Last month,
Phil Oxendine volunteered that he and the county attorney were
looking into passing a resoulution against the Sabal Trail pipeline
like other counties were doing.
Yet at this months meeting of the
Suwannee County Board of County Commissioners
he denied he even said that, after Florida Power and Light (FPL)
showed up.
Amber Vann wrote for the Suwannee Democrat 19 September 2014, Gas pipeline concerns continue, Continue reading
Will they take ten minutes to consider all these agenda items? They’re meeting right now.
LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2014, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2014, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor
- Call to Order
- Invocation
Only in the Regular Session.
- Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag
Only in the Regular Session.
- Minutes for Approval
- Public Hearing
- For Consideration
- Abandonment of Unopened Right of Way off Water Oak Drive
- Section 5311 Rural Transportation Program Operating Contracts
- Leila Ellis Social Services Building-Approval of Lease Agreements
- GEMA Performance Partnership Agreement (FY 2014)
- USGS Funding Agreement for Hwy 122 Stream Gauge
- Public Safety Radio System Upgrade
- Reports-County Manager
- Citizens Wishing to be Heard Please State Name And Address
Only in the Regular Session.
-jsq
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)
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 COMMISSIONERSContinue reading
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
It’s a start. At least New York City is already doing something. Time for Georgia to stop burning more fossil fuels and uranium and get on with solar power.
By Lisa W. Foderaro, NY Times, 21 September 2014, At climate change march in New York, a clarion call for action,
Participants from across the country began arriving early on Sunday morning at the staging area near the American Museum of Natural History. Rosemary Snow, 75, stretched her legs after a nearly 14-hour bus ride from Georgia.
Continue reading
We already knew solar and wind are better investments than nuclear or natural gas, and now we find they’re already better than oil.
In Impact Lab 18 September 2014, $100B invested in wind or solar will produce more energy than oil,
Kepler Chevreux, a French investment bank, has produced a fascinating analysis that has dramatic implications for the global oil industry. The investment bank estimates that $100 billion invested in either wind energy or solar energy — and deployed as energy for light and commercial vehicles — will produce significantly more energy than that same $100 billion invested in oil.
The implications, needless to say, are dramatic. It would signal the end of Big Oil, and the demise of an industry that has dominated the global economy and geo-politics, for the last few decades. And the need for it to reshape its business model around renewables, as we discuss here.
“If we are right, the implications would be momentous,” writes Kepler Chevreux analyst Mark Lewis.
“It would mean Continue reading
I talked about the Water Trail that WWALS Watershed Coalition, Inc.
is developing on the Alapaha River with a tiny grant from the
Georgia River Network, and how that was a plus for local economic
development that wouldn’t cost VLCDA a dime.
They seemed to like that, at the
19 August 2014 Regular Meeting of the Valdosta-Lowndes County Development Authority.
Here’s the video, followed by some pictures, links, and notes:
Continue reading
They (maybe) finally settled on their new name:
Valdosta-Lowndes County Development Authority; see
Minutes.
Interesting discussion about
Express Scripts,
and some details about presenters at the next day’s
Community Economic Development meeting.
I talked about the Alapaha River Water Trail.
And they are talking about spec[ulative] building, such as they liked when they saw it in Douglas and Valdosta Mayor Gayle liked in Vidalia.
Here’s the agenda, with a few notes, and links to the videos.
Continue readingValdosta-Lowndes Development Authority
Tuesday, August 19, 2014 5:30 p.m.
Development Authority Conference Room
103 Roosevelt Drive
Monthly Meeting Agenda
A utility didn’t stop at blowing up a Calfornia neighborhood,
it also demanded the Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) get a favorable judge
for that 2010 San Bruno natural gas pipe explosion.
The CPUC president’s chief of staff just last year wrote slides
praising his Legacy as Best Practices.
Does that legacy include suborning justice?
He’s still there, although she was fired, and three PG&E executives
“ended their employment”.
How many other PG&E and other utility executives and CPUC and other
state regulators follow those same Best Practices?
Ellen Knickmeyer, Associated Press, 15 September 2014, PG&E Officials Removed for Improper Communications,
Four senior officials with Pacific Gas & Electric Co. and the state commission regulating it were removed or resigned over emails released Monday showing the utility and state regulators appeared to negotiate which judge would be assigned to hear one of the utility’s rate cases.
The emails show the commission ultimately assigned to the case a judge for whom PG&E had expressed a preference, rather than another judge who PG&E said “has a history of being very hard on us.”
Also Monday, California Public Utilities Commission president Michael Peevey, who was included Continue reading
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 AuthorityContinue reading
Tuesday, September 16, 2014 5:30 p.m.
Development Authority Conference Room
103 Roosevelt Drive
Monthly Meeting Agenda
Duke Energy reps couldn’t answer any questions beyond their canned
presentation, not about water use, not about their permit application to FL-PSC
for a new site, and not about Sabal Trail pipeline routing.
But the Suwannee County Commission passed their requested resolution
anyway for a pair of new natural gas turbines.
Update 16 September 2014: Here’s video of Debra Johnson’s find:
Mr, Oxendine (chairman) announced at the end of the meeting that “they are not ignoring the Sabal Trail Pipeline and its threat to Suwannee County. Mr. Oxendine also stated “he has instructed Mr. Harris and Mr. Prevatt (County Attorney) to evaluate the situation and consider doing something similar to the other counties that have passed resolutions and ordinances against The ST pipeline in their counties.” Next meeting tomorrow night Tuesday 09-16-2014 at 6pm.
Someone (apparently county staff) introduced
the Duke item in the agenda below:
for the construction of two new simple-cycle combustion turbines and associated equipment as well as a 40 by 100 administrative building. The turbines will be fueled by natural gas….
It’s Duke’s existing land plus a bit more they’ve bought.
Local resident Debra Johnson
asked Duke to withdraw their plans.