Tag Archives: LAKE

Mutual aid, Variance, Remerton Mills Quitclaim @ RCC 2016-04-04

Only the smoke stack remains, yet Remerton Mills still took up most of the Remerton City Council agenda when Gretchen videoed there this month. The Humane Society wants to house dogs temporarily and house an adoption site for cats. This also requires a variance. Yes, apparently Remerton has more room for animals than Valdosta.

Here are links to the LAKE videos of each item, from the agenda. Also notice Remerton has Citizens to Be Heard first, like both Lowndes County and Valdosta used to have only a few years ago. Continue reading →

Videos: Emergency no-bid repairs, a bridge where, and unnecessary resurfacing @ LCC 2016-04-25

5.e. Emergency Fiber Replacement to South Lowndes The FY 2017 Juvenile Justice Incentive Grant was a popular topic yesterday morning, and some Commissioners showed a little bit of scepticism about that $89,005 in emergency no-bid repairs on the agenda for yesterday morning and for voting 5:30PM this evening.

Also $634,800 for a bridge we can’t tell where, and some unknown fraction of $1,663,888.78 to resurface a road that shouldn’t be used as a highway in the first place. Who’s in charge of budget planning for the county?

At the end, there was more from the County Manager about private road Carter Way: they discovered another property owner (“at least one”) after they agreed to spend $67,822 to fix a private road.

Here are links to each of the LAKE videos, with a few notes, followed by a video playlist. Continue reading →

Halliburton says fossil fuels unsustainable, lays off a third worldwide, including management

You know things are bad for fossil fuels when the biggest profiteer of them all takes an axe to itself. The fewer fossil fuel boondoggles (including more pipeline projects going belly-up), the faster investment will keep moving to renewable sun, wind, and water power, for profits, and we get clean air and water and less global warming.

“Tyler Durden”, Zerohedge, 22 April 2016, Halliburton Fires One Third Of Global Staff: “What We Are Experiencing Today Is Unsustainable”,

In a brutally frank and painfully honest first quarter operational update, Halliburton president Jeff Miller poured freezing cold water all over the “oil is stabilizing, and everything is going to be awesome” narrative. After explaining that the firm has laid off one-third of its global employees, and pointing to the collapse in sequential revenues across every business unit, Miller exclaimed: “What we are experiencing today is far beyond headwinds; it is
unsustainable.”

Due to the deadline of its merger agreement with Baker Hughes Halliburtion has delayed its earnings conference call until May 3rd and so gave an operational update. The healdlines were horrific:

Road paving and Alapaha BoatRamp in Naylor Town Hall @ LCC 2016-04-14 @ LCC 2016-04-14

Most people wanted to know which roads would be paved when, in Bemiss, to Alapaha Subdivision, and next to the new Civic Center. Steve Stalvey (Utilities), Mike Fletcher (Engineer), Joe Pritchard (County Manager), Joyce Evans (Dist. 1), George Page (VLPRA), Paige Dukes (County Clerk), Demarcus Marshall (Dist. 4), Bill Slaughter (Chairman), seated: Robert & Carolyn Dinkins They did also talk about the planned new civic center and the Alapaha Boatramp they’re building.

I thank the Chairman for clarifying his remark about paving every road in the county. He and other county officials also went on about safety being a big concern, which is news to me, on my road the county insisted on paving that became a drag race track. And what’s this about Continue reading →

Emergency no-bid repairs, a bridge where, and unnecessary resurfacing @ LCC 2016-04-25

$89,005 in emergency no-bid repairs on the agenda for Monday morning and voting Tuesday evening. Agenda Sheet Also $634,800 for a bridge we can’t tell where, and some unknown fraction of $1,663,888.78 to resurface a road that shouldn’t be used as a highway in the first place. Who’s in charge of budget planning for the county?

Why is replacing the fiber optic data cable that connects the South Lowndes Data Center and the E911 Center an emergency repair for $61,020, when apparently the problem has been going on for years? Meanwhile, it’s good that it’s not an emergency that the 911 Center Core Network Equipment needs replacing for $38,621. Planning ahead is good. Is one of these items in the budget and the other not?

Another emergency not marked as such in the agenda is Continue reading →

Carter Way Correction by Bill Slaughter @ LCC 2016-04-12

Thanks to Lowndes County Chairman Bill Slaughter, here’s a correction to Fixing private road Carter Way next to proposed Sabal Trail fracked methane path @ LCC 2016-04-12.

From: Bill Slaughter
Subject: Carter Way
Date: Mon, 18 Apr 2016 21:04:14 +0000

John,

I got a call today regarding comments that have been made about Agenda Item 7.h on your blog page, for clarification COWART & Sons was not awarded a contract for this emergency repair the contractor was Rountree Construction!

We requested a temporary easement from property owner Cowart & Sons to allow Rountree Construction to perform the work on a private road Continue reading →

Project Max and many others 6PM this evening @ VLCIA 2016-04-19

Is the mysterious Project Max a glass container plant as everyone seems to think? An agenda suddenly appeared It’s on the agenda that suddenly appeared on the Development Authority’s website this afternoon after Gretchen called to ask where it was. She will be there with the LAKE video camera.

Valdosta-Lowndes Development Authority
Tuesday, April 19, 2016 5:30 p.m.
Development Authority Conference Room/103 Roosevelt Drive
Monthly Meeting Agenda Continue reading →

Community Policies, Comprehensive Plan Workshop #5 @ SGRC 2016-04-18

6PM tonight at SGRC, fifth Workshop, as Ariel Godwin reminded us five days ago:

At our next workshop, we will finish reviewing the Issues and Opportunities for the Greater Lowndes Comprehensive Plan. We have two sections to review: Community Facilities & Services and Intergovernmental Coordination. I am attaching the Issues from those sections as they currently stand.

Since this is our second-to-last workshop, in the interest of time, I am attaching Continue reading →

Videos: Lowndes Comprehensive Plan Workshop @ SGRC 2016-04-04

Here are links to the LAKE videos of the 4 March 2016 Workshop on the Lowndes County Comprehensive Plan Update, followed by a video playlist. The next Workshop is 6PM tonight.

Here’s a video playlist:


Videos: Lowndes Comprehensive Plan Workshop
Workshop, 2016 Lowndes County Comprehensive Plan Update (SGRC),
Video by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE),
327 West Savannah Ave., Valdosta, GA 31601, 4 April 2016.

-jsq

Southern Company Annual Meeting @ SO 2016-05-25

Road trip to Callaway Gardens for the annual question time with Tom Fanning, questions provided by environmentalists and Southern Company (SO) stockholders from at least four states.

Energy Mix This figure from page ii of the meeting Notice illustrates both the problem and the solution for Southern Company. Natural gas has replaced coal as SO’s top energy source, and Nuclear is still in there. But renewables are up to 4%. And over on the right of the same page:

  • Growth in Renewables
    Approximately 3,800 megawatts of announced or added renewable capacity since 2012. This includes the development of what is expected to be the largest voluntary solar portfolio in the U.S. (at Georgia Power Company).

Interesting use of “voluntary”, but never mind that. If SO keeps that up, it will Continue reading →