Got a pipeline aimed at your house?
The county takes no responsibility.
And videos are good for juvenile court, but still not for the Commission.
Lots more; see below.
Here’s the agenda, with links to the videos and a few notes. See also the videos of the previous morning’s Work Session.
LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERSContinue reading
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, JUNE 24, 2013, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, JUNE 25, 2013, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor
Georgia Power tries to continue whistling in the fossil and nuclear fuel dark while distributed solar power changes the world around it. The Georgia Public Service Commission can decide differently, and will decide next week, 11 July 2013.
Joshua Stewart
wrote 2 July 2013,
Decision Looms On Georgia Power Plan,
The state Public Service Commission votes next week on Georgia Power’s 20-year plan, the road map for providing electricity to 2.4 million customers. That includes the mix of fuels the company will use and the efforts the company undertakes to get customers to use less energy. This happens every few years. But this time, Georgia Power also wants to retire 16 coal- and oil-fired power-generating units at six power plants.
This happens every few years. But this time, Georgia Power also wants to retire 16 coal- and oil-fired power-generating units at six power plants.
PSC Commissioner Lauren “Bubba” McDonald said at a hearing in April that this version of Georgia Power’s plan “is filled with the most-significant issues” of any Integrated Resources Plan in the last decade.
And Georgia Power avoids actually facing many of those issues:
Continue reading
You’re on your own if that pipeline company wants your property;
the county government chooses to stay completely out of it,
so said Lowndes County Chairman Bill Slaughter
at
the 25 June Regular Session of the Lowndes County Commission.
He read a prepared statement about a proposed natural gas pipeline.
Why the county couldn’t put it on their
website as a press release is mysterious.
I’ve added the links:
Lowndes County has been contacted by representatives of McKenna, Long, Aldridge law firm of Atlanta regarding a proposed project expected to impact property owners of Lowndes County.
Spectra Energy Company and its subsidiary, Sabal Trail Transmissions LLC anticipates construction of a 465 mile interstate natural gas pipeline from Anniston, Alabama extending through Georgia and coming through Lowndes County, terminating in Orlando, Florida.
This project is for the benefit of and is the responsibility of Florida Power and Light. Lowndes County has been Continue reading
Hm, if video saves the county all this money,
how about video of the County Commission’s own meetings to
save the public money keeping track of what the Commission is up to?
7.h. Video Arraignment for Juvenile and Magistrate Court
IT Director Aaron Kostyu said at the 25 June Regular Session of the Lowndes County Commission:
As discussed yesterday morning, this is the video arraignment solution for the magistrate juvenile court. This solution will save tens of thousands of dollars a year for staffing and transportation that will not be required. It will save us quite a bit of money, and time as well. This solution will allow for the video presentation, signature, and certification of warrants and the carrying out of video arraignments and first appearances as well for Magistrates and Juvenile. And this will benefit the Magistrate Court, Juvenile Court, and all the local law enforcement agencies. As noted yesterday, the city of Valdosta is awaiting your approval, and they will purchase a portion of this to go in their facilities as well that will allow them to speak in the video warrants portion.
Commissioners had no questions. County Manager Joe Pritchard recommended Continue reading
Didn’t know the county had a bus system?
It does; you can call
316-2153 and they’ll pick you up for a flat fee.
The county’s contract with the state Department of Transportation
and with the contractor
MIDS, Inc. was reapproved
at
the 25 June Regular Session of the Lowndes County Commission.
7.b. Section 5311 Rural Transportation Operating Contracts
The contract is with GADOT, and the contractor is MIDS, Inc. Per Commissioner Joyce Evans’ request of the previous morning, County Engineer Joe Pritchard said there had been 12,322 trips with six buses over the past 5 months.
The County Engineer referred to some discussion of the previous morning, The Engineer said the federal government put in the first $220,000, and while the county had to pick up any shortfalls, there have been no shortfalls over the past twelve years. This is different from County Manager Joe Pritchard’s answer of the previous morning that it “has been budgeted”. At least staff managed to come up with budget detail after being asked in public by Commissioners. No questions. Unanimous approval.
Here’s Part 1 of 2:
Continue reading
The road previously known as Corbett or George, part of which may or may not have been closed at some previous data, was renamed to Caney Branch Road after a creek that flows into the Alapahoochee River, at the 25 June Regular Session of the Lowndes County Commission.
6.1. Public Hearing Renaming George Road (CR #105)
This time County Engineer Mike Fletcher said the residents
wanted to rename George Road to be Caney Branch Road after
Caney Branch, “a small creek that runs through this area, localized”.
because
EMS, 911, and postal services have an issue with locating the correct houses because there are two George Roads in Lowndes County.
He referred to the previous morning, when Commissioner Crawford Powell wanted to know Continue reading
The political appointee was replaced by a librarian,
and the marketing guy by a marketing guy,
at
the 25 June Regular Session of the Lowndes County Commission.
5.a. Lowndes County Library Board
Back
on June 10th
Library Director Kelly Lenz brought
candidates
Jack Hartley, Linda Most, and Matt Lawrence,
who spoke, and
at the June 24th Work Session
Commissioner Joyce Evans submitted the name of Mr. Robert Jefferson,
who did not speak.
This time County Manager Joe Pritchard mumbled behind his monitor and did not deign to name any of the candidates, referring to “a list” that Commissioners could see but the public could not. He did say that the openings were for the board slots previously occupied by Kay Harris and Ray Devery.
Previous political appointee Kay Harris
failed to get the new library at Five Points approved
in
last year’s failed SPLOST VII vote
and
resigned as Library Board Chair and from that board 15 March 2013.
Here are
some related points she never seemed to discuss.
And while she and the County Commission and the Valdosta City Council
and Mayor pointed fingers about who lost SPLOST, Continue reading
We don’t know the federal cost estimates or the terms and conditions or why Plant Vogtle just got another three month extension on that $8.33 billion federal loan guarantee.
Rob Pavey wrote for the August Chronicle yesterday,
Federal loan guarantee offer for Vogtle expansion extended again,
The owners of Plant Vogtle have secured — for the third time — an extension to allow further negotiation with the U.S. Energy Department over its 2010 offer of up to $8.3 billion in federal loan guarantees to help finance two new nuclear reactors.
Georgia Power and co-owners Oglethorpe Power and Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia were conditionally approved in February 2010 for loan-guarantee financing, in which the government promises to assume a company’s debt if the company defaults. However, the details were never agreed on. Two extensions have since expired, with the most recent deadline — June 30 — passing without any formal agreement in place. Jeannice M.W. Hall, a Southern Co. spokeswoman, said in an e-mail Wednesday that the new extension sets a Sept. 30 deadline for completing the loan guarantee arrangements.
With Southern Company’s stock already downgraded because of Kemper Coal and Plant Vogtle, after S&P’s downgraded SO’s credit, and with still more cost overruns at Kemper on top of Vogtle being 19 months late and a billion dollars over budget, as Gloria Tatum asked back in May, why is SO gambling on nuclear instead of solar?
If you’re tired of this, you can ask DoE Secretary Ernest Moniz to revoke that loan.
-jsq
SO CEO Tom Fanning is a true believer in “all of the above”, yet a skeptic about natural gas. However, he really doesn’t have much faith in renewables, as he indicated at the 22 May 2013 Southern Company Stockholder Meeting and even more strongly in the Wall Street Journal.
This question is from Stephanie Coffin of Atlanta, Georgia, and she holds 18 shares of stock.
TF: Hello, Stephanie.
SC: How are you, Tom?
TF: Dynamite. How are you?
SC: Last year, I came to this meeting to ask a question and to listen to the Southern Company reports. And so before I came I got to thinking about what has changed since the last meeting. I think two things, and then I’ll ask my question.
The first is the chairperson’s salary increased 34 percent, over $13 million a year. I’m sure the retirees and stockholders in the room wonder about the $13 million salary and see that as negative PR in the face of continuing recession. $13 million a year, most of us are on fixed income. I mean, your income
is fixed, too, but it’s very high. Mine is pretty low and we all have to pay electric bills.
The second change, and then I’ll ask my question, is that now 70 — 97 percent of all scientists believe that climate change — that is, global warming — is real and caused by human activity and this is a big shift. Last year we were the climate deniers, we’re in control, and now 97 percent of all scientists say it’s real, it’s coming, you better get ready. In the face of this scientific consensus the Southern Company has maintained its reliance on fossil fuels, mountaintop coal, old coal plants and pushing nuclear power with huge wattage demands and the dangers of nuclear wastes.
While I applaud the Southern Company’s baby steps Continue reading
Why all these overruns? All sorts of excuses about everything but bad management and it was a bad idea in the first place. Does anybody believe this coal plant will be completed anywhere near on time? Why not stop wasting money on it and invest in solar and wind instead?
Only a few months after
the last cost overruns,
Jeff Amy wrote for AP 2 July 2013,
Miss. Power: More overruns at Kemper power plant:
$4.45B price tag latest estimate,
The unit of Atlanta-based Southern Co. told stockholders on Monday that an ongoing review of costs at the coal-fired plant initially has identified at least another $160 million in cost increases.
Mississippi Power spokeswoman Amoi Geter said Southern Co. shareholders would absorb any cost increases. The parent company was hit with $540 million in charges in April, although the after-tax cost to shareholders was lower. In a January settlement with Mississippi regulators, the company agreed to shield customers from further cost increases.
The overruns could push the cost of the plant, adjoining lignite mine and associated pipelines to $4.45 billion. That’s more than $1.1 billion above original estimates.
It’s only supposed to produce 582 megawatts if ever completed. SO could have already built far more solar and wind power for that $4.45 billion, on time and on budget.
Why is Plant Ratcliffe Kemper IGCC so late and so expensive?
Continue reading