When: 11:30 AM Thursday 12 May 2011This is according to Donna Holland, Clerical Assistant, who answered the telephone at VLCIA just now when I called to inquire.
Where: 1626 New Statenville Road/GA 94
adjacent to Mud Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant
Where is that? Well, here’s where the Mud Creek plant is. 1626 New Statenville Highway appears to be the postal address for the same plant. Here’s a map: Continue reading
Continue readingTwo weeks ago I delivered the official NAACP letter to all City Council members (and Mayor Fretti) asking for a written response as to their position on biomass and selling reclaimed water to the Wiregrass, LLC, proposed incinerator.
No response. Not one.
I have heard that at least two Council members refuse to do so because “it might be used against them.”
Citizens are entitled to hear where their elected officials stand on these issues. At least Councilmen Vickers, Wright, and Yost have stated publicly that they support biomass, even though black infants are already dying in Valdosta at a rate twice as high as white infants. According to Mr. Wright,
Continue readingOn Friday, April 29, 2011 I met with Mr. Yost to discuss the biomass issue in person. Mr. Yost stated that he is FOR the biomass project and FOR selling (grey) water to the plant.
When asked for his reasons, he said it “would be good for the citizens of the county”. When pressed to clarify, he said that the jobs and the energy would be good for the citizens. He had no clear rationale for how these 25 jobs would positively effect his constituents, nor how diversifying GA Powers energy sources would help his constituents.
The other reason given for supporting the biomass project
He admits in public when he’s proven wrong by new knowledge.
At the LCDP meeting 2 May 2011 Rev. Bennett praised Ashley Paulk for revealing what has been going on with the proposed biomass plant. Then he says he had years ago suggested we should get one of those. He had approached Wesley Langdale, who said:
It’s not economically feasible to do it.So he was surprised when he discovered a group proposing to finance such a plant. And he later learned that there were many health problems with biomass plants, and he now thinks it would be wrong to build it.
So as my mother would say, Rev. George Bennett is a big man!
Here’s the video:
Rev. George Bennett is a big man @ LCDP 2 May 2011
Debate between proponents of school system unification (CUEE) and opponents,
at Lowndes County Democratic Party (LCDP), Gretchen Quarterman chair,
Videos by George Rhynes, Jim Parker, John S. Quarterman, and Gretchen Quarterman
for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange, Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 2 May 2011.
-jsq
Let me see if I got this right:Continue readingWhat sense would it make
- The week before the last meeting of the Industrial Authority (IA) Wiregrass Biomass LLC sent a letter to the IA asking for an extension of the agreement to build the biomass incinerator. (June 1, 2011, is the current deadline.)
- Based on comments made by Chairman Paulk and others, all indications were that the IA may have been ready to vote down such an application for an extension of the agreement.
- However, the vote on biomass never came up at the IA meeting, and as a matter of fact, biomass wasn’t even discussed, as it was not even on the agenda. Apparently a few hours before the IA meeting, “biomass” (or a vote on the extension of the agreement with Wiregrass Biomass LLC) was removed from the agenda.
- This change of events (i.e. the removal of a vote on biomass) was based on an initiative by Mr. Jennett (Chair of the IA board), Mr. Ricketts (Project Manager of the IA) and Mr. Gupton (the IA lawyer) who went to Atlanta to have a little chat with Wiregrass Biomass LLC (or Sterling Planet).
- As a result of that talk, Wiregrass Biomass LLC withdrew their application for an extension of the agreement. Thus, there was no contract (or an extension of a contract) to vote on at the last IA meeting.
I’m not sure what’s on their agenda; they publish their minutes online, but apparently not their agendas.
-jsq
It is an enlightening and eye-opening class you should not miss !”According to the city’s writeup about it:
…is designed to give City of Valdosta residents age 21 and older an inside look at how their city operates daily. Participants will be exposed to all city departments according to the following itinerary:
- April 4 Introduction to Class
- April 11 Public Safety and Municipal Court
- April 18 Engineering, Public Works and Utilities
- April 25 Financial Administration, Industrial and Economic Development
- May 2 Community Building and Neighborhood Development
- May 9 Facility Tour and Graduation
Last year’s class was the first,
with 23 graduates.
For Lowndes County residents who do not live in Valdosta, the equivalent is… Continue reading
*COUNCIL COMMENTS 07/08/10 CONTINUED *Continue reading
Continue readingI was at the last LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS MEETING when Chairman Ashley Paulk shared information about the Biomass Project extension being denied and the alleged secrecy surrounding keeping the general public ignorant.
“Because certain people won’t share with you and I think it’s unfair. We were approached about three weeks ago, Mr. (Joe) Pritchard (County Manager) was, by the Industrial Authority, and we were tentatively asked to make a move to ask that they not extend the contract.” (Chairman Paulk!)Chairman Paulk words prove that there is an apparent pattern and practice
While LAKE would be ecstatic if all elected and appointed bodies did their own PR so we didn’t have to, in the meantime, we’re here, and we do what we can, with a little help from everyone involved.