{"id":60,"date":"2013-03-03T15:00:25","date_gmt":"2013-03-03T20:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/2013\/03\/the-rest-of-the-story-on-waste-water-tim-carroll.html"},"modified":"2013-03-03T15:00:25","modified_gmt":"2013-03-03T20:00:25","slug":"the-rest-of-the-story-on-waste-water-tim-carroll","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/2013\/03\/the-rest-of-the-story-on-waste-water-tim-carroll.html","title":{"rendered":"The rest of the story on waste water —Tim Carroll"},"content":{"rendered":"

\nReceived today from Valdosta City Council Tim Carroll, who\nsent it to a long list of people,\napparently responding to\nthe VDT's recent article and editorials.<\/a>\n<\/p>\n

\n

\nAll,\n<\/p>\n

\nDuring my tenure as a city councilman, I have tried to keep everyone\nupdated on events and issues with our city. I want to share and\n\n<\/a>\nemail I sent out recently that hopefully you will agree is important\ninformation. In regards to today's paper \u2014 the story has some\nserious errors and omissions. First of all in 2009- all we saved\nfrom the flood was the pump station. No sewage treatment was taking\nplace and contrary to what the VDT says, then as we are now \u2014\nraw sewage was going into the river. It lasted about a month in\n2009. With the decision to pull equipment\/tanks etc so they would\nnot be destroyed this year \u2014 we not only saved a lot of tax\npayer money….but we will be able to bring the plant back on line\nin about a week. Reducing by several weeks the amount of sewage\ngoing into the river. In regards to city water systems being\ncompromised \u2014 considering our water plant is 10-15 miles north\nof the WWTP and the amazing fact that the river flows south \u2014\nyour water is completely safe. Do we like discharging raw sewage\ninto the river? Of course not. During the flood it was going to\nhappen either way.\n<\/p>\n

\nI want to add one other note \u2014 the men and women in our\nUtility department, fire, police, sanitation, engineering etc, etc\n\n\"Floridan<\/a>\nhave been working long days this past week trying to manage flooding\nissues. They deserve our thanks. It is very frustrating for those\nwhose homes and businesses were threatened by the flood. It is very\nfrustrating to our city employees who have worked so hard to manage\nthis crisis.\n<\/p>\n

\nSo as Paul Harvey says \u2014 \u201chere is the rest of the\nstory\u201d.\n<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\nI think Council Carroll is a bit cavalier about\nthe city's wells being upstream of the wastewater treatment plant,\nbecause while the river may flow south, it's not clear how\nthe Floridan Aquifer flows, especially with multiple 800 foot\ndeep wells sucking water out of it.\nAlso I wonder what people downstream of the Withlacoochee Wastewater\nTreatment Plant think of all that raw sewage coming down at them,\nespecially considering some of them have wells downstream.\n<\/p>\n

\nHowever, he makes a number of points that the VDT omitted,\nincluding a plan to do something about the situation,\nand appended is his "rest of the story".\n<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\n

\nI know you have some of this info, but maybe not all in regards to\nhe WWTP and the flooding- the city has not gone silent. So let me\n\n<\/a>\nborrow a little here and share it with you.\u2014 Our FEMA claim,\nwhich included funds to build a 12 mile force main to transport\nwaste to the plant was not denied until August 1, 2012, after\nwaiting 3 years for a final answer. We were prohibited from\nadvancing this project until FEMA made a final decision or the\nproject would have not been eligible for FEMA funding. Since FEMA's\nstaff and FEMA's outside expert wrote the claim, and included this\nspecific project in the claim, we felt it was reasonable to assume\nFEMA would approve it. They did not.\n<\/p>\n

\nThis project will resolve the sewer overflow issues along Sugar\nCreek as the transmission lines will be elsewhere and out of the\nriver and creek banks. At the very next Mayor\/Council meeting after\nthe FEMA denial (August 2012),this project was brought before M\/C\nfor approval. We approved a contract with Parson's Engineering to\ndesign the new force main, headworks and equalization basin to\nresolve this issue. It is now approaching 90% design completion, we\nare already acquiring the right of way for the relocation, and we\nplan to have the project out for bid in July or August of this year.\nThis is a difficult project that includes boring underneath I-75 so\nit cannot be done overnight. This project will cost $32 million\ndollars, so it is no small project. While SPLOST failed in 2012, we\nwill complete the project with loans and we were approved in January\nby GEFA for a $32 million dollar loan. I think this answers any\nquestion as to whether there has been any progress. Since finally\nreceiving the denial from FEMA on August 1, 2012, we have made\nsubstantial progress in 7 months. Prior to 2009 the city did have\nplans for improvements to both Mudcreek and WWTP. AECom was already\nmobilized in the spring of 09 and had an approved contract to begin\nwork. Due to the delays dealing with FEMA, we have been sitting on\nover $2 million worth of equipment for that project since 2009. We\ncompleted improvements to Mudcreek last year and it is operating\nperfectly fine. In many respects I am glad we did not do those\nupgrades. What a waste it would have been if we had done them\nspending all that money and then have the flood. Also, if you may\nremember M\/C took action and purchased land for a new plant on\nhigher ground last year. Ultimately once funding is secured this new\nplant will solve all our problems and should serve the city for\nmany, many decades.\n<\/p>\n

\nAs far as the flooding, you are aware that Larry prepared and\npresented to the Regional Water Council in early 2010\n\na proposal<\/a> for\n\n<\/a>\nthe state to build a regional reservoir upstream where it must be\nlocated to address the flooding issue. Valdosta sits at the bottom\nof a 1500 square mile drainage basin that starts up around Crisp\nCounty, The river water causing this flooding comes from the region\nand the drainage basin that include both the Withlacoochee River and\nthe Little River. These rivers do not flow through the city of\n\n<\/a>\nValdosta and they are waters of the state and it will take the\nstate, the corp of engineers and other such agencies to help resolve\nthis problem. As you know, Larry also met with EPD, had several\nmeetings of state agencies here and in Tifton where local residents\nwere invited, and he made a presentation to Governor Deal on this\nmatter. The Regional Water Council voted to add the issue to their\nwork program in 2010 and EPD actually had an engineering firm\nperform some work towards the development of a plan. Since the\nsolution will be reservoirs outside the city, all of the agencies I\nmentioned above must be stakeholders. Unfortunately the state\ndiscontinued funding for the Regional Water Councils and their work\n\n<\/a>\nhas since ceased I am told. I also spoke with the Chamber's GAC and\nsolicited their support two years ago. And then last year myself and\nEmily Davenport (Storm water Utilities Dir.) made a presentation to\n\nWWALS<\/a>. This is the citizen advocacy group for our river systems that\nincludes a long time city councilman from Tifton.\n<\/p>\n

\nNow, in regards to the decision to "let" the WWTP flood this year.\nAfter careful consideration focusing on costs, I support the\ndecision the city has made to pull equipment and tanks and let the\nflood do what it was going to do. This not only saved a lot of tax\npayer money, but it will allow our folks to bring this plant back on\nline quicker after the water recedes. Any suggestion this decision\nwas politically motivated is not only untrue, but an insult to all\nthose working 20 hr days to keep this city running during this\ncrisis.\n<\/p>\n

\nTo recap, the solution to the sewer overflows is about 90% designed,\nright of way is being acquired, funding has been approved and the\n$32 million dollar project should go to bid this summer. As far as\nthe flooding, we will again re-engage the various state and federal\nagencies who must help resolve this regional flooding issue from the\nwaters of the state. Saying the City has done nothing is not fair\nnor accurate. Instead of pointing fingers we ALL need to work\ntogether and focus on what we can do.\n<\/p>\n

\nI hope this helps. Thanks for allowing me to share this with you,\n<\/p>\nSincerely,\n
\nCouncilman Tim Carroll\n
\nValdosta City Council, District 5\n
\nCity Of Valdosta\n
\nP.O. Box 1125\n
\n216 E. Central Ave.\n
\nValdosta, GA 31603\n
\ntcarroll@valdostacity.com\n
\nwww.valdostacity.com<\/a>\n
\nValdosta…A City Without Limits\n<\/blockquote>\n

\nAs readers of this blog (or the VDT) know,\nI am\n\na board member of WWALS Watershed Coalition<\/a>, as is Gretchen.\nEmily Davenport was the first speaker at a WWALS board meeting after WWALS\nincoporated last June.\nTim Carroll also spoke briefly to WWALS before it was incorporated.\n<\/p>\n

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