LAKE is thrilled when the VDT covers things so we don’t have to.
David S. Rodock in his writeup in VDT this morning on
yesterday’s Lowndes County Commission meeting
includes this list that was not displayed in the public meeting,
yet was approved by the commissioners.
Car 41 No where are you?
Here’s the list: Continue reading
The 30-day public review started on July 14, 2009 and ended on September 10, 2009. Comments were not received by the Division.Given those dates, this seems like the permit corresponding to the current equipment at the PCA plant.
Somebody might want to compare the emissions with those for the proposed Wiregrass Power LLC plant.
Here are some of the emissions listed in this permit: Continue reading
don’t interact with their communities.
Well, paraphrasing what Yakov Smirnoff used to say,
in Lowndes County, community interact with officials!
Here is her comment from 15 March 2011 on this blog:
Not to be rude, although honesty is very often perceived that way these days, but, the industrial authority executives rarely thank their communities. In the six states I’m most familiar with, these fellows see themselves as beholden only to their employers. After all, they work with their directors, elected officials, a few bankers and city/county department heads. Rarely do they come in direct contact with the average voter, employee or homeowner, although all those people often pay a large part of their salaries and office operating expenses. Despite the public funding, these groups are usually tight lipped about how they do business and rarely provide the public with records or audits. We’ve all put up with that manner of doing business for so long we now see it as just that — the way you do business. We’d never accept that from a nonprofit organization, a charity group or most elected officials. Shame on us all.Susan, you’re helping by reading, and you’re helping more by posting. Many local officials have noticed LAKE and this blog because they know people read it.
Anyone who wants to help still more, you, too, can go to a meeting. The Industrial Authority is a good one to attend, but I hear the Tree Commission isn’t trying as hard to enforce things, and does anybody know anything the Hospital Authority does? The Airport Authority? Continue reading
LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, MARCH 21, 2011, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, MARCH 22, 2011, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor
- Call to Order
- Invocation
- Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag
- Minutes for Approval – Regular Session – March 8, 2011
- Resolutions
- Adopt Resolution accepting infrastructure for Cypress Lakes Subdivision Phase V
- Grant Re-Application for the Rural Transportation Program and Associated Resolution
- Public Hearing – Grant Re-Application for the Rural Transportation Program Public Hearing
- Citizens Wishing to be Heard Please State Name And Address
- For Consideration
- Proposal from Hulsey, McCormick, and Wallace, Inc. for Groundwater Sampling and Analysis at the Clyattville Landfill
- Beer & Wine License – Thai Chang Restaurant, 5913 Bemiss Road
- Service Contract for the Mobile Data Terminals
- Bid – Bridge Repairs
- Reports-County Manager
See you there.
-jsq
Local governments must ensure balanced growth, as sprawling residential growth is a certain ticket to fiscal ruin*Here’s a place that does something about it: Portland, Oregon.
* Or at least big tax increases.
Thanks to Matthew Richard for pointing out this documentary.
As the documentary says, the key to Portland’s way is: Continue reading
To get an idea of why big timber growers might find biomass attractive,
here’s an article by Terry Dickson in the Florida Times-Union from 20 June 2005,
State’s forestry industry in an ‘alarming decline’
People have long debated whether there is a sound if a tree falls in a forest but nobody is there to hear it.Continue readingThe fall of revenue from Georgia’s forestry industry, however, has attracted a lot of attention — but $10 billion is hard to ignore.
Wesley Langdale, left, President of The Langdale Company, and Reed Wills, right, President of ADAGE, pose at the ADAGE press announcement. |
When Adage announced their proposed Hamilton County, Florida biomass site in May 2009, they already had something Wiregrass Power LLC has never achieved:
“…and The Langdale Company for the supply of waste wood to the project.Hamilton County, Florida is of course just across the state line from Lowndes County, Georgia, home of The Langdale Company. What will removing the nearby competition do for Wiregrass Power LLC’s proposed biomass plant in Lowndes County, Georgia, which still has no suppliers of wood? Will Adage’s failure to build any biomass plants ever serve as a model? Or will something else happen?“Renewable energy is the next frontier for the working forest, which has been creating jobs and cleaning our air and water for generations,” said Wesley Langdale, President of The Langdale Company. “Working with partners such as AREVA and Duke Energy gives our 115-year-old company confidence in the viability and sustainability of the project.” Langdale and ADAGE made this announcement during the Forest Landowners Association annual conference in Amelia Island.
-jsq
Look through the shell companies like Adage to the real backers.
Why is the source of
the recent news about Adage biomass
plants
being cancelled
the Charlotte Business Journal?
Adage is “An Areva/Duke Energy advanced biopower company.”
And Charlotte is where Duke Energy is based.
John Downey concludes his article in the Charlotte Business Journal of 16 March 2011:
The joint venture has yet to build a biomass plant anywhere. DePonty says it is clear that Adage will not achieve the goal announced when Duke and Areva formed it to build 10 to 12 biomass plants around the country by 2013.Seems like the biomass gold rush is fizzling.
Meanwhile, back in Valdosta, Wiregrass Power LLC,
the shell company for the biomass plant, is owned by
Sterling Planet, whose founder and chairman
Sonny Murphy
spoke at the groundbreaking for
the Wiregrass Solar LLC plant, another Sterling Planet subsidiary.
I’m sure Chairman Murphy is aware that
his solar plant is already completed
while his biomass plant
still has no suppliers of raw materials, goods, or services nor buyers for its electricity.
Also, the biomass plant site preparation start date is now 1 June 2011,
when, if I’m not mistaken, it used to be January 2011.
And at the most recent VLCIA board meeting, the only mention I heard
of biomass was by a citizen
who spoke against it
while the VLCIA’s project manager
spoke at some length about the completion of the solar plant.
Seems to me building out the solar plant in two directions,
like VLCIA discussed at a previous board meeting, would make the
most sense at this point.
I guess we’ll see what Chairman Murphy does.
-jsq
And now the moment
that’s been discussed
since
Thursday,
Brad Lofton’s
goodbye:
Like Mr. Minchew I’m not good at goodbyes either. I wanted to say I’ll be brief… I’m not articulate enough to begin to thank y’all for the unbelievable privilege I’ve had for the last five years. …unbelievable board of directors, the most talented staff I’ve ever worked with. … My wife was going to be here but she would have been too emotional. Thank you all for your trust and confidence in me. It really has been the best five years of my life. I just want you to know your leadership…. Wish you the best of luck. That’s all Mr. Chairman. Thank you.
He didn’t mention the community.
-jsq
First I praised the
completion of the Wiregrass Solar LLC plant in Valdosta.
Then I complimented
Brad Lofton on finding his new job and hoped he’d be happy in Myrtle Beach.
Then I praised the VDT for
its editorial recommending using this opportunity to consult
the councils of the various municipalities and the County Commission,
and in particular that one way to produce
unity in the community
as G. Norman Bennett had previously advocated,
would be to find out what the community wants VLCIA to do.
I understand the point about beliefs. But it’s not all about just the beliefs of just the people on the board. It’s also about things like is there enough water, and do we want businesses that soak up a lot of water, like Ben Copeland said at the Lake Park Chamber of Commerce. Beliefs are good, but facts are better. Thank you.
-jsq