Author Archives: John S. Quarterman

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 →

Videos: South Georgia Native Plant and Wild Flower Symposium at NESPAL in Tifton GA 2015-03-25

Gretchen took these LAKE videos at the South Georgia Native Plant and Wild Flower Symposium, at NESPAL, UGA, Tifton, GA. The event was sponsored by the University of Georgia and the Garden Clubs of Georgia.

Continue reading →

Batteries vs. fossil fuels

Another battery entry, Ambri with a liquid metal battery and $50 million startup funding, understands it’s the battery market vs. fossil fuels. And batteries plus sun, wind, and water power will win.

Jeff McMahon, Forbes, 4 June 2015, Want To Build A Better Battery? Don’t Talk To Battery Experts,

Like Tesla’s Powerpack, Ambri’s liquid-metal battery is designed to provide grid-level storage that can supplement intermittent renewables like solar and wind, making a grid that depends on renewables as reliable as one that depends on fossil fuels or nuclear reactors.

Wednesday night, [Ambri founder MIT Professor Donald] Sadoway welcomed Tesla’s entry to the grid-level battery industry. The competition, he said, is not between batteries, but between batteries and fossil fuels.

We don’t even need Continue reading →

Forget Desert Solar Farms: We Can Get More Than Enough Solar Energy From Cities

There’s plenty of sunshine for solar panels right here where we need it.

Forget Desert Solar Farms: We Can Get More Than Enough Solar Energy From Cities,

Adele Peters, Fast Company, 8 May 2015, Using California’s rooftops, parking lots, and other developed land, the state could power itself up to five times over….

“I questioned whether we have a constraint on land,” says researcher Rebecca Hernandez. “It was striking to me that there seemed to be sort of this mismatch of available places to put solar. I wanted to really understand how much land do we have, how much land is available, all these land dynamics that really were not quantified before, and sort of paint a better picture.”…

By building in and near cities, we could also add new solar power more quickly, Continue reading →

Videos: Doublewide, Commercial, Professional, Residential, Landscape, Stormwater, Suburban, Agriculture, Schools, and Moody @ GLPC 2015-05-26

The Planning Commission said at its 26 May 2015 meeting that it needed at least a month more to review Lowndes County’s proposed changes to the Moody Activity Zoning (MAZ) Districts, which is why the County Commission is pushing back the schedule on that.

Another big item is REZ-2015-11 The Orchard at Stone Creek, yet another subdivision on Old US 41 N, this one due west of Nelson Hill on Val Del.

Here’s the agenda. Below are links to each of the LAKE videos of the agenda items, followed by a video playlist. 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 →

USA Freedom Act Passes: What We Celebrate, What We Mourn, and Where We Go From Here | Electronic Frontier Foundation

Susanne Posel, The US Independent, November 18, 2014, Facebook, Google: USA Freedom Act Will Restore Customer Confidence,

The Obama administration “strongly supports” SB 2685, the USA Freedom Act (USFA) championed by Senator Patrick Leahy, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) and co-sponsored by:
  • Mike Lee
  • Dick Durbin
  • Dean Heller
  • Al Franken
  • Ted Cruz
  • Richard Blumenthal
  • Tom Udal
  • Chris Coons
  • Martin Heinrich
  • Ed Markey
  • Mazie Hirono
  • Amy Klobuchar
  • Sheldon Whitehouse
  • Chuck Schumer

And it did finally pass, after numerous attempts to water down its NSA restrictions still farther.

Now here’s the rub: Continue reading →

Building and billboard locations @ ZBOA 2015-06-02

Today at 2:30 PM, Fairway is back with a new billboard request. Also in the county, a building location variance. Since Laverne Gaskins declined to be reappointed, there’s a new ZBOA member. John Hogan III, who ran for Valdosta City Council in 2015, was appointed to ZBOA by that Council 7 May 2015. Continue reading →

Videos: Billboard and building locations @ ZBOA 2015-05-05

Last month, Unscheduled: Laverne Gaskins announced she did not want to be reappointed to ZBOA. Fairway got to put its billboard back up at the new overpass, but only at 50 feet high. Plus in the county, a building location variance and a Family Ties variance were both approved unanimously. They meet again today at 2:30PM. Continue reading →