Tag Archives: Jerry Jennett

Environmental Justice –Leigh Touchton @ VLCIA 15 March 2011



Chairman Jerry Jennett asked for Citizens Wishing to be Heard,
and first up was
Leigh Touchton, President of
Valdosta-Lowndes NAACP,
who presented them

a letter from Dr. Robert D. Bullard,
about his findings that 80% of the residents
within one mile of the proposed Wiregrass Power Plant are black
and 75% of biomass facilities in Georgia are sited in minority/poor communities.


“This is what is called environmental racism.”

She

also said
she
was tired of people who are against biomass being

represented as a fanatical fringe crew,
primarily by Mr. Lofton,
considering she stood before them representing the local NAACP,
the Georgia state conference of the NAACP,
“the largest organization non-profit of voters in the state of Georgia”,
and the national NAACP.





Leigh Touchton, President, Valdosta-Lowndes NAACP

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 March 2011.

Videos by John S. Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.

Perhaps I missd it because I was a few minutes late,
but this was the only mention of the Wiregrass Power LLC biomass plant
that I heard at this VLCIA board meeting.

-jsq

Protesters at VLCIA, 15 March 2011



The first thing I saw when I drove up to the Industrial Authority building:

protesters outside.
They don’t seem to like some biomass plant.





Protesters, Wiregrass Activists for Clean Energy (WACE) at the

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 March 2011.

Videos by John S. Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.



Let’s ask these two what this is about.
Dr. Michael Noll,

President of Wiregrass Activists for Clean Energy (WACE)

said:

“We’re here to protest against biomass.
We wish Brad Lofton well in his new job,
but we want biomass to go as well.”





Karen and Michael Noll, Wiregrass Activists for Clean Energy (WACE) at the

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 March 2011.

Videos by John S. Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.

I asked Leigh Touchton, President of
Valdosta-Lowndes NAACP
about

a letter she forwarded to LAKE, and she

said:

Continue reading →

Wiregrass Solar Plant Completed



Last Saturday I heard Hannah Solar had completed the Wiregrass Solar
plant installation in Valdosta.
Today

Col. Ricketts confirmed that.
Congratulations, Industrial Authority, Wiregrass Solar LLC,
and Hannah Solar!

The first slide shows the location of the solar plant,
which is



in the back of Valdosta’s Mud Creek Water Treatment Plant
on Water Plant Road off of GA 94 (New Statenville Highway).

Where there used to be just a bare field, it’s now covered with solar panels.

The current holdup is


waiting for Georgia Power to connect the panels
to the grid.
After that, they just need to schedule a commissioning ceremony.
Col. Ricketts said they’d discuss that “later”.

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 March 2011.

Video by John S. Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.

-jsq

Industrial Authority board meets tonight



The Board of Directors of the Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority
(VLCIA)
meets tonight,

5:30 PM 15 March 2011 in the Industrial Authority Conference Room,
2110 N. Patterson Street, Valdosta, Georgia.
I hear they’re having a personnel change.

Maybe with new staff they can finally get agendas and minutes
on their website, and maybe a picture of Tom Call.
The picture of Call

below was found elsewhere by LAKE.

-jsq


Roy Copeland

Roy Copeland
Tom Call

Tom Call
Mary B. Gooding

Mary Gooding
Norman Bennett

Norman Bennett
Jerry Jennett

Jerry Jennett,

Chairman

“Parameters on the types of industry” –VDT Editorial



And what about all that land?

In addition to a news story about

Brad Lofton moving on up to Myrtle Beach,
the Valdosta Daily Times also had an editorial yesterday (14 March),

Lofton’s leaving a void
in which they make some good points, including:

While the search is on for a new director, now is the time for the city,
county and industrial authority board to come together to make some
decisions about the organization and what the community leadership needs
and wants it to be.

Here are

a few modest suggestions along those lines, including considerations
such as water.

More from the VDT:

Continue reading →

VDT on Lofton Leaving



What’s Brad Lofton’s legacy?

The VDT finally published something today about Brad Lofton moving to
Myrtle Beach, apparently mostly drawing on the same SC newspaper story

LAKE picked up on last Thursday,
with some material from

the second SunNews story of Friday.
The VDT did

add some local interviews:

Continue reading →

Authority should listen to other sources –John S. Quarterman

This op-ed by me appeared in the VDT today, 24 Feb 2011.
On 15 Feb 2011 I spoke directly to the VLCIA board about the main points
and the next day I sent them the longer version,

Why “jobs, jobs, jobs” isn’t good enough for the public good and the general welfare,
which includes links to videos of the relevant speeches and to

VLCIA’s charter. -jsq



Everyone wants jobs for those who need them and jobs for
young people so they don’t have to go somewhere else to find one.
But what good is that if those jobs suck up all the water those people
need to drink?

At the Lake Park Chamber of Commerce annual dinner Brad Lofton gave
a speech which I liked, and I told him so afterwards, because it
was mostly about real industry with real jobs that that the
Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority (VLCIA) has brought
into the area.

But it had a problem:

Continue reading →

How much has VLCIA paid for Sterling Energy travel?



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?

-jsq

VLCIA Payments for 6 Dec 2010 biomass “Forum”



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 →

Where is the Wiregrass Solar plant?



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.

The groundbreaking for the Wiregrass Solar plant is

Monday 21 February, rumor has it at 11:30AM, but where?
My understanding is that the site
is at the back of the City of Valdosta’s Mud Creek Wastewater Treatment property,
which is


View Larger Map


on Water Plant Road off of GA 94 (New Statenville Highway)
east of Inner Perimeter Road.

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 →