A third Lowndes County Case in west Valdosta near James Road,
REZ-2016-15, was pulled from the agenda until next month
to be sure it will be ready for review (but not withdrawn).
One Valdosta case,
CU-2016-02, was announced as withdrawn
at the beginning of the meeting.
The
stormwater LDR changes apparently were mostly to
remove description of very old previous material and various housekeeping
including reflecting a rate increase the Valdosta City Council already approved
back in June after a series of public hearings.
Expect the Comprehensive Plan back next month: they didn’t examine it this time because
the agenda was already very long. Continue reading
Tag Archives: LAKE
More northern subdivision rezonings + 6 Valdosta @ GLPC 2016-08-29
Still more subdivisions planned in what the county calls
Central Lowndes County
and near Hahira,
and a bunch of stuff in Valdosta.
including
stormwater revisions to the LDR.
Here’s
the agenda,
and see the
LAKE videos of the meeting.
Greater Lowndes Planning Commission
Continue reading
Lowndes County City of Valdosta City of Dasher City of Hahira City of Lake Park
REGULAR MONTHLY MEETING
AGENDA
Lowndes County South Health District Administrative Office
325 West Savannah Avenue
Monday, August 29, 2016 * 5:30 P.M. * Public Hearing
Many same investors in Sabal Trail and Dakota Access Pipeline
DAPL and Sabal Trail are more intertwined than we thought.
But first, who are the institutional investors in the three Sabal Trail partners?
NASDAQ makes this easy to discover, and the answer is in
the first table below: among banks State Street and Bank of America stand out.
Let’s not forget Williams Company, of the Transco Hillabee Expansion Project from which Sabal Trail wants to get its fracked methane; see the second table, which State Street clearly wins, and there’s Goldman Sachs.
We learned this week that Enbridge of the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) opposed by the Standing Rock Sioux in North Dakota: that Enbridge is buying Spectra Energy of Sabal Trail.
But there’s more! Last year Williams was bought by Energy Transfer Equity, which is the main backer of DAPL.
Update 2016-09-26: Actually, Energy Transfer backed out of buying Williams Co..
See the third table, which shows banks bought into at least five of the partner entities: Bank of America and Morgan Stanley.
Opponents of Sabal Trail are not just fighting the same industry as DAPL: they’re fighting many of the same companies and the same investors.
Investors in Sabal Trail partners (Spectra Energy, NextEra Energy, Duke Energy)
Continue readingFPL admits no need for new electricity until 2024: so why Sabal Trail?
17%, 13%, now 0% new electricity needed in Florida, according to FPL?
And the Sabal Trail excuse of coal plant “modernization” has already been
accomplished without Sabal Trail?
While even FPL is now deploying solar power and admits solar “is now significantly influencing FPL’s resource planning”?
So what is the Sabal Trail fracked methane pipeline boondoggle for, then?
Two years ago I pointed out that FPL’s own projections in its ten-year plans Continue reading
Senator Perdue at Valdosta Rotary and Chamber 2016-08-24
Mostly what the assembled rotaries and homebuilders seemed to be interested in was getting the Senator to defend Moody Air Force Base against closure,
which makes sense, since Moody is still by far the largest economic engine of the entire central south Georgia and north Florida region.
Maybe you can hear where he says anything about defending us from the invading Sabal Trail fracked methane pipeline; I must have missed that part. He ended by saying it wasn’t about rich vs. poor, and quoting from the Declaration of Independence about “we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.” There’s no mutuality in the federal government giving eminent domain to a pipeline company from Houston, Texas to take our lands so they can profit by exporting fracked methane.
Below are links to each LAKE video, followed by a video playlist. Continue reading
Videos: Welcomes, Millage, 5 minutes 30 seconds @ LCC 2016-08-23
3.5 minutes of actual meeting after a minute of invocation and pledge and a minute of welcomes.
First they welcomed Cub Scout Pack 400 and Troup 410, a member of the Lowndes County Explorer Program, for their interest in the gubmint. Also a Valdosta City Council member (Sandra Tooley, although Chairman Bill Slaughter didn’t name her), and Carl Smith. Plus Tax Commissioner Felicia Williams. He didn’t name any of the regulars in the room, yet the welcomes took more than a minute which, plus the minute for the invocation and prayer, that was two minutes of non-business in the entire 5 and a half minute meeting, so that was only 3 and a half minutes of actual meeting. Which was more than 2.5 minutes of the previous morning’s Work Session. It does make you wonder: where and when do they actually discuss the county’s business, and why isn’t it in the public meetings?
Below are links to each of the LAKE videos of the August 23nd 2016 Regular Session of the Lowndes County Commission. See also Continue reading
Bell Brothers v. Sabal Trail Attorney Fees
You can help prevent this happening to you or your neighbors.
Sabal Trail will use this to intimidate anyone who opposes them,
just like they’ve been using previous court cases to scare people all along.
Fortunately, the Bells have already provided a way everyone can help
and thereby demonstrate we the people do not want Sabal Trail.
The Bell brothers have set up a
gofundme campaign.
If you can’t contribute, you can help publicize it.
In the same case that people travelled to Leesburg, GA to attend twice, from Dougherty County and Lowndes County, GA and from places in Florida as far south as the Everglades, the Bell Brothers lost Continue reading
Millage Public Hearing @ LCC Millage 2016-08-23
People showed up and asked questions!
Finance Director Stephanie Black said they were having public hearings because they were required to when raising the millage. She said some of the reasons for the raise were a decline in the Local Option Sales Tax revenue, “because of the TATV” a decline in motor vehicle revenues, and a decline of 1.88% or $56 million in the property tax digest. TATV appears to be Ad Valorem Title Tax, which changed with HB 386 becoming law 1 March 2013, changing annual TATV to a one-time tax at vehicle purchase, and that new tax goes to the state, not the local government. As you can see in the Millage History slide pictured, they did Continue reading
Videos: 2 minutes 39 seconds, plus new county agent @ LCC 2016-08-22
That’s 2:39 for all business in Monday’s Work Session of the Lowndes County Commission, except for
a report at the end about a new county agent.
The whole thing took less than 5 and a half minutes, according to their own clock.
Valdosta City Council Sandra Tooley showed up at 5:35, just before they adjourned, and wondered what happened.
You ever get the feeling they discuss business somewhere other than in public m eetings?
Tonight there’s a third millage hearing at 5PM, followed by their voting Regular Session at 5:30 PM. See previous post for some background on the millage and the agenda.
Below are links to each of the LAKE videos of the August 22nd 2016 Work Session of the Lowndes County Commission. They vote tonight. Continue reading
Videos: Jerry Wallace reitrement, ZBOA, Verizon, abandonment, landfill @ LCC 2016-08-09
The engineering department utlity player, Jerry Wallace, is retiring.
They approved everything they discussed at the previous morning’s Work Session. See also the LAKE video of the Zika and mosquito control report from that Work Session.
Below are links to the LAKE videos plus a few notes for the Regular Session, August 9th 2016, of the Lowndes County Commission. They vote again tonight.
-
1. Call to Order 2. Invocation 3. Pledge
-
Special Retirement Recognition – Jerry Wallace
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4. MInutes for Approval
-
5.a. Appointment – Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA)
-
5.a. Appointment – Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) – part 2
Video. They reappointed Mac McCall.
-
6.a. TWR-2016-01 Verizon Wireless, 4278 Lakeland Highway
Video. Even the Moody AFB engineer spoke for.
-
6. Abandonment of Strong Road (CR 250)
Video. County Engineer Mike Fletcher noted this would not landlock anybody. He also pointed out this was not the public hearing. This was the determination of why to abandon (serves no public purpose), which will lead to a public hearing in a later meeting.
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7.a. Accept Infrastructure for Grammercy Subdivision Phase II
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7.b. Execution of the Resolution for the Hazardous Waste Trust Fund
Video. Yes, the same closed landfill they gave an easement to Sabal Trail for its 36-inch fracked methane pipeline.
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7.c. Speed Zone Ordinance
Video. County Engineer Mike Fletcher said the only change was at Kinderlou from 55 to 65 MPH.
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7.d. Declaration of Surplus Items for Fire Department
Video. Ashley Tye said items that had no additional useful life and no salvage value. He clarified that they had exceeded safety deadlines, so they couldn’t even give it to some other fire department.
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7.e. Firehouse Software Upgrade
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7.f. Moody AFB Water/Wastewater Treatment Systems Contract
Video. See details in previous post about Work Session and details in the agenda LAKE blog post.
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7.f. Moody AFB Water/Wastewater Treatment Systems Contract (part 2)
Video. Chairman Bill Slaughter said the process to reach this agreement had received national recognition.
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7.g. Contract with Condrey and Associates, Inc
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7.h. Bulk Computer Purchase
Video. Aaron Kostyu said bulk purchase would get additional discounts. They’re buying from Dell.
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8.a. Bid for Equipment for Fire Apparatus
Video. Finance Director Stephanie Black said this equipment is for the new pumper that was recently purchased for the fire department.
-
8.b. Bid for Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus Equipment
Video. Commissioner Demarcus Marshall wanted to know if that was enough equipment. Answer from Ashley Tye: yes, because this is only for the new truck; fire dept. already has enough for others.
-
9. Reports (none) 10. CWTBH (none) 11. Adjournment
Video. See the LAKE video of the Zika and mosquito control report from the previous morning’s Work Session.
Here’s a video playlist:
Videos: Jerry Wallace reitrement, ZBOA, Verizon, abandonment, landfill
Regular Session, Lowndes County Commission (LCC),
Video by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, August 9, 2016.
-jsq
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