Tag Archives: Valdosta

David defeats Goliath: Calvert Cliffs 3 nuke license denied, first ever by NRC

David (tiny five-person activist group NIRS with no lawyer) defeated Goliath (the world’s biggest nuclear reactor manufacturer, Areva, and operator, EDF). Previously a committee terminated the licensing process but the proposed operator wanted NRC review for the Calvert Cliffs 3 nuclear reactor. For the first time ever, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission denied a nuclear license, closing the book on Calvert Cliffs 3 for good, and probably taking down with it half a dozen or more other proposed reactors.

ENENEWS posted a roundup 12 March 2013, NIRS: Victory! License denied for U.S. nuclear reactor — First time in history NRC has upheld denial

Who is this proposed nuclear operator? The NIRS press release explains:

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Suwannee County sinkholes —WCTV

Sinkholes in Seffner, Fort Myers, Tallahassee, and now even closer. Follow the Withlacoochee River south to the Suwannee River, and two counties south of us in Suwannee County, Florida, they’ve got dozens of sinkholes, one of them massive, with another one this month, including apparently a cavern under some yards. This is in the same Floridan Aquifer that underlies Lowndes County, where we had a road drop into a sinkhole three years ago and sinkholes were discovered under a man’s garage and yard last year.

Greg Gullberg 4 March 2013, The Science Behind Sinkholes,

Mikell Cook says he and his neighbors have learned more about Geology than they ever cared to since last summer when Tropical Storm Debby swept through much of Florida leaving Live Oak and surrounding areas peppered with sinkholes.

He and his neighbors live in the town of McAlpin, where

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Tallahassee sinkhole

Even closer than Tampa Bay or Fort Myers, Tallahassee has sinkhole problems in our same Floridan Aquifer just across the state line. Will the Lowndes County Commission do anything about our sinkhole problems before people start losing their insurance and get sucked into holes in the ground?

Andy Alcock wrote for WCTV Wednesday, Tallahassee Woman Faces Sinkhole Problem,

Imagine living in a home you can’t insure, no one wants to buy and it may not be safe.

A Tallahassee woman is currently facing that problem.

At first glance, her home in Tallahassee’s Mission Manor neighborhood on the city’s northwest side doesn’t look much different from any of the other homes in the neighborhood.

Then about two years ago, homeowner Vickie Gordon found a problem.

“I started noticing that the doors were getting stuck in the bathroom, couldn’t open them,” said Gordon.

Then the issues became more noticeable.

Cracks started showing up all over the house.

After Gordon contacted her insurance company, investigators found sinkhole activity at her home.

I wish this part was a joke:

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Valdosta Vimeo

I've been nagging Valdosta for years about putting some of their cable TV station content on the web. Turns out they are already doing some of that, which is a step towards acting like a modern metropolitan area. Received Wednesday via Tim Carroll; I added the links and the [clarification].

From: Sementha Mathews
Sent: Wednesday, March 13, 2013 11:48 AM
To: Tim Carroll
Subject: RE: "The rest of the story"

Councilman Carroll,

Thank you for the recent phone call. As a result, I will research the Austin, Tx media practices to see if they can be implemented in any way here at Metro 17. We used to include a council wrap segment in each show, and I'll ask Shemeeka [Johnson, Valdosta Channel 17 Media Coordinator] why we took that out. But we can easily add that back in.

City of Austin posts Continue reading →

Leon County Florida trouble ticket system

Report a Problem or Request a Service 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. Find My Service Request 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

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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:

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Videos: Two rezonings and a lease @ LCC 2013-03-11

A surprising number of questions were asked by Commissioners at yesterday morning’s Work Session, yet still nobody asked about the well near one of the proposed rezonings. We had a microphone failure during the first few items; sound picks up as the Commissioners start asking questions on 5.b. REZ-2013-04. Because of the sound glitch you can’t tell that for sure from the videos that nobody discussed SPLOST, but Gretchen was there from call to order to adjournment, and she didn’t hear anything about SPLOST. Maybe they’ll say something about it tonight at their 5:30 PM Regular Session, at which they vote on these rezonings and contract.

Here’s the agenda with links to the videos and some notes.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, MARCH 11, 2013, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, MARCH 12, 2013, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor
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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?

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Florida sink hole evicts church

More sinkholes in Florida in the same Floridan Aquifer that’s under us, this time evacuating a church. Maybe sinkhole safety should be important here, too.

WCTV carried an AP story today, Suspected Sinkhole Forces Church Move

Pastor Rick Shuck told WBBH in Fort Myers on Monday the sinkhole has caused uneven floors, cracks in the walls and a hole in the ground so large that a landscaper fell into it.

Shuck says they had to end Faith Community Church’s Sunday service early because “it’s just not safe anymore.” He says some cracks in the walls are a half-inch wide and part of the auditorium floor has dropped about 4 1/2 inches.

Geological engineers say it’s definitely a sinkhole. But the church’s insurance company sent engineers who determined there is no problem. So next month the two sides are heading to mediation.

That second picture above was taken in Lowndes County, showing printouts of analysis by a VSU professor of sinkholes under a yard in Lowndes County. And they’re under Michael McCormick’s shed (see picture on the right), and they’re in his garage.

The same Floridan Aquifer is underground here as in Florida. Perhaps something needs to be done about sinkholes right here in Lowndes County?

-jsq

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 →