“Officers can’t even entertain guests at the houses they are living in” said a Hahira business man, at the 13 August 2013 Lowndes County Commission Regular Session, speaking in favor of REZ-2013-09 for proposed new Moody Housing on Val Del Road.

Previously at the Planning Commission Coombs had asked for use of local contractors at this new Moody Family Housing project. Both at GLPC and at this County Commission meeting Coombs expressed concern about what he called that “botched” previous housing project. (Much more detail on Magnolia Grove here.) This time he said he thought the new project would be “of great economic impact in a time when it is really needed”. What happened to his concerns about use of local contractors?

Here’s the video:

Continue reading →

Sinkholes at proposed Moody Family Housing? –Scott Rafshoon @ LCC 2013-08-13

All about public-private partnerships (PPP) and military rank waterfalls by an Atlanta and K Street lawyer at the 13 August 2013 Lowndes County Commission Regular Session. about REZ-2013-09, introduced by local lawyer Tom Kurrie to answer a question by Commissioner John Page.

Scott Rafshoon G. Scott Rafshoon of McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP of Atlanta and K Street in DC spoke for. His law firm bio says in part:

G. Scott Rafshoon has a diverse legal practice that includes corporate law, government affairs and project finance. Combining these disciplines, Mr. Rafshoon is a leader in the Firm’s public-private partnership (“P3”) practice….

Manages the Firm’s representation of Balfour Beatty Communities, a subsidiary of Balfour Beatty plc, in the privatization of family and unaccompanied personnel housing at military installations around the country. To-date, Mr. Rafshoon has assisted Balfour Beatty with privatizing facilities at 48 Army, Navy and Air Force installations in 23 states and the District of Columbia, in separate transactions valued at more than $4 billion.

This is apparently the same Continue reading →