Scottsboro City Council Meeting

May 2-4 First Monday Trade Days Weekend

Word Field Fly-In is this weekend, May 2nd 2009, Flagship DC3 at a past Scottsboro Air Show.
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Tonight's City Council Pledge of Allegiance was lead by the Local Boy Scout Troop 220.

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1) Approval to repair roof of Goose Pond Civic Center. 2) Approval of $5,000 appropriation to Women's Business Council with stipulation that funding must be acquired for the matching grant amount before funds issued. 3) Approval of Mr. Kennamer to transfer property ownership of Sumner Cemetery to City of Scottsboro per previous agreement with owners. 4) Approval to extend Charter Communication's Franchise to operate in city for a period of 1 year. 5) Ordinance approved to change City Council procedures for holding Committee meetings after the 3rd Monday work sessions. 6) Bid Opening for 113 feet access road extension in front of Police Annex. Bids were rejected due to incomplete plans. Project is to be rebid. 7) TVA Agreement to remove fallen trees in City Park approved.

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Citizen Comments to City Council: Appreciation expressed for the storm cleanup and placement of defibrillators in public buildings. Suggestion was made to install a microwave relay to change lights upon approach by Emergency Vehicles at dangerous intersections.

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Mr. Parsons, Tourism Director for the Jackson County Chamber of Commerce made presentation concerning National Tourism Week. The Mayor declared the period of May 9-17 as National Tourism Week for Scottsboro. Mr. Parson stated that there are 547 jobs in Jackson County related to Tourism. He also stated Tourism brings in $12.2 Million in Jackson County annually.

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The Mayor mentioned this weekend is the Fly-in at Word Field. This year the event will be a 1 day only event, Saturday May 2nd.

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This weekend is a First Monday Trade Days Weekend.

Positives and Negatives

TULIP TREE BLOOM

DANDOLINE SEED POD

THE DANDOLINE FLOWER

The positive and negative images of the lowly weed and the mighty tree in my garden.

Clematis Art from My Garden

NEGATIVE WHITE CLEMATIS

NEGATIVE PURPLE CLEMATIS

SOLARIZED WHITE CLEMATIS

SOLARIZED PURPLE CLEMATIS

THE BEAUTIFUL CLEMATIS IN MY GARDEN

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All about the beautiful and lovely Clematis, the queen of vines (great site). http://www.clematis.com/html-docs/homepage.html

Discussion Group Issues--Municipal Bonds and Aquatic Weeds

Bond derivatives and swapping has been an expensive endeavor for some small southern towns. (Fair use photo usage for non profit news reporting.) 

 

Bond issues, http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/08/us/08bond.html?_r=1&em

There are some questions which must be answered concerning Scottsboro's financial transactions related to refinancing of bonds and bond deals. Has Scottsboro participated in bond swaps or derivatives of the sort discussed in the New York Times article?

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An inquiry has been forwarded to the Mayor and City Attorney concerning this question.

 

 

Fair use rights for non-profit news and discussion. Photo by Alabama Department of conservation.

 

 

Aquatic Nuisance Species such as Hydrilla is an issue for local, state and federal government.

 

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Aquatic Weed Issues. A request for assistance has been sent to Governor Riley concerning Aquatic Nuisance Weeds in the Tennessee River, specifically the Roseberry/Dry Creek area and the proposed plans of a local citizen's group, the Roseberry Rescue Group.

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A reply has been received. The Alabama Department of Conservation will be looking into this issue as instructed by Governor Riley.

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It appears political manipulation by high level members of the Democrat Party are creating problems concerning this issue. This situation is typical of Alabama political action or a failure of action due to political faction bickering.

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The Alabama Aquatic Nuisance Species Task Force was created in 2005 by Governor Riley, a Republican. The Appropriations for projects such as Aquatic Nuisance Species Task Force are controlled by Democrats. Political faction bickering is preventing a resolution to these problems at the state level.

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The TVA is a corporate entity of the United States. It is funded solely by the sale of electrical power to the various local electrical power providers within the TVA service area.

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The environmental stewardship of Guntersville Lake is in part the responsibility of the U.S Government thru the TVA and in part the State of Alabama thru the Alabama Department of Conservation. These agencies along with the Alabama Department of Environmental Management as authorized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency have regulatory responsibility on the Alabama portion of the Tennessee River, its reservoirs and tributaries.

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The use of herbicides in this large body of water will require a permit under the Safe Drinking Water Act.

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The City of Scottsboro has not acquired the professional opinions of federal or state biologists in this project.

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The City of Scottsboro has approved appropriations with stipulations of other funding and review of the private applicator's guarantee of the aquatic weed project.

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Scottsboro local news media has presented very one sided stories about this project in support of the Roseberry Rescue Group. They have not presented the negative side of the Roseberry Rescue Groups proposals. Scottsboro's local news media has been presented with information concerning the negative issues of proposed application of Floridone to the Roseberry and Dry Creek areas of Guntersville Reservoir. However, they have not covered the legal, political and environmental issues concerning private citizens applying herbicide poisons to Guntersville Reservoir in violation of applicable laws.

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There is a front page article in today's Scottsboro Daily Sentinel concerning the aquatic weed issue.

Poisoning of Our Waters

Fair use photo by Science Daily for non-profit news reporting - Credit: Photo by Pieter Johnson, courtesy of Oregon State University http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/04/110425153633.htm

 

Frogs with multiple legs, containing both male and female sex organs are being found. Some scientists believe these malformations are due to endocrine disruptors present in our water supply. Others factors causing deformed species are the results of parasites. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/08/110802-frogs-deformed-parasites-animals-environment-mutants/ Fish are also being found with both male and female sex organs and unusual tumors.

Fair use rights for photo, non-profit news reporting - credits

http://www.thepettreehouse.com/2014/07/meet-donald-duckling-born-with-4-legs.html

This duckling has 4 legs. The presence of pollutants in our drinking water is causing high cancer rates locally and results in mutations.

Photo of Lake Guntersville at Goosepond, G.Morgan                               

The question, what do we want, clean, beautiful waterways with fresh, safe drinking water - or polluted waterways which are not healthy?

Fair use rights for non-profit news reporting - photo by Alabama Department of Conservation

 

Clogged lakes from exotic aquatic nuisance species which proliferate from excessive nitrate, phosphorus and sewage pollution?

            Fair use rights for non-profit news reporting - 123RF photo

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Do we want filthy, polluted waterways which are the source of our drinking water? Questions and serious concerns which each of us must evaluate.

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Tonight, April 21, 2009, on "Front Line," PBS, there will be a program on the pollution of our drinking water and fisheries across our nation. This show will concentrate on the effects of endocrine disruptors on animal and human physiology. In most cases it only takes a minuscule PPB or PPM, parts per billion or parts per million, to disrupt endocrine systems. Wiki has a good article on Endocrine Disruptors. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endocrine_disruptor PBS trailer on the "Front Line" expose: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/poisonedwaters/

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The source of our drinking water in Scottsboro is the Tennessee River. The river is polluted from sources in Jackson County as well as sources up stream in Tennessee. The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency has published this list of polluted streams and advisories. If you will notice their are many polluted areas upstream from Jackson County. Chlordane, Mercury and PCB are just a few of the pollutants listed by the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency. http://www.tnfish.org/ContaminantsInFishAdvisories_TWRA/FishFleshConsumptionAdvisories_TWRA.htm

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There is considerable scientific evidence concerning the link of plastics and their by-products to various cancers. Video links concerning plastics and breast cancer. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUSsbFN70KA&feature=related About plastics, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvzTr1VOK90&feature=related

National Weather Service Huntsville says Gravity Wave, Maybe-Maybe Not

Extra-tropical cyclone produced strong winds Monday April 13, 2009 in North Alabama. The storm produced strong winds from the west in Birmingham. They were on the southern edge of the storm. Scottsboro was on the northern edge of the storm. Our winds came out of the east as a result of being on the northern edge of the storm.

A sketch of the gravity wave that is claimed to cause the damage Monday morning April 13, 2009.
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Meteorologist Mike Coyne of the National Weather Service office in Huntsville states a "Gravity Wave struck our area in the early hours of Monday morning on April 13, 2009. "It's a once in every 5 year phenomena..." Mr. Coyne stated refering to the so called "gravity wave" event. The Daily Sentinel article: http://thedailysentinel.com/story.lasso?ewcd=1ecbb44372814803

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We have never had high sustained winds of this magnitude. If you live within 2 miles of the base of Sand Mountain you realize that easterly and southeasterly flow of strong winds occur much more frequently than once every 5 years, particularly when strong thunderstorms are to our east. However, these thunderstorms do not last for 3 hours with 50-60 mph sustained winds and 80 mph gusts reported. We all hope and prey that Monday mornings event is not a once in a 5 year event.
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About "gravity waves:" http://www.theweatherprediction.com/habyhints/64/
This is an excellent You-Tube video demonstrating the undulating motion of a gravity wave. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXnkzeCU3bE
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I think the "gravity wave" labeling of the Monday morning event is an excuse by the Huntsville National Weather Service for failing to issue a warning as a result of an extra-tropical cyclone slightly to our south. An extra tropical cyclone is a strong low pressure cell. (We experianced an inland Hurricane.) Birmingham experianced the same storm except their winds were from the west. Our winds were from the east and southeast since we were on the northern edge of the counter clockwise rotating cyclonic storm.
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About extra-tropical cyclones: http://www.usatoday.com/weather/wstorm.htm This is the weather event we experianced. We also experianced the failure of a bureaucratic national weather service who will make excuses rather than resolve problems of a scientific nature. Their reliance on set bureaucratic protocols does not facilitate scientific discovery and scientific forecasting for unusual weather events.

City Council Meeting

Early morning wind damage on Monday completely destroyed this mobile home off of Edmonds Dr. in Scottsboro. The roof and side was blown off of this mobile home. Other mobile homes in the same area received serious damage from this storm. Many Campers in the County Park area were completely destroyed. Wind gusts were reported up to 80 mph in this event. The Mayor commented to me he had never seen high winds of this nature locally for such a sustained period of time.

The TVA has decided to continue with Lake Guntersville Aquatic Weed Spraying including private dock areas.

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Two big issues at last nights City council Meeting. 1) Mayor discussed Storm Damage first to start the meeting. He stated there were no injuries reported. He commented all agencies were working diligently to repair storm damage and appreciated all efforts and the hard work to restore power to the area. There were 6500 customers without power Monday morning. At the time of the Council Meeting he stated there were 1500 without power. In a related issue the Jackson County Commission declared the area a Disaster Area. 2) In the Mayors portion of the Reports it was stated that the TVA had made a decision that they would continue to spray for weeds on Lake Guntersville. The Mayor stated TVA will treat for weeds on Lake Guntersville in all public access areas, recreation areas and the navigation channels and sub channels from June-August.
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The TVA will continue their spraying programs around private boat docks during the month of June and July. If the private property owners wish to continue treatment thru August the TVA will require the private property owners to pay for the service during the month of August. The Mayor further stated that TVA officials have not made the official announcement concerning the weed issue.

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Old Business

1) Contract awarded for inmate medical services to Southern Health Partners. 2) Bid openings for Animal Shelter kennels and cages; Kennels were awarded to Direct Animal Products and cages were awarded to Ultra Light Products. Budget will be amended for a total of $95,762.00, the cost for the cages and kennels.

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New Business

1) Assistant City Court Magistrate Position approved, a secretarial position will be abolished. Additional funding for the position will be temporarily provided by the Court and Jail Fund. 2) Budget Amendment approved for Cemetery for $4,650.00 for drainage. 3) Alcohol Beverage License approved for Papa Jacks, 1533 S. Broad St. 4) Alcohol Beverage License approved for SoJo's Quick Mart, 47 Ridgedale Rd. 5) Transfer of Alcohol Beverage License approved for Buena Vista Restaurant. 6) In the Reports section Mayor Potter introduced the new City Engineer, Charles King. Mr. King is a graduate of Auburn University and was the Assistant Engineer for Elmore Co., Alabama.

Fluridone Will Not Work Says TVA

An article in today's Huntsville Times by David Brewer quotes results of TVA's use of Fluridone.

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"A chemical sought by local citizens for ridding aquatic weeds along lakefront homes and boathouses on Roseberry Creek was used by the Tennessee Valley Authority until it became ineffective for its purpose.
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"It didn't work on narrow strips along the shoreline," TVA biologist David Webb said Wednesday of the herbicide fluridone. " Link to article: http://www.al.com/news/huntsvilletimes/local.ssf?/base/news/1239268519102760.xml&coll=1

Local Maskarovka in Scottsboro, Aquatic Nuisance Weeds and Bellefonte

Hydrilla. My disagreement with the City of Scottsboro approving $42,500 appropriation and subsequent discussion about this problem has resulted in me being banned once again from al.com, Scottsboro forum.

Can't have any disagreement with the TVA in Scottsboro concerning their lies about Bellefonte and their lack of responsibility concerning lake stewardship. As soon as today's Daily Sentinel was released I was banned from the al.com forum. There is a front page article today about the aquatic nuisance weed problem and the TVA's lack of responsibility in lake stewardship concerning my presentation to the Scottsboro City Council Monday evening. http://thedailysentinel.com/story.lasso?ewcd=0e0970d3f12b918d

Censorship continues on Advance Internets al.com Scottsboro forum.
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There has been much discussion concerning the Roseberry Creek and Dry Creek Aquatic nuisance species problem in Dry Creek & Roseberry Creek concerning the disbursement of $42,500 of taxpayer money to the Roseberry Rescue Group, a group of private citizen lakeside homeowners, from the Scottsboro City Council. I have presented an opposing viewpoint of this situation to the City Council last night, along with forum discussions of this issue on al.com, Scottsboro forum. My postings on al.com were removed.

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The following post thread is taken from al.com, Scottsboro forum. It is an example of the Maskarovka. Al.com moderators have participated in a distortion of the post threads by removing specific ad hominem abusive attacks, while leaving other ad hominem abusive posts. This distorts the post threads as the reply will remain resulting in a non-sensible reply. This is a new tactic not seen previously on al.com, Scottsboro forum. Previously a whole series of posts in a string would be removed.

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Other postings on al.com removed concerned Bellefonte and aquatic nuisance weeds.

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Post Title: gary by sboro3 4/7/09 10:02 ET
Why do you complain about people attacking you when that is the first thing you resort to when someone askes a question that you cant answer. There are several examples below. I will list a few...1) you pointed out a case that Mr. Harrelson presided over, which has nothing to do with this issue because someone else said he was a good man. That is an attack.2)you post a link to a video calling me an idiot3) you call anyone that doesnt agree with you a bourban democrat
Are you capable of having an debate without the attacks? I have asked you numerous questions that you wont answer. these are still listed if you care to answer.1)why wont you run for public office?2)what would you advertise about Scottsboro if the weeds make it so that the lake cant be used? The only answer i recieved was you calling me an idiot

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Reply post title: 6230.1. "Unfortunately" by ok224u 4/7/09 11:29 ET Re: gary by sboro3 4/7/09
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The forum thread strings have been tampered with. Several posts have been removed which distorts the pattern of attacks from you and others.
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The local forum moderators and you have participated in this charade. The distortion has been occurring since day one. It used to be when I would challenge a topic or political entity I would be removed from the forum, now the distortion and censorship takes on a different form which you are a participant.
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You and others go ahead and wallow in your political deception as this is the state of Scottsboro and Jackson County Politics at the hands of the media pawns of some local politicians who distort the truth to local citizens in order to remain in office and maintain political control thru deception.
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Your questions have been answered if I wanted to answer them. Your demanding, patronizing comments along with your previous attacks, since removed, are indicative of the worst of political charades that local politicians and their supporters undertake.
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I have never stated that I don't utilize the ad hominem attack, I will utilize the ad hominem attack and point out how deception leads to distortion of truth.
The tactics which you and the moderators have intentionally participated this time around is the tactic of the Maskarovka, it is censorship and political distortion of the worst type utilizing a media product to accomplish your goal. http://arklite.blogspot.com/2009/03/maskarovka.html

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The reason for the charade, distortion and propaganda, my difference of opinion concerning the Roseberry Creek issue and those influential individuals who have convinced the City Council to make a $42,500 appropriation to an influential private group of lakeside homeowners for the purpose of controlling aquatic weeds around their private property.
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The lengths you and others will go thru to distort reality of the situation is very remarkable.

(end of discussion threads since deleted)

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Update April 8, 2009:

The media censors and local politicians do their dirty deed once again. I have been banned once again for telling the truth on al.com, Scottsboro forum. Many postings removed discussing the Aquatic weed issue and the Bellefonte Nuclear Power Plant issue. More of the same deceit, more of the repressive actions of local political leadership coupled with local media serving as their messengers of deceit. All the while personal attacks continue.

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It seems truth is more than lying scheming manipulative politicians and their media pawns can tolerate. However, others are allowed to issue forth personal attacks against me on the Scottsboro forum. Very telling, very revealing, very typical of local deceiving politicians and their media pawns.

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The practice of the Maskarovka is alive and well in Scottsboro, Alabama. Another practice that is alive and well is bold face censorship practiced by some media outlets. Seems some media outlets will utilize censorship and deceit in support of their political choices and issues while eliminating disagreement and dissenting political speech.

Scottsboro City Council Work Session

1) Discussion concerning sale of old Rec Com by the New Police Station. Appraisal to cost between $1200-$1500. City Attorney stated property must be sold for fair market value once declared excess property by city. 2) Ms. Borders made presentation concerning hiring of City Engineer. Mr. Charles King was hired, Mr. King was the Assistant Engineer in Wetumpka, Al. 3) Judge Word made a presentation concerning personnel organization in the City Court, stated there was a need for an Assistant Magistrate. Discussed training for a Magistrate and reorganization. 4) Presentation by Garry Morgan concerning alternatives and opposition to the Roseberry Rescue Group and the City Financing the control of Aquatic Nuisance Species problem in Dry Creek and Roseberry Creek area. The TVA and the Alabama Department of Conservation are responsible for the stewardship of Guntersville Lake and Tennessee River. It was pointed out that the Department of Conservation has not been consulted in this matter. Pertinent law and policy was presented to the council on this matter. The negative effects of Fluridone application were presented. 5) Mr. Hodges made a presentation concerning a budget amendment for the Cemetery.