Hear it from the Mayor, Acting City Manager, and Council of Valdosta, Georgia, and just in time for them and the Lowndes County Chairman, Manager, and Commissioners to attend their annual Bird Supper in Atlanta to discuss it with state legislators: fees collected by the state of Georgia should be dedicated to the purposes for which they were collected. Below are LAKE videos are from the Valdosta City Council, Thursday, January 25, 2018, including a few words I said about which local governments already passed this resolution.
Category Archives: Law
Biggest county in Suwannee River Basin passes resolution against Georgia state fee diversions 2018-01-23
Monday the Lowndes County Chairman spoke for it, Tuesday the Lowndes County Manager spoke for it, and then they passed it: a resolution to stop the Georgia legislature from diverting funds collected by state fees. This was the fourth such local resolution in the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia. Thursday Valdosta also passed it (video to come) and more after that.
5.f. Resolution Supporting HR 158 to Stop Diversion of State Fees
Video. County Manager Joe Pritchard said the resolution “really is supporting Continue reading
Lowndes County Chairman speaks for stopping state fee diversions 2018-01-22
The Lowndes County Commission votes tonight, 5:30 PM, on a resolution Chairman Bill Slaughter put on the agenda yesterday morning in support of stopping diversion of state fees, just after a report about a tire amnesty that was apparently funded by the Georgia Solid Waste Trust Fund, which has had fees diverted upwards of $50 million. Valdosta and Hahira also have that resolution on their agendas, after Lanier County, Adel, and Atkinson County passed it recently. If you can attend one of these meetings and thank these elected officials for doing this, I’m sure they would appreciate it.
Video. Chairman Bill Slaughter said Continue reading
Atkinson County passes Alapaha River Water Trail resolution 2018-01-18
It probably didn’t hurt that Lace Futch was Mayor of Willacoochee before he became Chairman of Atkinson County. During a brief discussion, I pointed out that the resolution includes this clause, to fix the last landing name before we update and reprint the Alapaha River Water Trail brochures:
Section 3: The public access to the Alapaha River at GA 135 south of the city of Willacoochee is hereby named Willacoochee Landing;
The Commissioners passed it unanimously.
WWALS board member Shirley Kokidko, who lives in Atkinson County and who had asked for this resolution to be on the agenda, thanked the Commissioners afterwards, and invited them to come on the Hike to the Dead River Sink, noon Saturday, January 27, 2018, explaining that this first outing on the Alapaha Quest was originally scheduled to start at Sheboggy Landing at US 82 and to end up at Willacoochee Landing, but was rescheduled due to low water. Shirley is near the center of each of the pictures below, each taken at Willacoochee Landing on different WWALS outings.
See also the resolution in support of the Alapaha River Water Trail (ARWT) passed by Lanier County 2018-01-08.
Photo: Gretchen Quarterman for WWALS
at Willacoochee Landing 2016-02-20.
Text of the resolution
Continue readingAtkinson County passes resolution against Georgia state fee diversions 2018-01-18
Chairman Lace Futch had a few words about my grandfather and a few questions, then he asked me to read the BE IT RESOLVED part to the Atkinson County Commissioners. They voted unanimously for the resolution to ask the Georgia state legislature to stop diversion of state fees, Thursday January 18, 2018. WWALS Board Member and Atkinson County resident Shirley Kokidko had asked for it to be on the agenda, and she thanked the Commissioners at the end of the meeting for passing it.
See also the resolutions previously passed by Lanier County 2018-01-08 and the City of Adel 2018-01-16.
Photo: Atkinson County Commission by John S. Quarterman for WWALS 2018-01-18.
Text of the Resolution
Continue readingAdel passes Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail resolution 2018-01-16
Update 2020-10-01: Signed and executed copy.
Thanks, City of Adel, for passing this resolution last Tuesday! The next BIG Little River Paddle Race at Reed Bingham State Park will be April 28, 2018, pending final approval by GA DNR. Meanwhile, come paddle with WWALS from Hagan Bridge (GA 122) to Franklinville on the Withlacoochee River, February 11, 2018.
Photo: Phil Hubbard, Under Reed Bingham State Park cypress at the 2017 BIG Little River Paddle Race.
Text of the resolution (see also PDF)
Continue readingSame Excuse: FERC rubberstamps PennEast like Sabal Trail 2018-01-19
Precedent agreements for 90+% of the pipeline’s capacity was FERC’s excuse for PennEast yesterday, the same as for Sabal Trail two years ago. Yet Sabal Trail apparently already lost 4/7 of its supposedly solid customer base and is not even shipping any gas. Even a dissenting FERC Commissioner spelled out that such shaky “need” does not justify environmental damage nor invasion of property rights through federal eminent domain. Sure, Commissioner LaFleur, we should trust PennEast with the Delaware River like FERC told us to trust Sabal “Sinkhole” Trail about the Suwannee River?
On New Year’s Day
Sabal Trail removed Duke Energy Florida (DEF) from its customer index.
On November 14, 2017,
Sabal Trail’s gas flow dropped to zero,
and Sabal Trail increased its Uncommitted Capacity by 300,000 Dekatherms per day,
exactly the same as DEF formerly contracted for,
and
thirty days after DEF’s initial contract expired.
That leaves FPL as Sabal Trail’s only customer, with its 400,000 DTH/day.
Four sevenths of of 93% is only about 53%,
which is not even the 75% Commissioner Richard Glick also mentioned in
in his Friday dissent from the
4:1 FERC rubberstamp of the PennEast pipeline,
which also happens to be a feeder for Sabal Trail through Transco.
Meanwhile, during freezing weather in Florida,
Sabal Trail shipped zero gas
for much of November and January (and hardly any in December):
how is that need?
Lost Duke Energy Florida, Sabal Trail?
No Balance
Commissioner Glick’s opening paragraph also sums up the recent WWALS motion to FERC to reject, shut off, and revoke Sabal Trail: Continue reading
City of Adel passed resolution against state fee diversions 2018-01-16
The City of Adel passed a city resolution in support of Georgia House Resolution 158, “a measure allowing the Georgia General Assembly to dedicate fee collections for their statutorily designated programs,” this Tuesday, January 16, 2018. That’s the second in the Suwannee River Basin, after Lanier County. The more of these urging resolutions that get passed, the more likely the legislature will act to schedule a Georgia Constitutional Amendment to stop many millions of dollars of diversions of state fees from their intended purposes.
Photo: Adel City Council in their December 4, 2018 meeting, by John S. Quarterman for WWALS.
Text of the Resolution
Continue readingResolution against state fee diversions discussed at Valdosta City Council 2018-01-11
For our waters, last Thursday, Valdosta City Council Tim Carroll recommended (Video) a resolution in support of a resolution in the Georgia state legislature to stop state fee diversions.
Video
by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE)
at Valdosta City Council, Thursday, January 11, 2018.
Newly elected Mayor Pro Tem Sandra Tooley wanted to know whether Continue reading
Lanier County Commission passes Resolution urging Georgia legislature to stop state fee diversions 2018-01-08
When you pay a state fee, be it for a license plate or for use of a landfill, chances are much of it is being diverted to some unrelated purpose. The Lanier County Commission today passed a resolution urging the Georgia legislature to dedicate state fees to their statutorily-designated programs.
Lanier County
Commissioners Paul Brockington (District 1),
Susan Bowling (District 3),
Harold Simpson (District 2),
Dennis Fender (District 4),
and Alex Lee (Chairman).
Neil Ginty (County Administrator) in pink shirt.
The Commissioners’ only question after I briefly spoke was to the County Administrator as to whether the county attorney had reviewed this resolution: she had. Thanks to Continue reading