Received today: PDF, with transcription appended below. -jsq
Continue readingMarch 15, 2013
Joe Pritchard
County Manager
Lowndes County
327 N. Ashley St.
Valdosta, GA 31601
Dear Mr. Pritchard:
It is with great regret that I find the need to step down from the Lowndes County
and South Georgia Regional Library Board of Trustees. I fear that I am no longer
capable of holding this position in light of the county’s recent actions.
As you are aware,
Why do citizens have to nag our local governments to find out what's
going on even about
cleaning up sewage all over their back yards and under their houses?
How about if our governments deploy issue tracking systems?
Here's an example of how that works.
As previously mentioned,
Leon County, Florida, lets anyone
Report a Problem or Request a Service
through their web page.
Then you can
find your service request
and
track a problem
using a ticket number.
This is not rocket science. Thousands of businesses have been using such issue tracking systems (also known as trouble ticket systems) for many years. There is off-the-shelf software to implement them. Beyond the obvious advantages to the citizens of being able to tell what's going on with their issues, such systems also greatly aid local governments by
Continue reading
Some interesting questions have come up in
Gabe Fisher's continuing correspondence with the City of Valdosta
about
sewage in his back yard
and
under his house,
while
City Council Tim Carroll continues to respond,
both copying a long list of people.
From: Gabe Fisher
Date: Mon, 4 Mar 2013 14:23:12 -0500All, I appreciate the update on where the city stands on moving the sewer all together—I just wish we had been kept informed of the plans over the last 4 years. Living with the *real* threat of flooding is stressful enough, add in the guaranteed associated sewage spill is more than I can handle.
I also appreciate the city workers spreading lime and working on the sewer line behind my house today. But I have questions—What about the sewage in my yard and under my house? Is this my responsibility?
Thanks, Gabe
Tim Carroll responded with a couple of suggestions:
Continue reading
All over the news today:
Lowndes County Chairman Bill Slaughter on radio 105.9 this morning;
Lowndes County Board of Commissioners and Valdosta City Council
reach a SPLOST deal (VDT).
The Lowndes County Board of Commissioners and the City of Valdosta reached an agreement Monday on how to divide the seventh cycle of the Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax, which both entities will push to appear for a second time on November ballots after its defeat in 2012.
Last week, the city requested that State Rep. Amy Carter withdraw the bill that would have allowed Valdosta to put a MOST or Municipal Option Sales Tax on the ballot, which would have earned a penny in sales tax for the city, who would not be required to share that money with Lowndes County or other cities.
After negotiations over the phone and via email, County Commission Chairman Bill Slaughter and Mayor John Gayle signed an official agreement for SPLOST VII Monday afternoon.
How could this be?
Continue readingThe VDT's Sunday front page was covered with wastewater stories, continuing the circular firing squad of the local powers that be. Meanwhile in Dublin, GA, they're breaking ground for solar panels at the local high school, using a bond financing model that we could use here, if local leaders would look up.
In addition to
some detail about the city's FEMA application
and
following up on flooded yards,
the VDT followed up on
its EPD and EPA scrutiny story
with one saying
City received help from EPD to keep EPA away.
It's good the VDT is covering these issues, but it's still leaving out
important parts of the local water story.
Apparently firing back at
Thursday's Valdosta City Council session,
perhaps especially
Robert Yost's very pointed criticisms of the VDT,
the VDT concluded its
rather rich Sunday editoral:
City leaders, please, no more of the blame game. The citizens of this community are imploring you to just accept responsibility and fix it.
Yet the VDT has spent the last week blaming the city, and has accepted no responsibility for its own role, or that of its editor, Kay Harris, in the recent loss of the SPLOST referendum that would have further funded wastewater work in Valdosta.
Now, I agree with the VDT that Continue reading
Still more about the recent flooding and water issues in these
videos of the 7 March 2013 Valdosta City Council Regular Session,
by
City Manager
Larry Hanson,
Council
Robert Yost excoriated the VDT,
former City Engineer
Von Shipman defended the city.
Multiple citizens brought up issues of diversity
and
local government transparency.
Here’s the agenda, with links to the videos and a few notes.
AGENDAContinue reading
REGULAR MEETING OF THE VALDOSTA CITY COUNCIL
5:30 PM Thursday, March 7, 2013
COUNCIL CHAMBERS, CITY HALL
On the 27th of February I posted Internet and Energy at the Bird Supper and Gretchen and I went to the Bird Supper in Atlanta and discussed those four bills with legislators. Our local elected officials were lobbying on the same side of many of the same bills. It’s past crossover day now, when bills are supposed to be approved by one house of the Georgia legislature in order to be taken up by the other. How did that come out? We all beat the mighty telcos and cablecos on two bills! But Georgia Power is even mightier, and won on two bills. Plus one legislator’s name is connected with 3 out of 4 of those bills. And our local delegation cancelled itself out on the one vote that actually went to the floor.
The local Industrial Authority, Chamber of Commerce, Valdosta City Council, and Lowndes County Commission have recently realized that fast Internet access is essential to attract businesses, for their employees to work at home, for applicants to apply for jobs, for students to submit assignments, and for general quality of life. And there’s good news from the legislature!
Continue reading
Valdosta Utilities Director Henry Hicks gave a detailed history of
flood control
projects
and work on the
Withlacoochee Waste Water Processing Plant
at the Valdosta City Council Meeting last night during the
"Manager's Report" section
of
the agenda.
Several Council members expressed their distaste for the VDT’s recent reporting
on the subject, and thanked Hicks and other city employees for their work.
Hicks said
they had spent $4 million on repairs
to the Withlacoochee plant, and that didn't include the $40 million
they'd already spent on upgrades in general.
Also, it took three days to build the berm around the plant in 2009,
and FEMA wouldn't approve any improvements to it.
He said he would Continue reading
There’s nothing on the agenda for last night’s Valdosta City Council meeting about the recent flooding or the Withlacoochee Wastewater Treatment Plant or the raw sewage in neighborhoods or downstream all the way to the Gulf, but quite a bit was said last night anyway; video to follow. Here’s the agenda. -jsq
AGENDAContinue reading
REGULAR MEETING OF THE VALDOSTA CITY COUNCIL
5:30 PM Thursday, March 7, 2013
COUNCIL CHAMBERS, CITY HALL
As
he indicated yesterday,
Gabe Fisher got his sewage-covered neighborhood on WCTV last night.
Greg Gullberg wrote for WCTV yesterday, Valdosta Neighborhood Covered In Raw Sewage,
After days of torrential rain, the same rain that caused the rivers to flood, the sewage pump has been overwhelmed in the Meadow Brook Subdivison just off Gornto Road.
“You know how bad it smells in a bathroom when someone goes in and uses a public restroom. Multiple that ten times,” said Chad Harrison, a local resident.
The whole area behind their houses is just covered in raw sewage. Your boots sink down into it with every step. We’re talking everything from human waste, to toilet paper, to hygiene products and a whole other list of things that are just too graphic to mention.
“Probably about 12 to 14 inches of raw sewage,” said Harrison. “It’s just everywhere. It’s all up and down the creek. It’s all behind everybody’s houses.”
There’s more in
the WCTV story,
such as that the city has included neighbors in meetings, but has not
yet changed anything.
The city’s PR about the flooding
says: