Haley Hyatt videoed
yesterday’s Remerton City Council
decision about Strickland Mill.
Citizens pled, unsuccessfully, for it to be saved.
Then the owners made a surprise offer.
Here’s Part 1 of 3:
The final plea
was made by Celine H. Gladwin.
Tag Archives: Water
Fracking water
Yet another reason why we should take water into account in any development plan: fracking for shale gas uses huge amounts of water, competing with everything else, maybe even using more than power plants and cities.
Delaware Riverkeeper and Protecting Our Waters wrote for Waterkeeper Alliance today, The Water Footprint of Shale Gas Development,
Continue reading
Recent studies examining potable water supplies on a global scale, the current trends in American water consumption and the causes of depletion of this essential resource are helping us to understand that the footprint of shale gas development expands indefinitely when measured in water….
Of the seven nations where the groundwater footprint is greatest, the U.S. is one of the fastest speeding towards disaster. According
to Cynthia Barnett’s Blue Revolution, scientists say the 20th century was the wettest in a thousand years and now drier times are ahead.[3] This means that many of the management schemes we use now—based on 20th C planning—need to be changed to avoid catastrophe. So the 410 billion gallons of water America uses every day will suck the nation dry if we don’t stop over-tapping nearly every river and aquifer.
The biggest U.S. users are power plants and agriculture with private
Remerton City Council votes today @ RCC 2012-09-10
Tonight the Remerton City Council votes on
the old Strickland Mill at
1853 West Gordon Street,
same item as
discussed 4 June 2012
and
postponed 11 June 2012.
Also, Remerton doesn’t play mysterious about
the Haven.
All that plus signs, water, and alcohol.
I will be there for about half an hour, after which I have to go video something else. Could someone else video the rest of tonight’s Remerton City Council meeting?
Here’s
the agenda,
which for some reason (I’m guessing City Clerk Rachel Tate not being available)
is a scan instead of a text-extractable PDF.
I’ve transcribed it below this time.
Continue readingCITY OF REMERTON
REGULAR SESSION AGENDA
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2012
COUNCIL CHAMBERS
5:30 PM
Open Records Officer at Lowndes County Commission @ LCC 2012-09-10
Apparently the Lowndes County Commission has noticed the
new provisions of the Georgia Open Records and Open Meetings laws
that
VLCIA’s lawyer explained to the Industrial Authority back in May,
seeing these two items on the agenda for Monday morning and Tuesday evening:
5.a. Adopt Resolution Appointing an Open Records Officer
5.b. Resolution Regarding Review & Approval of Minutes of Executive Sessions
Plus infrastructure for two subdivsisions, one of them the famous Glen Laurel, several well/septic rezonings, approval of USGS Funding Agreement for HWY 122 Stream Gauge (one of the four that let us know about river flooding in Lowndes County less than a month ago), a beer license, and approval of the changes to the ULDC that were discussed in the recent Planning Commission meeting, in the public hearing the public didn’t know about. And more.
Here’s
the agenda.
LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERSContinue reading
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2012, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2012, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor
Industrial Authority goes solar, broadband, and conversational!
The Industrial Authority apparently listened to its focus groups, and discovered that broadband and solar energy are important to attract industry. Andrea Schruijer even recommends conversation, which has been sorely lacking in recent years. Congratulations, Industrial Authority!
Jason Schaefer wrote for the VDT today, Authority analyzes Valdosta business: Broadband, solar power, professional services targeted for growth,
The Authority also plans to work toward the availability of more broadband Internet service and solar power in Valdosta and surrounding communities. These amenities would help support local industries as well as draw new ones to the greater Valdosta area for the creation of new jobs.
That’s a good start. Although it’s not clear from the writeup that VLCIA quite got it about Internet access.
As part of presenting Valdosta as an attractive package for
prospective industries, the Authority attempts to ready the land set aside for development before beginning the recruitment process. This means investing in infrastructure, including broadband internet.
“It’s not that we don’t have broadband,” Schruijer said. “What we’re looking at is the technology behind the broadband. We have it in certain areas, but in order for us to grow some of these core targets, such as professional services, we need that infrastructure.”
Well, actually, no,
we don’t have broadband.
6Mbps is the fastest most people can get around here,
and 30Mbps is the slowest you can even buy in many countries.
Plus, it’s not just fast Internet to industrial sites that’s needed:
it’s fast Internet access everywhere knowledge-based employees
may want to live.
But they’re on the right track:
Because the Authority can’t “buy” industries into coming to Valdosta—though it can offer tax abatements—it is necessary to make sure that new businesses have what they will need before ground is even broken, Schruijer said. To this effect, the Authority will “stimulate the conversation” to actively attract more broadband companies to the area.
A conversation! Now there’s something we’ve been needing around here. And it’s a refreshing change from only a year ago when all we heard was
“Debate is not allowed.”
Maybe the Industrial Authority will be the organization that will show the rest of us how to hold civil discussions about things that affect all of us!
The VDT’s writeup skips quickly over another big change:
Continue readingBig Little Water, a talk by Tom Baird, 11 Sep 2012
Tuesday, a talk by a fan from Florida of our own Withlacoochee River, at the VSU Student Center, 7:30 9PM 11 September 2012, free admission. -jsq
Big Little Water by Tom Baird, hosted by Blazer Gardens in conjunction with WWALS
Big Little Water—a survey of the history, geology and archaeology of the Withlacoochee River, with replica artifacts people can handle, and slides.
“I’ll also get into some of the current threats to the river and maybe we can get into a good discussion and Q&A.”
Tom Baird is an education consultant who has previously worked as a high school teacher, community college instructor (oceanography and microbiology), director of a science and environmental center, supervisor of science (K-12) in Pasco Co., FL, Director of Science (PreK-12) in Pinellas Co., FL, Principal of a math/science/technology magnet high school in Pinellas Co., FL. and director of a National Science Foundation program. He is on the boards of the Panhandle Archaeological Society at Tallahassee and the St. Marks Refuge Association. He most enjoys exploring Florida and Georgia rivers by kayak and canoe. He is currently working on a book about the Withlacoochee River of South Georgia and northern Florida.
Address:
VSU Student Union
Oak Street @ Baytree Road
Valdosta GA 31698
Map and Directions
There’s also a
facebook invitation.
-jsq
No dumping! Drains to waterways
Seen Saturday near old Pine Grove School.
NPDES is
National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System:
Water pollution degrades surface waters making them unsafe for drinking, fishing, swimming, and other activities. As authorized by the Clean Water Act, the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit program controls water pollution by regulating point sources that discharge pollutants into waters of the United States. Point sources are discrete conveyances such as pipes or man-made ditches. Individual homes that are connected to a municipal system, use a septic system, or do not have a surface discharge do not need an NPDES permit; however, industrial, municipal, and other facilities must obtain permits if their discharges go directly to surface waters. In most cases, the NPDES permit program is administered by authorized states. Since its introduction in 1972, the NPDES permit program is responsible for significant improvements to our Nation’s water quality.
Yes, I know Valdosta also does this. I like it that in a subdivision in an unincorporated part of Lowndes County that the county does this.
-jsq
Sinkhole under the shed
The sinkholes are not just
in the garage
and
under the front steps,
there’s one
under Michael McCormick’s tool shed.
He already jacked up the shed and put blocks under it
after the ground sunk underneath it.
With all these sinkholes on his lot (and more in the yard),
how are they connected underground?
How will they expand?
Here’s a video playlist:
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman and John S. Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE), Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 28 August 2012.
-jsq
Green from the Grassroots —Elinor Ostrom
On the day she died, Nobel Prize-winning economist Elinor
Ostrom published
her last article, in Project Syndicate, 12 June 2012,
Green from the Grassroots,
This grassroots diversity in “green policymaking” makes economic sense. “Sustainable cities” attract the creative, educated people who want to live in a pollution-free, modern urban environment that suits their lifestyles. This is where future growth lies. Like upgrading a mobile phone, when people see the benefits, they will discard old models in a flash.
Of course, true sustainability goes further than pollution control. City planners must look beyond municipal limits and analyze flows of resources — energy, food, water, and people — into and out of their cities.
Worldwide, we are seeing a heterogeneous collection of cities interacting in a way that could have far-reaching influence on how Earth's entire life-support system evolves. These cities are learning from one another, building on good ideas and jettisoning poorer ones. Los Angeles took decades to implement pollution controls, but other cities, like Beijing, converted rapidly when they saw the benefits. In the coming decades, we may see a global system of interconnected sustainable cities emerging. If successful, everyone will want to join the club.
And counties, and regions, and watersheds, of course.
As Mayor Julian Castro of San Antonio said, there is a
"nexus between sustainability and job creation."
We don't have to wait for San Antonio or Los Angeles or Beijing or
Atlanta to lead the way:
we can get on with it right here where we are.
-jsq
Sinkholes towards the house
The sinkholes are not just in
Michael McCormick’s garage.
According to groundscan radar by a VSU professor and students,
the sinkholes are also
spreading
under his
front steps and
his house.
The steps are sinking and there’s a crack on the wall inside the house.
Continue reading