Category Archives: Moody AFB

Lowndes County Sheriff Deputy enforces First Amendment

Lowndes County, an oasis of constitutional rights. Yes, really. Here’s video evidence. This kind of good news could do more to attract businesses here than many things the local powers that be are doing.

Carlos Miller wrote for Photography is Not a Crime 25 June 2014, Georgia Deputy Surprises us all by Respecting Constitution,

It started off with a federal protective service officer pulling up to Jeff Gray in a patrol car for taking pictures from a public sidewalk outside the Moody Air Force Base in Georgia Monday.

Gray told the officer that he was photographing the railroad. But the cop had his doubts and accused him of photographing the entrance to the base — as if it would make any difference within the scopes of the law — and decided to call the local sheriff for backup.

When Gray tried to walk away, the cop informed he was being detained.

When Gray asked for his name and badge number, the cop informed Gray Continue reading →

Videos: Water under Moody Family Housing and Sabal Trail @ LCC 2014-03-11

Two speakers about the Sabal Trail pipeline, one about water issues under Moody Family Housing, One request to do something about speeding (good luck), a recognition (firefighters), a proclamation (purple hearts), and an award (budget), one rezoning withdrawn, three others approved, two contracts (bus system renewal and software master contract), some but not all streets accepted in Nelson Hill, and no mention of the Lake Park annexation request that took up at least five minutes the previous morning.

For why John Page is no longer on the Commission, see the previous post with the agenda. Here’s the agenda again with links to the videos and a few notes. See also videos from the previous morning’s Work Session. And see also Lowndes County becomes third purple heart county in the state, by Matthew Woody, VDT, 12 March 2014.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, MARCH 10, 2014, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, MARCH 11, 2014, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street — 2nd Floor
Continue reading →

Water issues under Moody Family Housing –Dr. Michael Noll @ LCC 2014-03-11

Water issues still need to be investigated and resolved under the proposed Moody Family Housing, said Dr. Michael Noll, presenting a public comment by him and two other VSU professors about the recent evironmental assessment to the 11 March 2014 Regular Session of the Lowndes County Commission.

Here’s the video:


Regular Session, Lowndes County Commission (LCC)
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 11 March 2014.
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE).

Appended is the text of the VSU professors’ letter, and here it is in PDF.

Continue reading →

Moody Family Housing Environmental Assessment published

Spotted first by Michael G. Noll in the VDT yesterday, the document promised by Col. Ford the previous evening. A quick search finds nothing about the Nelson Hill Wells, and no mention of VSU or any of the professors there who have expressed concern and asked for access to the site to conduct an independent study.

USAF ANNOUNCES AN
ENVIRONMENT ASSESSMENT

In accordance with the National Environmental Policy
Act and Air Force regulations, the Air Force Civil
Engineer Center (AFCEC) has completed a Revised Draft
Environmental Assessment (EA), Finding of No
Significant Impact (FONSI), and a Finding of No
Practicable Alternative (FONPA) to evaluate the
consequences of the following stated proposed action:

The revised Proposed Action would involve the
construction of 11 housing units for senior leadership on
a 15-acre parcel on the base and 90 units on an
approximately 60-acre parcel located northwest of the
city of Valdosta, GA on Val-Del Road (the Val-Del
Parcel). This represents a reduction Continue reading →

Air Force has the environmental assessment for Moody Family Housing

Last night I chatted briefly with Moody’s Col. Ford, before he spoke at the Lake Park Chamber Annual Awards Dinner. He said he had been able to get on the site of the proposed Moody Family Housing about a year ago. I mentioned the Nelson Hill Wells and he said they had spent a lot of time already investigating water issues, and now the Air Force has received the environmental assessment. Perhaps it includes the missing piece this time, and maybe there’s a way for the public and local professors to provide input.

Colonel Edward Ford is commander of the 23d Mission Support Group at Moody AFB, Ga. He leads a group of more than 1,450 military and civilian members providing support and services to a population of 28,000 active duty, retired military and family members. His group maintains an installation with more than 830 buildings and more than 17,500 acres, including an adjacent bombing or strafing range. He is responsible for ensuring the readiness of support forces to mobilize and deploy to build, secure, and sustain air base operations at austere bare base locations anywhere in the world.

The 23d Mission Support Group also retains responsibility for civil engineering, environmental compliance, Continue reading →

Nelson Hill Wells

Seen today on Recent clear cutting in north of Lowndes County:

In the Northwest and Southwest of the most westerly boundary line of Nelson Hill Subdivision there are two well sites that had been previously deeded to Lowndes County for Deep Wells for Lowndes County Water Supply due to the problems at that time with the Well at Stone Creek location. However the test bore water samples came back with negative results due to surface water contamination entering the aquifer from all the fractures in the fragile lime stone basin and active sinkholes in that area, there is a sinkhole less than half of a mile south from where the test bores were done and it’s probably 90 feet deep. All this boarders the subject site Moody Housing.

So let’s look on the west side of the remainder of the Nelson Hill site, parcel 0071 006B. There are two cutouts, each about 50 feet square or 2500 square feet or 0.057 acre. Trying to select those in the online tax assessors maps, we get:

No data found for Continue reading →

Recent clear cutting in north of Lowndes County

Multiple people reported clearing work at the site of the Moody Family Housing project on Val Del Road, with its sinkhole next to an aquifer recharge zone, that not even Moody Air Force Base can get in to inspect. So we went out to look. There is clear cutting happening on Val Del Road (both sides) but it does not appear to be happening on the property slated for Moody Family Housing.

There has been clear cutting going on in the north of Lowndes County for some time on large tracts near Skipper Bridge Road, Staten Road (near the new river bridge) and on Val Del Road immediately south of the Moody Family Housing tract.

It appears that most of those properties are owned by Natco LLC: Continue reading →

Videos: VLMPO Policy Committee @ VLMPO 2013-10-29

I commend VLMPO for addressing real issues and getting a broad variety of organizations to show up. However, map after map on the consultant’s slides showed a straight-line highway going from Moody’s front gate to Hahira:

Highway straight line from Moody AFB to Hahira?

There is no such road. There better not be, since it would go straight through my property and would drive development right through agricultural and forestry areas that the Comprehensive Plan says aren’t supposed to be developed,. not to mention the Moody MAZ. I’m told the consultant is going to fix this.

I have my doubts, because Continue reading →

Moody Family Housing is in aquifer recharge zone @ LCC 2013-08-27

The Moody Family Housing just rezoned is in a recharge zone for our drinking water supply, the Floridan Aquifer. What will keep runoff from this subdivision from feeding through the wetlands and sinkhole into the aquifer? Should we depend on county engineering, which never put in the traffic calming measures required for nearby Nelson Hill, or other county staff, who gave waivers for other required items there, or just didn’t require them to be implemented? What assurances can we get from our county government that Moody Family Housing won’t pollute our drinking water?

WRPDO Title Alone The above map is a detail from Lowndes County’s own Water Resource Protection Districts Ordinance (WRPDO) overlay Map. Here’s an even more detailed view courtesy VALOR GIS (turn on Streams and Waterbodies, NWI Wetlands, Muncipal Boundaries, and Groundwater Rechard Areas): Continue reading →

Moody can’t get onto site for Moody Family Housing –Michael Noll @ LCC 2013-08-27

Dr. Michael G. Noll of VSU said representatives of Moody Air Force Base for the second time could not get permission to go on the site for the Moody Family Housing the Commission approved rezoning for two weeks before, at the 27 August 2013 Regular Session of the Lowndes County Commission.

He also handed the Commission and interested parties copies of a public comment he and VSU professors Don Thieme and Can Denizman had sent to USAF. Michael G. Noll handouts Plus the developer still refused to provide a copy of the geotechnical report the Air Force’s Environmental Assessment says the developer is required to send to the Air Force.

If there is nothing to hide, if there are no problems with possible developments of the area, why not share the report?

Two different people report seeing Commissioner Richard Raines catch Dr. Noll on the way out of the building and ask him what would be involved in doing the geophysical survey Dr. Noll has repeatedly asked to do.

See also Continue reading →