Tag Archives: Government

Valdosta force main GEFA loan awarded

Valdosta city PR today, City Receives $36.7 million GEFA Loan to Move Forward with Force Main Project,

The City of Valdosta was awarded a $36.7 million Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) loan by the Georgia Environmental Finance Authority (GEFA), on Nov. 14, 2013.

The city will use the low-interest loan to finance the construction of two major pump stations, two minor pump stations, a 6-mile 32-inch and 40-inch force main, a headworks structure with grit removal and bar screens, and a 6-million gallon equalization basin. Wastewater will be gravity fed to the existing site of the Withlacoochee Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) for final treatment and discharged utilizing the existing plant outfall, until the relocation of the plant is completed in November 2015.

Easement Exhibit Context

This project will Continue reading →

We desperately need your help –Carol Singletary @ VCC 2013-11-07

A local mom said she was one of many landowners being bullied by a pipeline company and asked for help from local leaders, at the 7 November 2013 Valdosta City Council Regular Session.

Carol Singletary @ VCC 2013-11-07

Here’s Part 1 of 2:

Carol Singletary’s impassioned and reasoned plea got a response from Mayor John Gayle, even if it was only Continue reading →

Check our work, esp. about the pipeline –Gretchen Quarterman @ LCC 2013-11-12

Fan of local government Gretchen suggested it “check our work” before whipsawing citizens in for items that didn’t happen or failing to schedule a public hearing even after the Chairman asked for it, plus failing do deliver what was promised in open records requests, at the 12 November 2013 Lowndes County Commission Regular Session. Today she’s checking their work at their secretive Retreat Work Session.

At the Regular Session she noted that the Sabal Trail item that was misscheduled for the previous morning caused several citizens to take off work to come in for something that didn’t happen. (You can find out more about that pipeline Saturday morning at 10AM at the SpectraBusters Informational Meeting.

She mentioned the Green Lane item that the Chairman had asked Continue reading →

Annual Retreat Work Session @ LCC 2013-11-14

It’s 9AM: do you know where your County Commission is? They’re at Chairman Bill Slaughter’s house, having what finally got billed as an “Annual Retreat Work Session”. Why so secretive, Commissioners?

Crawford Powell (District 3), Joyce Evans (District 1), Richard Raines (District 2), Stephanie Black (Finance Director), Joe Pritchard (County Manager), Bill Slaughter (Chairman), Paige Dukes (County Clerk), John Page (District 5), Demarcus Marshall (District 4)

At the start time of 8:30 AM, nobody was observing except Jody Hall (GLPC) and Gretchen Quarterman (LAKE). The VDT reporter arrived at 8:59 AM. Here’s the agenda, with picture taken by Gretchen of copy posted on door. The online copy is not in the usual agenda page, rather it’s hanging off a special entry in the calendar.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
Annual Retreat Work Session
November 14, 2013
6926 Simpson Road, Hahira, Georgia
Continue reading →

No Sabal Trail, Dollar General, 3 special tax lighting districts, and mosquitos @ LCC 2013-11-11

“We apologize for any inconvenience.” No Sabal Trail pipeline presentation this time; yes it really is December 9th like the front page of the VDT said. So the online agenda was incorrect, and it’s still incorrect about Green Lane which is still listed as “For consideration” when it should be listed as a Public Hearing. And another item was listed so obscurely on the agenda that a Commissioner had to ask “exactly where is this?” A report turned into an agenda item for the Alapaha Water Treatment Plant, and an item for “Consideration of Back Pay for 911 Employees” has appeared on the amended agenda with no public discussion. How are citizens to know what their elected officials are going to vote on tonight at 5:30 PM if the agenda changes all the time yet is still incorrect?

Plus they could take up Nottinghill even though the Planning Commission recommended tabling, there’s yet another Dollar General proposed (see Planning Commission video, three decorative special tax lighting districts, mosquito control, pump replacement, the annual MIDS bus service contract, a beer license, the return of Green Lane (why isn’t that one a pubic hearing as promised last time?) something about NOAA, and an agreement with the Lowndes County Board of Elections: will they stop changing the precincts every year?

Here’s the agenda.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
AMENDED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2013, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2013, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor
Continue reading →

Sabal Trail, Dollar General, 3 special tax lighting districts, and mosquitos @ LCC 2013-11-11

Nevermind what the front page of the VDT said about December 9th: the Sabal Trail pipeline presentation is on the agenda for Monday morning, 8:30 AM. Or maybe Tuesday evening, 5:30 PM; it doesn’t say, but if they’re sticking to at least the Work Session part of the request from Demarcus Marshall, it’s tomorrow morning.

Plus they could take up Nottinghill even though the Planning Commission recommended tabling, there’s yet another Dollar General proposed (see Planning Commission video, three decorative special tax lighting districts, mosquito control, pump replacement, the annual MIDS bus service contract, a beer license, the return of Green Lane (why isn’t that one a pubic hearing as promised last time?) something about NOAA, and an agreement with the Lowndes County Board of Elections: will they stop changing the precincts every year?

Here’s the agenda.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
AMENDED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2013, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2013, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor
Continue reading →

Commissioners listened about the pipeline @ LCC 2013-10-22

Commissioners at least listened about the proposed Sabal Trail Transmission pipeline, at the Lowndes County Commission Regular Session 2013-10-22. Now what will they do?

Video. The Chairman started out reiterating his disclaimer of county responsibility from back in June, but at least this time said they’d take a look at it and they understood what people were going through. Carol Singletary started to respond, and Slaughter said they would talk to her in a few minutes. And they did.

Here’s Part 1 of 2:


Commissioners listened about the pipeline Part 1 of 2:
Regular Session, Lowndes County Commission (LCC),
Video by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 22 October 2013.

Video of after adjournment. See previous post about how unusual Continue reading →

It was an outright threat –Ronald Kicklighter on Sabal Trail pipeline @ LCC 2013-10-22

A citizen didn’t appreciate a pipeline company’s bullying, especially when a second pipeline would make his land mostly useless and hard to sell, at the Lowndes County Commission Regular Session 2013-10-22.

Video. He said he had an existing pipeline less than fifty feet from his back yard, and this one would be less than sixty feet on the other side, wiping out the use of much of his property, including planting trees. He said he probably couldn’t even sell his property with two pipelines on it. He asked for help from the Commission.

Commissioner Crawford Powell asked for the name of the road Kicklighter lived on.

Here’s the video: Continue reading →

This company is awful –Phillip Singletary on Sabal Trail pipeline @ LCC 2013-10-22

A citizen brought up the sordid health and safety record Spectra Energy, at the Lowndes County Commission Regular Session 2013-10-22.

Video. He thanked Commissioner Marshall for coming to the Spectra pipeline meeting at Wiregrass Tech 16 Oct 2013, and said that meeting wasn’t very informative. He asked Commissioners to put themselves in the landowner’s place.

Also to consider that there’s nothing in Georgia that needs a 36″ gas pipeline, which is actually going to to a power plant in Florida, coming out of Alabama. He wondered why it couldn’t run down highway rights of way instead.

He remarked on catastrophic failures, and noted the pipline company, Spectra, had been fined a record $15 million for PCB cleanup along another pipeline.

“This company is awful,”

he said. He noted a gas explosion of that size pipe could take out two football fields. He wondered if the pipeline would go through the county’s closed landfill.

He recommended they, as Commissioners or as individuals, contact FERC. He asked for them to set up a meeting with Spectra. They did later schedule Spectra to speak at their 9 December 2013 Work Session.

Here’s the video: Continue reading →

All the rest of you are new –Sidney Blanton on SPLOST @ LCC 2013-10-22

A citizen expressed concerns about lack of transparency in SPLOST, at the Lowndes County Commission Regular Session 2013-10-22.

Video. He remarked that Commissioner Joyce Evans was the only one he knew, all the rest were new.

He said he would also talk to the Valdosta City Council that Thursday. (Later I told him they had cancelled that meeting due to lack of agenda items; he did speak at the following Valdosta City Council meeting.) He said he wanted the city to say the Withlacoochee Wastewater Treatment Plant was their first priority, and he attested that when he used to crop tobacco on that site it was underwater then when it flooded.

He especially didn’t like that the county didn’t list what projects it was going to fund with SPLOST. I agree with him about that part.

Here’s the video: Continue reading →