Tag Archives: Gretchen Quarterman

Ground-penetrating radar and karst topography –Michael Noll @ LCC 2013-08-13

Yes, we can look under the ground at the Moody Family Housing site, and it won’t take very long, said a VSU professor at the 13 August 2013 Regular Session of the Lowndes County Commission.

Dr. Michael Noll further answered Commisioner Richard Raines’ previous question as to what Dr. Noll was offering regarding REZ-2013-09 Moody Family Housing by saying VSU does have ground-penetrating radar equipment on campus, and a survey would take only a few weeks. Here’s an example of VSU work using that equipment.

Here’s the video:


Ground-penetrating radar and karst topography –Michael Noll
Regular Session, Lowndes County Commission (LCC),
Video by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 13 August 2013.

-jsq

No-bid contract for Alapaha Water Treatment Plant @ LCC 2013-08-13

A no-bid contract for the engineering firm that already wrote a letter to GA EPD on behalf of the county, this one for upgrading the Alapaha Plantation Water Treatment Plant, at the 13 August 2013 Regular Session of the Lowndes County Commission.

7.b. Engineering for the Alapaha Water Treatment Upgrade

Alapaha Water Treatment Plant Parcel 0261 057

Timeline --Demarcus Marshall Utilities Director Mike Allen said the engineering agreement with Lovell Engineering (presented at the previous morning’s Work Session was ready for the board to approve in a no-bid agreement with Lovell Engineering.

County Commissioner Demarcus Marshall wanted to know Continue reading →

River gauge, park deed, personnel costs, pest control, and a special presentation @ LCC 2013-08-26

Five minutes for tomorrow morning’s Lowndes County Commission Work Session? The mysterious “Special Presentation” might take longer Tuesday.

The last time the river stream gauge funding came up was I think 10 September 2012. At that time I thought Emergency Director Ashley Tye was referring to the Withlacoochee River, but he actually didn’t say which river, and USGS only lists a gauge on the Little River at GA 122, not on the Withlacoochee. If the county put agenda packet information online with the agenda, that sort of confusion wouldn’t be so easy.

Here’s the agenda:

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 →

How big might a sinkhole be? @ LCC 2013-08-13

Viral Internet video of a human-caused sinkhole swallowing a clump of trees whole, in Bayou Corne, Assumption Parish, Louisiana.

>

WCTV posted 22 August 2013, Sinkhole Swallows Trees In Seconds

Assumption Parish, LA – Cameras were rolling just as a sinkhole swallowed a group of trees….

CBS News reports that the sinkhole now covers 25 acres, and is expected to keep growing.

Video from NOLA.com of another tree going in: Continue reading →

Traffic study? –John Page; Who pays? Richard Raines; Tax exemption –Demarcus Marshall @ LCC 2013-08-13

Traffic and taxes were discussed by Commissioners about REZ-2013-09 Moody Family Housing on Val Del Road, but none of them thought those topics important enough to make them conditions, and they didn’t even discuss use of local contractors or sinkholes like the one in the Phase II site, or the missing geotechnical study mentioned in the USAF Draft Environmental Assessment whose comment period wasn’t even ended when they voted at the 13 August 2013 Lowndes County Commission Regular Session.

Traffic study? --John Page As he had at the previous morning’s Work Session, Commissioner John Page wanted to know if that traffic study was going to be required before the development could start. Planning Commissioner Tommy Willis had also asked about that back in July. This time Page didn’t ask about GA 122 or anywhere other than “Val Del and that area”.

Answer from County Engineer Mike Fletcher: Continue reading →

Karst subsidence beneath a house in Lowndes County –Don Thieme @ LCC 2013-08-13

Received yesterday on Florida sinkholes spreading real estate effects in same Aquifer as under Lowndes County. -jsq

Scanning John — Thank you for pressing forward on this important issue for the airmen and their families at Moody AFB as well as for all citizens of Lowndes County. My colleagues and I are also concerned and hope that we can eventually obtain the Phase I geotechnical study. Of course, we have our own research agendas as well as a desire to see our students working on these problems close to their own university campus. In particular, one of my undergraduate students just completed his thesis on karst subsidence beneath a house in Lowndes County. Here is a link to a poster where he presented those finding to our undergraduate research conference: GPR Investigation of Subsidence.

-Don Thieme

Ground-Penetrating Radar Investigation of Subsidence
in Covered Karst near Valdosta

Benjamin Davis, Department of Physics, Astronomy, and Geosciences
Faculty Sponsor: Donald M. Thieme

Abstract

Continue reading →

How will Moody personnel go to housing on Val Del Road? –Gretchen Quarterman @ LCC 2013-08-13

Gretchen Quarterman said she was concerned not just about traffic on Val Del Road, but

Once they leave Val Del, how will they get to the base safely?

Also what happened at Nelson Hill, just up Val Del Road, even though she was neither for nor against REZ-2013-09, at the 13 August 2013 Lowndes County Commission Regular Session.

Gretchen Quarterman on REZ-2013-09 and Nelson Hill both on Val Del Road She specifically expressed concerns about GA 122, Hambrick Road and Radar Site Road, among others, as she had done at the Planning Commission. The previous morning at the Work Session, Commissioner John Page had asked about McMillan Road and GA 122 and had gotten an answer from County Engineer Mike Fletcher which only addressed Val Del Road.

Gretchen Quarterman also expressed concern about another development out in the county going bad like Nelson Hill did, with many of its 13 conditions not being met.

Here’s the video:

Continue reading →

USAF Environmental Assessment for Moody Housing on Val Del Road (REZ-2013-09) @ LCC 2013-08-13

No geotechnical study was seen from the developer before drawing the sinkhole buffers shown in the the Air Force Draft Environmental Assessment for the proposed Moody Housing on Val Del Road, just rezoned as REZ-2013-09, PDF courtesy of Prof. Michael Noll of VSU. You can see sinkholes and wetlands in its maps:

Most of the site area, including all of the Phase I area subject of REZ-2013-09, is colored for medium wetland habitat quality: Continue reading →

Geotechnical conditions and maybe sinkholes –Michael Noll @ LCC 2013-08-13

A VSU professor said he was in favor of the economic benefits, but geotechnical issues should determine whether the new Moody Housing on Val Del Road (REZ-2013-09) should be built, and those were still unclear, at the 13 August 2013 Lowndes County Commission Regular Session.

Dr. Michael Noll of VSU said he was speaking because he had been referred to by previous speakers (Jason Davenport and Tom Kurrie), and he was neither for nor against REZ-2013-09. Dr. Noll’s neither-in-favor-nor-against position seemed to puzzle County Engineer Mike Fletcher. Noll said he and his colleagues had looked at the Environmental Assessment (EA) which has been available at the public library and concluded that they had a number of questions they’d like answered, and he was sure the developers had similar concerns for safety of the project.

Dr. Noll said they’d been trying to get a copy of the geotechnical analysis Continue reading →

Not botched like the old Moody housing –Tim Coombs @ LCC 2013-08-13

“Officers can’t even entertain guests at the houses they are living in” said a Hahira business man, at the 13 August 2013 Lowndes County Commission Regular Session, speaking in favor of REZ-2013-09 for proposed new Moody Housing on Val Del Road.

Previously at the Planning Commission Coombs had asked for use of local contractors at this new Moody Family Housing project. Both at GLPC and at this County Commission meeting Coombs expressed concern about what he called that “botched” previous housing project. (Much more detail on Magnolia Grove here.) This time he said he thought the new project would be “of great economic impact in a time when it is really needed”. What happened to his concerns about use of local contractors?

Here’s the video:

Continue reading →