Sinkholes, explosions, and other risks to our rivers, lands, and wildlife for no benefit from the Sinkhole Trail, plus FERC and its environmental contractor are paid by the pipeline companies, but still we can win, said local landowners and others to FERC in Valdosta last night, as you can see in these LAKE videos.
And you can come to the
Kayaktivism Day this Saturday
several Valdosta State clubs are holding on the Withlacoochee River.
Meanwhile, the FERC circus moves to Columbia High School in Live Oak, FL tonight. Continue reading
Tag Archives: Law
A farce, a hoax, and wrong: citizens about Sabal to FERC in Moultrie 2015-09-29
“You tell us you’re sorry and it happens again”, said Alton Burns of Coolidge about pipeline leaks, fires, and explosions, setting the tone for the whole evening, which ended with local landowners calling the whole process a farce and a hoax. As attorney Jonathan Waters said, South Georgia is a home, not a pipeline easement.
The FERC meetings started the previous evening in Albany and continue at 5:30 PM each night at:
- Wednesday, September 30, at Holiday Inn Valdosta, Conference Center Magnolia Ballroom, 1805 West Hill Ave., Valdosta, GA 31601. LAKE videos from Valdosta.
- Thursday, October 1, at Columbia High School Auditorium, 469 SE Fighting Tiger Drive, Lake City, FL 32025 LAKE videos from Lake City.
There are many more things you can do to stop Sabal Trail. Remember, the bigger they are, the harder they fall.
Here are links to the LAKE videos from last night in Moultrie, followed by a video playlist. Continue reading
Videos: Nuisance ordinance, numerous emergencies, small rezoning, and alcohol @ LCC 2015-08-11
They meet again Monday morning; here are videos from when they voted two weeks ago.
There was a
brief update on the Shiloh Road sinkhole,
adding to
the previous morning’s report;
see also
news reports.
The rest of the meeting was rather predictable Continue reading
$9.40 for a mound of paper @ LCC 2015-08-10
Gretchen made an Open Records request Monday morning and
it was available Tuesday 4:37 PM: mostly on paper and less than
an hour before the Commission voted.
The rezoning material from the Planning office was sent by electronic mail. The rest cost $9.40 to retrieve on paper. Nevermind in the email earlier Tuesday of the old ordinance from 1992 the county staff demonstrated they can put a paper document on their copier and produce a PDF. They could have done that with the rest of the board packet. Why didn’t they?
The Work Session was Monday morning at 8:30 AM 10 Aug 2015. Gretchen was notified by telephone about 4:30 PM Tuesday 11 Aug 2015. The County Palace closes at 5PM. The Commission met at 5:30 PM Tuesday to vote. So none Continue reading
Videos: Unknown ordinance, numerous emergencies, small rezoning, and alcohol @ LCC 2015-08-10
Here are videos of yesterday morning’s Work Session.
This morning, the same day as tonight’s voting Regular Session,
we got a few answers to some of yesterday’s questions about the
Nuisance Abatement Ordinance:
What 1992 ordinance? Which state law? Where’s the new draft?
Here’s the old ordinance and the new draft. And the memo wrapping the new draft refers to O.C.G.A. §§41-2-7 through 41-2-17. The memo doesn’t seem to say when that Georgia law was updated.
Here’s the
agenda.
See also the Continue reading
Minutes from 2006, Lowndes County Commission
Minutes aren’t on Lowndes County’s new website back more than a few years.
Even on their previous website, three sets of minutes were not there.
More than four years after Gretchen asked,
she
asked again,
and today we finally got those three.
Look who signed those minutes as County Clerk:
K. Paige Dukes, the same County Clerk who took four years to
return them in response to an Open Records request.
Here’s the message, and I’ve linked in those minutes.
-jsq
From: Amanda Smith <asmith@lowndescounty.com>
Date: Tue, 11 Aug 2015 16:43:18 +0000
To: “‘land@quarterman.org'” <land@quarterman.org>
Subject: Meeting MinutesAs per your request, I have attached the meeting minutes from 8/8/06, 12/12/06, and 12/20/06. Continue reading
Got one Lowndes County ordinance (nuisance abatement) after five years asking @ LCC 2015-08-10
Back in 2011 the County Clerk didn’t say which May she would provide
that list of ordinances….
Her response of today is below.
The
old ordinance is so old it’s signed by Inez Pendleton.
It’s still in force, though, so shouldn’t it be on the county’s website,
along with all the other ordinances in force that also aren’t there? See below for list; also notice the dates I’ve boldfaced.
The
proposed new ordinance
is not readily translatable to plain text; looks like she scanned a paper copy.
Both are relevant to
today’s Lowndes County Commission meeting.
For the minutes she mentioned, see separate post.
-jsq
From: Paige Dukes <pdukes@lowndescounty.com>
Date: Tue, 11 Aug 2015 15:42:29 +0000
To: John and Gretchen Quarterman <land@quarterman.org>
Subject: RE: Open Records Request for OrdinancesGood Afternoon Gretchen,
As per your request, please find the attached Continue reading
Land is not just money: appeal tax valuations today
Appeal today if you think there’s more to land (or business)
and woods and fields and streams than money,
unlike the Tax Assessors, whose revaluation would drive development
into agricultural areas of the county where it doesn’t belong,
while avoiding populated areas such as the south side of Valdosta.
We can expect pipeline companies and utilities from other states
to think nothing of pillaging our lands for their profit.
We shouldn’t expect that of our neighbors whom we elected Tax Asssessors.
If you have affection for your land, your county, your neighborhood,
today’s the deadline
to appeal your valuation.
And there will be an election later.
As Wendell Berry said,
Whatever has happened in what economists call “the economy,” it is generally true that the land economy has been discounted or ignored.
Are the Tax Assessors boomers? Are you a sticker? Wendell Berry explains: Continue reading
Unknown ordinance, numerous emergencies, small rezoning, and alcohol @ LCC 2015-08-10
How can we “Know the Laws” as the county’s
front page says,
if a county ordinance being revised isn’t there and isn’t
distributed when the county is about to vote on it Tuesday evening
after the Work Session this morning at 8:30 AM?
For the Nuisance Abatement Ordinance the packet agenda sheet says only: Continue reading
Nydia Tisdale wins First Amendment Award for her Citizen Journalism, Fighting for the Right to Record
Update 2015-08-07: corrections by Nydia, including a timeline.
Only a bit more than three years since
the pictured incident,
Nydia Tisdale gets some of the recognition she deserves.
Georgia citizen journalist Nydia Tisdale is in the news again but this time, the story doesn’t involve her getting thrown out of a public meeting or arrested in a pumpkin patch.
Tisdale is being honored by Georgia’s First Amendment Foundation for her work in making public meetings available to the citizens of her community and for her dedication to keeping government open for everyone’s participation.
After getting thrown out of the Cumming City Council for videoing in April 2012, Nydia got Continue reading