Tag Archives: Lowndes County Commission

County Commission Meetings Monday and Tuesday


left to right: Ashley Paulk (Chairman),
Joyce E. Evans (District 1),
Crawford Powell (District 3),
Richard Raines (District 2).
The next scheduled meetings of the Lowndes County Commission are:
  • 8:30 AM Monday January 24, 2011: work session
  • 5:30 PM Tuesday January 25, 2011: regular session
The agenda is posted on the county website. This meeting will probably be very brief, since it has no rezoning cases; those come every other meeting. This one is mostly contracts for consideration. However, there is this interesting item:
5. Resolution Establishing Policies and Procedures for Citizens Wishing to Be Heard and Consideration of Lowndes County Board of Commissioners Policies and Procedures for Citizens Wishing to Be Heard

It also has the regular item:

7. Citizens Wishing to be Heard Please State Name And Address
This item is for the regular session, not the work session, although in the work session the Chairman sometimes notes somebody is there wanting to talk and asks them to say what they want to say. Conversely, in the regular session we don’t usually hear much from this one:
8. Reports-County Manager
The county manager often gives a longer report in the work session.

By “very brief” I mean work sessions typically run about 15 minutes, with the record being something like 8 minutes. And they start on time, or a minute early. Be there or miss what you want to hear or say.

-jsq

“I don’t feel my interests were adequately represented” –Matt Flumerfelt

First-time speaker Matt Flumerfelt notes the Valdosta City Council and the Lowndes County Commission both disclaim responsibility for the Industrial Authority even though both appoint its members, and he thinks that may make VLCIA’s contract for the biomass plant challengeable on constitutional grounds. He also sent LAKE the appended article on 20 Jan 2011.

Video by John S. Quarterman of the regular meeting of the Valdosta City Council, 20 January 2011, for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.

Faith In Technology Is What Got Us Into This Mess

by Matt Flumerfelt

Many people in the Valdosta-Lowndes County community have faith that the proposed Biomass incinerator won’t harm anyone or anything, but faith in technology is what got us into our current environmental mess in the first place. Those old enough to remember the nuclear power debate will remember how many people gave assurances that nuclear power was safe, yet we see today how difficult nuclear waste is to dispose of and how much damage it has caused when things go wrong, which, human nature being what it is, they inevitably do. The recent gulf oil spill would not have happened if

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Text of letter from Russell Anderson to officials

Can you find a “veiled threat” in the appended letter? LAKE couldn’t.

Some people seem to be forming opinions of that letter without ever having read it. LAKE has published links to a PDF of it from four previous posts: “Far from Over”, “What is Fiery Roots”, Russell Anderson Responds, and “We got off on the wrong foot”. Formerly LAKE only had a PDF of a scan of a paper copy of the email of 3 Jan 2011. Per request, Russell Anderson has sent plain text, which appears below. -jsq

All,

My name is Russell Anderson. I am the Co-Director of Collectiveprogression.org and graduate of Valdosta State. I am writing to inform you of my intent to publish the below piece on our website and to our readership as well as produce a full length documentary about the community struggle against the proposed Wiregrass LLC biomass incinerator. I have you all on this email {Sterling Assets, Langdale’s, Council, Commissioners, Authority, Attorneys} and ALL of you have continued to pass the blame and buck on the building of this plant. Rather than doing the more responsible thing (pending EIS),

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“we got off on the wrong foot.” –Russell Anderson

See also his letter to LAKE. -jsq
From: Russ Anderson
Date: Wed, Jan 19, 2011 at 10:11 AM
Subject: Mr. Paulk. My apologies and clarifications
To: apaulk@lowndescounty.com

Dear Commissioner Paulk,

It seems that we got off on the wrong foot. I have recently been notified that some of the content within the email I sent to you and other commissioners January 3rd 2011 regarding the biomass Plant were taken as a personal attack towards you and perceived as having “veiled threats”. I’m sorry about that and I apologize for the perceived hostility.

I was also told that in a private conversation, after the {1/11/11} commission meeting, you referred to me by name as a threat similar to the “Virginia Tech Shooter.” That is a very personal (and misinformed) attack and I would appreciate/request a retraction of that statement. Like everyone, I was absolutely appalled when that tragedy occurred as I am anytime I see senseless violence committed against anyone.

My motives are to simply attempt to help support the health of Lowndes County residents and our environment. To compare me to the person that committed this atrocious crime is slanderous and a defamation of my character. Such words and perceptions

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Russell Anderson Responds

Received this morning; see What is Fiery Roots? and Paulk interrogates Noll for backstory. -jsq
From: Russ Anderson
Date: Wed, 19 Jan 2011 10:18:02 -0500
Subject: Russell Anderson responses to article about Fiery Roots and Commissioner Paulk Accusations

Dear L.A.K.E.,

My name is Russell Anderson. Thank you for taking an interest in the Wiregrass LLC Biomass incinerator issue and my affiliated organization Collectiveprogression.org. I am writing today with hopes of clarifying a few things.

First, I’m glad to see there is such an effort as L.A.K.E. in the Lowndes area. L.A.K.E appears to use strategies that could be modeled by other communities seeking a more informed population. Information sharing is critical to achieving a more just and equitable world. The objective of our organization is simply to share the narratives of community struggles, solutions, and efforts in hopes of creating better channels of communication and resource sharing between communities dealing with justice issues. Any similarities to LAKE’s efforts to “Cover the planners to connect the dots” are nothing more than pleasant coincidence.

Hopefully, as our website develops from its infancy, our mission will become more apparent in the content. We have interviewed people across the country to uncover ways that people working for justice can be more connected and,

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VDT Civics Lesson on How to Stop a Biomass Plant

The VDT explains how to effect change, if anyone is listening. Editorial, 13 Jan 2010, Powerless to stop the power plant:
This week as the rhetoric around the proposed biomass facility has continued heating up, leading up to last night’s forum, one of the main themes has been that “government should do something.”

While the Times does not condone or condemn Chairman Paulk’s actions in the commission meeting Tuesday night, understanding the situation may help shed light on the issue. The county is powerless to do anything to stop this power plant. The only governmental entity with any power over the project is the city, and that’s only in the form of the services being extended and the water being sold to the company, as well as the sewage sludge that’s being burned. They too are powerless at this point to stop it.

The editorial continues with the tired old excuse “they can be sued”. Don’t they have insurance for that? If the whole thing goes as bad as some opponents predict, they could be sued for the kind of financial disaster that faces Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

There is one governmental entity that does have the power. Ah, here it is: Continue reading →

What is Fiery Roots?

So what is this “Fiery Roots U.S.A. project” mentioned in the letter Chairman Paulk said contained “veiled threats”? LAKE couldn’t find any threats in the letter, and we hadn’t heard of its author, Russell Anderson, so let’s look at the organization he lists, whose name didn’t ring a bell with us, either.

The “Fiery Roots U.S.A. project” says:

Collective Progression’s mission is to engage individuals and grassroots organizations in order to document social and environmental justice struggles and solutions. We will be providing live and online trainings, resources, and networking opportunities that empower people to effect positive change in their communities.
Hm, well, except for the specific focus, that’s pretty much what LAKE does. More: Continue reading →

Glen Laurel (Old Pine Road) infrastructure at County Commission work session

That’s one thing on the 8:30 AM agenda for this morning. Work sessions are where most discussion among the commissioners usually occurs. The actual vote will be in tomorrow’s (11 Jan) 5:30 PM regular session.

Background on the contentious rezoning for the Glen Laurel subdivision is in the continuing series in this blog.

-jsq

Superdistricts on Lowndes County web pages

Update: the agenda for the 3 Jan 2011 special session is posted on the county webpages.
Lowndes County staff have an update about the recent vote for adding two new superdistricts:
COMMISSION EXPANSION

On Monday, January 3, 2011, the Lowndes County Board of Commissioners held a special called meeting during which the adoption of a resolution expressing the county’s desire to move forward with the expansion of the Lowndes County Board of Commissioners, as previously directed by the voters of Lowndes County, was unanimously approved.

This is on the county’s front page, with links to I suppose this explains why I didn’t hear back about this same information in response to my open records request: they put it on the county web pages. That’s fine with me.

What is not included Continue reading →

Who just voted for the new Districts for Lowndes County?

Citizens, your new Lowndes County Commission:

County Commission Chairman - Ashley Paulk
Ashley Paulk, Chairman 		District 1 Commissioner - Joyce Evans
Joyce Evans, District 1 		District 2 Commissioner - Richard Raines
Richard Raines, District 2 		District 3 Commissioner - Crawford Powell
Crawford Powell, District 3

This is the Commission that as its first act held a special session to propose adding two new superdistricts.

The pictures for the two new Commissioners, Richard Raines and Crawford Powell, are from Valdosta Daily Times writeups while they were running, since the Commission’s own web pages do not yet have pictures for them.

-jsq