Tag Archives: agriculture

Beatty Branch smelled like cattle manure, controversial Sugar Creek, clean Alapaha and Santa Fe Rivers 2025-05-25

Update 2025-10-03: Clean Withlacoochee, Alapaha, Santa Fe, and Suwannee Rivers 2025-10-02.

WWALS testers found the Alapaha and Santa Fe Rivers clean this week.

Upstream of the Withlacoochee River, WWALS got surprisingly high E. coli results on Cat Creek and Beatty Branch for Thursday samples. Beatty Branch water at Cat Creek Road smelled like cattle manure. More tests will be necessary to see where that is coming from.

WWALS found Sugar Creek OK. But Valdosta once again got much higher results for Sugar Creek, Meanwhile, Valdosta and WWALS results upstream at US 41 and Langdale Park were pretty close together. And this week’s WWALS Sugar Creek results are similar to last week’s WWALS results. We’ve never seen this kind of discrepancy between Valdosta and WWALS results before.

Downstream on the Withlacoochee GA 133 was OK by Valdosta, which is strange considering Valdosta’s Sugar Creek results.

Valdosta had a tiny 2,000-gallon sewage spill onto dry land Monday at its Withlacoochee Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP). No other new sewage spills have been reported in the past week in the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia or Florida.

Downstream from the WWTP at US 84 was OK by Valdosta. A WWALS test was even better farther downstream on the Withlacoochee River, near the Suwannee River.

There was no rain for a week before these samples, but it rained later Thursday, and more rain is predicted this weekend. So more contamination may wash into the waterways.

I’d avoid Sugar Creek and the Withlacoochee River near it, But if you can beat the rain, happy paddling, boating, swimming, and fishing this weekend.

This image is an overview. Scroll down for the details.

Beatty Branch smelled like cattle manure, controversial Sugar Creek 2025-05-25, clean Alapaha and Santa Fe Rivers, Withlacoochee clean downstream

Follow this link for the WWALS composite spreadsheet of water quality results, rainfall, and sewage spills in the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia and Florida:
https://wwals.net/issues/testing/#results

The image below is a current excerpt from that spreadsheet. Continue reading →

Bacon James, Gainesville, FL, with a Bluegrass song, Ellaville. 2025-09-06

Thanks to Bacon James, for writing a song and playing it, at the Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest 2025.

And thanks for digging into Suwannee and Withlacoochee River history about Ellavile, the town where George F. Drew had his sawmill, with a boom across the mouth of the Withlacoochee River, to catch logs floated down the river.
https://wwals.net/pictures/songwriting2025

“I’m Bacon James—singer-songwriter and frequent supporter of environmental causes and organizations. I love being in nature, playing and writing music, and generally trying to be too clever for my own good.”

Bacon James, Gainesville, FL, Bluegrass song, Ellaville, Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest, September 6, 2025

“I wrote Ellaville after visiting the site during one of my recent trips to the Suwannee and subsequently digging into the history of the town and what occurred there. I loved the idea of a bustling little mill town on the river and was so fascinated by the story of how the town boomed and then fell. I thought of all the hardships of the folks I’ve met, and how I have so many close friends now that are currently unemployed and struggling. Dreams found, lives built and then dashed. Nature constantly exploited by those in power, ostensibly retaliating against those by which it had been wronged. Are we learning? Are we growing? Were there lessons the river was trying to impart about humanity, and have we heard them? That’s what this song explores.”

Here’s he is singing his song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37APDWhJBLQ Continue reading →

Water issues, Bradford Road subdividing –WWALS to Berrien Planning Commission 2025-09-18

Update 2025-10-07: Public Hearing, Bradford Road subdivision @ Berrien Planning Commission 2025-10-16.

I handed this letter to the Berrien Planning Commissioners and the Zoning Administrator before I spoke to them at the recent Public Hearing. They tabled this item for another month, awaiting more documents from the applicant, Cole Livingston, for his proposal to subdivide for ten houses in an agricultural character area on Bradford and Strawder Roads and Old Valdosta Highway, in Berrien County, Georgia, draining to Gin Branch Creek and the Withlacoochee River.

Water issues, Bradford Road subdividing, WWALS 2025-09-18, to Berrien Planning Commission

September 18, 2025
To: Teresa Willis
Berrien County Zoning Administrator
229-686-2149
twillis@berriencountyga.gov
201 N. Davis Street Room 122
Nashville GA 31639
Re: Subdividing M&P 061-14-000, 061-16-002, Old Valdosta Rd. & Bradford Rd.
Dear Berrien County Zoning Administrator and Planning Commission,
Please recommend denial of the proposed subdividing, because:

House lots would produce more runoff, which would run onto neighboring properties, as attested by several neighbors at the previous Public Hearing on August 21, 2025. See attached LIDAR map and attached wetland and flood zone map.
Runoff would carry trash and other contamination into Gin Branch Creek that runs north across Bradford Road and west into the Withlacoochee River. See attached map of Gin Branch Creek.
Under Bradford Road and along Gin Branch Creek is an aquifer recharge zone, into the groundwater from which we all drink. We do not need to risk more contaminants possibly getting into that. See attached aquifer recharge map.
Increased traffic and runoff would erode Bradford and Strawder Roads, requiring more work by the county to fix them.
The houses would not be accessory to farm operations as in the Berrien County Comprehensive Plan Strategy for an Agriculture Character Area, which says: Continue reading →

Road costs, well risks, taxpayers should decide –Lisa Sumner for Wayne Nash 2025-09-18

Update 2025-09-22: Water issues, Bradford Road subdividing –WWALS to Berrien Planning Commission 2025-09-18.

The information Lisa Sumner presented to the Greater Berrien Planning Commission Thursday on behalf of Wayne Nash is on the WWALS website. This was in opposition to the proposed subdivision on Bradford and Strawder Roads and Old Valdosta Road in Berrien County, Georgia, draining into Gin Branch Creek to the Withlacoochee River, through an aquifer recharge zone above the Floridan Aquifer.

Images of each page are below.

Road costs, well risks, taxpayers should decide –Lisa Sumner for Wayne Nash 2025-09-18 @ Berrien Planning Commission

I’ve also enlarged Wayne Nash’s groundwater withdrawal permit, which shows “Well Design Pumping Capacity 600 gallons per minute.” Continue reading →

Videos: Bradford Road subdividing @ Berrien Planning Commission 2025-09-18

Update 2025-10-07: Public Hearing, Bradford Road subdivision @ Berrien Planning Commission 2025-10-16.

Update 2025-09-22: Water issues, Bradford Road subdividing –WWALS to Berrien Planning Commission 2025-09-18.

Update 2025-09-20: Road costs, well risks, taxpayers should decide –Lisa Sumner for Wayne Nash 2025-09-18.

Once again, the Greater Berrien Planning Commission tabled the proposed Cole Livingston subdividing on Bradford and Strawder Roads and Old Valdosta Highway. Once again, it was because of missing materials from the applicant. They did not, however, mention the missing Soil Erosion and Sedimentation Control Plan that caused the previous tabling.

Tabled again, Bradford Road subdividing, @ Berrien Planning Commission, 2025-09-17

They did allow quite a few people to speak, even though they tabled this item.

Before all that, they tabled the minutes from the August 21 meeting due to transcription errors.

And they unanimously recommended approval for another item, a McCorvey duplex on Dawn Street, rezoning from R15 to R6.

If they stick to the third Thursday of the month, the next Public Hearing on the Livingston item will be Thursday, October 16, 2025.

Below are videos of each agenda item or speaker, followed by a WWALS video playlist.

Applicant packet, Bradford Road Subdivision @ Berrien Planning Commission 2025-08-21

Update 2025-09-19: Videos: Bradford Road subdividing @ Berrien Planning Commission 2025-09-18.

This is the packet of materials the applicant, Cole Livingston, supplied to the Greater Berrien Planning Commission at their previous Public Hearing, August 21, 2025.

Applicant packet, Bradford Road Subdivision @ Berrien Planning Commission, August 21, 2025

This item got tabled for a month, due to citizens pointing out legal irregularities.

The new Public Hearing is this
Thursday, September 18, 2025, at 5:30 PM, in the same place,
County Commissioner’s Board Room 201 North Davis Street Nashville Ga 31639.
https://wwals.net/?p=68375

You can write or call your elected and appointed officials and get your neighbors to do so.

And you can sign the petition against this subdivision of ten houses on agricultural land:
https://chng.it/kKDVsN92xT

A PDF of the packet scanned by WWALS is on the WWALS website. Images of each page are below. Continue reading →

Public Notice for Public Hearing, Bradford Road subdivision 2025-09-18

Update 2025-09-15: Please deny subdividing on Bradford Road –WWALS to Berrien County, GA 2025-08-21.

As predicted, the reschedule date is Thursday, September 18, at 5:30 PM.

This is about plopping ten houses in the middle of an agriculture character area, with runoff and recharge issues that affect the neighbors, Gin Branch Creek, the Withlacoochee River, and groundwater down to the Floridan Aquifer. As well as all the usual issues of trespassing, poaching, pets, livestock, traffic, and road erosion.

Plus transparency and the Berrien Planning Commission should follow the Berrien County Code and Comprehensive Plan.

The farther out from existing services, the more a subdivision costs the county in calls on Sheriff Deputies, Fire Rescue, school buses and places at the schools. Property taxes on those houses would not pay for all that. The rest of Berrien County would have to pay the difference.

Cole Livingston Subdivision, Public Hearing 2024-09-18, Bradford & Strawder Roads & Old Valdosta Hwy

For what happened at the previous Public Hearing and why it was tabled, see previous post:
https://wwals.net/?p=68261

Here’s a facebook event to encourage people to come to this Public Hearing:
https://www.facebook.com/events/977417484854080/

Meanwhile, you can speak in other ways, such as signing the petition against this subdivision of ten houses on agricultural land:
https://chng.it/kKDVsN92xT

This is what the Public Notices on the roads say: Continue reading →

Videos: Bradford Road @ Berrien County Planning Commission 2025-08-21

Update 2025-09-08: Rescheduled, Public Notice for Public Hearing, Bradford Road subdivision 2025-09-18.

Here are WWALS videos of the hour in which several speakers brought up the lack of an Erosion and Sediment Control Plan and many other subjects at the Berrien County Planning Commission. This Public Hearing was about a proposal to put a ten-house subdivision on agricultural land on Bradford, Strawder, and Old Valdosta Roads.

Tabled: Bradford Road @ Berrien County Planning Commission 2025-08-21, No Erosion and Sedimentation Control Plan

Lisa Sumner spoke first, about that Plan, and last, specifically wanting to know why were we meeting, since county ordinances require the Plan to be submitted. After much discussion among Commission and Staff, they moved to adjourn. Before the vote, Della Gladieux asked if people would get to speak next month. Yes, they said, people who had not already spoken.

Meanwhile, you can speak in other ways, such as signing the petition against this subdivision of ten houses on agricultural land:
https://chng.it/kKDVsN92xT

People who live in Berrien County can also call or write your Planning Commissioner or Berrien County Commissioner. Anyone can come to that next Planning Commission meeting, which will probably be September 18, since they seem to meet on the third Thursday of the month, at 201 North Davis Street, Nashville, GA 31639.

See for yourself in these WWALS videos of each spaaker, followed by a WWALS video playlist.

WTXL TV: Berrien County subdivision delayed as soil permit question stalls planning commission 2025-08-21

Update 2025-08-26: Videos: Bradford Road @ Berrien County Planning Commission 2025-08-21.

We all spent an hour at a Berrien County Planning Commission meeting that should not have been held, because the applicant had not submitted a Soil Erosion and Sedimentation Control Plan as required by county ordinances. There are many other objections to plopping a subdivision onto agricultural land on a dirt road.

WTXL TV: Berrien County subdivision tabled a month, Soil Erosion and Sedimentation Control Plan 2025-08-21

Malia Thomas, WTXL TV, August 21, 2025, Berrien County subdivision delayed as soil permit question stalls planning commission: Neighbors say a new subdivision threatens farmland as well as increases risks of floods after rain,

VALDOSTA, GA. (WTXL) — Neighbors in Berrien County say a proposed subdivision could forever change the farmland and heritage they’ve built over generations.

The planning commission tabled its recommendation after uncertainty over permits and county bylaws.
Neighbors argue the Bradford Road project would harm farmland, heritage, and community ties.
Watch the video below for more details on the project and the next steps.
Continue reading →

Bradford Road Rezoning in Berrien County, GA, Land Development Districts 2025-08-21

Update 2025-08-22: WTXL TV: Berrien County subdivision delayed as soil permit question stalls planning commission 2025-08-21.

Thanks to Berrien County, Georgia, Zoning Administrator Teresa Willis for calling to discuss the proposed rezoning on Bradford Road.

Bradford Road Rezoning

She noted the current zoning is in the last map in the packet she previously sent:

Map: Zoning map with recently purchased tracts in yellow
PDF

Zoom in and look for the letters AU in black on the dark blue background. The entire area is zoned AU, which is for agricultural use.

She does not know what the proposed rezoning is, since the applicant has not sent further materials, and it is possible he may not do so until the day of the Planning Commission Public Hearing.

She said the housing subdivision he proposes does not necessarily require a rezoning. However, as I pointed out in the previous post, that would not really fit with the Comprehensive Plan.

She also sent an extract from the Berrien County Land Development Code with all the zoning district names. Continue reading →

WWALS Watershed Coalition (WWALS) is Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®

A healthy watershed with clean, swimmable, fishable, drinkable water.