Wiregrass Solar LLC –J. Stephen Gupton, VLCIA, 15 Feb 2011

Deploying on a solar plant does require a bit of legal work, and the attorney’s report at the February VLCIA board meeting mostly consisted of talk about completion of lease and sublease agreements with Wiregrass Solar LLC. What’s that, you may wonder, if you’re used to hearing about Wiregrass Power LLC, the shell corporation VLCIA contracted with for the biomass plant. That one still exists, but according to the Georgia Secretary of State’s office, Wiregrass Solar LLC was registered 19 May 2010. The agent is the same as for the other shell cojmpany: Tammi Cody, 3500 Parkway Lane Suite 500, Norcross GA 30092. The agent county is given as Gwinnett.

Here’s the video:


Regular monthly meeting, Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority, VLCIA,
Norman Bennett, Roy Copeland, Tom Call, Mary Gooding, Jerry Jennett chairman,
J. Stephen Gupton attorney, Brad Lofton Executive Director,
Allan Ricketts Program Manager, 15 February 2011.
Videos by John S. Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.

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Turning on Wiregrass Solar –Col. Ricketts

At the February VLCIA board meeting, Col. Ricketts said groundbreaking for the solar plant is scheduled for February 21st with production less than two months after that.

Here you can see his timeline slide.

It’s a bit hard to read, but he mentioned at least these items:

  • Site preparation starts 16 Feb 2011.
  • Groundbreaking Monday 21st Feb 2011.
  • Commissioning ceremony and turn the switch on Wednesday 16th April 2011.
Apparently deploying a solar plant takes a lot less time than some types of projects. You can watch and listen to his presentation: Continue reading →

Uncontrolled growth and water problems

Daniel Mayer, November 2006
Maybe growth, growth, growth alone isn’t any better than jobs, jobs jobs alone, and water remains one of the main issues. Kay Harris wrote in the VDT 17 Feb 2011 that Aging infrastructure, growth, and other issues contribute to city’s sewer woes:
Valdosta Utilities Director Henry … Hicks addressed the sewage spills, saying they are caused by excess rain which overloads the Withlacoochee River Water Pollution Control Plant. He said growth along the river and throughout the regional watershed area has contributed to the amount of excess water running into the river.

“When you have all this growth and you create more impervious surface area (through paving and development), more and more water is running into the Withlacoochee. On average, the plant handles six million gallons a day and is equipped to accommodate twice that, but in recent rain events, we’ve gotten upwards of 15 million gallons extra in stormwater runoff and the system can’t handle that,” Hicks said.

Some of the comments on the VDT page are also interesting. Guest remarked: Continue reading →

You are the media

It’s not necessary to occupy a square or stage a sit-in to emulate MLK’s nonviolent methods, even in Egypt. Look for blue lights in this video:

One view of what you just saw:

In the video you’ll notice the events of the day are not getting captured by film crews and news reporters. They’re being documented by people with their mobile phones. Take another look at the video and count the number of illuminated mobile phone screens you see being raised overhead to capture pictures and video as the scenes in the streets unfolds.
It doesn’t take a fancy camera to record events as they happen. Most any old cell phone will do.

You are the media.

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Georgia native helps inspire Egyptian revolution: MLK in Arabic

Georgia native son Martin Luther King continues to inspire non-violent resistance to oppression, now in Arabic comic book form in Egypt. Egyptian activist Dalia Ziada obtained rights to translate The Montgomery Story from 1958 into Arabic. She says:
When, at first, we went to print the comic book, a security officer blocked publication. So we called him and demanded a meeting. He agreed, and we read through the comic book over coffee to address his concerns. At the end, he granted permission to print and then asked: “Could I have a few extra copies for my kids?”
Continue reading →

The mentality that exploits and destroys the natural environment –Wendell Berry

And now a word from Wendell Berry:
The mentality that exploits and destroys the natural environment is the same that abuses racial and economic minorities…. The mentality that destroys a watershed and then panics at the threat of flood is the same mentality that gives institutionalized insult to black people and then panics at the prospect of race riots.
Source: “Think Little” in A Continuous Harmony: Essays Cultural and Agricultural, by Wendell Berry, 1972. Forty years later, that mentality is still a problem.

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Air pollution and children –Dr. Noll, VCC, 10 Feb 2011

Dr. Noll talks about air pollution and children. He asks if the council thinks numerous medical associations and doctors are lying to us. Mayor Fretti asks if that’s a rhetorical question. Dr. Noll indicates Rev. Rose and others seem quite disappointed in lack of response. Mayor Fretti falls back on process.


Regular meeting of the Valdosta City Council, 10 February 2011.
Video by Gretchen Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.

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Environmental apartheid and envieronmental racism –Leigh Touchton, VCC, 10 Feb 2011

NAACP reiterates charges of environmental racism, despite claims from Brad Lofton, Executive Director of the Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority, that “all of a sudden we haven’t heard anymore about environmental racism.” Leigh Touchton, president of the local NAACP chapter, presents to the Valdosta City Council research published by Robert D. Bullard about environmental apartheid.


Regular meeting of the Valdosta City Council, 10 February 2011.
Video by Gretchen Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.
She posted the appended as a comment on the previous LAKE post about Robert D. Bullard’s report.

-jsq

Dear Mr. Quarterman:
Continue reading →

VSU Advanced Journalism Class, VCC, 10 Feb 2011

Mayor Fretti welcomes a VSU advanced journalism class, as well as David Rodock of the VDT, while Gretchen pans around the room. Hm, advanced journalism: maybe they’d like to video events?


Regular meeting of the Valdosta City Council, 10 February 2011.
Video by Gretchen Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.

-jsq

VLCIA board meeting today

The Valdosta Lowndes County Industrial Authority board meets tonight:
All Meetings will be held at 5:30pm in the Industrial Authority Conference Room, 2110 N. Patterson Street, unless otherwise notified.
I would post a link to their agenda, if they had it online, but they don’t.

Meanwhile, here they are.

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Roy Copeland
Roy Copeland 		Tom Call
Tom Call 		Mary B. Gooding
Mary Gooding 		Norman Bennett
Norman Bennett 		Jerry Jennett
Jerry Jennett,
Chairman