Tag Archives: Law

Most of June electric bill for overbudget nuke, yet the sun rises

While electric bills still are tilted against local solar generation 300x225 CWIP on electric bill, in Most of June electric bill for overbudget nuke, by Bret Wagenhorst, 11 June 2015 and Georgia Power continues to levy its stealth CWIP tax for its nuke boondoggle, yet solar power is rising this year on Southern Company and Georgia Power.

Bret Wagenhorst posted on facebook 9 June 2015:

I find it decidedly ironic that a large portion of my last month electric bill went toward paying for a nuclear power plant that is hundreds of millions of dollars over budget, and which will no doubt cost millions of dollars a year to run and to manage its potentially deadly waste. I wonder if the money spent on the nuclear plant were used to purchase rooftop solar panels for all certified energy efficient Georgian homes if we citizens might not be better off in the long run. Thoughts?

Look for Nuclear Construction Cost Recovery Rider on that bill: Continue reading

Videos: MAZ, Water, School @ LCC 2015-06-08

Through a LAKE open records request, now you can see the complicated Moody Activity Zones Text Amendments to the Unified Land Development Code, which affect everything from animals to retirement homes. In these LAKE videos you can see the Lowndes County Commission consider that and other matters at their Work Session of Monday 8 June 2015, including Lowndes Middle School Utility Service from the City of Valdosta, two water well and septic rezonings on Mt. Zion Rd and Touchton Rd, and water and sewer for 24 acres of The Orchard at Stone Creek, Tillman Crossing Rd. Plus Utility Relocation for the Replacement of Franks Creek Bridge on Morven Road and many bids, including for Paving on Coppage Road; staff recommends the Scruggs bid. County Manager Joe Pritchard noted many of the bids were related to SPLOST in an effort “to get those projects up and running as quickly as possible”.

Here’s the agenda. See also the LAKE videos of the Planning Commission meeting that considered these rezonings and the MAZ. Continue reading

Board packet item for MAZ ULDC Text Amendment TXT-2015-01 @ LCC 2015-06-08

It’s no wonder the Planning Commission wanted more time for these complicated proposed county code changes to the Moody Activity Zoning Districts (MAZ). The county could have just as easily put the PDF of this item online with the agenda. They didn’t, so LAKE filed an open records request, which no only makes these maps and text available to the public, it demonstrates the county can supply electronic format via email.

Here’s plain text for the Board packet agenda item sheet and the Planning Division Amendment Notes, and images of all the other pages from the PDF.

See also the Continue reading

Water, septic, sewer, utilties, Lowndes Middle School @ LCC 2015-06-08

What are these complicated Moody Activity Zoning Districts amendments to the land development code that involve many maps and tables that county staff are not showing the public, even though one of the stated reasons is residential dwellings and family ties land divisions?

300x346 2379 Copeland Road, Parcel 0165 012, in Lowndes Middle School, by John S. Quarterman, 8 June 2015 What has Lowndes Middle School done for water and sewer until now, when it’s finally asking to connect to Valdosta utilities because Lowndes County utilities are too far away? Plus two water well and septic rezonings on Mt. Zion Rd and Touchton Rd, and water and sewer for 24 acres of The Orchard at Stone Creek, Tillman Crossing Rd. And Utility Relocation for the Replacement of Franks Creek Bridge on Morven Road.

Many bids, including for Paving on Coppage Road; staff recommends the Scruggs bid.

Here’s the agenda, which this time (unlike last) at least does have the one- or two-page agenda item sheets, but is still lacking the rest of the board packet.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, JUNE 8,2015, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, JUNE 9, 2015, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor

Continue reading

Atlanta TV station exposes ALEC lobbyists in Savannah

Caught on-camera: ALEC’s off-duty sheriff’s deputies getting TV reporters thrown out of their own hotel for “taking pictures in the hotel”, after ALEC’s marketing droid denied any lobbying going on, nevermind the lobbyist and legislator in a bar spelling out how it works: ALEC gives “scholarships” to legislators who then meet in closed rooms with corporate reps (including all the companies involved in the Sabal Trail fracked methane pipeline) who have equal votes on draft bills for legislators to get passed as law in many states. Bills promoting fracking, pipelines, LNG export, and against solar power, renewable portfolio standards, not to mention for private prisons and privatized education and against municipal broadband and country-of-origin labelling, plus many other corporate give-aways subsidized by the taxpayers and the environment. It’s time for the IRS to revoke ALEC’s 501(c)(3) status. And for the Georgia legislature to apply the state’s sunshine laws to itself.

Brendan Keefe and Michael King, WXIA-TV, 22 May 2015, Legislators and corporate lobbyists meet in secret at Georgia resort, Continue reading

Videos: Bottled water, prisoner details, board appointees, and Easter Seals @ LCC 2015-05-11

One appointee bowed out, architect selection and public defender to the courthouse were clarified, and dog kennels were discussed, in these LAKE videos from yesterday morning’s 11 May 2015 Work Session of the Lowndes County Commission, with a few notes. See also the agenda, plus a new item 6 f. Server Replacement/Network Core Replacement. Continue reading

Bottled water, prisoner details, board appointees, and Easter Seals @ LCC 2015-05-11


Picture by Michael Rivera, CC

Why is the county accepting Bids for Bottled Water Service? If its own water, or Valdosta’s, is good enough for the taxpayers, shouldn’t it be good enough for Commission and staff? They’ve also got a Bid for Coffee Service, but we don’t grow coffee here, as far as I know, so that’s not the same issue.

With many local people needing jobs, why does the county continue to renew an Annual Contract Renewal for Prison Work Details?

Looks like Joseph G. Stevens will be reappointed to the Lowndes County Public Facilities Authority. Both G. Norman Bennett and incumbent Anthony Payton want to be appointed to the one slot opening on the Valdosta-Lowndes County Airport Authority. Their applications were not included with the agenda, so who can say which one is most qualified?

I guess they didn’t decide to relocate the Public Defender’s Office into the historic Lowndes County Courthouse, since on the agenda is a three-year Lease Agreement for the Public Defender’s Office at its present location.

Looks like J. Glenn Gregory will provide the Architectural Services for the Lowndes County Civic Center Renovations and the Architectural Services for the Naylor Community Center, both funded via SPLOST VII. Both apparently without competitive bids.

Here’s the agenda, which also has Declaration of Surplus Items and Authorization for Sale/Disposal and Easter Seals Southern Georgia Presentation (Work Session Only).

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, MAY 11, 2015  8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, MAY 12, 2015 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor

Continue reading

Idaho citizen files $1.5 million wrongful arrest suit against local appointed body

Speaking up in a public meeting should result in violations of someone’s rights under the First (“peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances”), Fifth (“nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law”), or Eighth (“Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.”) Amendments. Anti-fracking activist Alma Hasse is seeking legal redress. This could be a nationwide trend, with one local bully apologizing to Nydia Tisdale to avoid jail in Forsyth County, Georgia, after settling for $200,000 for being ejected from the Cummings, Georgia City Council for videoing. Nydia hasn’t filed charges yet for the case of the six missing screams, in which she was forcibly ejected from a public campaign event headlined by Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal for videoing. Maybe if you advertise a public meeting, you can’t throw someone out for videoing, and you can’t arrest somebody for speaking up in public government meeting.

Alma Hasse was arrested for Continue reading

Videos: Justice, Trash, Telephones, Investment, DUI, Liquor @ LCC 2015-04-27

They vote tonight at 5:30 PM on what you can see them discussing yesterday morning in these videos.

They got a Deep South Sanitation, LLC Application for Franchise for trash collection, including use of the county’s collection facility at 345 Gil Harbin Industrial Blvd. Commissioner Demarcus Marshall asked what about recycling; Chairman Bill Slaughter said there would be recycling at the collection centers. Which means yes ADS’ price went up and service reduced since no curbside recycling collection anymore.

County Manager Joe Pritchard asked County Engineer Mike Fletcher to report and to be added to the Regular Session emergency Nankin Road Repair due to a water-eroded box culvert. And it’s a single-source no-bid, this time for Rountree Construction.

Commissioner Mark Wisenbaker had a few remarks about the letter to support plans to “renovate Arbor Trace II Apartments in Lake Park” by Investment Management Company of Valdosta, Inc.

The body armor request from two weeks before got Continue reading

Videos: Trash, Vallotton agriculture, animals, body armor, HEAT, water, and a canopy road @ LCC 2015-04-14

ADS trash collection price and performance wasn’t on the agenda, but even former Commissioner Richard Lee stood up to speak about it two weeks ago at the April 14th 2015 Regular Session, along with two other citizens David Eaton and me. See also VDT trash story. The VDT didn’t pick up on Ann Swayze’s smoot and soot concerns also being related, because nobody stood up to complain about burning in Foxborough before the collection centers closed.

Commissioners did the right thing and unanimously rezoned Vallotton Farms back to Estate Agriculture, like it was before county-wide rezoning happened. It wasn’t like the County Planner said, “it has developed around it in an urban way”. The subject land and landowners didn’t do that: other people have built subdivisions around it the the county’s active promotion. And for once agriculture won, after landowner attorney Bill Langdale, Commissioner Demarcus Marshall, and I spoke up for it.

They’re even going to preserve the canopy on Boring Pond Road and I thanked the County Engineer for that.

The two Sheriff’s requests for Continue reading