FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Hahira, Georgia, July 1, 2019 — Three judges are ready to pick the winners at the Second Annual Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest: two from Georgia and one from Florida. Tony Buzella, J.J. Rolle, and Tim Teasley will mark finalists on originality of lyrics and music, musical consistency, showing the integrity and value of the waters, historical value, performance, and more. Radio personality Chris Beckham of Tifton will M.C.
Continue readingLast Thursday, NCFRPC E.D. Scott R. Koons noted that Appointments to the task forces for each of the toll road corridors would start soon. Among the types of representatives that are supposed to be appointed, are environmental organizations (two of those listed in the bill are on record opposing it).
Koons also discussed approved funding for a hurricane evacuation study. Why, you may wonder, was the toll road bill, supposedly largely about hurricane evacuation, passed before that study was even started?
Ken Cornell of Alachua County noted “There’s a lot of election cycles before this is going to be done.” Indeed, a new governor could decline to implement this toll road boondoggle, and if enough elected officials on the task forces oppose it, that might even stop it. He also said:
![[Planning, Ken Cornell, Alachua County]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2019-05-23--ncfrpc-videos/2-4-planning-ken-cornell.jpg)
Planning, Ken Cornell, Alachua County
Cornell asked for new Executive Committee members to get together before the next Council meeting,
So we can have some discussions at this Council like what we’re doing for Valdosta, and have a united front. Alachua County and I know many others will stand in support of this issue.
Suwannee Riverkeeper stands in support of the counties opposed to the toll roads.
Below are the WWALS videos from that North Central Florida Regional Planning Council meeting in Lake City, FL, with more details. Continue reading
Update 2019-05-28: See also Videos: toll road planning –E.D. Scott R. Koons & Ken Cornell @ NCFRPC 2019-05-23.
Eight citizens from across the region spoke Thursday against the toll road boondoggle, at the North Central Florida Regional Planning Council meeting in Lake City, FL.
Below are links to each WWALS video of each speaker, followed by a WWALS video playlist.
See also Continue reading
There will be a meeting of the North Central Florida Regional Planning Council tonight in Lake City. Citizen Comments would be a good opportunity to ask what are they going to do to stop the Suncoast Connector toll road boondoggle from crossing the Suwannee River, and promote water quality testing and solar power instead.
When: 7PM, Thursday, May 23, 2019
Where: Lake City Holiday Inn Hotel & Suites, 213 Southwest Commerce Boulevard, Lake City, Florida
Event: facebook
X. CITIZEN COMMENTS
This agenda item provides an opportunity for citizens to address the Council on any matter not included on the agenda. The comment period is limited to three minutes for each individual.
-jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®
You can join this fun and work by becoming a WWALS member today!
Confirmed today by telephone: FDEP is analyzing DNA and human tracers such as sucralose monthly at at least three stations: on the Withlacoochee and Alapahoochee Rivers at the Georgia-Florida line, and at the Withlacoochee River Confluence with the Suwannee River at Ellaville. Those are the top center left blue stars on this map.
Confirmed by: Darlene Velez, Water Resources Chief, Suwannee River Water Management District (SRWMD).
This is what Waterkeepers Florida (WKFL) heard in Orlando on April 15th from Continue reading
Thanks to Jim Tatum of OSFR for reporting from the April 25th meeting of the twelve-Florida-county Rivers Task Force meeting in Lake City. His Task Force on Valdosta Spills says the Task Force is asking Florida Senator Rubio to speed permitting for Valdosta’s WWTP catch basin. It doesn’t say whether they get the point that the other third of Valdosta’s December spills would not be affected by that.
It says they’re still agonizing about direct notification of spills. Our experience with Valdosta and that of many others is that it’s not worth wasting time expecting Valdosta to notify anybody except the state of Georgia, which is why it’s so useful that GA-EPD publishes Sewage Spill Reports each business day. That’s been going on since December 20, 2018, after 30 organizations in Georgia and Florida, including OSFR, signed a resolution asking GA-EPD to do that.
Photo: Jim Tatum for OSFR;
Darlene Velez of SRWMD explains the water quality missions of the state agencies.
The hot button at the moment is water quality monitoring and sampling. Thanks to OSFR’s Merrillee Malwitz-Jipson and WWALS ‘ John Quarterman, it was revealed some time ago that water sampling has been less than adequate by our (and Georgia’s) agencies, lacking even a baseline for comparison in places.
Once called out, the agencies have been scrambling and Ms. Velez’ PowerPoint covered this wonderfully. Your writer did not know that Continue reading
Agenda (PDF):
AGENDA
MIDDLE AND LOWER SUWANNEE RIVER AND
WITHLACOOCHEE RIVER TASK FORCEApril 25, 2019
4:00 p.m.Holiday Inn Hotel & Suites
213 Southwest Commerce Boulevard
Lake City, Florida
- INVOCATION
- PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
- INTRODUCTIONS
- APPROVAL OF MINUTES – February 28, 2019*
- REPORT ON ACTIVITIES
- Florida Senate Environment and Natural Resources Committee Testimony
- Florida Department of Environmental Protection Secretary and Governor’s Staff Meeting
- Joint Task Force and City of Valdosta City Council Workshop
- WATER SAMPLING SCHEDULE AND DATA
- NEXT STEPS
* See Attachments
See also:
Received via email today. Most recipients got this notice Friday, but NCFRPC had a typo in my address. Yes, this is 4PM the same day as the 5:30 PM Valdosta City Council meeting. Each county has only one delegate to the Task Force, so maybe they can also send somebody to the City Council meeting.
MEETING NOTICE
MIDDLE AND LOWER SUWANNEE RIVER
AND WITHLACOOCHEE RIVER
TASK FORCEThere will be a meeting of the Middle and Lower Suwannee River and Withlacoochee River Task Force on January 24, 2019, The meeting will be held at the Holiday Inn Hotel & Suites, 213 Southwest Commerce Boulevard, Lake City, Florida, at 4:00 p.m.
![[Holiday Inn, Lake City, FL]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2019-01-24--ncfrpc-vld-task-force/Jan2019packet-0001.jpg)
Holiday Inn, Lake City, FL
PDF
A rather vague agenda is included, as well as minutes and slides from the previous meeting.
The only item I don’t recall from the previous meeting is this table, which appears to be Continue reading
You can help protect the Rainbow River and the Withlacoochee (south) River this Tuesday. WWALS member Janet Barrow recommends:
Love Marion County? Want to keep what you love about it? Show up and support changes to the Comp Plan that will help curtail sprawl and add protections for our rural and conservation lands and waters, including protection from a toll road cutting through our area. Show up. Speak in support of the language to protect the Farmland Preservation Area and all areas to the south and west to the county lines (SW Marion County.)
When: 2PM, Tuesday, December 18, 2018
Where:
Board of County Commissioners Auditorium
601 SE 25th Avenue
Ocala, Florida 34470
Event: facebook
Photo: Jim Tatum, on
WWALS Southwings flight, pilot Roy Zimmer, navigator Andrea Rea, 2017-02-07.
Marion County denied the AZ Ocala Ranch development and is Continue reading
Seen southbound on I-75: a truck carrying Methane Refrigerated Liquid, highly flammable, evacuate up to 1/2 mile downwind if broken. Wait, wasn’t Sabal Trail supposed to eliminate the need for such trucks?
The truck said Kenan Advantage Group, but I’d bet it was carrying Continue reading
![[Three]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2019-08-24--suwannee-riverkeeper-songwriting-contest/judges.jpg)
![[Scott R. Koons, E.D., NCFRPC]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2019-05-23--ncfrpc-videos/2-2-scott-r-koons.jpg)
![[Surface water Trend Stations]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2019-04-25--srwmd-fl-rivers-task-force-wq-monitoring/20190425-Water-Quality-Monitoring-Final-0005.jpg)