Lowndes County could stop biomass plant

VDT is not quite right when it says Only city can stop biomass. The Lowndes County Commission could do it.

According to Ashley Paulk, a few months ago VLCIA approached the Lowndes County government, asking them to ask VLCIA not to extend Sterling Planet's contract for the biomass plant. Chairman Paulk refused to accept that hot potato and instead laudably told the community what was going on. Yet there was a bit of a good idea in what VLCIA was asking. Lowndes County could pass an ordinance such as VDT is suggesting banning the incineration of human feces.

Remember, Lowndes County rezoned the land for the plant. It's time to review that rezoning to see if in light of new information it should be rescinded. According to the VDT, Wiregrass Power LLC supplied a fake timeline, so it wuld not be interesting to know what else they said wasn't true?

For that matter, wasn't the rezoning to build a certain biomass plant according to a certain plan which has no expired? Maybe the rezoning is already null and void and the Commission just needs to declare it so.

Short of that, the Lowndes County Commission could demand transparency from VLCIA:

• Let's see the land purchase contract.
• Let's see all the VLCIA minutes related to the biomass plant, Wiregrass Power LLC, or Sterling Planet.
• Let's hear VLCIA board members explain why they are ignoring copious evidence that the biomass plant would be a health hazard.
• Let's hear them explain why their legal counsel can't break a land purchase contract in the light of all that new information.

Oh, and Commissioner Powell could ask the Commission to help do what Mayor Fretti said Powell and Fretti would do: move ahead with expanding the Wiregrass Solar plant. The Lowndes County Commission could insist to Sterling Planet that that's what we want around here: more solar energy for independence and jobs.

-jsq