Category Archives: Trash

Valdosta added net to trash trap, Lee St. Detention Pond 2022-09-28

Good news! Valdosta Engineering has added a net to the home-made Valdosta City trash trap in the Lee Street detention pond on One Mile Branch, upstream of Ashley Street, Drexel Park, VSU, Sugar Creek, and the Withlacoochee River.

[Before and after]
Before and after

Bobby McKenzie opened an issue in Valdosta’s Click ‘n’ Fix smartphone app on September 11, 2022. Valdosta officials closeed it twice, but he persisted, reminding them that a year ago in July 2021, at the invitation of WWALS, trash trap company Osprey met with WWALS and Valdosta Stormwater Manager Angela Bray and then-City Engineer Pat Collins, presenting their Litter Gitter, which has a net in addition to a boom. Bobby also sketched the idea on an image of the current Lee St. trap.

Apparently current City Engineer Benjamin O’Dowd got the picture, because yesterday Bobby sent a picture of that trash trap with a net on top of it.

Valdosta so far has not said in the Click ‘n’ Fix thread that they have done that, but I’m going ahead and announcing this good news.

Thank you, City Engineer Benjamin O’Dowd, for the net on Valdosta’s Lee Street detention pond trash trap!

And thanks to Bobby McKenzie for his persistence.

Yes, I know Continue reading →

Rescheduled: Chainsaw Cleanup Withlacoochee River, 2022-10-16

Rescheduled due to fish kill.

We need volunteers to pick up trash while a few people chainsaw some deadfalls.

We aim to collect the trashjams we didn’t have room for last time, and to chainsaw the remaining Withlacoochee River deadfalls between Sugar Creek and the Little River Confluence. Then we’ll paddle up the Little River to take out at Troupville Boat Ramp.

Unlike last time, we’re scheduling seven hours for the shuttle, for chainsawing and trash collecting, and for the four-mile paddle. With luck, nobody will get stuck this time.

All dependent on the weather, of course. Could be hurricane season finally by then, or could be plenty low to make this easy.

When: 9 AM to 4 PM, Sunday, October 16, 2022

Put In: Meet at the back of the Salty Snapper parking lot, 1405 Gornto Rd, Valdosta, GA 31602.

GPS: 30.861764, -83.318854

[Trashjam, deadfall, chainsaws]
Trashjam, deadfall, chainsaws, 2022-07-30; Photos: John S. Quarterman.

Continue reading →

Trash reporting cleanup, One Mile Branch, Valdosta, 2022-10-21

Update 2022-10-23: Pictures: Lee St. Detention Pond Cleanup 2022-10-21.

Update 2022-10-18: Or come to this other one, Sunday trash reporting cleanup, One Mile Branch, Valdosta’s Lee Street detention pond 2022-11-23.

Come help make the creeks and rivers cleaner by stopping trash from getting into them.

We will teach trash (and other) reporting and followup at multiple locations in Valdosta, using Valdosta’s Click ‘n’ Fix smartphone app.

More people involved will improve public health, quality of life, and eco-tourism, while providing community involvement.

City Council Sandra Tooley will be there to help encourage participants: it’s her district.

We invite all Valdosta City officials, especially Stormwater Division and Public Works, to come instruct us in how it should be done.

[Trash, clean, map]
Trash, clean, map

Continue reading →

Video: One Mile Branch Backflow 2022-08-09

Bobby McKenzie videoed in the rain: One Mile Branch backflowing upstream from Lakeland Avenue, with runoff under and beside the street carrying trash on past Fire Station No. 2 and under E Park Ave.

[One Mile Branch and Fire Station No. 2]
One Mile Branch and Fire Station No. 2

All that rain no doubt scoured trash from all the yards and parking lots around into the creek. One Mile Branch continues down to Sugar Creek and the Withlacoochee River.

Here’s the video. Continue reading →

Valdosta Block Club added to Pepsi sign at Barack Obama and Ricardo 2022-08-28

Update 2022-12-14: Pictures: Barack Obama Blvd. @ Ricardo St. 2022-12-01.

“In Conjunction With Valdosta Block Club” has been pasted onto the Pepsi Adopt-A-Spot sign. Thanks to whoever did that.

[Old, new, improved]
Old, new, improved

In our previous episode, Continue reading →

Chainsaw Cleanup Withlacoochee River, 2022-09-25

Update 2022-09-24: Rescheduled: Chainsaw Cleanup Withlacoochee River, 2022-10-16.

We need volunteers with boats to pick up trash while a few people chainsaw some deadfalls.

We aim to collect the trashjams we didn’t have room for last time, and to chainsaw the remaining Withlacoochee River deadfalls between Sugar Creek and the Little River Confluence. Then we’ll paddle up the Little River to take out at Troupville Boat Ramp.

Unlike last time, we’re scheduling seven hours for the shuttle, for chainsawing and trash collecting, and for the four-mile paddle. With luck, nobody will get stuck this time.

All dependent on the weather, of course. Could be hurricane season finally by then, or could be plenty low to make this easy.

When: 9 AM, Sunday, September 25, 2022

Put In: Meet at the back of the Salty Snapper parking lot, 1405 Gornto Rd, Valdosta, GA 31602.

GPS: 30.861764, -83.318854

[Trashjam, deadfall, chainsaws]
Trashjam, deadfall, chainsaws, 2022-07-30; Photos: John S. Quarterman.

Continue reading →

Valdosta enforces new grease ordinance; how about enforcing its trash ordinances?

I look forward to Valdosta enforcing its trash ordinances like it’s doing with these Fats, Oil, and Grease (FOG) ordinances. No new ordinance is needed, City Marshals just need to enforce the ones already in place.

[Valdosta example: Fats, Oils, and Grease in a manhole]
Valdosta example: Fats, Oils, and Grease in a manhole

Here’s an idea: Roger Budd Co. could set an example by buying trash cans for its parking lots, and keep them cleaned out, like city ordinances require. That would be much smaller capex than these FOG traps. And for both RBC could advertise on its billboards how green its businesses are.

Although any business will be more likely to do that once the City of Valdosta gets around to putting such trash cans on its own city parking lots, starting with across from City Hall.

Meanwhile, I applaud the City of Valdosta pro-actively preventing sewage spills with this new FOG ordinance.

Mackenzie Petrie, WALB, Continue reading →

Suwannee Riverkeeper on Scott James Radio 8:30 AM Thursday 2022-08-18

Update 2022-08-20: Videos: Suwannee Riverkeeper about Songwriting Contest on Scott James Radio 2022-08-18.

Thursday (tomorrow) at 8:30 AM, Suwannee Riverkeeper will be on Scott James Talk 92.1 FM radio, about the Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest, coming up this Saturday evening, 7-11 PM at the Turner Center Art Park in Valdosta, Georgia.
https://wwals.net/pictures/2022-08-20–songwriting/

No doubt we’ll also talk about the trash situation and how you can help stop a strip mine far too near the Okefenokee Swamp.

We may also talk about water quality testing, and who knows what else.

[Movie: Sen. Ossoff got U.S. Army Corps to resume oversight of mine site next to Okefenokee Swamp]

When: 8:30 AM, Thursday, August 18, 2022

Where: Talk 92.1 FM radio, Scott James drivetime show
http://talk921.com/

Listen: Over the air, or through the radio show’s own website, or through any of several online listening services.

Event: facebook

For more WWALS outings and events as they are posted, see Continue reading →

Refurbished Pepsi Adopt-A-Spot sign, Barack Obama Blvd., Valdosta, GA 2022-08-17

Update 2022-08-28: Valdosta Block Club added to Pepsi sign at Barack Obama and Ricardo 2022-08-28.

Valdosta has replaced the Adopt-A-Spot sign at the corner of Barack Obama Blvd. and Ricardo Street. The sign looks much better now.

[Old and new sign]
Old and new sign

But it no longer mentions Valdosta Block Club. That’s the organization former City Council James Wright started to help with Adopt-A-Spot, which he also spearheaded. Valdosta Block Club was featured in his obituary. I guess that’s not important anymore. Continue reading →

Personnel and trash at Valdosta City Council 2022-08-11

It wasn’t us this time.

Council Sandra Tooley brought up trash, Click ‘n’ Fix, and Valdosta’s favorite excuse for not doing much: “we’re short on staff“ and “A lot of people have a lot of things going on in their departments.” This was in the last five minutes of the August 11, 2022, Valdosta City Council meeting.

[Council Sandra Tooley requests Executive Session about personnel and trash]
Council Sandra Tooley requests Executive Session about personnel and trash

The Mayor said they had a request for an Executive Session, and asked for a motion. Council Tim Carroll wondered why.

Council Sandra Tooley explained, “Citizens have come to me, and they have this thing they like to say, that we do not have enough staff, that we’re short on staff, that we’re not getting things done.”

See for yourself in this excerpt of Valdosta’s own facebook live video of the meeting. Continue reading →