Category Archives: History

McIntyre and Redland Cemeteries and Sabal Trail pipeline 2026-09-29

Danny Hart, a descendant of people buried in McIntyre Cemetery on Knights Ferry Road, spoke about why Lowndes County should not let Sabal Trail plow a pipeline through there, and not through neighboring Old Redland Cemetery, either.

Sabal Trail has been corresponding with Lowndes County about doing just that since July.

Shouldn’t the dead be allowed to rest?

Why should they be disturbed for a second fracked methane pipeline, this time to feed power plants for hyper-scale AI datacenters?

[McIntyre Cemetery and Old Redland Cemetery, Sabal Trail Pipeline, Knights Ferry Road 2026-09-29]
McIntyre Cemetery and Old Redland Cemetery, Sabal Trail Pipeline, Knights Ferry Road 2026-09-29

Here is a WWALS video playlist:

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLV4tpL3ZmyZ4&si=KzFVstjqauBnJ2ht

He said his grandfather, Benjamin Ward Force, buried in McIntyre Cemtery, was a Lowndes County Surveyor. And his father, Charles Ogden Force, donated Sunset Hill Cemetery to the City of Valdosta, where he is buried.

Old Redland Cemetery is associated with Redland Baptist Church on Rocky Ford Road.

There are more pictures below. Continue reading →

Bettys Place Sinkhole 2026-09-22

There was a sinkhole on Bettys Place in the Val Del Villas subdivision. It got filled in several times, but there are signs of subsidence next door.

It’s not clear how much attention Lowndes County paid to subsidence in this sinkhole-prone area.

[Bettys Place Sinkhole, Val Del Villas subdivision, History of Lowndes County, GA, Rezoning, Infrastructure, & more houses]
Bettys Place Sinkhole, Val Del Villas subdivision, History of Lowndes County, GA, Rezoning, Infrastructure, & more houses

Neighbor Rachel Armstrong says that “It opened as a melon-sized hole in the road where the water drainage spot is for the street.” Continue reading →

Maybe site of Blounts Ferry, Suwannee River –Shirley Kokidko 2026-09-30

Shirley Kokidko saw this when she with a small but hardy crew paddled down the Suwannee River from Fargo, GA, to Roline Ramp in Hamilton County, Florida.

[Maybe site of Blounts Ferry 2026-09:30, Suwannee River --Shirley Kokidko]
Maybe site of Blounts Ferry 2026-09:30, Suwannee River –Shirley Kokidko

It’s not exactly where we have Blounts Ferry placed on the WWALS map of the Suwannee River Water Trail (SRWT), but that location was a guess, so this location could be correct.

Either way, it’s almost 3 miles upstream from Roline Ramp.

By land on the right (west) bank is in SRWMD’s Roline Tract, east of NE 180th Blvd (CR 135) in Hamilton County, FL.

On the left (east) bank it is east of NW Fargo Road in Columbia County, FL, where the riverfront land is privately owned by Daniel and Martha Hale of White Springs. Continue reading →

Activating Resolution for the Local Development Authority of Irwin County, GA 2026-06-03

Here is the Activating Resolution for the Development Authority of Irwin County.

It is quite thorough. Almost more thorough than the Irwin County Datacenter Ordinance.

This Activating Resolution does not mention Datacenters or Solar or private prisons or any other specific proposal for “new industry, trade, and commerce.” It does not mention Project Arrowhead, the very large hyperscale AI datacenter near the Alapaha River and planning to withdraw water from the Floridan Aquifer, for which the Irwin County Commission passed a Special Exception on May 20, 2026.

It includes a provision saying the Secretary and Treasurer do not have to be board members. Such a provision was also incorporated into the bylaws of the newly created Authority.

[Activating Resolution for the Local Development Authority of Irwin County, GA --Irwin County Commission 2026-06-03]
Activating Resolution for the Local Development Authority of Irwin County, GA –Irwin County Commission 2026-06-03

However, it is puzzling that the Irwin County Commission meeting minutes for June 3, 2026, which is the date on this resolution, do not mention the resolution.

We never got the board packet for this June 3 meeting, despite an open records request.

The board packet for the preceding June 1, 2026 Irwin County Commission meeting also does not include this resolution.

So how was anyone to know that the County Commission was going to vote on this resolution?

Activating Resolution

Since the bylaws prominently referred to this Activating Resolution I sent another open records request for it. Thanks to Chair Vince Thompson for sending it. Continue reading →

Irwin County Commission 2024 and 2025 minutes

Here are the minutes from Irwin County Commission regular meetings in 2024 and 2025, received in response to a WWALS open records request:

https://wwals.net/pictures/2026-08-31-irwin-county-commission-minutes-2025

[Irwin County Commission, 2024 and 2025 minutes, County Attorneys, Solar moratoriums]
Irwin County Commission, 2024 and 2025 minutes, County Attorneys, Solar moratoriums

See also the 2026 minutes:

https://wwals.net/pictures/2026-08-18-irwin-county-commission-minutes-2025-2026

You may wonder, as I do, why doesn’t Irwin County put these minutes on its own website?

https://irwincounty-ga.gov

I don’t know, but it would be less difficulty for everybody if they did.

They do have agendas for many of these same meetings here:

https://irwincounty-ga.gov/county-commission-meetings/

But no minutes on the county website that I can find. And no board packets.

As is common with many county commissions, these minutes mostly record appointments to boards, expenditures on paving, roofs, etc., grant requests, and the like.

Here are a few notes of things that caught my eye, about Officers and Staff, County Attorney Churn, Data Center, Called Meetings, Public Hearings, Solar Moratoriums and Ordinance, and Other items.

You can read these minutes for yourself and see what you see.

Officers and Staff

Continue reading →

Irwin County Commission 2026 minutes through 2026-08-03

Update 2026-09-15: Officers and Bylaws of the Local Industrial Development Authority of Irwin County 2026-09-08.

Update 2026-09-05: Irwin County Commission 2024 and 2025 minutes 2026-08-31.

Here are almost all the minutes from Irwin County Commission meetings in 2026, through August 3, received in response to a WWALS open records request:

https://wwals.net/pictures/2026-08-18-irwin-county-commission-minutes-2025-2026

[Irwin County Commission 2026 minutes through 2026-08-03, Special Called Meetings missing]
Irwin County Commission 2026 minutes through 2026-08-03, Special Called Meetings missing

In the June 1, 2026, minutes, “Commissioner Tyson made a motion to not create a county only Industrial Development Authority. Commissioner Paulk seconded the motion. Commissioners Tyson, Hickey and Paulk were against. Commissioner McIntyre were in favor. Motion carried.”

That’s right, to not create a new county-only Industrial Development Authority.

At a special called meeting on June 3, one of the above flipped and they did approve the new Authority. But we did not get the minutes for that June 3 meeting. We already observed back in June, “For the June 3 meeting where they finally approved that ordinance, we got nothing but a Public Notice: no agenda, no board packet.”

No public notice, no agenda, no board packet, and no minutes: was that June 3, 2026, meeting even legal?

The July 6, 2026, minutes show who is on the newly-created Irwin County Industrial Authority (if it legally exists): Walter Hudson, D W Harper, Kendall Edwards, Paige Wynn, Scott Hudson, Rhett Royal, Vince Thompson, Warren Manley, and Charlotte Middlebrooks.

That new Authority met on Continue reading →

Re: Voicemail, I still do not consent to any surveying, mapping, or physical entry onto my unencumbered acreage –Kira Pollock to Sabal Trail 2026-08-25

Update 2026-08-26: Sabal Trail pipeline Easement with Lowndes County Commission 2016-01-26.

Sabal Trail tried to sneak under the radar, as usual.

Received yesterday via email:

Dear Sabal Trail Land Acquisition Team,

[Re: Voicemail, I still do not consent to any surveying, mapping, or physical entry onto my unencumbered acreage --Kira Pollock to Sabal Trail 2026-08-25]
Re: Voicemail, I still do not consent to any surveying, mapping, or physical entry onto my unencumbered acreage –Kira Pollock to Sabal Trail 2026-08-25
Map: her location in the WWALS map of the Suwannee River Water Trail (SRWT).

I received your voicemail requesting an in-person meeting and property survey.

As stated in my previous correspondence dated August 24, 2026, I do not consent to any surveying, mapping, or physical entry onto my unencumbered acreage. Because our formal objection, structural constraints, and pre-existing water and land infrastructure have already been clearly outlined and filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), an in-person meeting will not change our position.

Continue reading →

Denial of Survey Consent, etc., Kira Pollock to FERC about Sabal Trail Expansion Project 2026-08-24

Update 2026-08-26: Re: Voicemail, I still do not consent to any surveying, mapping, or physical entry onto my unencumbered acreage –Kira Pollock to Sabal Trail 2026-08-25.

Kira Pollock is the first to file a complaint with the FERC about Sabal Trail’s plan to gouge a second pipeline next to the one they built a decade ago.

She lives in the middle of Suwannee County, Florida. It’s Accession Number 20260824-5071 in Docket CP15-17-000 with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).

That’s the old Sabal Trail docket, and nothing else has been filed in it since May 2025. The 2025 activity was just regular reports and a request and grant of extension of time for Sabal Trail Phase III. That’s an old project that was already delayed several years. It was to expand capacity of the old pipeline by a small amount.

This Sabal Trail Expansion Project would approximatly double the amount of fracked methane.

As previously mentioned, The only “economic development” I can see that would cause this is hyper-scale AI datacenters.

[Denial of Survey Consent, Kira Pollock to FERC, about Sabal Trail Expansion Project 2026-08-24]
Denial of Survey Consent, Kira Pollock to FERC, about Sabal Trail Expansion Project 2026-08-24
Map from Suwannee County Property Appraiser.

You can send in your own comments, so nobody can say there were no objections. Just go to ferc.gov -> FERC Online -> Login -> New User and make yourself an account. Then go to FERC Online Home -> eComment and comment in Docket Number CP15-17-000.

Here’s what she wrote:

Kira Pollock, Live Oak, FL.

PARCEL ID: 34-03S-13E-08739-000290 – Denial of Survey Consent, Formal Objection & Structural Constraint Notice – Sabal Trail Expansion Project (Quail Hollow)

Dear Sabal Trail Land Acquisition Team,

I am writing to share some important neighborhood feedback and formally log my concerns regarding the proposed Sabal Trail Expansion Project study corridor as it relates to my property and our immediate neighborhood within the Quail Hollow subdivision in Suwannee County, Florida. I understand that your team is currently in the planning and information-gathering phase, so I wanted to reach out cooperatively to bring some significant physical, structural, and hydrological bottlenecks in our neighborhood to your attention so we can avoid issues down the road.

After reviewing the track of your current 36-inch mainline easement Continue reading →

Low Withlacoochee River Water Levels, then Rain 2026-08-09

Charisma Myers asked on facebook, August 6, 2026, “Have yall seen the river out on 41 completely dry before????”

It’s not completely dry, just very low, but yes. Drought. Lack of rain. It’s going to happen more often, as will floods, due to climate change. You looked on Thursday. It was even Friday last week. Since then the rains brought it up 4 feet.

Right now you could put in on the Withlacoochee River about half a mile below that bridge at Langdale Park Boat Ramp and paddle quite a ways. But you probably won’t make it past the bottom of Langdale Park, because there are several log jams that we haven’t yet gotten to in the WWALS chainsaw cleanups.

https://wwals.net/outings/chainsaw-cleanups/

Once we get through those and any other deadfalls down to Sugar Creek, we’ve already cleared passage from there down to the Little River Confluence, and then it’s easy up to Troupville Boat Ramp on the Little River.

[Withlacoochee River Water Levels, US 41, 2026-08-09 --USGS One Year]
Withlacoochee River Water Levels, US 41, 2026-08-09 –USGS One Year

That’s the USGS US 41 Withlacoochee River Gauge on North Valdosta Road, set to show one year of measurements.

https://waterdata.usgs.gov/monitoring-location/USGS-02317755#dataTypeId=continuous-63160-0&period=P365D&showFieldMeasurements=true

Below is another view, from NOAA’s National Water Prediction Service, set for one month.

https://water.noaa.gov/gauges/vdrg1

For all river gauges on the Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail (WLRWT),

https://wwals.net/blog/maps/withlacoochee-river-water-trail/

see the Access page.

https://wwals.net/maps/withlacoochee-river-water-trail/wrwt-map/wrwt-access/

For all the WWALS water trails, go to wwals.net, then in the menu select Water Trails.

https://wwals.net/water-trails/ Continue reading →

Fannie Marie Jackson Gibbs, August 6, 1953-July 19, 2026

Fannie Gibbs was a friend of WWALS since its beginning. Others will recall her life. Here we recall her water advocacy.

[Fannie Marie Jackson Gibbs, August 6, 1953-July 19, 2026, Juneteenth, Reed Bingham SP, When Great Trees Fall]
Fannie Marie Jackson Gibbs, August 6, 1953-July 19, 2026, Juneteenth, Reed Bingham SP, When Great Trees Fall

First, Fannie in a boat. This was at Juneteenth at Reed Bingham State Park, June 19, 2021.

Continue reading →