Received today:
PDF, with transcription appended below. -jsq
March 15, 2013Joe Pritchard
County Manager
Lowndes County
327 N. Ashley St.
Valdosta, GA 31601Dear Mr. Pritchard:
It is with great regret that I find the need to step down from the Lowndes County
and South Georgia Regional Library Board of Trustees. I fear that I am no longer
capable of holding this position in light of the county’s recent actions.As you are aware,
Some interesting questions have come up in
Gabe Fisher's continuing correspondence with the City of Valdosta
about
sewage in his back yard
and
under his house,
while
City Council Tim Carroll continues to respond,
both copying a long list of people.
From: Gabe Fisher
Date: Mon, 4 Mar 2013 14:23:12 -0500All, I appreciate the update on where the city stands on moving the
sewer all together—I just wish we had been kept informed of
the plans over the last 4 years. Living with the *real* threat of
flooding is stressful enough, add in the guaranteed associated
sewage spill is more than I can handle.I also appreciate the city workers spreading lime and working on the
sewer line behind my house today. But I have questions—What
about the sewage in my yard and under my house? Is this my
responsibility?Thanks, Gabe
Tim Carroll responded with a couple of suggestions:
A surprising number of questions were asked by Commissioners
at yesterday morning’s Work Session, yet still nobody asked
about the well near
one of the proposed rezonings.
We had a microphone failure during the first few items;
sound picks up as the Commissioners start asking questions on
5.b. REZ-2013-04.
Because of the sound glitch
you can’t tell that for sure from the videos that nobody discussed SPLOST,
but Gretchen was there from call to order to adjournment, and she didn’t hear anything about
SPLOST.
Maybe they’ll say something about it tonight at their 5:30 PM Regular Session,
at which they vote on these rezonings and contract.
Here’s
the agenda with links to the videos and some notes.
LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, MARCH 11, 2013, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, MARCH 12, 2013, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor
All over the news today:
Lowndes County Chairman Bill Slaughter on radio 105.9 this morning;
Lowndes County Board of Commissioners and Valdosta City Council
reach a SPLOST deal (VDT).
The Lowndes County Board of Commissioners and the City of Valdosta
reached an agreement Monday on how to divide the seventh cycle of
the Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax, which both entities will
push to appear for a second time on November ballots after its
defeat in 2012.Last week, the city requested that State Rep. Amy Carter withdraw
the bill that would have allowed Valdosta to put a MOST or Municipal
Option Sales Tax on the ballot, which would have earned a penny in
sales tax for the city, who would not be required to share that
money with Lowndes County or other cities.After negotiations over the phone and via email, County Commission
Chairman Bill Slaughter and Mayor John Gayle signed an official
agreement for SPLOST VII Monday afternoon.
How could this be?
The VDT's Sunday front page was covered with wastewater stories,
continuing the circular firing squad of the local powers that be.
Meanwhile
in Dublin, GA, they're breaking ground for solar panels
at the local high school, using a bond financing
model that we could use here, if local leaders would look up.
In addition to
some detail about the city's FEMA application
and
following up on flooded yards,
the VDT followed up on
its EPD and EPA scrutiny story
with one saying
City received help from EPD to keep EPA away.
It's good the VDT is covering these issues, but it's still leaving out
important parts of the local water story.
Apparently firing back at
Thursday's Valdosta City Council session,
perhaps especially
Robert Yost's very pointed criticisms of the VDT,
the VDT concluded its
rather rich Sunday editoral:
City leaders, please, no more of the blame game. The citizens of
this community are imploring you to just accept responsibility and
fix it.
Yet the VDT has
spent the last week blaming the city,
and has accepted no responsibility for its own role, or that of
its editor, Kay Harris, in the recent loss of the SPLOST referendum
that would have further funded wastewater work in Valdosta.
Now, I agree with the VDT that
As
he indicated yesterday,
Gabe Fisher got his sewage-covered neighborhood on WCTV last night.
Greg Gullberg wrote for WCTV yesterday,
Valdosta Neighborhood Covered In Raw Sewage,
After days of torrential rain, the same rain that caused the rivers
to flood, the sewage pump has been overwhelmed in the Meadow Brook
Subdivison just off Gornto Road.“You know how bad it smells in a bathroom when someone goes in and
uses a public restroom. Multiple that ten times,” said Chad
Harrison, a local resident.
The whole area behind their houses is just covered in raw sewage.
Your boots sink down into it with every step. We’re talking
everything from human waste, to toilet paper, to hygiene products
and a whole other list of things that are just too graphic to
mention.“Probably about 12 to 14 inches of raw sewage,” said Harrison. “It’s
just everywhere. It’s all up and down the creek. It’s all behind
everybody’s houses.”
There’s more in
the WCTV story,
such as that the city has included neighbors in meetings, but has not
yet changed anything.
The city’s PR about the flooding
says:
Received today. -jsq
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Release #03-13-02
March 3, 2013
Withlacoochee Wastewater Treatment Plant Fully Operational
At approximately 1:30 p.m. today, March 3, the Withlacoochee
Wastewater Treatment Plant was brought online and returned to
normal operation, after a loss of function for only three days
compared to the nine days of complete loss of function experienced
in the flood of 2009. Today, the river receded to the point where
the temporary by-pass pumps could be connected to the existing
valves. The system was turned on, became fully operational and began
full treatment capabilities.
Lessons learned from the 2009 flood resulted in proactive measures
which include the following:
- The installation of bypass pumps, pipes and valves to utilize in
the event of an emergency or act of God.- In 2009, the berm only protected the pump station, which did not
prevent flooding of the chemical building, the chlorine contact
building, the filters and the belt presses. The plant's
electrical system was destroyed in the flooded area and the filters
and belt presses were inoperable.
In this event, the electric system, chlorine cylinders, de-chlorination
system and all flooded areas were turned off to avoid the
damage that was experienced in 2009.- In this event, the biological, natural occurring bacteria that
are used in the treatment process were saved so that the system
could treat wastewater immediately when it was turned back on. In
2009, the natural occurring bacteria were washed out of the plant
as a result of the continuous pumping during the event.- In this event, the plant was fully operational in three days.
In 2009, the plant had a complete loss of function for nine days and
was not fully operational for over a month.The city's drinking water supply is in no way
Tim Carroll’s response to
Gabe Fisher. -jsq
Gabe,
I know you are frustrated and pissed. My hope was with the info
below all could see the city has not just been idly sitting by. What
has been so frustrating for us is that our biggest problem is
outside of the city limits.As discussed below, we are about 90% complete on the design for the
big force main project. Once completed it will eliminate the sewage
spills during high rain events in your neighborhood.
Just spoke with Larry Hanson and the WWTP is firing back up as we
speak. Soon you should start seeing the current spills end as the
system is brought fully back up and running.Something I might add we could not have done so quickly had we not
taken the steps we did these past several days.In regards to clean up —
Received today in response to
Tim Carroll’s email.
All, Gabe Fisher here—2420 Meadow Brook. I do not currently
have the time, nor mental capacity to fully think through this
issue, but I want you all to see what the sewer system is currently
doing to our backyards.
This video was taken today, in by backyard,
after the flood. It has been spilling at least at this same rate for
the last 7 days.
What the sewer system is currently doing to our backyards —Gabe Fisher
Video by Gabe Fisher, Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 3 March 2013.
This contaminated water breached my crawlspace, around 24″ deep, and
must absolutely be dealt with ASAP. What is the city going to do for
me, and my neighbors who are in this same situation??There is no other word for it—I am pissed. I have seen zero
results since the flood in 2009. Yes, maybe receiving 12″ inches of
rain is an act of God, but that does not account for all the man
made structures that force the flood waters higher at my location,
nor other obstacles it must overcome to quickly and efficiently
escape our area—such as the train trestle along Gornto. And it
absolutely does not account for the city’s poorly planned sewer
system..This isn’t the first sewage spill since the flood of
2009—there have been countless others in my area. I have
photos and video evidence of at least 5 that would likely be
classified as ‘major’.This cannot and will not be ‘swept under the rug’.. I am still
currently upside down on my property due to the flood of 2009 and
this current flood has only further degraded my property’s value.Gabe
Looking at his address in the Lowndes County Tax Assessor’s maps,
and turning on Flood Map, Lakes and Rivers, and Aerial Photos,
you can see that his property and most of all his neighbors’
lots are in the flood plain:
Received today from Valdosta City Council Tim Carroll, who
sent it to a long list of people,
apparently responding to
the VDT's recent article and editorials.
All,
During my tenure as a city councilman, I have tried to keep everyone
updated on events and issues with our city. I want to share and
email I sent out recently that hopefully you will agree is important
information. In regards to today's paper — the story has some
serious errors and omissions. First of all in 2009- all we saved
from the flood was the pump station. No sewage treatment was taking
place and contrary to what the VDT says, then as we are now —
raw sewage was going into the river. It lasted about a month in
2009. With the decision to pull equipment/tanks etc so they would
not be destroyed this year — we not only saved a lot of tax
payer money….but we will be able to bring the plant back on line
in about a week. Reducing by several weeks the amount of sewage
going into the river. In regards to city water systems being
compromised — considering our water plant is 10-15 miles north
of the WWTP and the amazing fact that the river flows south —
your water is completely safe. Do we like discharging raw sewage
into the river? Of course not. During the flood it was going to
happen either way.I want to add one other note — the men and women in our
Utility department, fire, police, sanitation, engineering etc, etc
have been working long days this past week trying to manage flooding
issues. They deserve our thanks. It is very frustrating for those
whose homes and businesses were threatened by the flood. It is very
frustrating to our city employees who have worked so hard to manage
this crisis.So as Paul Harvey says — “here is the rest of the
story”.
I think Council Carroll is a bit cavalier about
the city's wells being upstream of the wastewater treatment plant,
because while the river may flow south, it's not clear how
the Floridan Aquifer flows, especially with multiple 800 foot
deep wells sucking water out of it.
Also I wonder what people downstream of the Withlacoochee Wastewater
Treatment Plant think of all that raw sewage coming down at them,
especially considering some of them have wells downstream.
However, he makes a number of points that the VDT omitted,
including a plan to do something about the situation,
and appended is his "rest of the story".
