Tag Archives: Georgia

MAZ, WWTP, tax lighting, civic center, court, insurance, hazardous waste @ LCC 2015-12-07

This morning at 8:30 AM, then for voting Tuesday evening at 5:30 PM, the Withlacoochee Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) condition changes, the Moody Activities Zones (MAZ) changes to the ULDC, and the Orchard at Tillman Crossing from the previous Planning Commission agenda are on this morning’s very long Lowndes County Commission agenda, along with many other items. Among them, the obscurely named Execution of the Resolution for Hazardous Waste Trust Fund is about the closed landfill at Clyattville.

See also the LAKE videos of the 30 November 2015 GLPC meeting, and this morning’s agenda is below.

-jsq

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, December 7, 2015, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, December 8, 2015, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor

Continue reading

Planning prevents crises: Eisenhower decisions

A local elected official recently confused “crisis” with “important”. Yet a crisis is something that is both urgent and important, and if we spend more time on things that are important and not urgent, such as planning, we won’t have as many crises. Instead, the corporate media and social media would have us spend most time on interruptions that are urgent but not important (traffic slowdowns or obstructions) or, worse, trivia that is neither urgent nor important (which celebrities are seeing whom). This confusion affects everything from attracting jobs to electing candidates to clean air and water.

Dwight D. Eisenhower had a solution:

In a 1954 speech to the Second Assembly of the World Council of Churches, former U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who was quoting Dr J. Roscoe Miller, president of Northwestern University, said: “I have two kinds of problems: the urgent and the important. The urgent are not important, and the important are never urgent.” This “Eisenhower Principle” is said to be how he organized his workload and priorities.

Eisenhower’s Urgent/Important Principle: Using Time Effectively, Not Just Efficiently by Mind Tools; see also Quote Investigator for several variant versions.

Even though it often seems to be forgotten, this has to be one of the most popular business and personal improvement methods ever, so there are plenty of graphics and explanations.


First Things First, book by Stephen Covey, 1994, described in Wikipedia

Do we really want to spend all our time putting out fires? If not, maybe we should Continue reading

Sun and wind are winning over fracked methane shale gas –Goldman Sachs

Solar PV, onshore wind, electric vehicles, and LED lighting will win for all of us and profit in the next five years, says Goldman Sachs, which just put $150 billion of its own money where its mouth is. How about you, world leaders gathered in Paris?

Chris Martin, BloombergBusiness, 30 November 2015, Wind, Solar Power to Supply More Energy Than Shale, Goldman Says,

New wind turbines and solar panels worldwide will provide more energy over the next five years than U.S. shale-oil production has over the past five, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

Four Front Runners

The leading renewable-energy technologies will add the equivalent of 6.2 million barrels of oil a day to the global energy mix, exceeding the 5.7 million barrels a day pumped from U.S. shale oil wells since 2010, analysts including Brian Lee and Jaakko Kooroshy said in a research report Monday….

“Wind and solar are on track to exceed 100 gigawatts in new installations for the first time,” Continue reading

Withlacoochee River Wastewater Treatment Plant packet materials @ GLPC 2015-11-30

The mysterious missing materials from Monday’s Planning Commission meeting are on the LAKE website now, thanks to Lowndes County Planner Jason Davenport, by electronic mail today, 3 December 2015.

He explained that this requested zoning, REZ-2015-20, was a followon to rezoning REZ-2010-15 from 2010 for the new Withlacoochee River Wastewater Treatment Plant, plus since then Valdosta had bought another adjoining parcel. The materials explain the current concerns about buffers, setbacks, roads, other uses, noise, lights, etc.; see the text pages. The County Planner said the packet for next week’s County Commission meetings will also include an agenda item cover sheet.

For all the other packet items from Monday’s GLPC meeting, see the previous post. See also the related variance VAR-2015-16 that was before the Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBOA) Tuesday.

Here’s the beginning of the overview from the GLPC materials:

The main reason for this request is the current conditional requirement of a bermed buffer along the norther boundary of the subject property. Right now if the previously approved conditions (Attached toward the end of the packet), approved site plan (Attached . . ,), and ULDC are combined it looks like what is currently required to be constructed is Continue reading

Videos: MAZ, Tillman Crossing, Withlacoochee River WWTP, 7 * Valdosta @ GLPC 2015-11-30

Still invisible: the change to Valdosta’s Withlacoochee River Wastewater Treatment Plant. Documents related to all the other items are inked into the agenda in a previous post.

Moody AFB speaking about proposed Lowndes County MAZ ULDC text amendments
Moody AFB speaking about proposed Lowndes County MAZ ULDC text amendments

Continue reading

MAZ comparison table: TRC, Chamber, GLPC –Jason Davenport @ GLPC 2015-11-30

Contested County Planner Jason Davenport sent email to the Planning Commission yesterday noon before their evening meeting:

In light of the comments from the Chamber of Commerce from last week related to TXT-2015-01 I have prepared a document that helps show the amendments and various TRC and Chamber recommendations/comments side by side. The amendments are overall organized into two groups, those that are recommended for approval and have no objection and those that have opposition and/or other comments. I will plan to provide physical copies of the attached document at tonight’s meeting. Thank you.

Maybe this is a precedent for the county taking citizen comments more seriously; one hopes it doesn’t apply only to the Chamber.

Here’s the table (PDF on LAKE website), Continue reading

Valdosta packet items @ GLPC 2015-11-30

Within hours in response to an open records request she took over the telephone, Zoning Location Map Valdosta City Clerk Teresa Bolden sent PDF of the packet materials for the six Valdosta items for tonight’s GLPC meeting, at no charge, including all the maps. See below those six Valdosta items linked into a copy of agenda: a funeral home, a radio station, a church accessory, a community commercial rezoning, an amendment to a Planned Development, and City of Valdosta sign regulations changes.

The change to the Withlacoochee River Wastewater Treatment Plant remains invisible, because, since it’s in the Lowndes County part of the agenda, the City of Valdosta can’t divulge it. The materials for the county subdivision rezoning after the old US 41 N widening. and the Moody Activities Zones (MAZ) Text Amendments are also linked into the agenda below.

-jsq

Greater Lowndes Planning Commission Continue reading

Southern Company buys 157MW Roserock Solar Farm in Texas

That’s great, but how about more of those hundreds of construction jobs and operation money right back here to Georgia? But since you’re buying solar power, why do you need to buy a pipeline company? How about helping us against Sabal Trail invading us from Texas through Southern Company territory?

Southern Company PR, 30 November 2015, Southern Company subsidiary acquires first solar project in Texas,

Continue reading

Cell tower, cemetery, sewer, and radio tower @ ZBOA 2015-12-01

Two ZBOA agenda items for tomorrow are also on the Planning Commission agenda for tonight: the Withlacoochee River Wastewater Treatment Plant and the radio tower Snake Nation Press for WSNK-LP, Valdosta Community Radio. Apparently both of these applicants want a variance from ZBOA in addition to a conditional use permit.

Verizon wants a variance in Hahira for a cell tower and the Lucas Brothers want a cemetery variance.

Valdosta-Lowndes County Zoning Board of Appeals

Continue reading

MAZ, Tillman Crossing, Withlacoochee River WWTP, 7 * Valdosta @ GLPC 2015-11-30

An invisible change to Valdosta’s Withlacoochee River Wastewater Treatment Plant. Already a subdivision rezoning after the old US 41 N widening. And still going in its third year, the Moody Activities Zones (MAZ) Text Amendments, with updates last week, including the Chamber’s latest position, all on top of the previous updates. Those are just the Lowndes County cases on the agenda tonight for the Greater Lowndes Planning Commission (GLPC).

The six Valdosta cases include a funeral home, a radio station, a church accessory, a community commercial rezoning, an amendment to a Planned Development, and City of Valdosta sign regulations changes.

All that plus Continue reading