Tag Archives: LAKE

Agenda: No Nottinghill and no county cases, 1 Hahira, 4 Valdosta @ GLPC 2013-11-25

I guessed wrong: Nottinghill is not on the agenda. Yet the County Commission decided at its November meeting to hear Nottinghill at its 10 December 2013 meeting, which will be without the Planning Commission ever having discussed this item. How is that right? If Planning Commission agendas were made public some days before the meetings, the public could point out things like this in time for them to be fixed.

REZ-2013-11 Nottinghill was tabled by GLPC 30 September 2013 and again 28 October 2013. REZ-2013-11 was also tabled by the Lowndes County Commission 8 October 2013 and 12 November 2013, specifically until the County Commission’s 10 December 2013 meeting. So if the Planning Commission doesn’t discuss Nottinghill tonight, the County Commission can vote on it in December without the Planning Commission ever having discussed it.

Here’s the agenda for tonight, supplied by an informant about an hour ago. Will anyone from the county even show up, since without Nottinghill there are no county cases on the agenda? Continue reading →

No public agenda for Planning Commission today @ GLPC 2013-11-25

Why so secretive, planning board that recommends on issues that affect citizens all over Lowndes County? Where is your agenda for your meeting at 5:30 PM today? Sure, Gretchen only asked for it today, but why does LAKE have to wheedle it out of somebody? Why don’t you or the county publish it so the public can see? Do you, the affected public, agree with Lowndes County Chairman Bill Slaughter that transparency is not a problem?

We can guess the proposed Nottinghill subdivision will be back, since it got tabled (again) at GLPC’s October meeting. Also probably the attendance policy, since last time the GLPC Chairman wasn’t there and only 6 of 11 Commissioners showed up. But what else? And why should have to guess what public business a public board is taking up tonight? Why do we have this Planning Commission if it doesn’t take its responsibilities to the citizens of this county seriously enough to show up or to tell us what it’s doing?

Lowndes County doesn’t even have today’s meeting on its public calendar. The City of Valdosta does; here’s Valdosta’s GLPC listing for today: Continue reading →

SpectraBusters Informational Meeting 2013-11-16

Standing room only while Ellis Black (GA Dist. 174), Bill Slaughter (Lowndes County Chairman), and Tim Carroll (Valdosta City Council) spoke after Gretchen Quarterman gave an introduction at the first SpectraBusters Informational Meeting last Saturday. A second meeting is scheduled for this Saturday morning at 10AM at the Valdosta City Hall Annex.

Video. Gretchen asked if there were any representatives from the pipeline company present. Nobody spoke up. Several affected landowners did speak: Beth Gordon from Levy County, Florida and Larry Rodgers and Carol Singletary from Lowndes County, Georgia.

Video. Elected officials spoke. Bill Slaughter (Lowndes County Chairman) said Continue reading →

Pipeline opposition meeting planned this weekend –VDT

In the Valdosta Daily Times yesterday.

VALDOSTA — A group of citizens opposed to the Sabal Trail pipeline will meet at the Valdosta City Hall Annex, 300 N. Lee St., Valdosta, GA 31601, Saturday, Nov. 23, from 10 a.m. to noon.

The purpose of this meeting is to discuss the 36-inch natural gas pipeline that is proposed to run through Colquitt, Brooks and Lowndes counties.

Contact: Gretchen Quarterman (229) 834-1945, or Beth Gordon (352) 528-0111.

The VDT piece drew from this PR of 19 Nov 2013, More about the Sabal Trail gas pipeline and how to stop it: SpectraBusters Information Meeting #2.

-jsq

VSU Environmental Issues Committee backs SAVE fossil fuel divestment

EIC went first, and attached to the agenda for the VSU faculty senate meeting that moved to back SAVE and condemn the position of the Board of Trustees this statement. -jsq

Attachment D

Links and notes from Environmental issues committee

Dl Link to Physical Plant work order form, where the user can tailor the request to a lighting issue: https://tma.valdosta.edu/webtma/GenerateRequest.aspx?key=8fMN5Hy6FywdBGVfahdUsPDaD%2bsth%2bE6fXG%2brkvftJ0%3d

D2

Hello, At today’s EIC meeting, the committee voted on , and passed, the following statement that I am sending onto the Executive Committee of the Faculty Senate.

“The EIC moved to agree to the following statement as a committee and to communicate it to the Executive Committee of the Faculty Senate for consideration:

The EIC as a standing committee of the Faculty Senate supports the efforts of S.A.V.E. (Students Against Violating the Environment) to encourage the VSU Foundation to consider divesting from fossil fuel extraction-based investments.”

If you have Continue reading →

SAVE won at VSU Faculty Senate

SAVE president Danielle Jordan posted on SAVE’s facebook page about an hour ago:

BIG WIN, SAVE!

The faculty senate voted, unanimously, to support our divestment campaign. They also voted to condemn and reject the BOT response letter.

Way to go, everyone! We’re making progress!

Great Promise and Leadership at Industrial Authority @ VLCIA 2013-11-19

Really; those are the names of two of the organizations they spoke before: Great Promise Partnership and Leadership Lowndes. And what is the mystery Project XX2?

Here’s the agenda:

Valdosta — Lowndes County Industrial Authority
Tuesday, November 19, 2013 5:30 p.m.
Industrial Authority Conference Room
2110 N. Patterson Street
Continue reading →

Why south Georgia actions start in Lowndes County and Valdosta

The biggest population center for 80 miles around is Valdosta and Lowndes County.

Map of population around Valdosta and Lowndes County Albany to the northwest actually has more people than Valdosta, but Dougherty County has fewer than Lowndes County. Beyond Albany it’s Columbus and then Auburn is about the same size as Valdosta.

Farther north it’s Warner Robins and Macon. Due west Dothan it’s Dothan. The closest bigger place is Tallahassee and Leon County, Florida to the southwest. Farther south it’s Gainesville, then Orlando and Tampa. East it’s Savannah, and of course Jacksonville.

History of population around Valdosta and Lowndes County

On this handy interactive google population comparison chart, you can see in the 3-6,000 range: Adel, Ashburn, and Lakeland.

14-20,000: Americus, Brunswick, Moultrie, Thomasville, Tifton, and Waycross.

55-60,000: Auburn and Valdosta.

67-80,000: Continue reading →

Maybe county should check its work about other budgets @ LCC 2013-11-14

Who’s responsible for the recent partiality in budget reports? The newspaper, or its source of information, namely the county government at its secretive retreat on the Chairman’s private property that even the VDT reporter had trouble finding?

When the Coroner and the Sheriff (often at odds lately) agree that the VDT’s version of the county government’s remarks about their budgets was at best partial, where is the source of that partiality? Who’s responsible for budgeting for the county, reporter Matthew or editor Kay Harris or Dean Poling? Or is it the local government our taxes pay to do that job, namely the Lowndes County Commission and its staff, which is managed by County Manager Joe Pritchard?

Maybe somebody down at the county palace should, as Gretchen suggested recently, “check our work”.

-jsq

More sinkholes in Florida.

Just a few cracks a couple of years ago turned into a 90 foot wide and 60 foot deep sinkhole Thursday. At least six houses affected in north Florida, above the same Floridan Aquifer that produces sinkholes here in south Georgia. Here in Lowndes County Michael McCormick has more than a few cracks: he has a sinkhole in his garage. Will Lowndes County do something before we wake up to news of man’s house fell into a sinkhole overnight?

ABC News Blogs 14 November 2013, Florida Sinkhole Swallows Home

Six other homes have been evacuated as a precaution and Duke Energy has shut down power to the area.

A growing sinkhole in Florida has swallowed Continue reading →