Tag Archives: Gretchen Quarterman

Commissioners listened about the pipeline @ LCC 2013-10-22

Commissioners at least listened about the proposed Sabal Trail Transmission pipeline, at the Lowndes County Commission Regular Session 2013-10-22. Now what will they do?

Video. The Chairman started out reiterating his disclaimer of county responsibility from back in June, but at least this time said they’d take a look at it and they understood what people were going through. Carol Singletary started to respond, and Slaughter said they would talk to her in a few minutes. And they did.

Here’s Part 1 of 2:


Commissioners listened about the pipeline Part 1 of 2:
Regular Session, Lowndes County Commission (LCC),
Video by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 22 October 2013.

Video of after adjournment. See previous post about how unusual Continue reading →

It was an outright threat –Ronald Kicklighter on Sabal Trail pipeline @ LCC 2013-10-22

A citizen didn’t appreciate a pipeline company’s bullying, especially when a second pipeline would make his land mostly useless and hard to sell, at the Lowndes County Commission Regular Session 2013-10-22.

Video. He said he had an existing pipeline less than fifty feet from his back yard, and this one would be less than sixty feet on the other side, wiping out the use of much of his property, including planting trees. He said he probably couldn’t even sell his property with two pipelines on it. He asked for help from the Commission.

Commissioner Crawford Powell asked for the name of the road Kicklighter lived on.

Here’s the video: Continue reading →

This company is awful –Phillip Singletary on Sabal Trail pipeline @ LCC 2013-10-22

A citizen brought up the sordid health and safety record Spectra Energy, at the Lowndes County Commission Regular Session 2013-10-22.

Video. He thanked Commissioner Marshall for coming to the Spectra pipeline meeting at Wiregrass Tech 16 Oct 2013, and said that meeting wasn’t very informative. He asked Commissioners to put themselves in the landowner’s place.

Also to consider that there’s nothing in Georgia that needs a 36″ gas pipeline, which is actually going to to a power plant in Florida, coming out of Alabama. He wondered why it couldn’t run down highway rights of way instead.

He remarked on catastrophic failures, and noted the pipline company, Spectra, had been fined a record $15 million for PCB cleanup along another pipeline.

“This company is awful,”

he said. He noted a gas explosion of that size pipe could take out two football fields. He wondered if the pipeline would go through the county’s closed landfill.

He recommended they, as Commissioners or as individuals, contact FERC. He asked for them to set up a meeting with Spectra. They did later schedule Spectra to speak at their 9 December 2013 Work Session.

Here’s the video: Continue reading →

All the rest of you are new –Sidney Blanton on SPLOST @ LCC 2013-10-22

A citizen expressed concerns about lack of transparency in SPLOST, at the Lowndes County Commission Regular Session 2013-10-22.

Video. He remarked that Commissioner Joyce Evans was the only one he knew, all the rest were new.

He said he would also talk to the Valdosta City Council that Thursday. (Later I told him they had cancelled that meeting due to lack of agenda items; he did speak at the following Valdosta City Council meeting.) He said he wanted the city to say the Withlacoochee Wastewater Treatment Plant was their first priority, and he attested that when he used to crop tobacco on that site it was underwater then when it flooded.

He especially didn’t like that the county didn’t list what projects it was going to fund with SPLOST. I agree with him about that part.

Here’s the video: Continue reading →

Help the citizens of Lowndes County –Carol Singletary on Sabal Trail pipeline @ LCC 2013-10-22

A plea for help was at least partially heard by the Lowndes County Commission at their Regular Session 2013-10-22.

Video. A landowner in the path of the proposed Sabal Trail Transmission pipeline reminded the Commissioners of their own mission statement, mentioned the Spectra pipeline meeting at Wiregrass Tech 16 Oct 2013, said the letter the pipeline company sent her cited Georgia law about eminent domain, and urged Commissioners to contact FERC. She said:

You have a way to help the citizens of Lowndes County. … If you go on record saying you don’t have any impact, where does that leave us?

Commissioner John Page asked her to remain after the meeting so he could “gather some more information from her”. See separate post.

Here’s the video: Continue reading →

Videos: Pipeline, health, insurance, library, and alcohol @ LCC 2013-10-22

The big event was that citizens speaking about the pipeline got four of five Commissioners to come down and listen afterwards. And in a surprise addition to the agenda D.A. J. David Miller asked for and got approval for a victim assistance program. All this and insurance plan, health plan, a road closing, a grant proposal to renovate the Library (did the Commissioners get the whole board packet this time?) and let’s not forget a special performance on fire by Chairman Bill Slaughter, plus apparently the County Commission is in charge of rain like it’s in charge of alcohol.

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

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2013, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2013, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor
Continue reading →

Videos: Steward, Chancy, VLCIA, Nottinghill, and Teramore @ GLPC 2013-10-28

Prequel of the bogus VLMPO maps! Maybe the Valdosta City Council tonight will clarify why the Industrial Authority is asking it to annex and rezone a parcel it apparently does not own. Here’s what the Planning Commission said about that, plus rezonings in Dasher (no speakers and approved unanimously) and Hahira (tabled at request of applicant; see separate post for more on that one), plus two in Lowndes County: Teramore (yes, it’s Dollar General again, and they unanimously recommended it), and Nottinghill is back and got tabled again.

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

Greater Lowndes Planning Commission

Lowndes County City of Valdosta City of Dasher City of Hahira City of Lake Park

REGULAR MONTHLY MEETING

AGENDA

Lowndes County South Health District Administrative Office
325 West Savannah Avenue

Monday, October 28, 2013* 5:30 P.M. * Public Hearing

Continue reading →

Rezoning for another industrial park? @ VCC 2013-11-07

Why is the Valdosta City Council considering annexing and rezoning land for VLCIA that the Industrial Authority apparently doesn’t even own? Revolving loans, railroad, and appointments to the Central Valdosta Development Authority/ Downtown Development Authority, to the Valdosta-Lowndes County Conference Center & Tourism Authority, to the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) Citizen Advisory Committee, and the Valdosta Tree Commission.

That rezoning was considered at the 28 October 2013 Planning Commission meeting. Here’s the Valdosta City Council agenda:

AGENDA
REGULAR MEETING OF THE VALDOSTA CITY COUNCIL
5:30 PM Thursday, November 7, 2013
COUNCIL CHAMBERS, CITY HALL
Continue reading →

Videos of Candidates and Mayor Gayle about SPLOST @ LCDP 2013-09-09

In which we discover one candidate works for the City of Valdosta and opposes SPLOST. Candidates took questions directly from the audience and answered them, unlike at later candidate forums. Candidates from the smaller cities started their tradition of not showing up for forums outside their cities. Here’s the list of qualified candidates. See also the videos of the 30 Club forum 2013-10-21 and the videos of the AAUW forum 2013-10-15.

Opening

Call to Order, Moment of Silence for Congress, Pledge, Approval of Minutes, Treasurer’s Report.

SPLOST VII

30 Club Candidate Forum @ 30Club 2013-10-21

The candidates were almost unanimous on SPLOST VII and how to prevent JK situations, but more varied on other questions. Roy Copeland, billed as “Valdosta attorney” (but perhaps known better to LAKE readers as VLCIA board member and former Chairman) was the moderator, assisted by Valdosta Fire Chief and Thirty Club member J.D. Rice. They took questions from the audience and recognized their host, Pastor Floyd Rose of Serenity Church. You may wonder as I do why city council candidates were answering about graduation rates.

Matthew Woody wrote for the VDT 21 October 2013, ‘Let the games begin’. Here’s the list of qualified candidates. As usual, nobody showed up from the smaller cities, although at least one Valdosta candidate, Richard Miller, spoke up for the smaller cities about SPLOST.

Valdosta City Council District 2

Continue reading →