Tag Archives: Lowndes High School

Three Citizens, budget, DUI, water, sewer, paving, cyber security, tractor @ LCC 2022-06-28

Forty minutes was a long meeting for the Lowndes County Commission,
at its Regular Session two weeks ago, Tuesday, June 28, 2022.

[Three citizens make a long meeting]

Three citizens make a long meeting

Three

Citizens Wishing To Be Heard

spoke for about 13.5 minutes.

4. Animal Control Officers Recognition

took six minutes.
So the scheduled items took about twenty minutes, which is usual.

Chairman Bill Slaughter was absent,
so the meeting was presided over by Vice-Chair Scottie Orenstein.
They approved everything unanimously.

Below are links to each LAKE video of each agenda item,
with a few notes by Gretchen Quarterman,
followed by a LAKE video playlist.
See also Continue reading

Video: Solar panels, heck yeah! –Tom Fanning, CEO, at SO stockholder meeting 2017-05-24

Tom Fanning, our genial CEO host,
said some things I’ve never heard him say before like
Southern Company is
“pivoting towards wind”
and SO’s board soon has to decide whether to go forward with Plant Vogtle
“or not” probably by August.
Fanning gets the

first
and

last
word in this blog post,
plus a complete transcript of what
I asked and
Tom Fanning’s response
,
along with summaries of the other questions and answers.


Well see how it develops --Tom Fanning



Please hear me!

I think renewables are exceedingly important in the future.

— Tom Fanning, CEO, Southern Company

In SO’s own

meeting video

of the

25 May 2017 Stockholder Meeting
,
you can see
much praise about solar power and wind and R&D and a smart grid,
along with stockholders wondering: Continue reading

Alternative 4: Richland, Preston, Americus, Cordele, Ashburn and I-75 FERC to Sabal Trail


300x395 Map, in Alternative 4: Richland, Americus, Cordele, Ashburn and I-75 FERC to Sabal Trail, by John S. Quarterman, 14 September 2014

Richland in Stewart County,
Preston in Webster County, Americus in Sumter County, Cordele in Crisp County,
Ashburn in Turner County,
if you thought you were off the Sabal Trail path, think again!
You’re in FERC’s eye for a 36-inch fracked methane pipeline
just like Tifton, Adel, Hahira, and Valdosta in Tift, Cook, and Lowndes
Counties Georgia, and in Florida Jennings in Hamilton County, Lake City in Columbia County, Alachua and Gainesville in Alachua County, Ocala in Marion County, Wildwood in Sumter County, and Ferndale in Lake County, and probably some other cities and counties you can find on the map.
And Alternative 4 would cross the Withlacoochee River in Lowndes County
just before passing right next to Lowndes High School and an exploding
pipeline segment’s throw from Valdosta Mall.


300x386 Withlacoochee River and Lowndes High School, in Alternative 4: Richland, Americus, Cordele, Ashburn and I-75 FERC to Sabal Trail, by John S. Quarterman, 14 September 2014


Alternative 4
in
FERC’s recent instructions for Sabal Trail to “include analyses” would start
even farther north on I-75 than

Alternative 1
.


Alternative 4

beginning from Alternate 2 near Richland, Georgia and following Highway 280 to near Americus, Georgia; then following a high voltage transmission line (along Sabal Trail’s Hillabee Alternative route); then following Alternate 1 starting near Tifton, Georgia and extending to the proposed endpoint.

Here’s a

very rough map of Alternative 4
: Continue reading

Alternative 2: MP 141 -> US 82 -> I-75 -> FL Turnpike FERC to Sabal Trail

Watch out Albany Mall, Deerfield-Windsor School, Kerr Gardens Park and Pond,
Miller-Coors Albany Brewery, Pilot Travel Center and of course the Flint River at the US 82 bridge!

300x154 Armena through Miller-Coors Albany Brewery, in Alternative 2: Armena to US 82 to I-75 to FL Turnpike, FERC to Sabal Trail, by John S. Quarterman, 14 September 2014

If Sabal Trail’s mile point (MP) 141 is still on the Lee-Dougherty County
line just west of Armena, GA on US 82, then

Alternative 2
in
FERC’s recent instructions for Sabal Trail to “include analyses” would look very
much like

Alternative 1
, plowing through the north edge of Albany, GA
and much of Dougherty County,
before heading on through Sylvester, Tifton, Adel, Hahira, Valdosta, Jennings, Lake City, Alachua, Gainesville, Ocala, Wildwood, past The Villages, to Ferndale, FL.


Alternative 2

extending along other pipeline and road rights-of-way from near MP 0 to approximately MP 141 (near Albany, Georgia), and then following Alternate 1 to the proposed endpoint.

Here’s

MP 141
in the maps Sabal Trail sent to FERC in November 2013: Continue reading

Alternative 1: US 82 -> I-75 -> FL Turnpike FERC to Sabal Trail

After Dawson and Albany, new Georgia cities Sylvester, Tifton, Adel, Hahira, Valdosta in Georgia (right past Lowndes High School),
and Jennings, Lake City, Alachua, Gainesville, Ocala, Wildwood, and Ferndale in Florida.
If you thought this pipeline wouldn’t affect you, think again.
Or some later pipeline if we let this one through.
See also Alternative 2 (watch out, Albany!),
Alternative 3
Camilla, Thomasville, Monticello, Capps and a row of north Florida counties),
and
Alternative 4 (Richland, Preston, Americus, Cordele, Ashburn and yet again down I-75 as in Alternative 1).

Update 2014-09-15: Added first paragraph and fixed typos.

FERC’s recent instructions direct Sabal Trail to “include analyses” of




Alternative 1

Alternative 1 extending from near MP 0 to MP 460.6 (the proposed endpoint) following the Sabal Trail Transmission, LLC (Sabal Trail) proposed Sabal Trail Project (Project) route until reaching Highway 82 near Dawson, Georgia; then following Highway 82 to Interstate 75 (I-75); then following I-75 to Highway 91 near The Villages, Florida; then following Highway 91 to Highway 27 near Ferndale, Florida; and then following a Florida Gas Transmission (FGT) pipeline to the proposed endpoint.

Here’s a

very rough map of that route
, and then let’s name some cities and towns thus targetted by the yard-wide fracked methane pipeline: Continue reading

Videos: Solar Dublin High School groundbreaking @ DHS Solar 2013-03-11


Breaking ground

Groundbreaking for solar power to save Dublin High 40%,
thus reducing teacher furloughs,

financed by municipal bonds
,
made possible by cooperation among a wide range of
government officials, private companies, and individuals:
that was the groundbreaking story in Dublin, Laurens County, yesterday,
videod by Gretchen Quarterman for LAKE.



Dublin City Schools are willing to try something new, and that’s why
they were groundbreaking,

said Chuck Ledbetter, Superintendent
, yesterday.
He

recognized members present
of the Dublin City Council, the
Laurens County Commission, the Dublin-Laurens Development Authority,
and state representative Matt Hatchett, and
Public Service Commissioner Bubba McDonald.

Ledbetter’s theme
,


News camera and speaker

Everybody worked together to make this happen.

was echoed over and over by many other speakers.
What they worked for was economic help for Dublin City Schools
through solar power, financed by municipal bonds.


The Mayor of Dublin, Phil Best
added to the list

Continue reading

Solar Dublin High School groundbreaking tomorrow



Dublin gets the jump on the rest of Georgia again:
Dublin High School will get a megawatt of solar electricity
through a lease agreement with a private company
using local government bonds to get around Georgia’s special financing problem.

Kenny Burgamy reported for for 13wmaz.com Thursday,

Solar Plant To Be Located at Dublin High
,

Dublin High School of Dublin City Schools will soon implement
1 megawatt of solar energy.



The 4,000 panel solar power plant will be the largest in Central
Georgia and is expected to save the school 40 percent in energy
costs.

Dublin City Schools Superintendent Chuck Ledbetter told 13WMAZ, “The
facility will be built and owned by private business and the school
system will lease the solar power plant, saving us money in energy
costs.”

The original plan was developed more than 15-months ago by German
based MAGE SOLAR, which has a plant located in Laurens County.

The story has been carried by
GPB
by
Athens Banner-Herald via AP.

This installation is similar to but slightly different from

Continue reading

The power of going solar —John S. Quarterman


Solar panels on farm workshop --John S. Quarterman

My op-ed in the VDT today. Remember
to vote today or Tuesday.
-jsq

This spring,

the University at Buffalo
turned on 750 kilowatts of
solar electricity.

Rutgers U., in New Jersey,
installed 1.4
megawatts in 2009 and started on 8 MW this summer. Down here with a
lot more sun, how about solar panels on VSU parking lots?

There’s

plenty of private solar financing available.
Also in New
Jersey, a company installed 6 MW of solar on high school land and
leased the power to the school supplying most of its needs win-win.


You can go see a solar farm already working fine here,

200 kilowatts at Mud Creek Wastewater Plant.

Why not do the same


View Larger Map


at Lowndes High School,
where all the world on I-75 could see,

attracting business to our community?

Why not?

Continue reading

1.5MW solar field near Philadelphia

Far to the north of here, a botanical garden installed
more than a megawatt of solar power a year ago.
Maybe Georgia Power should ask them how it’s done.

PR of 16 June 2011,

LONGWOOD GARDENS COMMISSIONS 10-ACRE SOLAR FIELD:
Installation first step of goal to achieve 3 MW of solar energy by 2018



June 16, 2011, Kennett Square, PA — Longwood Gardens today
commissioned a new, ground-mounted solar field spanning more than 10
acres at the horticultural showplace in Kennett Square,
Pennsylvania.

One of the largest examples of clean emission-free energy in the
region, the solar field produces 1.2 MW (megawatts) of power and
will produce 1.5 MW when the final panels are installed in the
coming weeks. The fixed-tilt, 1.5 MW solar installation will produce
enough electricity to offset the usage of approximately 138 average
Pennsylvania homes and reduce Longwood’s annual carbon dioxide
emissions by 1,367 tons.

“We are always looking for ways to advance our sustainable
practices,” said Paul Redman, Longwood Gardens Director.
“It is integral to Longwood’s mission to decrease our
dependence on fossil fuels.” We want to establish best
practices and lead the way in showing communities how to live
responsibly,” said Redman.

Imagine if Georgia Power and Southern Company acted responsibly
and led the way in solar power!

Continue reading

Solar Lowndes High?

What does the world see driving north up I-75 past Valdosta? The empty roofs of Lowndes High School. Every south-facing one of which could hold solar panels.


View Larger Map

That would do more to put Lowndes County and Valdosta on the map as supporting solar and thus knowledge-based jobs than any amount of exit beautification.

Run out of roof space? What about those parking lots:


View Larger Map

And it wouldn’t take a Ted Turner to do it. In all but a few states the Lowndes County Board of Education (LCBOE) could let a private company finance and install all those solar panels and then lease the electricity for a fixed rate for 20 years, greatly reducing the school’s electricity bill and promoting our local community, all without any expense to we the taxpayers.

But
you can’t do that in Georgia! Because Georgia Power doesn’t want us to. Unless we get some laws changed. Follow the link for how.

-jsq

PS: I haven’t forgotten Valdosta High School. All the economic advantages would apply just as well for the Valdosta Board of Education and Valdosta taxpayers. Even Valwood could do this and profit. If we get Georgia law changed to permit it.