Tag Archives: Law

Special bid review meeting @ VLCIA 2013-10-29

The Industrial Authority’s
new office is urgent enough for a special called meeting.
Inquiring reporter Gretchen is going to see what the fuss is about.

Maybe it’s just because this office search has had
more episodes than Star Wars.
Before Roy Copeland was appointed to the VLCIA board, they were
considering buying the old Board of Elections site from him.
Now he’s even been Chairman twice and given that up, and they
still don’t have a new office.
Or maybe it’s something to do with

who owns 103 Roosevelt Drive.



Interestingly, HG Pinnacle Properties, Inc. also owns the much larger surrounding lot,

2318 N Patterson Street,
on which

a Valdosta Electric trailer has been parked
across from the hospital for so long it shows up on Google Maps.

On VLCIA’s website
and
facebook page
(although oddly not in their

current news page:



There will be a Special Called Meeting of the Valdosta-Lowndes
County Industrial Authority 12 noon Tuesday, October 29, 2013 at the
Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority Offices.

The purpose of this meeting is to review bids regarding the
renovation and construction of 103 Roosevelt Drive.

-jsq

From fracking to pipelines –Michael G. Noll



LTE in the VDT today. I added the images and the links. -jsq

Albert Einstein once said that “the world will not be destroyed by
those who do evil, but by those who watch them without doing
anything.” This philosophy can be applied to countless social and
political issues and speaks of the dangers of apathy. Add to this
situation a lack of information and our society is truly in danger,
as companies like SPECTRA Energy not only count on our apathy, but
will also try to hoodwink us.


The Sabal Trail Pipeline currently discussed in our community is

really part of a larger story, a process known as hydraulic
fracturing, or fracking. Fracking allows companies like Halliburton
to free oil and gas trapped in geologic formations, but in a fashion
that is extremely dangerous to our environment (especially



groundwater aquifers) and human health. Exempt from the Clean Air
Act, the Clean Water Act and the Safe Drinking Water Act, fracking
has created countless problems for communities from Pennsylvania to
Texas, and

may soon be coming to north Georgia.

The gas pipeline under discussion is literally a tentacle Continue reading →

Third Sabal Trail pipeline route misses Georgia entirely



Andrea Grover of Sabal Trail Transmission has been telling Florida
landowners about another proposed pipeline route that completely
bypasses Georgia.
Received yesterday on

Request pipeline town hall –Tim Bland to LCC:

For those that are against having the pipeline run through their
property, go to Ocala Star Banner on the web
where there is a map with the proposed route for the pipeline from

Alabama to Florida. This route barely touches the southwest corner

of Georgia (if at all). Why did Sabal change the route? I don’t
either. The newspaper is dated October 24, 2013.

-Ronald Kicklighter


Contracts for natural gas pipeline through Florida get initial OK,
by Morgan Watkins for Ocala StarBanner
picked up a story first run in

the Gainesville Sun,

A $3.5 billion, 600-mile natural-gas pipeline system that will
stretch from Alabama into Florida is still in the planning stages,
but homeowners near the Ichetucknee and Santa Fe rivers are
concerned because the routes being proposed might run through their
neighborhoods.


 

Landowners in Georgia don’t want it crossing their land or the
Flint or Withlacoochee Rivers, either.

Florida Power & Light selected Continue reading →

Transparency not a problem –Bill Slaughter @ VLMPO 2013-10-23



Defining away another problem,
like he already did

Internet access,
Lowndes County Chairman Bill Slaughter

said:

I can’t honestly just buy into the real problem of transparency in
this community.



This was after numerous people in the room at the

VLMPO Open House on Common Community Vision at Mildred Hunter 23 October 2013
expressed concerns about needs to
video local government meetings and put them online,
and to make various processes more open.

Regarding videoing, Slaughter trotted out former Valdosta Mayor
John Fretti’s old chestnut about allegedly in cities where meetings
are televised citizens grandstand and the meetings drag on forever.
Nevermind that there are numerous ways to do it, such as putting
videos on the web and not simulcasting, and in places like Tallahassee
that do both not many citizens usually show up.
The people I’ve seen grandstanding consistently at local government
meetings around here are Continue reading →

Spectra to answer questions about pipeline @ LCC 2013-12-09

Received yesterday.
Good first step. Will the Commission also have Spectra speak at the Regular
Session, like they did ADS back in February?
Will it make that a public hearing?

Update 11:30 AM:
Pipeline meeting set:
Commissioner gathers opposing views by Matthew Woody, front page of the VDT this morning. -jsq



From: Demarcus Marshall <marshall at lowndescounty.com>

Date: Friday, October 25, 2013 7:51 AM

To: Tim Bland

Cc: Matthew Woody

Subject: Sabal Trail Pipeline

Tim and Residents along the Proposed Sabal Trail Pipeline,

Brian Fahrenthold of Sabal Trail Pipeline contacted me yesterday and
requested an audience with the Lowndes County Commissioners. I have
submitted to the chairman a slot for him to address the
commissioners at our December 09, 2013 work session.


I am writing
you to ask Continue reading →

Schedule of Open Houses required by FERC for Sabal Trail

After the series of divide-and-conquer landowner meetings
Spectra just held, another series of Open Houses starts in December:


here’s the schedule.
Later, FERC may hold and sponsor Scoping Meetings.
Local counties can hold public hearings in addition to all these,
and Andrea Grover said in front of multiple witnesses that Spectra
would speak and answer questions at such a county public hearing.

Update 3 Dec 2013:
Brooks County, Georgia already had a citizen speak.
Lowndes County, Georgia is having Sabal Trail speak.
See the calendar.
See also
Sabal Trail’s own list of open houses.

There’s also a meeting of the

corporate cast of characters
with FERC on November 5, 2013.
I wonder if intervenors could attend that meeting, at least by telephone?

The Open House roadshow gets to Albany Dec 11, Moultrie Dec 12,
and Clyattville Dec 16,
interleaved with meetings in Alabama and Florida.

Here’s
FERC’s definition of Open Houses: Continue reading →

Florida Southeast Connection pipeline preliminary filing with FERC

What costs

less than a latte or a slice of pizza?


A day’s electricity from Florida Power and Light, according to

FPL VP Pam Rauch who also is NextEraEnergy VP and President of yet
another pipeline company shell that wants to pull a 100 foot gas pipeline through
Georgia for the benefit of Florida.

Still more

names in the pipeline shell game:
Pamela Rauch who filed FP14-2 for

Florida Southeast Connection LLC (FSC),
is

Vice President, Development and
External Affairs for NextEraEnergy
and

Vice President of External Affairs for Florida Power & Light
Company (FPL) in January since 2008;
on her



LinkedIn profile
she has the NextEra logo next to the FPL name.
Here’s a nice picture of her

making a case for an FPL rate increase for, among other things,



“our ability to finance the billions of dollars in improvements that keep reliability high and bills low, and that create thousands of jobs for you and your neighbors.”

Those would include

“modernizations” as Spectra rep Andrea Grover put it in Moultrie like
closing coal plants and building
this

pipeline through Georgia
by Spectra Energy, a company with

a corrosive-record of property damage
and

PCB-spilling environmental damaga
for neighbors like hers in Florida.
We could have more jobs for people right here through rooftop solar, and we’d get energy, reduced bills, and no risk of PCB or other spills.

What do you think about this,
neighbors in Georgia?
Maybe you’d like to get the Lowndes County Commission to get Spectra and maybe FSC to

come explain themselves?

FERC
file list for FP14-2 and text of the preliminary filing approval for
Florida Southeast Connection:
Continue reading →

WCTV on the pipeline



Spectra said “more rural” “lessens stakeholder impact”.
What do you think about that, rural landowners whose land Spectra wants?
County Chairman Bill Slaughter said
the most positive thing he’s said so far,
“we’re going to be looking out for the citizens of Lowndes County”,
about this
natural gas pipeline potentially ripping a 100 foot right of way
through this county and many others in Georgia, Florida, and Alabama
for the benefit of Florida Power and Light.
And Valdosta, you’re not for sure out of the pipeline path:
remember

FERC could choose that Option B through Valdosta that is Spectra’s
alternate route.


Option B by WCTV

James Buechele wrote for WCTV yesterday,

Pipeline Would Cut Through Florida & Georgia, Continue reading →

Sabal Trail pipeline preliminary filing with FERC

Look at the other company names in this filing:


Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Company, LLC (Transco),
Florida Southeast Connection, LLC (FSC),
and Merjent, Inc.
And another one, since filer Lisa A. Connolly is listed by Spectra as with

Gulfstream Natural Gas System, LLC.
Oh, and she’s also
General Manager, Spectra Energy Transmission, according to

Center for Houston’s Future.

United Way of Houston says she’s
General Manager, Rates & Certificates
for the Spectral puppet master, Spectra Energy.

All three shells, Sabal Trail, Transco, and FSC,
are hoping to get a common environmental rubberstamp
with Merjent ghost-writing their Spectral document:

Transco- and FSC-sponsored projects are requesting separate pre-filing reviews.
However, you have indicated that these three projects are connected actions and, as such,
my staff will perform a single environmental review of these projects and will prepare
one environmental impact statement that addresses all three projects….

My staff has reviewed the proposals submitted for the selection of one third-party
contractor to assist us in preparing the National Environmental Policy Act documentation
required for the Sabal Trail, Transco, and FSC Projects. We have selected Merjent, Inc.
(Merjent) as the third-party contractor to work under the direct supervision and control of
the Commission staff for all three projects. I request that you, Transco and FSC proceed
with executing a contract with Merjent so work may begin as soon as possible.

FERC

file list for PF14-1
and text of the letter: Continue reading →

You gonna take him, too? –police illegally arresting journalist



It all started with someone handing out DVDs in a Federal Reserve museum,
continued with people being arrested on a public sidewalk for doing nothing,
and ended with a judge reaffirming that yes, you can video police.

John [?] wrote for Next News Network a 19 October 2013,

Federal Reserve Bank Settles Counterclaim with Journalist,

In May of 2011 in Missouri, Bruce Baumann was peacefully passing out
DVDs with his local media chapter, WeAreChange Colorado, outside the
Federal Reserve Bank in Kansas City. However, when Baumann and
fellow activist Ronald Lewis attempted to enter the Federal
Reserve’s money museum, they faced resistance from the private
bank’s security, which led to both of their arrest. Although this
resulted in ongoing litigation for nearly 30 months following the
incident, Baumann was confident that he would not only be successful
in defeating the charges, but he would also be victorious in
trampling the Federal Reserve Bank with a counterclaim.

Unbeknownst to Lewis, his name was previously recorded on a list Continue reading →