George Rhynes
posted the appended on his blog
the same day he
spoke on the same subjects
at the Valdosta City Council, 10 February 2011.
Excerpts from his blog post: Continue reading
a project we’ve been working on
What could that project be?
Right at the beginning Lofton said:
Ben Copeland beat me slap sillyMaybe that’s a clue. What did Ben Copeland say about Brad Lofton?
Brad Lofton was going to talk after me, and he’d talk about biomass. [laughter]Continue reading
Speaking at the Lake Park Chamber of Commerce 28 January 2011,
Industrial Authority Executive Director Brad Lofton
remarked about:
The largest solar panel array that we are aware of today in the state of Georgia. That’s 350 kW solar panel array that you’ll be seeing coming out of the ground February first.
That’s funny, because as readers of this blog may recall, on 18 January 2011 I pointed out to Lofton that: Continue reading
In a generally congenial and well-received speech
to the Lake Park Chamber of Commerce (LPCoC), Industrial
Authority (VLCIA) executive director Brad Lofton
gave an update on various projects and concluded
by asking for input.
“Economic development is a team sport,” he said, and
“Give us ideas” and “There’s one of us and hundreds of you.”
Lofton was introduced by LPCoC chairman Dan Bremer who said that Lofton and VLCIA brought a plant to Lake Park with 400 workers.
In his speech, Lofton lauded the LPCoC as a great incubator of local businesses.
It’s going to come from all of you.He talked about expanding local industries, especially PCA at length, asking David Carmon of PCA to stand up, saying PCA made a $230 million expansion in 2010, and noting “We had to compete for the PCA project.” Continue reading
Ben Copeland, who is on the
Suwannee-Satilla regional water council,
has learned something about rivers:
“One of the things that keeps some of these rivers going is the treated effluent that goes into them.It’s at the end of this video:Now Brad Lofton wants to use some of that up in a biomass plant. We have a problem there.”
Matthew Richard brought up a similar point in his LTE in the VDT of yesterday: Continue reading
Ben Copeland asked the big question: “How much growth do we want?”
He related it to regional water in the aquifer, rivers, growth, and planning,
speaking at the Lake Park Chamber of Commerce annual dinner, 28 January 2011.
Copeland is Past Chairman of the Board, Wiregrass Technical College.
He serves on the regional water planning council.
He said
those councils were started due to worries
about Atlanta not having a reliable water supply.
He said the councils were
planning for water and wastewater to 2050.
The local regional council is the
Suwannee-Satilla regional water council.
He described the
extent of the water planning region (see map).
He
expects finalization of the water plan by May.
He talked about the Floridian aquifer, and how he’s worried not so much about Atlanta taking our water as about Orlando, Jacksonville, and Tallahassee.
“Because they all have their straws in that same aquifer.”
Finally, Ben Copeland asked the big question: “How much growth do we want?”
“Do we want to be Jacksonville? Do we want to be Tallahassee? Do we want to be a large metropolitan region?Continue readingFolks are going to move to south Georgia, I can tell you that, because of all the resources that we have. I’m a great believer in the free enterprise system. How much do we try to limit that?
Continue readingDate: Wed, 26 Jan 2011 21:59:50 -0500
From: noll_family
To: apaulk@lowndescounty.com, jevans@lowndescounty.com, rraines@lowndescounty.com, cpowell@lowndescounty.com
CC: kay.harris, “John S. Quarterman”
Subject: Last Night’s MeetingDear Chairman Paulk and Commissioners.
Thanks for providing my wife and I and others opposed to the biomass plant the opportunity to address you last night. As a follow-up to last night’s meeting, let me share some thoughts with you, including reflections on a comment made about other “biomass incinerators” in our county and the continuing myth that biomass constitutes a “health benefit”:
Chairman Paulk notes the sheriff has a very difficult job in
trying to find the younger Eunice in the Ocean Pond.
He asks people also to keep the Eunice family and Joyce Evans in mind
since her niece was recently murdered.
The Commission adjourns.
This second version is both noisier and perhaps somewhat easier to hear. Continue reading
He remarks that the county has contracted with an arborist
to prune a tree on the courthouse property the next day,
but don’t be alarmed; they’re not cutting any trees down.
He thanks volunteers and agencies throughout the state
who have participated in searching for the missing person in the lake.
-jsq
First time speaker
Dr. William Fuller refers to a paper copy he got from the City of Valdosta
of the
charter of the Industrial Authority.
He says it allows them to make contracts, and he asks
for someone to check to see the unelected members
of the Industrial Authority don’t contract with relatives.
He notes that the charter says their main purpose is to
promote the general welfare of the people of Lowndes County, and the proposed biomass
plant won’t do that.
-jsq