Tag Archives: Valdosta

Mississippi PSC required spending docs for Kemper Coal: what about Plant Vogtle?

Maybe Georgia PSC could do about Georgia Power’s nuclear Plant Vogtle what Mississippi PSC did about Mississippi Power’s Kemper Coal: hold their parent Southern Company accountable for cost overruns. And for pipelines!

Sam R. Hall blogged for Daily Ledes 1 November 2013, Sources: U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz to visit Kemper coal plant,

The PSC voted unanimously to require Mississippi Power to provide additional documents justifying their spending on the Kemper plant. The hearing is set for May 2014, when the plant was originally supposed to go online.

“If the PSC rejects some of the spending as imprudent, it could add to the $1 billion in costs that shareholders have already agreed to absorb,” the Associated Press reported last month.

Meanwhile, GA PSC Continue reading

Videos: Steward, Chancy, VLCIA, Nottinghill, and Teramore @ GLPC 2013-10-28

Prequel of the bogus VLMPO maps! Maybe the Valdosta City Council tonight will clarify why the Industrial Authority is asking it to annex and rezone a parcel it apparently does not own. Here’s what the Planning Commission said about that, plus rezonings in Dasher (no speakers and approved unanimously) and Hahira (tabled at request of applicant; see separate post for more on that one), plus two in Lowndes County: Teramore (yes, it’s Dollar General again, and they unanimously recommended it), and Nottinghill is back and got tabled again.

Here’s the agenda with links to the videos and a few notes.

Greater Lowndes Planning Commission

Lowndes County City of Valdosta City of Dasher City of Hahira City of Lake Park

REGULAR MONTHLY MEETING

AGENDA

Lowndes County South Health District Administrative Office
325 West Savannah Avenue

Monday, October 28, 2013* 5:30 P.M. * Public Hearing

Continue reading

LEDs vs. the entire U.S. nuclear fleet (and gas pipeline)

All U.S. nuclear power reactors could be replaced by LED lighting with a few clever on-off controls. More evidence Plant Vogtle is a boondoggle good for nothing but propping up profits for Georgia Power and Southern Company.

Michael Kanellos wrote for Forbes 28 October 2013, Can LED Bulbs Make Nuclear Plants Obsolete?

One $7 billion nuclear plant like one of Georgia Power’s 1.2 GW units would add a little over 1 percent of capacity. The bulb solution would cost $60 billion, and around $36 billion two years from now, and require only that consumers know how to screw in a light bulb. Nuclear would cost $105 billion, probably more, and take decades.

So maybe it’s not just weather that’s pushing down your demand, Southern Company: maybe Continue reading

Southern Company missed earnings: weather and Kemper Coal and nuclear Plant Vogtle

SO CEO Tom Fanning continued to blame slow sales and earnings on mild weather (air conditioners running less), but the big boondoggle going bad is Kemper Coal, which has slipped six months from May 2014 to Q4 2014, and even the Wall Street Journal calls it “possibly the most expensive fossil-fuel power plant ever built in the U.S”. How bad will SO’s stock tank when SO’s even more expensive nuclear Plant Vogtle slips even more? Dividends can’t prop up SO’s share price forever, not when PSCs are revolting against the rate hikes and guaranteed profit hikes that prop up those dividends. When will Southern Company and Georgia Power get out front and lead in solar and wind power? Before or after the public, state public service commissions, and investors make them do it?

Justin Loiseau wrote for DailyFinance 4 November 2013, Southern Company Earnings: A $5 Billion Blunder? Continue reading

Rural broadband economics slides

Use of fast Internet access by as many people as possible improves local income and jobs, and fast Internet access is necessary for creative workers, according to a nationwide detailed study.

Courtesy of lead author Brian Whitacre (pictured), here are the slides from Broadband’s Contribution to Economic Health in Rural Areas: A Causal Analysis, presented at the Telecommunications Policy Research Conference and previously blogged here as General broadband adoption improves rural economic health. They’re a lot easier to see than my blurry pictures. You can see the Valdosta MSA on the maps of some of their underlying data.

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Early Election returns

So far, according to Lowndes County’s online election results, SPLOST is winning more than 2 to 1, while Bruce Cain and Rose Adams are neck-and-neck for a plurality for Mayor in Hahira with incumbent Wayne Bullard a distant third and Johnny L. Stalvey trailing. Kenneth Davis is way ahead of Traci Selph Davis for Hahira City Council District 2.

In Lake Park, it looks like Bert Rutland is going to make it onto the council this time, while Eric Schindler will remain Mayor.

For Valdosta City Council, incumbents Alvin Payton (District 4) and Robert Yost (District 6) are leading, as is Sandra J. Tooley (District 2), although not by as wide a margin.

For Valdosta School Board, Lizzie Shumphard (District 2) is way in the lead, incumbent Vanassa Flucas (District 2) is even farther ahead, and incumbent Warren Sweet Lee (District 3) is sailing in unopposed.

Apparently some results in Valdosta are still coming in: Continue reading

GA EPD Hazardous site 10645: Brooks County, Piscola Creek, Withlacoochee River

Brooks County has a hazardous waste site: a closed landfill a few miles southeast of Quitman, about a mile from Piscola Creek, and less than four miles from the Withlacoochee River.

parcel 0096 0003 Brooks County Georgia

This Georgia EPD Hazardous site 10645 on Johson Short Road and SR 333 (also known as Washington Street and Madison Highway) Map: Quitman SR 333 GA EPD Landfill Hazardous Site 10645 was presumably why we find this Continue reading

No Runoff in Hahira: plurality will win

The Hahira rule is plurality, not 50% plus 1.

According to email to Gretchen from John Hallman with the Georgia Secretary of State, containing a forward from Jonathan Sumner, Hahira City Manager, originally copied to all the Hahira candidates, Mayor and Council, and many city employees on 25 October 2013:

Subject: No Runoff after General Election

Mayor, Councilmembers, Candidates,

In response to a question submitted to our City Attorney and myself earlier today by Supervisor of Elections Deb Cox, we have determined that a runoff after the November general election is not allowed under our current or even the old Charter (except in the extreme unlikelihood of a tie). The original 1912 charter stated,

Continue reading

VDT video interview of Deb Cox on Lowndes County elections

Kristin Finney for VDT 1 November 2013, Video: Upcoming Elections,

Reporter Kristin Finney speaks with the Deborah Cox, the Lowndes County Supervisor of Elections, about the elections being held Tuesday, Nov. 5. For more information about this year’s elections, please contact the Lowndes County Board of Elections office at (229) 671-2850.

And it’s a video interview!

If the VDT can YouTube, who knows? even the Valdosta City Council could, and yes, yes, even the Lowndes County Commission….

See also Where’s your polling place in Lowndes County? 2013-11-05.

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SPLOST VII referendum 2013

If you live in Lowndes County outside the cities, the only thing you have to vote on today is the SPLOST referendum. (If you live in one of the five cities, you also get to vote on SPLOST.) See Where’s your polling place in Lowndes County? for where to vote. Here is the SPLOST referendum as worded by the Lowndes County Commission and appearing on the ballot today, according to the Georgia Secretary of State My Voter Page:

Lowndes County SPLOST Referendum
(Vote for One)

Shall a special one (1) percent sales and use tax be imposed in the special district of Lowndes County for a period of time not to exceed six years and for the raising of an estimated amount of $150,000,000 to be used and expended:

by Lowndes County for purposes of capital outlay projects, including major permanent, long-lived improvements or betterments and major capital equipment, consisting of: acquisition of right-of-way for, construction of, improvements to, and maintenance of road, street, and bridge facilities; major capital equipment, including vehicles, for construction of, improvements to, and maintenance of road, street, and bridge facilities; construction of, improvements to, and major capital equipment for water and sewer facilities; major capital equipment for law enforcement purposes, including law enforcement vehicles, and improvements to law enforcement facilities, including evidence storage facilities; major capital equipment for firefighting purposes, including firefighting vehicles, and improvements to firefighting facilities, including training facilities; improvements to 9-1-1 call answering facilities, including upgraded 9-1-1 security system and new computer aided dispatch system; improvements to and major capital equipment for public safety radio system purposes; acquisition of property for, construction of, and improvements to parks and recreation facilities, including new soccer facility, Naylor Community Center, boat ramp on Alapaha River, basketball courts at Freedom Park, and baseball field for special needs persons; improvements and additions to animal welfare facilities; improvements to civic center facility; improvements to historic courthouse facility; improvements to and major capital equipment for library facilities; improvements to airport runway, taxiway, and beacon tower facilities;

by the City of Valdosta for the purposes of capital outlay projects, including major permanent, long-lived improvements or betterments and major capital equipment, consisting of: construction of and improvements to road, street, and bridge facilities to include sidewalks, piping of ditches, land acquisition, design, traffic signals, intersection improvements, resurfacing, street repairs and materials, traffic management center improvements, technology improvements, and other transportation systems and equipment; construction of and improvements to drainage infrastructure, systems, facilities, equipment, and capital materials to include the purchase of land, property, capital equipment for the maintenance of drainage facilities and infrastructure, and necessary studies, plans, aerials, mapping, design documents, and surveys to support such projects; construction of, improvements to, and capital equipment for police facilities and operations to include technology, building renovations, and equipment purchases to include technology and operational equipment; construction of, improvements to, and capital equipment for fire department services, firefighting, training, fire station facilities, fire vehicles, facility renovations, additions, equipment, technology, and other equipment; construction of, improvements to, and capital equipment for parks and recreation facilities; construction of, improvements to, and equipment for water and sewer facilities including but not limited to design, land acquisition, equipment, repairs, renovations, replacement and new construction of facilities, plants, equipment, infrastructure, materials, and capital equipment; construction of, improvements to, and capital equipment for public works facilities to include sanitation vehicles, public works vehicles and equipment, facility and equipment improvements, replacements and renovations; construction of, improvements to, and replacement of a jointly owned public safety radio system to include equipment and technology improvements; repairs, renovations, and capital equipment for administrative facilities to include buildings, Mathis Auditorium, and computer hardware and software; property and land acquisition, capital equipment, and improvements to include design and construction of capital improvement projects as identified in the downtown Valdosta strategic master plan;

by the City of Hahira for purposes of capital outlay projects, including major permanent, long-lived improvements or betterments and major capital equipment, consisting of: construction of, improvements to, and major capital equipment for road, street and bridge facilities, sidewalks, bicycle and cart paths and trails, including acquisition of rights of way, improvement of surface-water drainage, widening, resurfacing, leveling, and other repairs for preservation of road, street, and bridge facilities; construction of, improvements to, and major capital equipment for water and sewer facilities; construction of, improvements to, and major capital equipment for public safety facilities, including police and firefighting and rescue equipment, computer equipment, communications equipment, police and fire department vehicles, and acquisition of property; construction of, improvements to, and major capital equipment for administrative facilities, including city hall, computer equipment and technology upgrades; construction of, improvements to, and capital equipment for city parks and recreation facilities, including acquisition of property and construction of parks;

by the City of Remerton for purposes of capital outlay projects, including major permanent, long-lived improvements or betterments and major capital equipment, consisting of: construction of and improvements to road, street, and sidewalk facilities, and acquisition of equipment related thereto; construction of and improvements to water, sewer, and public works facilities, including, but not limited to acquisition of equipment and payment for services rendered in connection therewith; purchase of equipment for public safety including, but not limited to, public safety vehicles; construction of, improvements and renovations to, or the purchase of property for municipal facilities, and purchase of furniture, fixtures, and equipment related thereto;

by the City of Dasher for purposes of capital outlay projects, including major permanent, long-lived improvements or betterments and major capital equipment, consisting of: construction of and improvements to community culture, history, digital information center, museum, library, and technological equipment and software; construction of and improvements to streets, walks and bicycle paths, roads, and bridges; construction of and improvements to parks and recreation facilities including land development, capital equipment, and infrastructure; development of plans for, construction of, and improvements to sewage and water distribution systems; and

by the City of Lake Park for purposes of capital outlay projects, including major permanent, long-lived improvements or betterments and major capital equipment, consisting of: construction of and improvements to road, street, and bridge facilities, sidewalks, bicycle and cart paths and trails, including acquisition of rights of way, improvement of surface-water drainage, widening, resurfacing, leveling, and other repairs for preservation of road, street, and bridge facilities; construction of and improvements to water and sewer facilities; construction of and major capital equipment for public works facilities, including maintenance building facilities, service vehicles and maintenance equipment, and acquisition of property for construction of a maintenance building; improvements to and major capital equipment for public safety facilities, including police and firefighting and rescue equipment, computer equipment, communications equipment, and police and fire department vehicles; improvements to and major capital equipment for administrative facilities, including improvements to city hall, computer equipment, and technology upgrades; improvements to and capital equipment for city parks and recreation facilities, including acquisition of property, construction of parks, and renovation and restoration of civic center and other historic structures.

YES

NO

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