Tag Archives: 15 October 2013

Videos, AAUW Candidates’ Forum @ AAUW 2013-10-15

Water was a popular topic, as you can see in these videos of the Candidates’s Forum by AAUW. Same location (VSU Continuing Education Building) as the one Chamber held, but this time the audience got to ask questions. Yes, Virginia, they do all live in their districts, and some of them have widely divergent views about what cities or school boards should do.

Local AAUW President Diane Holliman gave a welcome, and then Dr. Luke Fowler moderated. Here’s the list of qualified candidates. Here’s Matthew Woody’s writeup in the VDT.

Valdosta City Council District 2

John Hogan and Calvin Graham Sr. were present; Sandra J. Tooley was not.

John Hogan pointed out that a road issue could really be a drainage issue, so it’s necessary to look at context.

Calvin Graham Sr. said he was retired military, lived in the district, and had been spending a lot of time volunteering. He indicated the Continue reading →

GIS maps of Sabal Trail pipeline preferred route

Sabal Trail had an interactive GIS map of the entire pipeline route in Moultrie last night, with zoom and pan detail as good as the tax assessor maps for Brooks and Lowndes Counties. The Sabal Trail reps declined to provide a copy of the whole GIS, but they obligingly panned down the pipeline and waited while I took pictures with my smartphone.

Here’s GIS of the pipeline route through Brooks and Lowndes Counties:

GIS of Brooks and Lowndes Counties

This is zoomed in where the route crosses US 84 and then the Withlacoochee River, which is the county line:

Continue reading →

Sabal Trail Pipeline Context maps –Spectra Energy and FPL

Where does Spectra Energy’s natural gas come from, and where does it go? These maps from the Moultrie meeting help explain. Spoiler: from fracking to FPL.

In “Our Portfolio of Assets”, Spectra Energy shows pipelines running from shale gas formations in and around Pennsylvania and down the Appalachians into Tennessee, through north Georgia, and into Alabama, as well as from gas storage facilities in Louisiana and shale fields in Texas.

Our Portfolio of Assets --Spectra Energy

So that’s where it comes from: the Marcellus Shale and its relatives down through (soon) the Conasauga Shale in north Georgia and Alabama and into Louisiana and Texas. Fracking, in other words.

That was not a word that was used by any of the Sabal Trail reps nor a word that appeared on any of their maps or in any of their handouts. But fracking is how natural gas is extracted from the Marcellus Shale, as Andrea Grover presumably knows, since she was sent to Pennsylvania in April to explain a Spectra Energy gas release from a compressor in Marcellus Shale country.

Where is the gas through the Sabal Trail pipeline supposed to go? Orlando, to the Sabal Trail Central Florida Hub. Why? Well, according to Andrea Grover, Florida Power and Light is “modernizing”. She explained that FPL has shut down some coal plants, and is converting to natural gas. She this map of the Florida Southeast Connection:

Continue reading →

Spectra Energy in Moultrie about Sabal Trail Pipeline

I went to the Spectra Pipeline meeting in Moultrie tonight, where many people in blue shirts saying Sabal Trail, including Brian Fahrenthold (who volunteered that I could take pictures of maps) and Andrea Grover (who will be in Valdosta tomorrow), were happy to answer questions from a landowner such as myself.

Here’s just part of the display:

Part of the Moultrie display

The Making of a Pipeline:

Continue reading →

Videos of Special LOST Lowndes County Commission Meeting @ LCC 2013-10-15

In a highly irregular 4 to 1 vote with the Chairman voting, the Lowndes County Commission voted to stick with 58% for the county, 42% for the cities from LOST, the same as the county’s original position from April 2012.

No real agenda was posted by the county, so below I’ve made one up to match the videos.

  1. Call to Order

    and immediate adjourn to executive session for attorney-client privileges.

    County Manager Joe Pritchard shooed the Commissioners, the alleged County Attorney, the County Clerk, the Finance Director, and one or two other staff into the back room.

  2. Reconvene into open session

    Chairman Bill Slaughter divulged the purpose of the meeting so they could vote on it. The decision was 58% of SPLOST for the county and 42% for the cities, to be divided among the cities as they see fit. The vote was 4 to 1. Which is rather odd, since you can clearly hear Chairman Bill Slaughter voting ” aye” and raising his hand. Continue reading →

Lowndes County LOST like Hall @ LCC 2013-10-15

Gretchen reports LOST was the topic at today’s special called meeting of the Lowndes County Commission. And yes, they went into executive session. Rumor has it that it’s not 120 days to come to an agreement, rather this week is the deadline. That’s what seems to be happening over in Hall County.

Sarah Mueller wrote for Gainesville Times today, Hall commissioners to consider new local option sales tax certificate,

Hall County Administrator Randy Knighton said the special called commission meeting today at 4 p.m. at the Hall County Government Center in Gainesville was in response to a suggestion from the Association County Commissioners of Georgia. ACCG has talked with the Department of Revenue and the Georgia Attorney General’s Office.

“(ACCG) has advised us that each county who has been engaged in the LOST arbitration proceedings submit a new LOST certificate to the Revenue Department this week,” Knighton said.

Knighton declined Monday to say Continue reading →

Logistics, Ports, and Partnerships @ VLCIA 2013-10-15

More good news at Valdosta’s other wastewater treatment plant, Mud Creek, where more solar is being installed; more about that at tonight’s meeting of the Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority. Mud Creek was already upgraded in 2012 to handle expected wastewater flow.

Here’s tonight’s agenda:

Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority
Tuesday, October 15, 2013 5:00 p.m.
Industrial Authority Conference Room
2110 N. Patterson Street
Agenda
Continue reading →

Special Called Lowndes County Commission Meeting @ LCC 2013-10-15

Could that pending litigation be the county’s lawsuit against Deep South Sanitation about that exclusive franchise that benefits ADS investors in New York City? Will they go straight into executive session?

On the county’s online calendar, with nothing on their front page, and nothing in the online VDT public notices. Here’s the county’s PDF and here’s the text:

Lowndes County Commission logo Lowndes County, Georgia
Board Of Commissioners
SPECIAL CALLED MEETING
A Special Called Meeting of the Lowndes County Board of Commissioners will be held on Tuesday, October 15, 2013, at 3:00 p.m. The meeting will be held in Commission Chambers, located on the second floor of the Lowndes County Judicial‐Administrative Complex, 327 North Ashley Street, Valdosta, Georgia. The Special Called Meeting is being held for attorney client communication regarding pending litigation.

Office of the County Clerk
K. Paige Dukes
229‐671‐2400
pdukes@lowndescounty.com

-jsq