Category Archives: Trash

Freedom or Order? @ LCC 2013-06-11

At last night’s

Lowndes County Commission Regular Session,

John Page praying for freedom and order

Commissioner John Page prayed about

“the freedoms to serve in government,
knowing that this government is supposed to be
of the people by the people and for the people”.

But the Commission seems to care more about this part he also said:

“our decisions and everything be done decently and in order”.


Deep South Sanitation shirts
The county government still seems determined to take

the shirts
off these people’s backs.

Here’s

the video:



Freedom or Order?

Regular Session, Lowndes County Commission (LCC),

Video by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE),

Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 11 June 2013.

-jsq

Videos: 3 appointments, 1 rezoning, 2 wastewater @ LCC 2013-06-10

Update 23 June 2013:
Now with sound!

Update 24 June 2013: Added links to separate posts for the newly audible items.



Unscheduled: Emergency Director Ashley Tye said more about
the proposed juvenile justice grant;
Kevin Beals announced the winners of the county’s
Wellness Weightloss Challenge;
and three

unscheduled Library Board applicants.
You can hear starting with the third of those last, but
you can’t hear the few potential appointees for KLVB, VLCCCTA, ZBOA, because


the county’s sound system
was out (due to a consultant or lightning, depending on who you ask)
and Gretchen didn’t notice and go to the camera’s mic until a few minutes in.

They did talk about
fixing the sewer force main that spilled into the Withlacoochee River.
Nothing was said about

the exclusive franchise for solid waste services.
Maybe you’d like to come tonight and say a few words.

Here’s

the agenda, plus links to the videos and a few notes.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS

PROPOSED AGENDA

WORK SESSION, MONDAY, JUNE 10, 2013, 8:30 a.m.

REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, JUNE 11, 2013, 5:30 p.m.

327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor

Continue reading →

Exclusive Franchise for Solid Waste Collection Services @ LCC 2012-12-11

Why did the Lowndes County Commission make

this exclusive franchise
with a Florida or Alabama or New York company


and then

sue a local Lowndes County company after

the VDT reported the previous spring that any contract
would be non-exclusive and wouldn’t put anybody out of business?

Here, obtained by LAKE through an open records request,
is the

contract with ADS of Middle Georgia, LLC.
The

the agenda item for the 11 December 2012 Commission meeting at which
this contract was approved
says ADS of Central Alabama, Inc.

The contract says ADS is “a Florida corporation”,
and we know ADS is owned by

Highstar Capital of New York City.


Once again,

why is granting a cheap monopoly to an out-of-state company
more important than either letting local companies compete for the service
or having the county continue to provide a public service directly to
its taxpayers and citizens?

The termination clause

I pointed out to the Commission
after
an ADS executive made excuses for nonperformance
is

Paragraph 18 of the contract:

Continue reading →

Three appointments, a rezoning, and 2 wastewater but no solid waste @ LCC 2013-06-10

No names for appointments (KLVB, VLCCCTA, ZBOA),
and nothing on the agenda about

solid waste collection


or

the public hearing they didn’t hold
or

why they picked Veolia’s highest bid
or

ADS buying more companies when its spokesman said that wasn’t forseen
or

how much the Commission forsees waste collection fees going up
or

suing a local company
at the Lowndes County Commission.
Wasterwater is on the agenda twice,
which is good after that

sewer spill into the Withlacoochee River,
but nothing about

a five-year action plan.
Let’s listen to what the preacher Commissioners pray about:
that’s usually a clue to what’s on their minds,
even if they proceed to do the opposite.

Here’s

the agenda.

Continue reading →

June LAKE meeting Tuesday @ LAKE 2013-06-11

Same agenda as in January, local governance: Water, trash, and money.


View Larger Map
What: Monthly LAKE Meeting
When: about 6:30PM Tuesday

(after the Lowndes County
Commission meeting)

11 June 2013
Where: Let's Eat Cafe

2102 W. Hill Ave.

(just west of I-75,

at the Shell station)

Valdosta, GA 31601

Don't let the location fool you:
Let's Eat is locally owned, and serves a lot of locally-grown food.

If you're on Facebook,
please Like the

LAKE facebook page.
You can sign up for

the meeting event there,
Or just come as you are.

-jsq

ADS revolving door with local and state government

Not paid enough as an elected official?
Apply to Advanced Disposal for a job!
Then you can run for the statehouse, win, and sponsor legislation
about waste collection!
Oh, look: there’s Steve Edwards again.



CummingHome.com updated 25 September 2011 a press release originally
published 20 September 2009,

Former Mayor Joins the Advanced Disposal Atlanta Marketing Team,

Advanced Disposal Services, Inc., a regional provider of integrated
solid waste and recycling collection, transfer, and disposal
services, is pleased to announce the hiring of Brett Harrell as the
Municipal Marketing & Government Affairs Representative for the
Metro-Atlanta area.

Mr. Harrell brings a multitude of experience to his new position
having spent time as former Mayor of the City of Snellville where he
administered the city’s solid waste and recycling program serving Continue reading →

More clues to how much garbage collection fees will go up

ADS proposed last December to Lincolnton, GA, to start trash collection
with a rate very like what Veolia bid to Lowndes County, with increases
every year after that.



The Lincoln Journal wrote 6 December 2012,

Council hears proposal to privatize garbage collection,

The Lincolnton City Council heard a proposal to privatize the
municipality’s trash collection service at its regular meeting held
Monday, December 3. The Lincolnton City Council heard a proposal to
privatize the municipality’s trash collection service at its regular
meeting held Monday, December 3.



The presentation was made by Kevin Rupinta, general manager, and
Steve Edwards, area municipal marketing manager, of Advanced
Disposal, the Columbia County company that also serves Lincoln
County.

The written proposal stated: “Since Advanced Disposal collects
garbage in Lincoln County and runs through and around the City of
Lincolnton, Advanced Disposal offers the following to reduce the
city’s expenses:

(1) Purchase the city’s garbage trucks at an agreed upon fair market
value.

(2) Purchase the city’s carts at an agreed upon fair market value.

(3) Provide garbage service for the city at rates that mirror those
charged to the county.”

The rates quoted were:

Continue reading →

Solid Waste Corruption in Gwinnett County?

A federal corruption probe and a developer charged with bribing
a county commissioner, who already resigned, admitting it;
all that plus drug dealing, nepotism, perjury, cronyism, and at
least one prison term,
in Gwinnett County.
This AJC story has a quote by VSU alumnus and current ADS rep.
Steve Edwards.

David Wickert wrote for the AJC 8 September 2012,

Widening probe stains Gwinnett reputation,



New details of a federal investigation paint a troubling picture of
corruption deeply embedded in Gwinnett County—allegations that
may undermine the county’s previously sterling reputation as an
economic dynamo.

Bribery allegations have now embroiled two county commissioners, a
planning commissioner and a zoning board member….

One of Lasseter’s first acts upon taking office in January 2009 was
to appoint Gary — a longtime friend — to the
Municipal-Gwinnett County Planning Commission, which would pass
judgment on his development plans, including the waste transfer
station off Winder Highway.

More dominoes in the federal corruption probe began falling last
week, when Continue reading →

ADS buys At Your Disposal

ADS just bought a company called At Your Disposal, Inc.
That’s interesting, because just six weeks ago



State Sen. Tim Golden’s fraternity brother Steve Edwards,
Atlanta Sales and Marketing for Advanced Disposal Systems (ADS),
said he didn’t forsee any additional acquisitions.
Additional after

ADS’s purchase of Veolia six months ago,
just after the Lowndes County Commission chose
Veolia’s highest bid for waste collection,
which was

not as high as its soon-to-be-parent-company ADS’s bid
for the same service package.



ADS PR of yesterday,

ADVANCED DISPOSAL ACQUIRES AT YOUR DISPOSAL, INC. FURTHER EXPANDING COMPANY’S NORTH GEORGIA OPERATIONS

MINERAL BLUFF, Ga., (June 4, 2012) — Advanced Disposal
Services Inc., a regional integrated environmental services company,
through its wholly-owned subsidiary, has acquired the assets of At
Your Disposal, Inc. The purchase further expands the company’s
footprint in the North Georgia marketplace.

“Acquiring At Your Disposal presented an excellent Continue reading →

How much will trash collection rates go up in Lowndes County? @ LCC 2012-10-09

Speaking of

Veolia winning its high bid for garbage collection,
here’s a clue to how much more its rates may go up.


Remember
ADS Veolia was bought hardly a month later by ADS, owned by Highstar Capital
of New York City?
Look at ADS’s bid for Proposal D: $18.39.


That’s $220.68 a year.
Which is even higher than
Wakulla County, Florida’s $196 a year,
which Gretchen warned us all about more than a year ago.
And more than double the $100 a year for the former county waste collection sites.

Want to guess how much ADS’s monthly rates will rise?
Maybe Continue reading →