Ordinance or policy?
That question comes up for at least two items,
Special assessment
and
Speed control devices,
in the
minutes of the 10 January 2011 Work Session
of the Lowndes County Commission.
-jsq
LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERSContinue reading
MINUTES
WORK SESSION
Monday, January 10, 2011
Commissioners discussed several items much more than last year’s Commission
at this morning’s Work Session; they vote 5:30 PM tonight at their Regular Session.
However, you’d think with an
ankle monitoring program Commissioners praised so highly,
they’d want the public to know the details.
Nope, still none of the documents related to that nor any of the other
items they were discussing were revealed to the tax-paying public.
They don’t have a press release about that,
nor about the
Parade of Champions
the Chairman talked about
(twice)
even though it wasn’t on the agenda.
He was silent, however, on who the
candidates for the Airport Authority
are, and none of them were present.
That’s four reports that were not on the agenda: Parade of Champions, ankle monitoring, the county’s wellness program and the upcoming Bird Supper.
Here’s the agenda, with links to the videos and a few notes, followed by the video playlist.
Continue readingA landowner asked Lowndes County to abandon a road leading to the Alapaha River, in this morning’s Lowndes County Commission Work Session.
Abandonment of a portion of Old State Road (CR 16)
Phillip Connell requests that Old State Road that goes through his property and dead ends at the river be closed.
They’re holding an initial hearing followed by a public hearing “I guess it will be in three weeks at the next regular meeting”
because state law requires it, according to County Engineer Mike Fletcher.
He also said the bridge had washed away, and there was no access into
Lanier County.
And the river (it’s the Alapaha River, although I don’t think anybody ever
said the name)
…is not classified as a navigable waterway; therefore Mr. Connell owns to the center of the river. You can navigate down the river by boat, but if you step out, if you get out of the boat and step on the land, you’re considered to be trespassing.Engineer did not cite any statutes for his assertions.
Chairman said he and Commissioners Marshall and Evans had been down Continue reading
It's curious how the Lowndes County Commission can hold a public hearing
for a single beer, wine, and liquor license, but not for
doing away with the solid waste collection sites
that affect
5,000 county residents.
And what's this "Special Assessment Rate for 2013"?
At today's early morning work session maybe they'll say,
or perhaps at tonight's regular session, both on the same day
because of yesterday's holiday.
Here's the agenda.
-jsq
LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, TUESDAY, JANUARY 22, 2013, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, JANUARY 22, 2013, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor
- Call to Order
- Invocation
- Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag
- Minutes for Approval
- Work Session — January 7, 2013
- Regular Session — January 8, 2013
- Appointment — Valdosta/Lowndes County Airport Authority
- Public Hearing — Beer Wine & Liquor License — Rascal's — 4875 Hwy 41
- For Consideration
- Special Assessment Rate for 2013
- Abandonment of a portion of Old State Road (CR 16)
- Replacement of the Jail Fire Alarm System in Buildings 001 & 002
- Reports-County Manager
- Citizens Wishing to be Heard Please State Name And Address
Let’s not forget the failed concrete on which Plant Vogtle’s unprotected stranded reactor vessel is supposed to sit.
A week before the reactor vessel train wreck, news stories said concrete pouring was delayed due to “noncompliant rebar”. Thomas Clements elaborated for the Aiken Leader 14 January 2013, Vogtle AP1000 Nuclear Reactor Vessel Discovered Unprotected, Stranded in Savannah Port since December 15 Shipment Failure,
Due to chronic delays in the pouring of “nuclear concrete” for the basemat of the AP1000 units at Vogtle and VC Summer, it remains unknown when or if any reactor vessels can actually be placed into the excavated holes at the sites. A January 10 meeting of the NRC confirmed that another basemat-related “license amendment request” (LAR) was soon to be filed by SCE&G for its AP1000 project and that the target date for granting of the LAR was March 18. It appears that the Vogtle project has fallen behind the V.C. Summer project and no strategy for the filing of a similar and necessary LAR by Southern Company is known.
Concrete, the long-time bane of
Seabrook Station
and also what’s keeping
Crystal River shut down because nobody wants to pay the
billions of dollars it would take to fix it.
What say we call the whole thing off, like
Dominion Power did with its existing
Kewaunee nuke,
and
TEPCO and NRG did
with their plans for new South Texas nukes.
Maybe it’s a sign that meanwhile
Google has invested a billion dollars in wind and solar and gotten
2 gigawatts of power, almost as much as the 2.2 GW the two new Vogtle nukes
were supposed to produce, except Google’s solar and wind projects
are online on time, and for less than just the cost overruns at Vogtle.
The Georgia legislature is in session. You can contact your legislator or the PSC today about toppling Southern Company’s three-legged nuclear regulatory-capture stool and fixing that 1973 Territoriality Law so we can get on with solar and wind in Georgia, for jobs and energy independence, and oh by the way clean air and plenty of clean water.
-jsq
What happened to Plant Vogtle’s new reactor vessel after it was in a train wreck a week ago? It went back to Savannah port and sits there unprotected and unguarded.
Thomas Clements wrote for the Aiken Leader 14 January 2013, Vogtle AP1000 Nuclear Reactor Vessel Discovered Unprotected, Stranded in Savannah Port since December 15 Shipment Failure,
Tom Clements, Alliance for Nuclear AccountabilityThe reactor pressure vessel (RPV) for the chronically delayed Vogtle AP1000 reactor construction project near Waynesboro, Georgia sits stranded and seemingly unprotected in the port of Savannah. The special railroad car carrying the 300-ton vessel had unknown mechanical problems on December 15 on exiting the port. The NRC has said that the vessel only got one-quarter mile before a sound was heard and the car stopped. Plans by Westinghouse and Southern Company to move the vessel are unknown. It is also unknown if the railroad car can be repaired and used or if the railroad company which owns the line is concerned that the rail car might break down again on its line in an in accessible place. Meanwhile, the apparently unguarded reactor might be subject to sabotage and sits in apparent violation of NRC quality assurance and “administrative control” regulations.
The article includes links to several more pictures taken 13 January 2013 by Tom Clements of Alliance for Nuclear Accountability, such as this one with the bridge clearly visible:
Continue reading
Why are we furloughing librarians to save $30,000
when we apparently floated bonds for unbudgeted millions on the county palace?
That’s essentially what I asked
the Lowndes County Commission at their
8 January 2013 Regular Session.
Nobody had an answer.
Just to add to what Commissioner Lee said, in addition to everyone appreciating all your service, I’m sure we all appreciate all his long years of service.
Of course there are some things that have come up since he was first on the Commission. For example, Internet access.
The Internet is the roads of the future.
Perhaps funding that might be as important as striping roads. It’s a thought.
For more on that, see what Idelle Dear said just before.
And I really appreciate that clock there. It’s a sign that sometimes change is good.
At least they are doing a few things differently.
When this building complex was opened in 2010, the county put out a double-sheet flyer saying it was completely paid off out of SPLOST money, with zero dollars owed. I’m wondering how it is that then, either in November or December, the Commission just before your one here, refinanced bonds that included I think it was six or seven million dollars for this very building complex? I’m very confused by that. I wonder if someone could clarify how we’re paying on something that was completely 100% paid off with zero owed.
It’s actually about $8.9 million. Why are we paying that? Nobody answered. County Manager Joe Pritchard, pictured below, on that 2010 flyer I mentioned, paid no attention.
A prominent local member of the fourth estate said nobody was allowed to answer. Actually, the Commission’s own Policies and Procedures for Citizens Wishing to be Heard include these lines:
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Idelle Dear noted we’re up to 12 library furlough days,
and reported a flaw in that picture to
the 8 January 2013 Lowndes County Commission Regular Session.
I looked across the street and there are millions of dollars being spent on the construction of the hospital, construction of the VSU Health Sciences building. And yet what is happening, because this is a mandatory furlough for all employees, is that people who are employed by the South Georgia Regional Library, most of whom are minimum wage, work part time, rely on the income: they are going to lose out….
We’d heard about these state-mandated furlough closings at a library board meeting. Idelle Dear spelled out some of the consequences, and made some telling comparisons.
Something is wrong with this picture, and I realize there are different kinds of money, but something is wrong with this picture if we can spend millions and millions of dollars on construction of these buildings and yet shut down the library and the employees who are in low income are going to be affected.
She said she wasn’t sure most people even knew about all this. And she heard somebody had said most people have Internet at home, but
Continue reading
The ghost of Commissions Past, in the form of former Commissioner
Richard Lee, pointed his finger at the Commission and staff
at
the 8 January 2013 Lowndes County Commission Regular Session.
So if y’all can find some coins, and Mr. Prichard has a real knack for doing that, we’d appreciate it up in my end of the county.
That’s curious, since Mr. Pritchard can’t seem to to keep the solid waste collection stations open, or for to keep libraries open, or even for a bus for 4-H without children doing much of the heavy lifting.
But Mr. Lee is confident Mr. Pritchard can find funds to stripe roads in Mr. Lee’s neighborhood!
Here’s the video:
Continue readingEver wondered what a nuclear reactor vessel looks like? Here’s one that’s literally a train wreck, on its way to Plant Vogtle on the Savannah River.
Rob Pavey wrote for the Augusta Chronicle 10 January 2013, Vogtle reactor vessel slips between Savannah, Burke County,
A 300-ton reactor vessel bound for Plant Vogtle was stranded briefly in south Georgia this week after a malfunction with the specially designed rail car moving the nuclear component from Savannah to Burke County. Workers examine a rail car that was transporting a 300-ton reactor vessel from the Port of Savannah to the Plant Vogtle nuclear site in Burke County. A misalignment between the cargo platform and the rail car caused the component to be returned to Savannah.
“The platform that contained the RV (reactor vessel) during transport became misaligned with the Schnabel railcar, so the railcar stopped immediately,” said Georgia Power Co. spokesman Mark Williams. “The platform and car were re-aligned the same day and safely returned to the port.”
The Schnabel railcar, which features extra axles that help distribute and support the weight of heavy objects, did not break, he said. Georgia Power would not divulge the location of the incident.
I wonder what the locals think. We’d ask them, if we knew where they were.
Well, that’s the only mishap so far, right?
Continue reading