Here’s graphic evidence of the unreliability of nuclear power.
See for yourself on LAKE Nuclear Power Status, which daily draws graphs from Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) data.
These examples are for reactors run by Southern Nuclear, which is the nuclear unit of Southern Company, which has only six units operational. About every other month one or another of them is down. Continue reading
We learned why Lowndes County has gotten religion about Internet access and speed:
Moody AFB wants it.
Commissioner Scottie Orenstein made the case for board packets and agendas in electronic form instead of the paper packets they currently use. Maybe they’ll even reveal them to the public before their meetings, like real MSAs do. Meanwhile, Community Engagement means marketing, as in telling people what the county did, not listening to the citizens.
They talked about interconnecting (almost) all of the county’s water systems, about routes to get trucks out of downtown Valdosta. The water-sewer ordinance is in ten or twelve pieces, and the county is all for expanding water and sewer throughout the county as long as it doesn’t cost developers money.
There’s a regional T-SPLOST meeting in Waycross by SGRC Feb 28 2017, but Lowndes commissioners and staff said nothing Continue reading
Two newly-elected officials spoke at the Thursday session:
new Tax Commissioner Rodney Cain
who was full of praise for his staff,
and
new-old Sheriff Ashley Paulk,
who said he had more important things to do than to go get undocumented
workers out of the fields.
“I tell ICE come show me a warrant.”
Here are LAKE videos of that day, and stay tuned for Day 2!
Total 2016 revenue was Continue reading
This agenda finally showed up on the county’s website
less than 24 hours before the meeting.
No doubt their excuse would be they informed the newspaper 24 hours in advance.
Nevermind the taxpaying public.
I wonder what “Citizen Engagement” means? It’s on the agenda for 2PM tomorrow.
LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
2017 Commission Annual Planning Meeting
Quail Branch Lodge
7601 Zeigler Road, Lake Park, GeorgiaThursday, February 16 Continue reading
Suing local businesses
helps run up fees to the county attorney, says County Manager Joe Pritchard.
He didn’t mention that continuing to promote sprawl for example through the county’s thoroughfare plan also runs up fees that property taxes will never meet.
Commissioners seemed
very concerned about “stakeholders” whom they said were “the development community, the real estate community” and “the construction and homebuilder industries”.
Maybe somewhere they mentioned the agricultural and forestry industries,
or sales tax payers even if they don’t own real estate; if so I missed it.
At least they’re thinking about the Comprehensive Plan
and the general direction of the county in a public forum.
And the County Planner did talk about quality of life.
Plus it seems business prospects bringing that up got the attention of the County Manager.
They said they have a responsiblity to set the direction of the county.
How about instead of continuing to drive sprawl outwards,
which is a fiscally (and environmentally) irresponsible path,
turn to directing development to be more dense in already-developed areas?
They continue this morning at 8:30 AM, and Gretchen is there again with the LAKE video camera.
Here’s the agenda followed by links to each LAKE video with a few notes. See also two previous pictures.
We are looking forward to the improved communication that was touted in the VDT headline. Jason Stewart, VDT, 4 February 2016, Slaughter wants to strengthen communication, Continue reading
They were waiting on Demarcus Marshall. He arrived shortly with his own food. Can being the lone vote be worrisome? Here’s the agenda.
-jsq
Turns out they did post an agenda for the Planning Meeting this morning and tomorrow,
just not on
the county calendar nor in their agenda section.
Hm, Accountability Court: will they have to go to that?
Gretchen is there with the LAKE video camera at
Quail Branch Lodge, 7601 Zeigler Road, Lake Park, GA.
LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMSSIONERS
2016 Commlssion Plahning Meeting Agenda
Quail Branch Lodge
7601 Zeigler Road, Lake Park, GeorgiaThursday, February 4-
0:00 a.m. Breakfast 8:30 a.m. Audit Report — Henderson & Godbee, LLC 9:15 a.m. Finance — Stephanie Black 10:15 a.m. Break 10:30 a.m. Speclal Purpose Local Option Sales Tax — Harrison Tillman Continue reading
Here are videos of last month’s event organized by
VDT editor Jim Zachary, director of the Transparency Project of Georgia,
and Holly Manheimer, director of the Georgia First Amendment Foundation,
adding to
the still picture we already posted.
Gretchen reports from Macon that Lowndes County Commissioner Clay Griner (District 5), Paige Dukes (County Clerk), Joyce Evans (District 1), Scott Orenstein (District 2-elect), and Valdosta City Clerk Theresa Bolden (not pictured)
are all at the
VDT Open Government Symposium in Macon.
Congratulations, Jim Zachary and the VDT, on getting them to show up! Continue reading
SO CEO Tom Fanning didn’t budge from nuclear and coal, but he did announce a tiger team to get on top of distributed solar and wind through a smart grid, headed by SO’s COO, at the 22 May 2013 Southern Company Stockholder Meeting.
Mr. John S. Quarterman from Lowndes County, Georgia, and he holds 220 shares of Southern Company.
TF: Hello, John. Good to see you again this year.
jsq: Hi. I’ve come to compliment Tom Fanning and Paul Bowers. Last year, Tom Fanning was so persuasive I ran out and bought $10,000 worth of stock.
TF: Bless you. [Applause]
However,
apparently because of
SO’s admission a few minutes before in that same meeting
that it was going to have to eat Kemper Coal cost overruns,
SO stock tanked that same day,
causing my stock to stop out,
and Standard & Poor’s downgraded SO the following day
because of Kemper Coal, noting that if the same thing happened
with SO’s nuclear project at Plant Vogtle, S&P’s would probably Continue reading
