After only a few weeks of organized opposition by citizens,
including Satilla Riverkeeper and activists from as far away as Waycross,
mighty DuPont has had to think again about mining Wayne County near Jesup.
Not given up, but at least not just breezing through unnoticed.
Update 2014-08-28 14:00: Greenlaw Press Release.
Terry Dickson wrote for jacksonville.com 27 August 2014, DuPont withdraws application for permit to mine more than 2,200 acres in Wayne County, Continue reading
Landowner Johnny Burt’s excuse for having Nydia Tisdale ejected
from an event advertised as a public campaign rally:
“She promptly sat down on the front row on the end where she would be right in their face and was making everybody uncomfortable.”
Shades of Ashley Paulk’s excuse for wanting that illegal bill of attainder Continue reading
Stuck in the foyer six deep because SRO in the Planning Commission tonight,
mostly for the
Turner Brooks
item, back with another plan after being
withdrawn last month.
Tom Call, representing some of the owners of the property sellers,
said they’d tried to meet with the neighbors, who refused.
He didn’t say whether they tried meeting with them one-on-one.
GLPC could have put a bunch of conditions
on it that would have mostly satisfied the neighbors’ concerns,
leaving the developers and sellers to decide whether it was worth it.
Instead, they tabled.
The Valdosta City Council can still decide if they want to.
However, one of the houses they’d have to demolish is potentially
on the National Historic Register, and if so, they can’t tear it down.
Also, they only submitted one name for the County Commission to consider for appointment to GLPC; attorney Brad Folsom. They didn’t include several potential women applicants, several of them attorneys, and yes, also Gretchen. As an old white man, even I find it impressive how much this area is run by old white men.
The agenda arrived only as images Gretchen took at the meeting. Videos to come. Continue reading
The contractor
hasn’t finished the punchlist for Nottinghill
but the County Engineer wants the Commission to accept that infrastucture anyway.
The
Davidson Road drainage easement quit claim is from the county back to the landowner.
The
third item must be for tomorrow evening.
Three minutes total for
only
two items from the agenda,
but that’s probably a record.
Normally we post videos of each item separately, but this time, why bother?
They vote Tuesday evening at 5:30 PM.
Here’s the video, followed by the agenda with a few notes, and links to the individual items inside the one video.
Three minutes, three items
Work Session, Lowndes County Commission (LCC),
Video by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 25 August 2014.
LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERSContinue reading
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, AUGUST 25, 2014, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, AUGUST 26, 2014, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street — 2nd Floor
They appointed
the Chairman’s personal pick to the Construction Board of Appeals.
The
Nelson Hill unknown tinkerings to the code were finally withdrawn.
In the unedited video you can see the few speakers the Chairman allowed
to speak about
the Roger Budd and Leninco Francis Lake rezoning for Family Dollar,
and that there was actually some rationale for why the approved the rezoning.
Thanks to Toma Hawk for this video of both the Work Session and the Regular Session.
Here’s the agenda with a few notes.
LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERSContinue reading
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, AUGUST 11, 2014, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, AUGUST 12, 2014, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor
There was at least some reason for the Commission’s approval of the
Family Dollar and other use rezoning for Roger Budd Jr. and Leninco
out of the Francis Lake golf course in Lake Park:
because it would include a condition of a berm that would continue
with the property regardless of who owned it.
The applicant’s
attorney had made it clear that applicant
considered the berm too expensive and it, along with other conditions,
might make the project unfeasible.
Perhaps the Commission should apply the same technique
to stop the Sabal Trail fracked methane pipeline.
This was in the
23 August 2014 Regular Session of the Lowndes County Commission;
thanks to Toma Hawk for the video.
6.b. REZ-2014-14 Roger Budd Jr, Lakes Blvd (SR 376), R-10 to C-G, Water/Sewer, ~4.2 acres
[Work Session Start 1 minute 48 seconds.] County Planner Jason Davenport said this was a repeat of a request from 2009 “that Continue reading
Last December
Chairman Slaughter wanted relatives of those selling land for Nottinghill
to come forward and state their names
the day after
he didn’t ask Spectra Energy reps to do that
during their sales pitch for the Sabal Trail fracked methane pipeline?
Well, the
county is now pondering accepting infrastructure for that subdivision.
Maybe the won’t accept that pipeline, which they could prevent by
passing or enforcing local land use zoning ordinances.
There’s also a
Quit Claim Deed for Drainage Easement on Davidson Road
and an
Emergency Management Certificate Presentation,
and that’s it, on the lightest agenda in recent memory.
LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERSContinue reading
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, AUGUST 25, 2014, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, AUGUST 26, 2014, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street — 2nd Floor
Update 2014-08-25: There was some rationale for why the Commission voted to approve. See Videos: developer property rights and effects on neighbors, Leninco, Roger Budd, Lake Park @ LCC 2014-08-12.
With little notice local citizens didn’t have time to organize opposition
to a rezoning for three companies domiciled outside Lowndes County
on behalf of a developer who doesn’t even own the property next to them.
Yet again no agenda was posted for the Planning Commission last month
so few people showed up.
More spoke at the Lowndes County Commission this month.
But with so little time, only 38 people signed a petition,
and there were no
citizen-organized meetings, unlike for
the Brookhaven rezoning back in March and April.
Unlike the Lake Park City Council, which
held a special public hearing,
the Lowndes County Commission plowed ahead on its usual schedule
and voted on a bare majority to approve anyway for a developer on which
they are on a first-name basis,
while local neighbors went un-named and unheeded.
Does this seem right to you?
Toma Hawk videoed and edited together the Work Session of 11 August 2014 and the Regular Session of 12 August 2014 to emphasize this item from the agenda: Continue reading
Oregon
denying a permit for a coal dock on the Columbia River Monday
may seem far away, but the effects of coal ash are right here
in Lowndes County.
Effects that an Alabama county is calling a toxic chemical civil rights violation in the Arrowhead Landfill in Uniontown.
AP reported 14 August 2014, EPA investigating claims west Alabama landfill violates civil rights of black property owners,
It’s not the first time that the Arrowhead has been in the news. In 2009, an estimated 3.9 million tons of coal ash was dumped at the landfill. It was brought in after a Tennessee Valley Authority dam breached in east Tennessee, spilling toxic ash into a river and damaging about 300 acres. To date, it’s the largest coal ash spill in U.S. history.
Much of that ash ended up being dumped at the landfill in Perry County, which in return received Continue reading
Colter Anstaett wrote for WALB 19 August 2014,
Changes coming to a busy Valdosta intersection,
GDOT wants to add stop lights and turn lanes to the intersection of East Hill Avenue and Clay Road. They also want to add bike lanes to a portion of East Hill avenue near the intersection and align Clay Road with Hollywood Street on the opposite side of the road….
Continue reading