Category Archives: Military

Navy beats Army with 42 MW solar farm at Kings Bay

Is this sub base solar farm bigger than the 30 MW ones Georgia Power is building
at three Army bases in Georgia?
Actually that’s
42 MW DC in and 30 MW AC out,
so the same as the Army bases.

Navy Chief of Information Office, 13 July 2015,

Navy and Georgia Power Ink Deal to Build 42 MW Solar Farm at SUBASE Kings Bay,

WASHINGTON, D.C. (NNS) — The Department of the Navy (DON)
announced today a signed real estate outgrant with Georgia Power, a
subsidiary of Southern Company, to develop a large-scale, solar
generation farm at Naval Submarine Base (SUBASE) Kings Bay.

The 42 megawatt (MW) direct current (DC) facility will be
constructed on Continue reading →

Videos: Moody MAZ, Agriculture, Church @ GLPC 2015-06-29

At a very well attended June 29th meeting,
the notorious

TXT-2015-01 Moody Activity Zoning Districts (MAZ) ULDC text amendments

got tabled again by the Planning Commission,
but the Lowndes County Commission could take them up anyway at their
meeting a month later.
The Valdosta-Lowndes Chamber of Commerce did oppose these changes in person
(both their President and Chairman)
after

voting a resolution of opposition.
Meanwhile, LAKE has laid out the board packet item from last time so you can get an idea of what’s going on and why, including links to the LAKE videos of the previous GLPC and Lowndes County Commission meetings where these MAZ changes were discussed.

REZ-2015-12 Martha Russ
wants to Continue reading →

Hospitals most likely to deploy microgrids: SGMC next to VSU?

According to a thesis at Georgia Southern, hospitals are the most likely

industry to form microgrids, and it’s not just
New York State doing microgrids; even Alabama has one.
South Georgia Medical Center plus VSU seems like a good microgrid opportunity.
Put solar panels on the roofs, buy some Tesla Powerwalls for backup,
experiment with some wind….
Maybe the Valdosta-Lowndes Development Authority could help.
And use the electricity bill money saved to fund public transportation!

Matthew S. Purser, Georgia Southern, Spring 2014,

A Technical and Economic Feasibility Study of Implementing a Microgrid at Georgia Southern University. Continue reading →

Chamber goes to bat for Moody

Don’t fix it if it ain’t broken, says the Valdosta-Lowndes Chamber of Commerce

about the county-proposed

changes to the Moody Activities Zone (MAZ),
in a resolution
mailed to its members Friday.

Chamber Board of Directors action:

While
the Valdosta-Lowndes Chamber of Commerce is extremely supportive of
property rights and wary of intrusion upon those rights, we are also
extremely supportive of Moody Air Force Base and its continued and
varied missions in our community. Moody, for more than 70 years, has Continue reading →

Moody MAZ, Agriculture, Church @ GLPC 2015-06-29

This evening, the notorious

TXT-2015-01 Moody Activity Zoning Districts (MAZ) ULDC text amendments

are back on the agenda, for decision by the Lowndes County Commission
a month later.
Usually reliable sources say the Valdosta-Lowndes Chamber of Commerce
will be opposing some of these changes.
Meanwhile, LAKE has laid out the board packet item from last time so you can get an idea of what’s going on and why, including links to the LAKE videos of the previous GLPC and Lowndes County Commission meetings where these MAZ changes were discussed.

REZ-2015-12 Martha Russ
wants to zone to less density while

REZ-2015-13 Clementine Miller
wants more density.
And in Valdosta

CU-2015-02 Kelly Barcol
wants a church in a Single-Family Residential (R-10) district.

Here’s the agenda. Continue reading →

Videos: Deep South Sanitation litigation resolution, Animals, MAZ, Water, School @ LCC 2015-06-09

Not on the agenda for the 9 June 2015 Regular Session:

settlement agreement for the county’s unnecessary
lawsuit against Deep South Sanitation.
Commissioners had no questions, but I have two:

how much did the county spend on the lawsuit?
how much did the county end up paying DSS?

Also unscheduled:

Recognition of Leadership Lowndes Attendees.

Citizen

Billy Rowland
had some comments about road grading and wondered how Animal Control
could come take his dog from his posted property yet not do anything
when he reported barking dogs.

They approved a Scruggs Co. contract for

Paving on Coppage Road, which includes curb and gutter to
save some of the tree canopy.
They approved a

Bid for Bemiss Road Mowing even though it’s a state highway, plus
a

Bid for a Zero-Turn Mower for the Public Works Department from Nashville Tractor.
They
approved the

Bid for a Fire Pumper for Lowndes County Fire Rescue
and the

LCSO Patrol Car Laptops Lease Purchase and
tabled the

Lowndes Middle School Utility Service from Valdosta utilities.

Via LAKE open records request,
see the

board packet item
for the complicated

Moody Activity Zones
Text Amendments to the Unified Land Development Code
that were tabled for more time at the Tuesday June 9th 2015 Regular Session
of the Lowndes County Commission.
See the LAKE videos of the Planning Commission
meeting that considered the MAZ and the rezonings on this agenda.
The

Shiver
and

Kinsey
rezonings were
were approved unanimously
with no speakers from the public and no Commissioner comments.
The

Orchard at Stone Creek
rezoning discussion about a retirement home lasted for 14 minutes, including updated maps
that were only provided to LAKE on paper, despite a request for
electronic copy.
See also the
agenda
and the
LAKE videos of the previous morning’s Work Session.

Continue reading →

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.

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?

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 →

On the LAKE front

Citizen dialog for transparent process by the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange