Tag Archives: Valdosta

District 3 down to two candidates for Lowndes County Commission

The southern District 3 for Lowndes County Commission is down to only two candidates, one Democrat and one Republican, so there will be no primary races and Tom Hochschild (D) and Mark Wisenbaker (R) will face each other in the general election in November. Retiring candidate Don Thieme (D) throws his support behind Hochschild. District 3 is mostly the south half of the county, but it also wraps around Valdosta to incorporate Remerton and VSU. See detail map or PDF of district 1,2,3 as found on lowndescounty.com.

And Crawford Powell has withdrawn from the race for House District 174, so that leaves only two candidates there, too: Jessie Smith (D) and John L. Corbett (R), with no primary races, to face each other in November.

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Time to call it: Carbon Crash, Solar Dawn

Another observer gets it that green solar power is winning. Letting a fracking deliver company turn us into “stakeholders” in a white elephant methane pipeline would be an even huger waste after the pipeline stopped being used in a decade or so because sun, wind, and water power everything by then, winning like the Internet did.

Paul Gilding wrote on his blog 19 March 2013, Carbon Crash Solar Dawn,

I think it’s time to call it. Renewables and associated storage, transport and digital technologies are so rapidly disrupting whole industries’ business models they are pushing the fossil fuel industry towards inevitable collapse.

Some of you will struggle with that statement. Most people accept the idea that fossil fuels are all powerful — that the industry controls governments and it will take many decades to force them out of our economy. Fortunately, the fossil fuel industry suffers the same delusion.

In fact, probably the main benefit of the US shale gas and oil “revolution” is that it’s keeping the fossil fuel industry and it’s cheer squad distracted while renewables, electric cars and associated technologies build the momentum needed to make their takeover unstoppable — even by the most powerful industry in the world.

Why are the fossil fuel companies still pushing, then? Continue reading →

Videos: Mostly Paving and Bridges @ LCC 2014-03-24

Yesterday morning they discussed a turnkey government website service. And an annexation request by the City of Hahira. And they may actually be serious about coming into the 21st century with online county services.

Turns out the road resurfacing of four roads is actually mostly from a GDOT LMIG grant, but the other three, shoulder paving on Val Del Road and Boring Pond Road and a bridge replacement on Cat Creek Road are all from SPLOST VII funds. Plus some trucks for Animal Control and tablets for the Fire Department, an alcohol license, and some alphabet-soup agreements, one of which turned out to be for a grant for a victim advocate position in the Solicitor General’s office.

Here’s the agenda.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, MARCH 24, 2014, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, MARCH 25, 2014, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street — 2nd Floor
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Animals, Alcohol, Alphabet Soup, Paving, Bridges, and Fire @ LCC 2014-03-24

Got to spend those SPLOST dollars widening roads and bridges to promote development farther out in the country! Plus some trucks for Animal Control and tablets for the Fire Department, an alcohol license, and some alphabet-soup agreements. It may be healthy as food, but I wonder if opaque acronyms unexplained in the agenda is good for local government.

Here’s the agenda.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, MARCH 24, 2014, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, MARCH 25, 2014, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street — 2nd Floor
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Videos: Water under Moody Family Housing and Sabal Trail @ LCC 2014-03-11

Two speakers about the Sabal Trail pipeline, one about water issues under Moody Family Housing, One request to do something about speeding (good luck), a recognition (firefighters), a proclamation (purple hearts), and an award (budget), one rezoning withdrawn, three others approved, two contracts (bus system renewal and software master contract), some but not all streets accepted in Nelson Hill, and no mention of the Lake Park annexation request that took up at least five minutes the previous morning.

For why John Page is no longer on the Commission, see the previous post with the agenda. Here’s the agenda again with links to the videos and a few notes. See also videos from the previous morning’s Work Session. And see also Lowndes County becomes third purple heart county in the state, by Matthew Woody, VDT, 12 March 2014.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, MARCH 10, 2014, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, MARCH 11, 2014, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street — 2nd Floor
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Can we get pipeline update and citizen input? –Carolyn Singletary @ LCC 2014-03-11

A directly affected landowner wanted to know what happened with the talks among several local county attorneys about the proposed Sabal Trail pipeline, and was there any way citizens could provide input, at the 11 March 2014 Regular Session of the Lowndes County Commission.

Here’s the video:


Can we get pipeline update and citizen input? –Carolyn Singletary
Regular Session, Lowndes County Commission (LCC),
Video by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 11 March 2014.

Also she wondered if she could hear Continue reading →

Speeding on Academy Drive and Parkwood –Warren Scoby @ LCC 2014-03-11

A local citizen said he was concerned about speeding by people cutting through his road to get to Bemiss Road. The Chairman promised they would look into it, at the 11 March 2014 Regular Session of the Lowndes County Commission. That would be a refreshing change from the Commission’s previous refusals to do anything about that problem on other roads.

Here’s the video:


Speeding on Academy Drive and Parkwood –Warren Scoby
Regular Session, Lowndes County Commission (LCC),
Video by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 11 March 2014.

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There are things you can do about the Sabal Trail Pipeline –Mario Bartoletti @ LCC 2014-03-11

Apparently the community believes the Commission thinks there’s nothing they can do, but Mario Bartoletti, speaking for himself and for WACE, said he thought there were things the Commission could do about that 36-inch methane pipeline, and he listed some things, at the 11 March 2014 Regular Session of the Lowndes County Commission.

Here’s the video:


There are things you can do about the Sabal Trail Pipeline –Mario Bartoletti
Regular Session, Lowndes County Commission (LCC),
Video by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 11 March 2014.

His list included:

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Water issues under Moody Family Housing –Dr. Michael Noll @ LCC 2014-03-11

Water issues still need to be investigated and resolved under the proposed Moody Family Housing, said Dr. Michael Noll, presenting a public comment by him and two other VSU professors about the recent evironmental assessment to the 11 March 2014 Regular Session of the Lowndes County Commission.

Here’s the video:


Regular Session, Lowndes County Commission (LCC)
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 11 March 2014.
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE).

Appended is the text of the VSU professors’ letter, and here it is in PDF.

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Utility-owned rooftop solar: Tom Fanning and Steven Chu agree

Tom Fanning is getting support for his idea of utility-owned rooftop solar. Can we see that tiger team report, Tom? And FPL, how about you get on with this, instead of trying to gouge an unneeded yard-wide methane pipeline through here? Sun, wind, and water can power each U.S. state, so how about FPL in the Sunshine State and Southern Company in the southeast get out in front and lead?

Jeff McMahon wrote for Forbes yesterday, Steven Chu Solves Utility Companies’ Death Spiral,

Utility companies have been looking for new regulations and higher connection charges to save them from a “death spiral” spurred by a surge in rooftop solar installations. Instead, says former Energy Secretary Steven Chu, they should get into the rooftop solar business.

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