Category Archives: Lowndes County Commission

ADS included household trash in their recyclded items –Tim Carroll

Personal recollection from Valdosta City Council Tim Carroll received today on

ADS fails to recycle, appeals DSS ruling anyway,
adding detail that wasn’t in the VDT article.



The main problem the City was having with ADS was they included
household trash in their recycled items. Used diapers and other
household products mixed in with recycle materials is not allowed.
The City advised ADS back to this past October of the issue and no
improvements were made. Eventually the city had no choice but to cut
them off. The City is a regional hub for recycle material and proud
to offer the service.



OK, so is that a violation of the county’s

“exclusive franchise”
with ADS?

-jsq

ADS fails to recycle, appeals DSS ruling anyway

Why is Lowndes County leaving the City of

Valdosta to subsidize the county’s
failed
“exclusive franchise”?
And is ADS’ failure to recycle recyling a breach of its contract with the county?


Adam Floyd wrote on the front page of the VDT today,

Advanced Disposal appeals Deep South decision,



Requests made to Advanced Disposal Service’s corporate office and
Robert Norman, the lawyer who filed the appeal, to learn the
company’s reasoning behind the appeal were not returned by press
time.


Meanwhile, the City of Valdosta’s recycling center has denied
Advanced Disposal further access to its facilities, citing concerns
about volume.




John Whitehead III, deputy city manager for operations, said that
the center could not process the company’s deliveries fast enough,
and material was beginning to pile up. The suspension is temporary,
Whitehead said, and was done to ensure that the city could process
its recycling which increases during the holidays.


“We had been taking our recycling to the City of Valdosta, and
Monday they cut us off without any notice,” said Greg Walk,
local general manager for Advanced Disposal. “We’ve
constructed a bunker at the landfill, and the material that is being
collected in that bunker will be taken to a processing plant in
Milledgeville.”

The company had to dispose of recycled materials collected Monday
and Tuesday but continued recycling service Wednesday.

“It was the last thing we wanted to do to our recyclables, but
we responded as quickly as possible,” said Walk.

Does that mean the city of Valdosta sent the recycling to the landfill?
And is that a violation of the county’s contract with ADS?

-jsq

I don’t want to have to fear for my children as they sleep at night –Mindy Bland on WCTV @ LCC 2013-12-10



The Commission didn’t let citizens speak after

Spectra’s sales pitch for the Sabal Trail Pipeline Monday,
but some citizens spoke up in Citizens to Be Heard Tuesday
and WCTV covered that.

Winnie Anne Wright wrote for WCTV yesterday,

Citizens Address Lowndes County Commission About Sabal Trail Pipeline,

Residents covered topics such as the lack of economic impact on
Lowndes County, the legality of the pipeline, and also the safety.

“As a mother of three, I don’t want to have to fear for my children
as they sleep at night. And you hear a lot of people say that
natural gas line explosions don’t happen, and for those that feel
that they don’t, I really encourage them to go on the internet and
google gas line explosions and then tell me that they don’t happen.
As a mother, I feel like I have to step up and do what I can to
protect my children”, says Mindy Bland, an impacted homeowner.

Continue reading →

All 4 Commissioner questions about the pipeline –VDT @ LCC 2013-12-09



The VDT let local citizens speak, unlike the Lowndes County Commission.
Perhaps the VDT, like many local citizens, does not think transparency
means what the County Commission thinks it means.

Matthew Woody wrote across the top of the front page of the Valdosta Daily Times
today,

Sabal Trail presents at County Commission work session,

Protesters stood outside of the Lowndes County Judicial and Administrative Complex at 8:30 a.m. in opposition to the Sabal Trail natural gas pipeline project as representatives from the company made a presentation at the Commission Work Session.




That’s Matthew Woody across the street taking that picture,
and

here are more pictures of the protesters.

“We strive everyday for zero incidences,” Fahrenthold
said “All of our meetings, company wide, starts with a safety
update.”



Really?
So why afterwards did both Brian Fahrenthold and Andra Grover Continue reading →

Spectra Sales Pitch, Nothing about Nottinghill, etc. @ LCC 2013-12-09



Given

dozens of questions submitted by citizens
and every opportunity,
Commissioners asked only four perfunctory questions after
Spectra Energy’s

Sabal Trail pipeline sales pitch.
Chairman Bill Slaughter repeatedly let multiple Spectra reps
speak from the audience without having them come to the podium,
or even identify themselves before they spoke.
They were pointed at by the chief Spectra speaker when he named them,
but they did not stand up or raise their hand at the time,
so it was quite hard to tell which was which.
The Chairman never allows that sort of behavior from local citizens.
Why is he granting extra courtesies to a company from Houston
that wants to exercise eminent domain on local citizens’ lands?
Who does the Lowndes County Commission represent?

At least
WALB
and
WCTV
let a landowner speak: that’s more than the County Commission did.

Nottinghill is back yet again.
A Commissioner did ask staff whether it was really ready,
and it isn’t, but no Commissioners asked any such probing
questions of the Spectra reps.

The three

beer licenses, a

liquor license,
the

contracts, and the

bids were glossed over in almost as
perfunctory a manner.
There were some questions from Commissioners about
costs to the county government.
But there were none from Commissioners about costs to landowners
from gashing a pipeline through their property.

Given that there’s a

settlement for back pay for some county employees,
it appears that the employees maybe had to sue to get paid.

Staff did express concern about

“customer service” for a decorative
special tax lighting district, but none about service to the
landowners of the county whose land Spectra proposes to run through,
or for that matter to the taxpayers of the county to whom the
Commission and staff cannot be bothered to show what they’re voting
on before they vote.

Here’s

the agenda plus links to the videos and a few notes.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS

PROPOSED-AGENDA

WORK SESSION, MONDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2013, 8:30 a.m.

REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2013, 5:30 p.m.

327 N. Ashley Street — 2nd Floor

Continue reading →

90 percent approval? Larry Rodgers doubts that @ LCC 2013-12-09


WCTV isn’t just publishing Spectra press releases or sales pitches,
unlike the Lowndes County Commission.

Winnie Anne Wright for WCTV today,

Sabal Trail Addresses Lowndes County Commission,


“Gas needed to come from one point and end up at another. We looked
for those existing corridors that are already in place, to be able
to run adjacent and parallel to those so we are lessening the impact
on stake holders and the environment and this path that we are
currently on, is over 80% adjacent or parallel to those types of
things”, says Andrea Grover, Director of Stakeholder Outreach for
Sabal Trail.

Well, no it doesn’t need to.
Some fat cats in Houston and Juno Beach, Florida want to pump
methane through here for their profit and our hazard,
but that’s not the same as “needed to”.

But not everyone believes Sabal Trail has Lowndes County’s best
interest at heart.


The proposed pipeline would run through Larry Rodgers’ property. He
says he gave Sabal Trail access Continue reading →

Frack Off Spectra, We Want Solar @ LCC 2013-12-09

Some citizens spoke up before the

Lowndes County Commission meeting, even if the Commission didn’t want to hear from them during.


 Continue reading →

A huge impact on land values, not to mention the safety factor –Larry Rodgers on WALB @ LCC 2013-12-09

WALB did what the Lowndes County Commission did not after Spectra’s
sales talk this morning: let local citizens speak.



Robert Hydrick on WALB today,

Sabal Trail gives information on pipeline project,
quoted Spectra rep. Brian Fahrenthold (one of five Spectra sent)
about Spectra’s feint of a former route through Valdosta,
now aimed through rural Lowndes and Brooks Counties instead:



This updated route, Fahrenthold pointed out, reduces the amount of
the city of Valdosta that would be affected as well as reduces the
overall area of Lowndes County that would be affected.

“The first route was 31.3 miles and the [new route] is 15.6. That’s
a fifty percent reduction in our proposed route,” said Fahrenthold.

Well, no, it’s a shift in Spectra’s proposed route for their
Sabal Trail Pipeline to go farther west, past Clyattville
and through Brooks, Colquitt, Mitchell, and Dougherty Counties.
How does it feel to be expendable, rural landowners?



Fahrenthold also emphasized Continue reading →

Check your Pipeline, Dollar General, 3 special tax lighting districts, and mosquitos @ LCC 2013-11-12



Sabal Trail pipeline presentation
is

December 9th like
the front page of the VDT said.
The online agenda

is still incorrect a month later
about

Green Lane
which is still listed as “For consideration” when it should be listed
as a Public Hearing.
Alapaha Water Treatment Plant
was voted on this time,
as was mysteriously appearing
“Consideration of Back Pay for 911 Employees”.

Like the

the Planning Commission,
they tabled
Nottinghill.
With much less discussion than the

Planning Commission,
they approved
yet another Dollar General.
Plus
three decorative special tax lighting districts,
mosquito control,
pump replacement, the annual

MIDS bus service
contract,
a

beer license,
something about

NOAA, and an agreement with the Lowndes County
Board of Elections
for paying employees.

Here’s

the agenda.
See also the

videos of the previous morning’s Work Session.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS

AMENDED AGENDA

WORK SESSION, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2013, 8:30 a.m.

REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2013, 5:30 p.m.

327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor

Continue reading →

Pipeline and Nottinghill, VLMPO, lawyers and alcohol @ LCC 2013-12-09



The proposed

Sabal Trail pipeline
presentation is really on this time,
with
citizen questions asked by the Commissioners.
Nottinghill is back yet again.
Two appointments to the
VLMPO Citizens Advisory Committee.
All that plus three beer licenses, a liquor license,
and a bunch of contracts and a couple of bids.

Here’s
the agenda.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS

PROPOSED-AGENDA


WORK SESSION, MONDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2013, 8:30 a.m.

REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2013, 5:30 p.m.

327 N. Ashley Street — 2nd Floor



  1. Call to Order



  2. Invocation

    Only in the Regular Session, Tuesday at 5:30 PM.



  3. Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag

    Only in the Regular Session, Tuesday at 5:30 PM.



  4. Minutes for Approval



    1. Work Session — November 11, 2013



    2. Regular Session — November 12, 2013


  5. Appointment



    1. MPO Citizens Advisory Committee (2)


  6. Public Hearings


    1. REZ-2013-11
      Nottinghill, Orr Rd R-A to R-21, Community Well and Septic, 14.71 acres



    2. Decorative Special Tax Lighting District – Windstone Subdivision (Orr Rd)



    3. Beer and Wine License — Twin Lakes Ventures, LLC — 4878 HWY 41 South



    4. Liquor License — Big Al’s — 4991 HWY 41 S. Lake Park


  7. For Consideration



    1. Approval of the 2014 Commission Meeting Schedule



    2. 2014 Public Defender Services Contract & 2014 Operating Contract



    3. Land Application Site (LAS) Bar Screen Replacement



    4. Budget Calendar FY 2014-2015



    5. Beer and Wine License — Parnish Corporation — 3119 Madison HWY



    6. Beer and Wine License — Jay Brahamani, LLC — 2601 Madison HWY



    7. Back Pay for 9-1-1 Center Employees



    8. Second State Court Judge — Resolution & Act


  8. Bids



    1. Repair of Damaged F150- LCSO



    2. Repair of Damaged Fire Tanker- LCFR


  9. Reports-County Manager



  10. Citizens Wishing to be Heard Please State Name And Address

    Only in the Regular Session, Tuesday at 5:30 PM.



  11. Sabal Trail (Work Session)

-jsq