The VDT
nailed it:
Executives and city officials broke ground together at the site to the mixed cheers from the crowd of protesters: “Hooray for solar! No biomass!”More perceptive text by David Rodock and pictues by Paul Levy online and in the paper paper.
Videos of the protesters here. Videos of the groundbreaking ceremony (with protesters) to come.
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All these protesters were in favor of the groundbreaking today for the
Wiregrass Solar LLC plant, but they wanted to object to the
related biomass plant proposed for next door.
Here you can see Valdosta police saying they’re going have to
issue a summons to some protesters because they didn’t have a permit,
Valdosta Mayor Fretti saying the permit process is simple,
and Dr. Michael Noll president of Wiregrass Activists for Clean Energy (WACE)
explaining that they only heard of the event recently,
and besides he’d be happy to pick up a shovel and help with the
groundbreaking for the solar plant:
The Lowndes County Commission seems to have suddenly gone from
lecturing citizens about how it’s a waste of tax money for
people to speak too often to inviting all sorts of citizen
groups to show up and speak or be recognized.
I call that a good thing.
We’ll see if this
era of good feelings lasts.
In addition to
the many students speaking about Tranqulity Trail,
at the same meeting the Chairman recognized
a Boy Scout troop
(at least I think that’s what that one was)
and
Boy Scout Troop 418
(I’m pretty sure about that one).
Also the
Chidren’s Advocacy Center
(more about that one later).
And
Sheriff Prine thanked the Commission for their support
in
searching Ocean Pond for seventeen days.
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Valdosta City Council member James Wright and students speak
to the County Commission about
Tranquility Trail.
The students have a number of good points, such as
“It’s not about me but our community”
and
“Don’t Litter, Make Our Trail Glitter”,
and
trees have educational and recreational benefits,
and
“We need our community to come in with us…
how our community can get involved.”
James Wright wraps up with
“Development of our community and our citizens.”
There’s more. Here’s the whole thing:
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VLCIA says
it paid for hotel rooms in December for
Bob McCann and Gil Waldman of Sterling Energy. Why?
How much more has VLCIA spent on travel for Sterling?
And how can this public-private keep Sterling documents related
to the biomass plant confidential?
According to the VDT, “Biomass plant said good for Valdosta and Georgia,” by Johnna Pinholster, 4 Nov 2010, “Gilbert Waldman is vice president and general manager of Sterling Energy Assets” and “Sterling Energy brought in Robert McCann, Jr. from Golder Associates Inc.” It’s curious that VLCIA paid for a room for the general manager of Sterling Energy, which I thought VLCIA said was the principle investor in the project. Seems like more we, we, we to me. This is yet more evidence that VLCIA and Sterling Energy do indeed have a public-private partnership. In which case, why can Sterling and VLCIA claim Sterling’s wood fuel sourcing study is proprietary?
The VDT also said:
On Tuesday, Waldman, an environmental consultant, members of the Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority board, and Brad Lofton, executive director of the authority, sat down to discuss the plant, how it works and how clean it will be.Did VLCIA also pay for rooms for Waldman and McCann for that Tuesday 2 Nov 2010 meeting? How much money has VLCIA spent bringing them down here?
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VLCIA spent
more than
$17,000 on speakers and catering for their 6 Dec 2010 “Forum”, according
to VLCIA’s response to an open records request.
Yet local speakers against the biomass plant
who would have charged nothing were not
invited to be on the panel.
VLCIA insists on referring to it as an “information exchange”,
even though their hand-picked moderator said
“we’re not going to get into debate.”
Here is a summary of the expenses: Continue reading
Update 21 Feb 2011: Col. Ricketts confirms the groundbreaking is at 11:30 AM today on Water Plant Road; follow the signs from there to the construction site.
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However, VLCIA’s land proposed for the Wiregrass Power LLC biomass plant is around the corner off of Inner Perimeter Road east of Deloach Road: It’s conceivable that VLCIA might hold the ceremony on its own property. See their map below: Continue reading
In the new
era of good feelings,
Dr. Noll asked the Lowndes County Commission
whether they thought all the medical associations
and doctors who oppose biomass plants are lying,
same as he later
asked the Valdosta City Council.
He also offered to
discuss with biomass proponent Nolen Cox,
who spoke immediately before.
Here’s
the video.
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Shutting down debate didn’t work,
so now we have the era of good feelings at the County Commission.
Here
Chairman Ashley Paulk thanks Dr. Michael Noll for a previous meeting:
Some of us did wonder when next thing was Noll’s microphone went off. But that was apparently just a technical failure, which continued for a while during the meeting.
I commend Chairman Paulk for his recent civil and, as Commissioner Lee used to say, “adult-like manner.”
However, as County Manager Joe Pritchard reminded everyone later at the County Commission retreat, the county government is still having a bit of difficulty adjusting to all this recent transparency. Let’s help them by showing them by example on many topics that the road of respect goes both ways.
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Local resident Nolen Cox says government grants are more addictive than drugs,
and “all the federal money is my tax money.”
He mentions federal debt, and lists only social programs.
Regarding grants, he’s specifically referring to a proposal to
accept a grant for NOAA weather radios, which we’ll come back to later.
His other topic is that he thinks we need more oil, more nuclear, and biomass. His recommendation: “I would stop discusssing it.” He thinks it’s like global warming, which he thinks is a lie. He sums up:
Build the plant, employ people, get on with the program.It’s interesting that these are about the best arguments biomass proponents have. Perhaps he’s not aware that shutting off the debate was tried recently and doesn’t seem to be working too well. Here’s the video.
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