Category Archives: Water

Moody Family Housing is in aquifer recharge zone @ LCC 2013-08-27

The Moody Family Housing just rezoned is in a recharge zone for our drinking water supply, the Floridan Aquifer. What will keep runoff from this subdivision from feeding through the wetlands and sinkhole into the aquifer? Should we depend on county engineering, which never put in the traffic calming measures required for nearby Nelson Hill, or other county staff, who gave waivers for other required items there, or just didn’t require them to be implemented? What assurances can we get from our county government that Moody Family Housing won’t pollute our drinking water?

WRPDO Title Alone The above map is a detail from Lowndes County’s own Water Resource Protection Districts Ordinance (WRPDO) overlay Map. Here’s an even more detailed view courtesy VALOR GIS (turn on Streams and Waterbodies, NWI Wetlands, Muncipal Boundaries, and Groundwater Rechard Areas): Continue reading →

Seven Out Superfund site in Waycross –Joan McNeal for Channel 22

People are still getting sick and dying in Waycross after Chemical company Seven Out closed and left a toxic waste site. It’s now a Superfund site, which doesn’t mean anything has been cleaned up. 10 out of 30 City Hall employees have cancer and 8 have already died. Many living around the site are sick, and teachers and school children. What will Georgia Reps. Jason Spencer and Ellis Black who attended do after that 29 August 2013 meeting? Will action wait until more people die? And to which landfill were those precipitated solids taken?

GA Rep. Ellis Black District 177 State representative Jason Spencer District 180 said the state health report should be finished in October, and was quick to point to Rep. Ellis Black District 174 as representing the specific area. Rep. Black said they’d just heard about this and would be looking into it, and:

I’m a farmer from Clyattville…. I spent some time in the farm-supply business and I have messed with agricultural chemicals all my life and I’ve got a lot of experience there. And I can tell you that I know firsthand something about the danger and the challenges of dealing with these really sensitive products and how minute amount can cause problems. And it’s something that’s Continue reading →

Landfill is in aquifer recharge zone

In a recharge zone for our drinking water supply, the Floridan Aquifer, is the Pecan Row Landfill with its PCBs and coal ash. That proposed landfill pipeline requiring cutting through the vegetative buffer along an unnamed tributary to Spring Branch? Also at least partly in the recharge zone. Continue reading →

Citizens sue city about sewage

I wonder who else is sick of sewage?

AP, today, Sick Of Spewing Sewage, Georgia Neighbors File Lawsuit,

The Georgia Environmental Protection Division responded to a Rochelle resident’s complaint of waste spewing across portions of a 10-block area in March. The agency concluded there had been a major spill of more than 10,000 gallons of raw sewage. A March 29 letter from state regulators says Rochelle city officials were aware of “frequent spill events” in the past but had made “minimal to no progress” in fixing the problems.

The complaint and the lawsuit both started with 67-year-old John Jackson, a retired Rochelle city maintenance worker who reached out to state regulators and the nonprofit environmental law firm Earthjustice. The firm filed suit on behalf of him and seven co-plaintiffs.

Well, of course our local county seat and county here are working on fixing their sewage problems…. Continue reading →

Landfill pipeline

Apparently ADS’s landfill gas project wants to take in methane from the closed old landfill, as well, according to a public notice today that proposes a pipeline from the old Evergreen Landfill to the Pecan Row Landfill that has the natural gas turbine. Nevermind the $27,500 fine for PCBs or that coal ash in the landfill that nobody on the Lowndes County Commission or Valdosta City Council or Deep South Solid Waste Authority (SWA) can be bothered to check on. Nevermind the unaccounted for tipping fees or host fees. I wonder if cutting through that vegetative buffer will let the coal ash and PCBs reach the Withlacoochee River more easily?

Location of proposed pipeline from Evergreen Landfill to Pecan Row Landfill
The yellow path indicated for the pipeline is just a guess.

In the VDT today, PUBLIC ADVISORY NOTICE,

The proposed project located west of Valdosta, in Lowndes County, GA along Wetherington Lane near the Pecan Row Landfill facility (2995 Wetherington Lane, Valdosta, GA, 31601) involves buffer encroachments necessary to install a 30-inch gas pipeline. This pipeline will Continue reading →

Videos: New judge, river gauge, park deed, personnel costs, pest control, and retirement @ LCC 2013-08-27

Unanimous approval for a third no-bid contract this month for Lovell Engineering, this time for for a sports complex in Hahira, but surprisingly the opaque pest control bids were tabled indefinitely. Also unanimously approved were three new fine-processing positions for the Clerk of Court, the Little River stream gauge, The special presentation was for the retirement of Gene Roberts from Public Works. No mention of the previous morning’s presentations by Judge John Kent Edwards Jr. asking for a new State Court Judge or about fines moving from Sheriff to State Court. Dr. Michael Noll said Moody AFB once again couldn’t get access to the site for the Moody Family Housing the Commission already approved, despite the sinkhole on the adjoining land.

Here’s the agenda, with links to the videos and a few notes. See also videos of the previous morning’s Work Session.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, AUGUST 26, 2013, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, AUGUST 27, 2013, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor
Continue reading →

New judge, river gauge, park deed, personnel costs, and pest control @ LCC 2013-08-26

The request for a new State Court Judge by Judge John Kent Edwards Jr. took 27 and a half minutes, plus his eight minute explanation of fines moving from Sheriff to State Court. More people might have showed up to hear if anybody had known about these items. Commissioners asked a surprising number of questions about them and about the Little River stream gauge and the opaque pest control bids. Of course, then people might have seen the proposed third no-bid contract to the same firm this month. They vote tonight.

Here’s the agenda, with links to the videos and a few notes:

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, AUGUST 26, 2013, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, AUGUST 27, 2013, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor
  1. Call to Order
  2. Invocation
  3. Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag
  4. Special Presentation

    See separate post.

  5. Minutes for Approval

    As is his custom, Chairman Bill Slaughter directed Commissioners to tell the Clerk of any changes, so we don’t know what they are. Then he introduced the special presentation out of agenda order.

    1. Work Session — August 12, 2013
    2. Regular Session — August 13, 2013
  6. For Consideration
    1. Environmental Engineering Services for GDOT Land Deed for Parks and Recreation

      Invisible Engineer proposed a third no-bid contract for same firm proposed this month; see separate post.

    2. USGS Funding Agreement for Hwy 122 Stream Gauge

      This time Emergency Director Ashley Tye said it’s on the Little River, why it’s there, how it’s maintained, etc. See separate post.

    3. Budget Adjustment — Personnel Costs

      Judge John Kent Edwards Jr. explained that many of the people going through his court or paying fines in Lowndes County don’t live here; they come off of I-75, and now the fine-collecting needs to move from the Sheriff’s office to the Clerk of Court; see separate post.

  7. Bid-Pest Control Service

    Pest control for an unannounced amount with no bond from one of two unannounced bids. See separate post.

  8. Reports-County Manager

    County Manager Joe Pritchard requested an Executive Session for pending litigation and they adjourned into that.

  9. Citizens Wishing to be Heard Please State Name And Address

Here’s a video playlist:


Work Session, Lowndes County Commission (LCC)
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 26 August 2013.
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE).

-jsq

Fine collection moving from Sheriff to State Court @ LCC 2013-08-26

Could you have guessed what this was about from the agenda item? Why do we the taxpayers of this $130,000 or $173,000 have to guess? They vote tonight about what was proposed at the 26 August 2013 Work Session of the Lowndes County Commission.

6.c. Budget Adjustment — Personnel Costs

Judge John Kent Edwards Jr. explained that many of the people going through his court or paying fines in Lowndes County don’t live here; they come off of I-75. The Sheriff’s office, in attempting to comply with state law, decided it didn’t want to continuing handling fines. There’s a piece of new legislation proposing to have the Clerk of Court process and retain all the relevant information; Judge Edwards thinks it will pass next year. This requires shifting funding from the Sheriff’s office to the Courts. But it will simplify processing (and presumably costs) by not having it go through both Sheriff and State Court. Meanwhile, Judge Edwards is not aware of any other county that still does this processing through the Sheriff’s department.

Here’s Part 1 of 2: Continue reading →

Gauging the Little River west of Hahira @ LCC 2013-08-26

After the 2009 floods, Lowndes County agreed to help USGS fund a stream gauge on the Little River west of Hahira. It’s time to renew that. They vote tonight about what was proposed at the 26 August 2013 Work Session of the Lowndes County Commission.

6.b. USGS Funding Agreement for Hwy 122 Stream Gauge

This time Emergency Director Ashley Tye said it’s on the Little River.

He said during ihe 2009 floods the county only had a gauges on the Withlacoochee River at Skipper Bridge and US 84, and no way to monitor the level of the Little River, so he contacted USGS, who supplied and installed the equipment. The county since then pays for the maintenance. If something breaks, USGS comes and fixes it. He’s also worked with the National Weather Service to establish flood stages for better warning for residents. It’s time to renew the funding.

Commissioner Demarcus Marshall wanted to know how many inspections were carried out by USGS.

Answer: Continue reading →

Third no-bid contract for same firm proposed this month @ LCC 2013-08-26

This time the County Engineer said Lovell was the only qualified consultant for an ecological and environmental study (because of what requirement we don’t know), for a land swap (for what we don’t know), not funded by the county (funded by whom we don’t know). You the taxpayers and people potentially affected by any ecological and environmental problems: do you think you might want to know? They vote tonight about what was proposed at the 26 August 2013 Work Session of the Lowndes County Commission.

6.a. Environmental Engineering Services for GDOT Land Deed for Parks and Recreation

Invisible County Engineer Mike Fletcher said he had received a proposal from Lovell Engineering Services for the 62.49 acre tract just north of the existing skate park Parks and Rec owns and just north of the old rest area.

The county Tax Assessors maps don’t show any tract of that size near that location, but they Continue reading →