County Manager Joe Pritchard said Finance Director Stephanie Black has received a millage report from the Tax Commissioner. He and she will prepare something from it for the Lowndes County Commissioners for a later meeting.
The board packet is on the LAKE website, in response to a LAKE open records request.
Below are Continue reading
The resolution to reimpose the SPLOST tax as SPLOST VIII, was not included with the agenda for the tax-paying public to see. LAKE has filed an open records request for the entire board packet. Perhaps the county will supply it before they vote tomorrow.
Four bids were received for LAS and Pump Station Improvements with the high bid at $3.3 million, and the low at $2.5 million, but apparently the county negotiated the low bidder, Doyle Hancock & Sons, down to $1,520,858.00. This is “for improvements to the LAS [Land Application Site, aka wastewater spray field], Bevel Creek, Francis Lake, and Coleman Road lift stations.” The LAS is between Grassy Pond and Pike Pond, a few thousand feet from the GA-FL line, in the Withlacoochee River watershed. Continue reading
The longest single item in the one January Valdosta City Council meeting was unscheduled: the surprise statewide Georgia Parks and Rec Volunteer Award and Council Andy Gibbs responding with thanks.
The most contentious rezoning was 4.b. CU-2018-13 Scintilla Charter Academy Conditional Use Permit, to add a Middle School to an Elementary School.
The most-discussed general topic on the agenda was water, with Utility Director Darryl Muse speaking about 5.b. Bids for 10 emergency standby generators for Utilities, 5.c. Bids for water treatment chemicals for Utilities, and 6.b. Purchase SCADA system for Lift Stations and Water Treatment Plants, with frequent questions from Council members. They did bring up the recent major spill at the Withlacoochee Wastewater Treatment Plant.
In Citizens to Be Heard, I told them what Valdosta Utilities hadn’t.
Also in CTBH, John Robinson spoke about how small businesses need to thrive and another speaker said he had been attacked physically by a local business man. Renaming Forrest Street was discussed by Continue reading
Nothing is on the agenda about the recent major spill at the Withlacoochee Wastewater Treatment Plant for tonight’s Valdosta City Council meeting.
However, there are three other sewage-related Utility Department items: bids for ten emergency standby generators and for water treatment chemicals, and Consideration of a request to purchase a Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system for Lift Stations and Water Treatment Plants.
Those are all good steps, so lift stations won’t fail due to lack of power, so Valdosta Utilities can know what’s going on in real time (SCADA), and so they can continue testing.
Maybe you’d like to come compliment Valdosta on that much and ask them what they’re doing to prevent WWTP spills, in Citizens to be Heard.
Also tonight, appointments to KLVB, VLCDA, and Valdosta Tree Commission.
AGENDA
Continue reading
REGULAR MEETING OF THE VALDOSTA CITY COUNCIL
5:30 PM Thursday, December 6, 2018
COUNCIL CHAMBERS, CITY HALL
Most of the meeting (13 and a half minutes) was about
Bill Branham’s subdivision,
which passed,
with the Chairman breaking the tie because one Commissioner recused himself.
Opponents took up almost another minute
leaving the room.
On a split vote the Commission declined to modify the solid waste ordinance to give the County Manager more power.
Second longest at more than 6 minutes was Michael J. Killeen’s R-A to M-1 rezoning. Virdie Mae Lyons got her well and septic rezoning in a minute and a half.
Two water items: not clear how much Continue reading
Lengthiest at more than three and a half minutes was
the Bill Branham subdivision rezoning,
plus a tie for second at 2 minutes 13 seconds between
the new Conference Center CEO
and
the
Virdie Mae Lyons Old Clyattvile Road well and septic rezoning,
at yesterday morning’s Work Session.
Gretchen is off with the LAKE video camera to the voting Regular Session
tonight.
The County Manager wants more power through an ordinance that would further favor Advanced Disposal Services (ADS) over Deep South Sanitation (DSS).
Two water items: Continue reading
On the agenda for Monday’s Work Session, the agenda a word from the new-as-of-January CEO (not Executive Director) of the Valdosta-Lowndes County Conference Center and Tourism Authority. On the agenda for both Monday and Tuesday evening’s Regular Session, Bill Branham’s Copeland Road subdivision, back for at least the third time in four calendar years, plus an ordinance that would further favor Advanced Disposal Services (ADS) over Deep South Sanitation (DSS). Better news: bids for a Portable 65 KW Generator to keep lift stations from leaking.
Photo: Chris Hamilton via
Valdosta Daily Times.
See also the LAKE videos of the most recent Planning Commission meeting for all three rezoning cases, and that post also has links to videos of most of the previous appearances of the Branham Project.
LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, MARCH 12, 2018, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, MARCH 13, 2018, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor
- Call to Order
- Invocation
- Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag
- Chris Hamilton- CEO, Valdosta- Lowndes County Conference Center and Tourism Authority (Work Session)
- Minutes for Approval
- Public Hearing
- REZ-2018-04 Lyons, 1350 Old Clyattville Rd, R-A to C-H, Well and Septic, 8.05 acres
GLPC Recommendation: Approval
TRC Recommendation: VariousDocuments:Rezoning Case REZ-2018-04.pdf
- REZ-2018-05 Killeen, 1228 S Main St, R-A to M-1, 27.5 acres
GLPC Recommendation: Approval with 1 Condition (Paving)
TRC Recommendation: Various
Documents:Rezoning Case REZ-2018-05.pdf
- REZ-2018-07 Branham Project, 2480 Copeland Rd, R-1 to R-10 Water/Sewer, 18.04 acres
GLPC Recommendation: Approval with 4 Conditions
TRC Recommendation: Various
Documents:Rezoning Case REZ-2018-07.pdf
- For Consideration
- Transportation Safety Improvements Agreement
Execute Agreement- Ordinance Amending 2015 Solid Waste Disposal Ordinance
Approval of ordinanceDocuments:Ordinance Amending 2015 Solid Waste Disposal Ordinance.pdf
- Water Meter and Register Replacement
Approval of water meter and register replacementDocuments:Water Meter and Register Replacement.pdf
- Beer License- Marilyn Lewis of Palak Corporation DBA Bigfoot #908 – 1255 Lakes Blvd., Lake Park, GA
Approval of Beer LicenseDocuments:Beer License- Marilyn Lewis of Palak Corporation DBA Bigfoot 908 Lakes Blvd, Lake Park, GA.pdf
- Bid
- Portable 65 KW Generator
Bids solicited for a 65 KW portable generator to service smaller lift stations that do not have backup generators. Staff recommends awarding bid to Cowart Electric for $49,750.00Documents:Portable 65 KW Generator.pdf
- Reports – County Manager
- Citizens Wishing to be Heard-Please State Your Name and Address
- Adjournment
-jsq
Investigative reporting costs money, for open records requests, copying, web hosting, gasoline, and cameras, and with sufficient funds we can pay students to do further research. You can donate to LAKE today!
Ecological Options Network (EON) posted video of public comments at the latest Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) meeting about restarting San Onofre 2, where documents indicate Southern California Edison knew the new steam generators were defective years before they even installed them.
EON noted:In these video excerpts from the 4-3-2013 NRC webcast, informed activists hammer the NRC staff and SoCal Edison reps with penetrating comments and questions about apparently collusive fast-track plans to restart one of San Onofre’s broken reactors—in a tsunami and earthquake zone, in the middle of a strategic U.S. military base, in a surrounding urban area with a population of 8.5 million people—a plant that is not cost-effective 99% of the time, operated by a utility with the worst safety record in the country.Activists just helped convince NRC to deny a license for Calvert Cliffs 3 in Maryland, and Continue readingWhat could possibly go wrong?
Participants include Ace Hoffman, David Freeman, Kendra Ulrich, Dan Hirsch, John Geesman, Ray Lutz, Gary Headrick and Myla Reson.
Southern California Edison knew the new steam generators were defective years before then even installed them in the San Onofre nuclear reactors, acccording to a report just released. These are the generators that failed and caused both San Onofre reactors to shut down. SD Edison wants to restart one of them, and this document came out in that process. Southern Company would never do this, right? We shouldn’t worry about failed concrete or 15, no now 19, months delay while the Georgia legislature won’t even limit charges to Georgia Power customers for cost overruns. Nope, no worries.
Friends of the Earth PR 8 March 2013, San Onofre: Secret Report Confirms Edison Knew of Major Problems; Friends of the Earth: ‘Bombshell’ for plans to restart crippled reactor
Continue reading
WASHINGTON—March 8—A secret Mitsubishi Heavy Industries report released today confirms that Southern California Edison knew about serious problems in the radically redesigned replacement steam generators for the San Onofre nuclear reactors years before the defective equipment was installed, yet failed to make changes to fix the problems. The report was released today by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission after Senator Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and Representative Edward Markey (D-Mass.) revealed its existence and demanded it be made public.
The report documents that Edison knew
I found this over in NO COAL PLANT IN BEN HILL COUNTY! with this comment by Dan Corrie:
This Georgia Tech announcement emphasizes how quickly technology is changing toward healthier energy production and away from coal. I would hate to see our South Georgia stuck with a contaminating, health-harming coal plant for 50 years while so much progress would be going on during that time.The article by Daniel E. Frank dated 18 May 2011 appears on a law firm’s page, Georgia Tech Clean Energy Speaker Series: “High-Voltage Grid of the Future”: Continue reading
![[Land Application Site]](http://www.l-a-k-e.org/govt/loco/2019-08-12--lcc-packet/map-las.jpg)