Tag Archives: Moody AFB

Air Force has the environmental assessment for Moody Family Housing



Last night I chatted briefly with Moody’s
Col. Ford, before he spoke at the
Lake Park Chamber Annual Awards Dinner.
He said he had been able to get on the site of the proposed Moody Family
Housing about a year ago.
I mentioned the

Nelson Hill Wells
and he said they had spent a lot of time already investigating
water issues, and now the Air Force has received the environmental assessment.
Perhaps it includes the missing piece this time,
and maybe there’s a way for the public and local professors
to provide input.




Colonel Edward Ford is commander of the 23d Mission Support Group at
Moody AFB, Ga. He leads a group of more than 1,450 military and
civilian members providing support and services to a population of
28,000 active duty, retired military and family members. His group
maintains an installation with more than 830 buildings and more than
17,500 acres, including an adjacent bombing or strafing range. He is
responsible for ensuring the readiness of support forces to mobilize
and deploy to build, secure, and sustain air base operations at
austere bare base locations anywhere in the world.

The 23d Mission Support Group also retains responsibility for civil
engineering, environmental compliance, Continue reading →

Nelson Hill Wells

Seen today on

Recent clear cutting in north of Lowndes County:



In the Northwest and Southwest of the most westerly boundary line of
Nelson Hill Subdivision there are two well sites that had been
previously deeded to Lowndes County for Deep Wells for Lowndes
County Water Supply due to the problems at that time with the Well
at Stone Creek location. However the test bore water samples came
back with negative results due to surface water contamination
entering the aquifer from all the fractures in the fragile lime
stone basin and active sinkholes in that area, there is a sinkhole
less than half of a mile south from where the test bores were done
and it’s probably 90 feet deep. All this boarders the subject site
Moody Housing.

So let’s look on the west side of the
remainder of the Nelson Hill site,

parcel 0071 006B.
There are two cutouts, each about 50 feet square or 2500 square feet or 0.057 acre.
Trying to select those in the online tax assessors maps, we get:

No data found for Continue reading →

Recent clear cutting in north of Lowndes County



Multiple people reported clearing work at the site of the

Moody Family Housing project on Val Del Road,
with its

sinkhole next to an aquifer recharge zone,
that


not even
Moody Air Force Base can get in to inspect.
So we went out to look. There is clear cutting happening on Val Del Road (both sides) but it does not appear to be happening on the property slated for Moody Family Housing.




There has been clear cutting going on in the north of Lowndes County
for some time on large tracts near Skipper Bridge Road, Staten Road (near the
new river bridge) and on Val Del Road immediately south of the Moody Family
Housing tract.

It appears that most of those properties are owned by Natco LLC: Continue reading →

Videos: VLMPO Policy Committee @ VLMPO 2013-10-29



I commend VLMPO for addressing real issues and getting a broad variety of organizations to show up.
However, map after map on
the consultant’s slides
showed a straight-line highway going from Moody’s
front gate to Hahira:


Highway straight line from Moody AFB to Hahira?

There is no such road.
There better not be, since it would go straight through my property
and would drive development right through agricultural and forestry
areas that the Comprehensive Plan says aren’t supposed to be developed,.
not to mention the Moody MAZ.
I’m told the consultant is going to fix this.

I have my doubts, because Continue reading →

Moody Family Housing is in aquifer recharge zone @ LCC 2013-08-27

The

Moody Family Housing just rezoned is in a recharge zone for



our drinking water supply, the Floridan Aquifer.
What will keep runoff from this subdivision from feeding through
the wetlands and sinkhole into the aquifer?
Should we depend on county engineering, which never put in

the traffic calming measures
required for nearby Nelson Hill, or other county staff,
who gave waivers for other required items there, or just didn’t
require them to be implemented?
What assurances can we get from our county government that Moody Family
Housing won’t pollute our drinking water?


WRPDO Title Alone
The above map is a detail from

Lowndes County’s own
Water Resource Protection Districts
Ordinance (WRPDO) overlay Map.
Here’s an even more detailed view courtesy

VALOR GIS (turn on Streams and Waterbodies, NWI Wetlands, Muncipal Boundaries, and Groundwater Rechard Areas): Continue reading →

Moody can’t get onto site for Moody Family Housing –Michael Noll @ LCC 2013-08-27


Dr. Michael G. Noll of VSU said representatives of
Moody Air Force Base for the second time could not
get permission to go on the site for the Moody Family Housing
the Commission

approved rezoning for two weeks before,
at

the 27 August 2013 Regular Session of the Lowndes County Commission.

He also handed the Commission and interested parties copies of

a public comment
he and VSU professors Don Thieme and Can Denizman
had sent to USAF.

Michael G. Noll handouts
Plus the developer still refused to
provide a copy of
the geotechnical report

the Air Force’s Environmental Assessment
says the developer is required to send to the Air Force.

If there is nothing to hide,
if there are no problems with possible developments of the area,
why not share the report?



Two different people report seeing Commissioner Richard Raines
catch Dr. Noll on the way out of the building and ask him
what would be involved in doing the geophysical survey Dr. Noll
has

repeatedly asked to do.

See also Continue reading →

Importance of transparency, due diligence, and communication –Michael G. Noll @ LCC 2013-08-27

Received yesterday on

VSU professors write to USAF consultant about Moody Family Housing @ LCC 2013-08-27. -jsq



Thanks for posting this John.

One should note that the VDT was absent at

the LCBOC meeting on
August 13, when the

county commissioners approved the rezoning
request. This approval came after

we presented our concerns and
before


the period given by AFCEC for public comments
in regard to the

Environmental Assessment (EA) expired. No mention in the VDT on
August 14 about any of it, since no VDT reporter was present.



In regard to the EA and the possibilities to submit comments, it
should also be noted that

the phone number listed in the public announcement was incorrect.
Thus, any attempts to contact Mr. Allen
Richmond, the AFCEC representative, with this published phone number
were unsuccessful. We eventually received the correct phone number
with the help of Moody AFB personnel. While we were able to speak
once with Mr. Richmond and establish email contact, his ability (or
willingness?) to communicate was limited.

Moreover, we asked Mr. Allen Richmond on August 12 if we Continue reading →

VSU professors write to USAF consultant about Moody Family Housing @ LCC 2013-08-27

Presented to the Lowndes County Commission yesterday
by Dr. Noll; video to come. I’ve added a few links and illustrations. -jsq



AFCEC/CZN

2261 Hughes Ave.

Lackland AFB

TX 78236-9853
ATTN: Mr. Allan Richmond

Thursday, August 15, 2013

PUBLIC COMMENT_

RE: Military Housing Privatization Initiative (MHPI), Moody
AFB, Georgia



This letter is written in response to the

Environmental Assessment (EA)
of the

proposed Military Housing Privatization Initiative
(MHPI) northwest of Valdosta, Georgia, on Val Del Road (also
referred to as the “Val Del parcel”).

After a careful analysis of the report, we have come to the
conclusion that the current EA of the proposed site for military
family housing


does not address a number of

potential issues
commonly found in areas of karst topography. Such areas display
unique geophysical conditions, including the presence of sinkholes
and the potential for future sinkhole formation, as well as
geohydrological conditions that need to be studied more carefully
and in a larger geographical context than currently given in the EA.



Without a more thorough environmental analysis and planning of the
construction phases, the danger exists Continue reading →

Videos: Moody, Moody, acre, water, and SPLOST VII @ LCC 2013-08-13



The

big item was a public-private partnership for units to be rented only to
military personnel, built on top of the same soil as has a sinkhole
next door.
They also approved a no-bid contract for
a drinking water treatment plant upgrade near the Alapaha River,
plus another no-bid contract for Lovell Engineering, for
wastewater treatment.
And they’re so confident SPLOST VII will be approved
by the voters (even though they never held a town hall or public hearing)
that staff is going to ask the state

to continue collections in January;
plus Gretchen pointed out that
if citizens knew what was in SPLOST they might be more willing to vote for it.
Including maybe even
the woman who noted that since garbage trucks
are coming down her road it needs to be fixed.

Here’s

the agenda,
with links to the videos and a few notes, including a few links to related posts.



LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS

PROPOSED AGENDA

WORK SESSION, MONDAY, AUGUST 12, 2013, 8:30 a.m.

REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, AUGUST 13, 2013, 5:30 p.m.

327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor

Continue reading →

Access to information about SPLOST –Gretchen Quarterman @ LCC 2013-08-13



If voters knew what they were voting for with SPLOST VII,
maybe they’d be more likely to vote for it,
noted Gretchen Quarterman
at the

13 August 2013 Regular Session of the Lowndes County Commission.

Gretchen Quarterman said she was happy about the work the county
had done with the cities to figure out SPLOST VII, but:

Last year we didn’t do a good job in the county about getting
the county residents to go and vote for SPLOST
so now we’re in this gap.
Thank you for figuring out how to
fill the gap; if we do that, that’s good.

One of the things that I think would really help us Continue reading →