Tag Archives: Hahira

Hahira Honeybee Festival

Once again time for the Hahira Honeybee Festival, 29 September through 4 October 2014. Starting this morning with the “Kick-Off Breakfast 7-9 a.m. Community Center- Randall St. Everyone Welcome”

This festival is not run by the City of Hahira, rather by Hahira Honeybee Festival, Inc., registered agent Melba Locher of Shiloh Road, Helen Petitjean Secretary, Melba Locher CFO, Carol Jacobs CEO, according to the Georgia Secretary of State.

According to the Festival’s history page:

The Hahira Honeybee Festival was st arted in 1981 by Mamie Sorrell and Adeline Landrum. These two ladies loved Hahira and had a vision “to liven up city” with a weekend of Arts & crafts , Entertainment, and a parade. The weekend festival has grown into a week long extravaganza. The festival is now known as one of the best in the Southeast. The parade is touted as the best in South Georgia. It has been estimated that anywhere from 20,000 to Continue reading →

Videos: GP Investments, Hahira, Pipeline, Alapaha Water Trail @ LCC 2014-09-09

Five citizens spoke, on topics including the “horrible wretched smell” from ADS, the Sabal Trail pipeline, the proposed local charter school, and the board packet and the Alapaha River Water Trail. Chairman Bill Slaughter asserted there had been nineteen applicants for the Planning Commission appointment and seemed to think the public should be happy about that, having learned it presumably by telepathy. He didn’t divulge who those applicants were, and the only one in the board packet (charming young white guy Brad Folsom) 300x450 2014-09-09-uldc-map-001, in wndes County Zoning Map, by Lowndes County Planning and Zoning, 9 September 2014 was appointed after somebody reminded the Chairman to at least get a motion first. They also appointed Commissioner Joyce Evans to the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities. On the GP Investments water rezoning, County Planner Jason Davenport didn’t know whether there had been a dump site there or where the well would go, but they approved it anyway. They also approved the bookkeeping ULDC updates for Special Events, Zoning Map, Fees and they have since put the new zoning map online!

They approved unanimously the annual prisoner work detail contract without even mentioning the cost. And unanimously with no discussion they approved the Hahira extratorial request.

Here’s the agenda with links to the videos and some notes. See also the board packet, obtained for you by LAKE through an open records request, and the LAKE videos of the previous morning’s Work Session, which have quite a bit more information, including applicants for appointment speaking.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2014, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2014, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor
Continue reading →

Update on Economic Development meeting @ VLCIA 2014-09-16

The big item tonight is the update on their local economic development meeting last month, plus election of officers and the usual project and marketing updates.

Here’s the agenda, with a couple of formatting typos fixed (not sure I got it right, either).

Valdosta-Lowndes Development Authority
Tuesday, September 16, 2014 5:30 p.m.
Development Authority Conference Room
103 Roosevelt Drive
Monthly Meeting Agenda
Continue reading →

Alternative 4: Richland, Preston, Americus, Cordele, Ashburn and I-75 FERC to Sabal Trail

300x395 Map, in Alternative 4: Richland, Americus, Cordele, Ashburn and I-75 FERC to Sabal Trail, by John S. Quarterman, 14 September 2014 Richland in Stewart County, Preston in Webster County, Americus in Sumter County, Cordele in Crisp County, Ashburn in Turner County, if you thought you were off the Sabal Trail path, think again! You’re in FERC’s eye for a 36-inch fracked methane pipeline just like Tifton, Adel, Hahira, and Valdosta in Tift, Cook, and Lowndes Counties Georgia, and in Florida Jennings in Hamilton County, Lake City in Columbia County, Alachua and Gainesville in Alachua County, Ocala in Marion County, Wildwood in Sumter County, and Ferndale in Lake County, and probably some other cities and counties you can find on the map. And Alternative 4 would cross the Withlacoochee River in Lowndes County just before passing right next to Lowndes High School and an exploding pipeline segment’s throw from Valdosta Mall.

300x386 Withlacoochee River and Lowndes High School, in Alternative 4: Richland, Americus, Cordele, Ashburn and I-75 FERC to Sabal Trail, by John S. Quarterman, 14 September 2014 Alternative 4 in FERC’s recent instructions for Sabal Trail to “include analyses” would start even farther north on I-75 than Alternative 1.

Alternative 4 beginning from Alternate 2 near Richland, Georgia and following Highway 280 to near Americus, Georgia; then following a high voltage transmission line (along Sabal Trail’s Hillabee Alternative route); then following Alternate 1 starting near Tifton, Georgia and extending to the proposed endpoint.

Here’s a very rough map of Alternative 4: Continue reading →

Alternative 2: MP 141 -> US 82 -> I-75 -> FL Turnpike FERC to Sabal Trail

Watch out Albany Mall, Deerfield-Windsor School, Kerr Gardens Park and Pond, Miller-Coors Albany Brewery, Pilot Travel Center and of course the Flint River at the US 82 bridge! 300x154 Armena through Miller-Coors Albany Brewery, in Alternative 2: Armena to US 82 to I-75 to FL Turnpike, FERC to Sabal Trail, by John S. Quarterman, 14 September 2014 If Sabal Trail’s mile point (MP) 141 is still on the Lee-Dougherty County line just west of Armena, GA on US 82, then Alternative 2 in FERC’s recent instructions for Sabal Trail to “include analyses” would look very much like Alternative 1, plowing through the north edge of Albany, GA and much of Dougherty County, before heading on through Sylvester, Tifton, Adel, Hahira, Valdosta, Jennings, Lake City, Alachua, Gainesville, Ocala, Wildwood, past The Villages, to Ferndale, FL.

Alternative 2 extending along other pipeline and road rights-of-way from near MP 0 to approximately MP 141 (near Albany, Georgia), and then following Alternate 1 to the proposed endpoint.

Here’s MP 141 in the maps Sabal Trail sent to FERC in November 2013: Continue reading →

Alternative 1: US 82 -> I-75 -> FL Turnpike FERC to Sabal Trail

After Dawson and Albany, new Georgia cities Sylvester, Tifton, Adel, Hahira, Valdosta in Georgia (right past Lowndes High School), and Jennings, Lake City, Alachua, Gainesville, Ocala, Wildwood, and Ferndale in Florida. If you thought this pipeline wouldn’t affect you, think again. Or some later pipeline if we let this one through. See also Alternative 2 (watch out, Albany!), Alternative 3 Camilla, Thomasville, Monticello, Capps and a row of north Florida counties), and Alternative 4 (Richland, Preston, Americus, Cordele, Ashburn and yet again down I-75 as in Alternative 1).

Update 2014-09-15: Added first paragraph and fixed typos.

FERC’s recent instructions direct Sabal Trail to “include analyses” of

Alternative 1 Alternative 1 extending from near MP 0 to MP 460.6 (the proposed endpoint) following the Sabal Trail Transmission, LLC (Sabal Trail) proposed Sabal Trail Project (Project) route until reaching Highway 82 near Dawson, Georgia; then following Highway 82 to Interstate 75 (I-75); then following I-75 to Highway 91 near The Villages, Florida; then following Highway 91 to Highway 27 near Ferndale, Florida; and then following a Florida Gas Transmission (FGT) pipeline to the proposed endpoint.

Here’s a very rough map of that route, and then let’s name some cities and towns thus targetted by the yard-wide fracked methane pipeline: Continue reading →

VALOR GIS and Tax Assessors Map don’t agree on Hahira annexation property @ LCC 2014-09-08

Looks like the 5720 S. Hagan Bridge address is in VALOR GIS map for the Hahira extraterritorial request in the board packet, which appears to have been received as an attachment to the request letter from Hahira. It’s easier to see if you go directly to VALOR GIS and zoom in. Which raises the question of why is the address in VALOR GIS different from the address in the Tax Assessors map.

See also this comment today by Barbara Stratton. -jsq

Mr. Allen said 5720 S Hagan Bridge Rd, which is the agenda address I was also given by one of the County Commissioners Tuesday afternoon. 5710 S Hagan Bridge Rd is the address in the Tax Assessors records and also the address that was approved by the Hahira City Council in previous meetings. So where did the 5720 address come from and I also agree that the correct address and owner name should have been published for public record. The 5710 property owned by John Bailey was purchased in February 2014 and almost immediately Continue reading →

Board packet @ LCC 2014-09-08

232x300 Survey plat REZ-2014-15, in Board Packet, Lowndes County Commission, by John S. Quarterman, 8 September 2014 Here is the board packet for this morning’s Work Session and Tuesday evening’s Regular Session. First time I’ve ever seen one before they vote on it. I thank the county for that, and you can all see what they are considering.

Hoever, it cost me $33.50, because staff included all 385 pages of the ULDC, even though that (unlike the rest of it) is online on the county website.

They also delivered it only on paper, and only in black and white, even though the Planning Department produces all the land use maps electronically and in color. And they didn’t deliver before the Work Session as I asked, even though obviously the board packet was assembled Continue reading →

Videos: GP Investments and Hahira’s Extraterritorial Request @ LCC 2014-09-08

Update 2014-09-09: Board packet via LAKE open records request.

Twelve minutes. When do they actually talk about things? They vote Tuesday at 5:30 PM. “Hahira’s Extraterritorial Request” is for water and sewer for John Bailey. “Rezoning case REZ-2014-15” is also about water and sewer. The other obscure public hearing is to fix something county staff didn’t do correctly back in June.

Yes, it’s the old white guy to replace the young black woman on the Planning Commission, and it’s Commissioner Joyce Evans for the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities. And yes, it’s the annual renewal of hiring prisoners from Valdosta State Prison.

Here’s the agenda with links to the videos and some notes.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2014, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2014, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor
Continue reading →

County back at Lake Alapaha, Hahira dwelling, Solar maybe solved in Valdosta @ ZBOA 2014-09-09

Back again: the county’s never-ending no-bid Alapaha Water Treatment plant. And Dr. Urbonas may withdraw his solar parking variance because if he connects the structures to his building they don’t need a variance.

New cases: a single-family design variance near Hahira an accessory structure near Valdosta, and a sign variance in Valdosta.

Here’s the agenda for Tuesday 9 September 2014. The City of Valdosta puts ZBOA agendas and minutes online in real PDFs. Continue reading →