Category Archives: Military

Videos @ LCC 2012 03 27



Here are videos of the entire 27 March 2012 Regular Session
of the Lowndes County Commission (LCC).
The audio feed is coming directly from the Commission’s own audio system.
We don’t know why County Manager Joe Pritchard is frequently barely audible,
nor why the microphone at the audience podium sometimes seems hardly to be working, nor why Commissioners ask people in the audience to speak when there is
no microphone pointing at the audience.

Some of these videos have already been blogged:

Here’s

a playlist:




Videos

Regular Session, Lowndes County Commission (LCC),

Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 27 March 2012.

Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE).

-jsq

Col. Mark A. Ruse and Moody AFB ORI @ LCC 2012 03 27

Commissioner Richard Raines noticed Col. Mark A. Ruse of Moody Air Force Base
in the audience and mentioned the
operational readiness inspection (ORI) then in progress at Moody.
In case anybody doesn’t know this, Moody AFB is by far the largest employer
in Lowndes County.

The Col. said a few words, but it’s hard to tell what they were, since
there’s no mic on the audience.

A student group also said a few words, but it’s hard to tell what they
were, for the same reason.

Maybe Commissioners could ask people to come to the podium to speak,
or deploy a mic that works for the audience.

According to

his biography at Moody:

Col. Mark A. Ruse is commander of the 23rd Mission Support Group at


Moody Air Force Base, Ga. He leads a group of more than 1,450
military and civilian members providing support and services to a
population of 28,000 active duty, retired military and family
members. His group maintains an installation with more than 830
buildings and more than 17,500 acres, including an adjacent bombing
or strafing range. He is responsible for ensuring the readiness of
support forces to mobilize and deploy to build, secure, and sustain
air base operations at austere bare base locations anywhere in the
world.

The 23rd Mission Support Group also retains responsibility for civil
engineering, environmental compliance, disaster preparedness
response, fire protection, security forces, airfield navigational
systems, communications-computer systems, contracting,
transportation, supply, food service, housing, recreation, family
and community support programs, personnel, manpower, education and
training.

He has a degree in civil engineering.

Also according to Moody (which apparently believes in transparency),
3 April 2012,

Continue reading →

Lowndes County and Valdosta history: origins of the old boys

If we want good clean industry for jobs for local people, we need good clean local government, too.
Why do our local government bodies

hide when they discuss public goods like waste disposal,
try to

avoid stating public positions on issues,
and

fail to publish minutes of elected bodies?

A little reading in local histories of the area or talking to people


who were involved even a generation or two back indicates that Lowndes
County has always been a cliquish sort of place, mostly run by old boys,
for reasons that made some sense in the early days (lack of resources,
mainly), but doesn’t so much anymore in these days of I-75 and I-10,
airport, railroads that still go everywhere, Moody AFB, VSU as a regional university, technical and community colleges,
two hospitals and medical industry, TitleTown, Grand Bay WMA, Wild Adventures,
and south Georgia sunshine we can export to Atlanta and points north.

Here are a few books about the old days, all available in local libraries
and possibly in local bookstores:

Continue reading →

Bring our troops home —Gretchen Quarterman

Gretchen Quarterman asked the first question at Saxby Chambliss' Farm Bill Forum in Tifton:

Bring our troops home.

That way we'd have more money for everything else.

Here's the video:


Bring our troops home —Gretchen Quarterman
Farm Bill Forum, Senator Saxby Chambliss,
Gary Black, Charles Hall, Robert Redding, John Maguire,
Tifton, Tift County, Georgia, 16 March 2012.
Video by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE).

-jsq

 

 

Solar thermal for Moody AFB

Moody AFB helps USAF lead the military and the country in solar installations
by adding solar thermal.


Did you know?

Federal mandates require that 25% of Air Force facility energy use
comes from renewable energy sources by 2025 and Moody will help….

It’s a shame we have to go to Binghamton and Ithaca, New York, to get the equipment.
You’d think we could build solar thermal hot water heaters right here
in sunny south Georgia, and install them, too.
The architect, however, was local.
Congratulations to Moody AFB and Slone Associates for installing solar hot water!



The installer, Intelligent Green Solutions (IGS) of Ithaca, New York,

has the details:

The installation is a large solar thermal system that includes:

  • 20 TitanPowerPlus 2.0 Flat Plate Solar Collectors
  • 512 Gallon Solar Hot Water Storage Tanks

The completion target date was end of December.

SunMaxx Solar press release of 29 Jan 2012,

SunMaxx Solar and Intelligent Green Solutions Install Solar Thermal System at Moody Air Force Base in Valdosta, Georgia,

Continue reading →

Alcohol ordinance and license plus two road abandonments @ LCC 2012 02 13-14

What does a Community Corrections Director do?
What is the proposed modification to the alcohol ordinance?


We don’t know, because the county doesn’t post the details of
agenda items, just cryptic shorthand that may mean something
to Commissioners or staff, but that means nothing to the public.

At this morning’s work session and tomorrow evening’s regular session,
the Lowndes County Commission has a brief but eventful agenda,
including a modification to the alcohol ordinance, an alcohol license,
a DHS grant
a GDOT grant for a road project on Davidson Road (presumably related
to the new Moody AFB gate),
two road abandonments,
and this interesting item:

6.h. Request from Superior Court to establish salary of the Community Corrections Director

Your guess is as good as mine.

Here’s

the agenda.

-jsq


LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS

PROPOSED AGENDA

WORK SESSION, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2012, 8:30 a.m.

REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2012, 5:30 p.m.

327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor

Continue reading →

Commission had not seen Moody AFB gate contract with Scruggs before Work Session @ LCC 2012 01 23

We still don’t know what the county is going to do about

that cost overrun for the Moody AFB gate.
Nobody said at the work session yesterday morning; maybe they’ll say
at the regular session tonight when they vote on a contract with
some sort of revised dollar figures in it.

County Manager Mike Fletcher waved around a copy of the revised


contract with Scruggs Company for the new Moody AFB gate,
but said he had not provided it to the Commissioners.
I wonder if they’ll see it before they vote tonight?
He said it was 226 pages long, but most of that was DOT boilerplate,
and only something like 20 pages was the actual county contract.
Seems like they could read that much by tonight.

So could we, the public, if it was somewhere we could see it.

He also didn’t say what happened to the

$128,497.05 cost overrun.
The Commissioners asked no questions.

Here’s

the video:




Commission had not seen Moody AFB gate contract with Scruggs before Work Session @ LCC 2012 01 23

Work Session, Lowndes County Commission (LCC),

Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 23 January 2012.

Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.

-jsq

Commission voted for $128,497.05 road cost overrun without discussion @ LCC 2012 Jan 10



Discrepancy? What discrepancy?

Staff presented the

agenda item
“7.b. Entrance Gate at Davidson and Roberts Roads”:

Lowndes County received
a $2M grant from the Federal Highway Administration
for construction of a new Moody AFB entrance gate,
the gate to be located located at the intersection of
Davidson and Roberts Roads.
$477,991 of this money has already been taken for the
railroad crossing improvements,
leaving a balance of $1.52 million.
The low bid is from Scruggs Company, $1,648,497.05.

Wait, what?
The low bid is for more than the funds available?
Surely somebody will explain that?

Nope, no discussion. Instead, Commissioner Crawford Powell said:

I’ll make a motion we approve the bid as presented by staff.

Commissioner Evans seconded, and they all voted for it.
Hey, what $128,497.05 discrepancy?

Here’s

Part 1 of 2:




Commission voted for $128,497.05 road cost overrun without discussion @ LCC 2012 Jan 10 Part 1 of 2:

Regular Session, Lowndes County Commission (LCC),

Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 10 January 2012.

Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.



If we look at the previous morning’s work session (9 January 2012),
we do find a bit more information.
The grant was presented as involving both the Federal Highway Administration
and Homeland Security, and:

Mr. Fletcher has additional information.

Continue reading →

Videos of 9 Jan 2012 LCC Work Session



This was mostly an ordinary Lowndes County Commission Work Session,
except for a few items, perhaps most notably this one:

9.b. Entrance Gate at Davidson and Roberts Roads

More about that later.

Here’s

the agenda.

Here’s

the playlist for the entire meeting:




Videos of 9 Jan 2012 LCC Work Session

Work Session, Lowndes County Commission (LCC),

Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 9 January 2012.

Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.

-jsq

Former Wal-Mart Department Managers Telling their stories —George Boston Rhynes

Received 5 December 2011. -jsq

Just another Wal-Mart Fired Untrained Department Manager.


This is an
initial introduction to a much bigger story of truth that cannot and will
not be hidden forever! Nor will Wal-Mart Workers here in American continue
to be mistreated and ignored as if we were in the Republic of China or in
some other third world nation. Galatians 6:7, Saint Luke 4:18……

George’s introduction:

Former Wal-Mart Department Managers Tell All at a Valdosta Diner!

And an interview:

One of several Former Wal-Mart Department Managers Telling their
stories of Truth:




Video by George Boston Rhynes for bostonbgr on YouTube and K.V.C.I.

-jsq