Tag Archives: Water

Landfill pipeline

Apparently ADS’s landfill gas project wants to take in methane from the closed old landfill, as well, according to a public notice today that proposes a pipeline from the old Evergreen Landfill to the Pecan Row Landfill that has the natural gas turbine. Nevermind the $27,500 fine for PCBs or that coal ash in the landfill that nobody on the Lowndes County Commission or Valdosta City Council or Deep South Solid Waste Authority (SWA) can be bothered to check on. Nevermind the unaccounted for tipping fees or host fees. I wonder if cutting through that vegetative buffer will let the coal ash and PCBs reach the Withlacoochee River more easily?

Location of proposed pipeline from Evergreen Landfill to Pecan Row Landfill
The yellow path indicated for the pipeline is just a guess.

In the VDT today, PUBLIC ADVISORY NOTICE,

The proposed project located west of Valdosta, in Lowndes County, GA along Wetherington Lane near the Pecan Row Landfill facility (2995 Wetherington Lane, Valdosta, GA, 31601) involves buffer encroachments necessary to install a 30-inch gas pipeline. This pipeline will Continue reading →

Videos: New judge, river gauge, park deed, personnel costs, pest control, and retirement @ LCC 2013-08-27

Unanimous approval for a third no-bid contract this month for Lovell Engineering, this time for for a sports complex in Hahira, but surprisingly the opaque pest control bids were tabled indefinitely. Also unanimously approved were three new fine-processing positions for the Clerk of Court, the Little River stream gauge, The special presentation was for the retirement of Gene Roberts from Public Works. No mention of the previous morning’s presentations by Judge John Kent Edwards Jr. asking for a new State Court Judge or about fines moving from Sheriff to State Court. Dr. Michael Noll said Moody AFB once again couldn’t get access to the site for the Moody Family Housing the Commission already approved, despite the sinkhole on the adjoining land.

Here’s the agenda, with links to the videos and a few notes. See also videos of the previous morning’s Work Session.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, AUGUST 26, 2013, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, AUGUST 27, 2013, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor
Continue reading →

New judge, river gauge, park deed, personnel costs, and pest control @ LCC 2013-08-26

The request for a new State Court Judge by Judge John Kent Edwards Jr. took 27 and a half minutes, plus his eight minute explanation of fines moving from Sheriff to State Court. More people might have showed up to hear if anybody had known about these items. Commissioners asked a surprising number of questions about them and about the Little River stream gauge and the opaque pest control bids. Of course, then people might have seen the proposed third no-bid contract to the same firm this month. They vote tonight.

Here’s the agenda, with links to the videos and a few notes:

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, AUGUST 26, 2013, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, AUGUST 27, 2013, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor
  1. Call to Order
  2. Invocation
  3. Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag
  4. Special Presentation

    See separate post.

  5. Minutes for Approval

    As is his custom, Chairman Bill Slaughter directed Commissioners to tell the Clerk of any changes, so we don’t know what they are. Then he introduced the special presentation out of agenda order.

    1. Work Session — August 12, 2013
    2. Regular Session — August 13, 2013
  6. For Consideration
    1. Environmental Engineering Services for GDOT Land Deed for Parks and Recreation

      Invisible Engineer proposed a third no-bid contract for same firm proposed this month; see separate post.

    2. USGS Funding Agreement for Hwy 122 Stream Gauge

      This time Emergency Director Ashley Tye said it’s on the Little River, why it’s there, how it’s maintained, etc. See separate post.

    3. Budget Adjustment — Personnel Costs

      Judge John Kent Edwards Jr. explained that many of the people going through his court or paying fines in Lowndes County don’t live here; they come off of I-75, and now the fine-collecting needs to move from the Sheriff’s office to the Clerk of Court; see separate post.

  7. Bid-Pest Control Service

    Pest control for an unannounced amount with no bond from one of two unannounced bids. See separate post.

  8. Reports-County Manager

    County Manager Joe Pritchard requested an Executive Session for pending litigation and they adjourned into that.

  9. Citizens Wishing to be Heard Please State Name And Address

Here’s a video playlist:


Work Session, Lowndes County Commission (LCC)
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 26 August 2013.
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE).

-jsq

Fine collection moving from Sheriff to State Court @ LCC 2013-08-26

Could you have guessed what this was about from the agenda item? Why do we the taxpayers of this $130,000 or $173,000 have to guess? They vote tonight about what was proposed at the 26 August 2013 Work Session of the Lowndes County Commission.

6.c. Budget Adjustment — Personnel Costs

Judge John Kent Edwards Jr. explained that many of the people going through his court or paying fines in Lowndes County don’t live here; they come off of I-75. The Sheriff’s office, in attempting to comply with state law, decided it didn’t want to continuing handling fines. There’s a piece of new legislation proposing to have the Clerk of Court process and retain all the relevant information; Judge Edwards thinks it will pass next year. This requires shifting funding from the Sheriff’s office to the Courts. But it will simplify processing (and presumably costs) by not having it go through both Sheriff and State Court. Meanwhile, Judge Edwards is not aware of any other county that still does this processing through the Sheriff’s department.

Here’s Part 1 of 2: Continue reading →

Gauging the Little River west of Hahira @ LCC 2013-08-26

After the 2009 floods, Lowndes County agreed to help USGS fund a stream gauge on the Little River west of Hahira. It’s time to renew that. They vote tonight about what was proposed at the 26 August 2013 Work Session of the Lowndes County Commission.

6.b. USGS Funding Agreement for Hwy 122 Stream Gauge

This time Emergency Director Ashley Tye said it’s on the Little River.

He said during ihe 2009 floods the county only had a gauges on the Withlacoochee River at Skipper Bridge and US 84, and no way to monitor the level of the Little River, so he contacted USGS, who supplied and installed the equipment. The county since then pays for the maintenance. If something breaks, USGS comes and fixes it. He’s also worked with the National Weather Service to establish flood stages for better warning for residents. It’s time to renew the funding.

Commissioner Demarcus Marshall wanted to know how many inspections were carried out by USGS.

Answer: Continue reading →

Third no-bid contract for same firm proposed this month @ LCC 2013-08-26

This time the County Engineer said Lovell was the only qualified consultant for an ecological and environmental study (because of what requirement we don’t know), for a land swap (for what we don’t know), not funded by the county (funded by whom we don’t know). You the taxpayers and people potentially affected by any ecological and environmental problems: do you think you might want to know? They vote tonight about what was proposed at the 26 August 2013 Work Session of the Lowndes County Commission.

6.a. Environmental Engineering Services for GDOT Land Deed for Parks and Recreation

Invisible County Engineer Mike Fletcher said he had received a proposal from Lovell Engineering Services for the 62.49 acre tract just north of the existing skate park Parks and Rec owns and just north of the old rest area.

The county Tax Assessors maps don’t show any tract of that size near that location, but they Continue reading →

Videos: Moody, Moody, acre, water, and SPLOST VII @ LCC 2013-08-13

The big item was a public-private partnership for units to be rented only to military personnel, built on top of the same soil as has a sinkhole next door. They also approved a no-bid contract for a drinking water treatment plant upgrade near the Alapaha River, plus another no-bid contract for Lovell Engineering, for wastewater treatment. And they’re so confident SPLOST VII will be approved by the voters (even though they never held a town hall or public hearing) that staff is going to ask the state to continue collections in January; plus Gretchen pointed out that if citizens knew what was in SPLOST they might be more willing to vote for it. Including maybe even the woman who noted that since garbage trucks are coming down her road it needs to be fixed.

Here’s the agenda, with links to the videos and a few notes, including a few links to related posts.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, AUGUST 12, 2013, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, AUGUST 13, 2013, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor
Continue reading →

Access to information about SPLOST –Gretchen Quarterman @ LCC 2013-08-13

If voters knew what they were voting for with SPLOST VII, maybe they’d be more likely to vote for it, noted Gretchen Quarterman at the 13 August 2013 Regular Session of the Lowndes County Commission.

Gretchen Quarterman said she was happy about the work the county had done with the cities to figure out SPLOST VII, but:

Last year we didn’t do a good job in the county about getting the county residents to go and vote for SPLOST so now we’re in this gap. Thank you for figuring out how to fill the gap; if we do that, that’s good.

One of the things that I think would really help us Continue reading →

Ground-penetrating radar and karst topography –Michael Noll @ LCC 2013-08-13

Yes, we can look under the ground at the Moody Family Housing site, and it won’t take very long, said a VSU professor at the 13 August 2013 Regular Session of the Lowndes County Commission.

Dr. Michael Noll further answered Commisioner Richard Raines’ previous question as to what Dr. Noll was offering regarding REZ-2013-09 Moody Family Housing by saying VSU does have ground-penetrating radar equipment on campus, and a survey would take only a few weeks. Here’s an example of VSU work using that equipment.

Here’s the video:


Ground-penetrating radar and karst topography –Michael Noll
Regular Session, Lowndes County Commission (LCC),
Video by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 13 August 2013.

-jsq

No-bid contract for Alapaha Water Treatment Plant @ LCC 2013-08-13

A no-bid contract for the engineering firm that already wrote a letter to GA EPD on behalf of the county, this one for upgrading the Alapaha Plantation Water Treatment Plant, at the 13 August 2013 Regular Session of the Lowndes County Commission.

7.b. Engineering for the Alapaha Water Treatment Upgrade

Alapaha Water Treatment Plant Parcel 0261 057

Timeline --Demarcus Marshall Utilities Director Mike Allen said the engineering agreement with Lovell Engineering (presented at the previous morning’s Work Session was ready for the board to approve in a no-bid agreement with Lovell Engineering.

County Commissioner Demarcus Marshall wanted to know Continue reading →