Tag Archives: Valdosta City Council

More Valdosta wastewater correspondence



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 -0500

All, 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 →

SPLOST deal?



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 reading →

Circular wastewater firing squad continues

The 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 →

Videos: Rezoning, two grants, fire, water, diversity and transparency @ VCC 2013-03-07



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.

AGENDA

REGULAR MEETING OF THE VALDOSTA CITY COUNCIL

5:30 PM Thursday, March 7, 2013

COUNCIL CHAMBERS, CITY HALL

Continue reading →

Scorecard on Internet and Energy at the Bird Supper


Gretchen Quarterman, Dexter Sharper, Bill Slaughter, and others at the Bird Supper in Atlanta

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.

Internet Access: help stop two telecommunications bills

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 →

Water Plant Planning —Henry Hicks @ VCC 2013-03-07


Henry Hicks

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.


$40 million already spent
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 →

Rezoning, two grants, fire, and water @ VCC 2013-03-07


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

AGENDA

REGULAR MEETING OF THE VALDOSTA CITY COUNCIL

5:30 PM Thursday, March 7, 2013

COUNCIL CHAMBERS, CITY HALL

Continue reading →

Valdosta Neighborhood Covered In Raw Sewage —WCTV


Valdosta Flooding
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,


Chad Harrison
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.


Greg Gullberg
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.”


House
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:

Continue reading →

Withlacoochee Wastewater Treatment Plant Fully Operational

Received today. -jsq

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Release #03-13-02

March 3, 2013


Withlacoochee Wastewater Treatment Plant Fully Operational


Withlacoochee Wastewater Treatment Plant
At approximately 1:30 p.m. today, March 3, the Withlacoochee
Wastewater Treatment Plant was brought online and returned to
normal operation, after a loss of function for only three days
compared to the nine days of complete loss of function experienced
in the flood of 2009. Today, the river receded to the point where
the temporary by-pass pumps could be connected to the existing
valves. The system was turned on, became fully operational and began
full treatment capabilities.




Lessons learned from the 2009 flood resulted in proactive measures
which include the following:

  • The installation of bypass pumps, pipes and valves to utilize in
    the event of an emergency or act of God.
  • In 2009, the berm only protected the pump station, which did not
    prevent flooding of the chemical building, the chlorine contact
    building, the filters and the belt presses. The plant's
    electrical system was destroyed in the flooded area and the filters
    and belt presses were inoperable.


  • In this event, the electric system, chlorine cylinders, de-chlorination
    system and all flooded areas were turned off to avoid the
    damage that was experienced in 2009.
  • In this event, the biological, natural occurring bacteria that
    are used in the treatment process were saved so that the system
    could treat wastewater immediately when it was turned back on. In
    2009, the natural occurring bacteria were washed out of the plant
    as a result of the continuous pumping during the event.
  • In this event, the plant was fully operational in three days.
    In 2009, the plant had a complete loss of function for nine days and
    was not fully operational for over a month.

The city's drinking water supply is in no way

Continue reading →

The WWTP is firing back up as we speak. —Tim Carroll

Tim Carroll’s response to
Gabe Fisher. -jsq

Gabe,

I know you are frustrated and pissed. My hope was with the info
below all could see the city has not just been idly sitting by. What
has been so frustrating for us is that our biggest problem is
outside of the city limits.

As discussed below, we are about 90% complete on the design for the
big force main project. Once completed it will eliminate the sewage
spills during high rain events in your neighborhood.



Just spoke with Larry Hanson and the WWTP is firing back up as we
speak. Soon you should start seeing the current spills end as the
system is brought fully back up and running.

Something I might add we could not have done so quickly had we not
taken the steps we did these past several days.

In regards to clean up —

Continue reading →