Scottsboro City Council Regular Session, Chamber of Commerce Presentation - "Gateway to the Future," (Updated May 25, 2017) - Bellefonte Nuclear Deception Warning, May 22, 2017

Scottsboro City Hall, photo by G. Morgan

AGENDA

VIDEO - Part 1

             VIDEO - Part 2 Chamber of Commerce Presentation

There is a concern in the Chamber of Commerce presentation regarding the alleged completion of TVA's Bellefonte Nuclear Facility, propaganda versus facts and leading the public to believe Bellefonte will be built, when the facts are presented, that remains speculation and is not a fact. Misleading the public and developers is a dangerous road whose history has demonstrated previous deceptions regarding Bellefonte have cost business developers millions upon millions of dollars. 

Mr. Franklin Haney has struck a deal with the TVA, via an auction bid of $111 million dollars for the $5 billion dollar facility. Haney provided, according to reports, approximately $22 million in earnest money for the facility, There has been no final purchase of the facility by Mr. Haney. Prior to a final purchase a 60-90 day notice must be given. Beginning in November of 2016, Haney has 2 years to complete the deal, the closing must occur before November 2018. 

Whether Bellefonte will be completed is not known, and at best is speculation at this point. Per TVA information, Bellefonte Unit 1 is 55% complete and Unit 2 is 35% complete. Haney says he can complete both Bellefonte Units for $13 billion. Environmental group research, including inflationary costs, indicate the cost will be closer to $15 billion  to complete the two unit B&W 205 design nuclear facility. The design is now owned by Areva, a majority owned (90%) French Government nuclear corporation which has cash problems. It is questionable whether Haney will be able to raise cash from investors for completion of the project, even if you include a $6 billion dollar Federal Nuclear tax incentive (see below article link).

Propaganda, and all is not as it seems, tax issues, disclosures.

At approximately 14:30 seconds in the below video Mr Roden brags about how the Chamber trip to Washington resulted in lobbying regarding a South Carolina's Congressman's bill which would reduce Mr. Haney's tax exemptions. 

There is more to this story and the history behind it, particularly with Mr. Haney, his relationship with our current President and real estate development, which now includes the Bellefonte Nuclear Project. Let's take a look at some of the reasons and legislative agendas of why the Chamber of Commerce would be interested in corporations not paying their fair share of taxes. 

The Chamber of Commerce supports business and corporate business interests, support of the individual citizen is limited to the interaction with business and citizens, which at times is good and times is questionable, in my opinion. 

Disclosures - Links and stories about the issues.

1) Tax rules which allow real estate moguls, such as Mr. Trump and Mr. Haney to pay no federal taxes. "Losses deducted from all income." - http://www.pbs.org/newshour/making-sense/column-tax-rules-let-real-estate-moguls-like-trump-pay-no-federal-income-tax/

2) "Stealthy and Wealthy" - Sunlight Foundation expose on Mr. Haney. "Franklin Haney built real estate empire with government help." Ownership of government buildings, leases to multiple level government entities, former Congressman hired as lobbyist, greasing the palms of politicians on both sides of the isle. - https://sunlightfoundation.com/2012/10/18/dem_super_pac_donor/

3) "Nuke Developer Greases Trump's hand...tax credits worth an estimated $6 billion...;"  Mr. Trump is not the only hands he "greased" with his cash contributions, many politicians, PACS, and lobbyists have been involved. "Nuclear Development paid the two firms a combined $60,000 through the end of last year to lobby Congress and the Treasury Department on tax incentives for nuclear energy production. One of those tax credits is worth an estimated $6 billion to the nuclear power industry."   https://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2017/04/21/nuke-developer-greases-trump-s-palm

Promises made and promises broken in ridiculous proposals by the TVA. 2 B&W 205 Model Nuclear Reactors, $15 billion to complete at this time, and 2 AP 1000 Nuclear Reactors, $24 billion to complete at this time. Expected costs to complete all projects, $39 billion over 25 years, TVA could not afford the cost, nor was there a need for power in the TVA region for one nuclear power reactor, much less 4 nuclear power reactors.

The bottom line: History is revealing in the case of the cannibalized Bellefonte nuclear facility. Don't promise the citizenry and potential developers something you can't deliver. It damages future development for our community.

Jackson County Commission May 22, 2017 - Revenue Commissioner Media Release, Real Estate Property Tax Values Adjustment, 10%-20% Increase

Jackson County Courthouse, south side - photo by G. Morgan

Jackson County Revenue Commissioner's Media Release

Jackson County Revenue Commissioner Jeff Arnold

Media Release

(Click on image for expanded view.)

AGENDA

Mr. Guffey was out. 

Memorial Day, May 29, 2017 will take place at Collins School at 10:45 AM.

Community Meeting at Section on June 12, 2017, 5:30 PM.

VIDEO

Jackson County Commission Work Session May15, 2017

Jackson County Courthouse, South Side - photo by G. Morgan

AGENDA

VIDEO

Scottsboro City Council Work Session, 2 Part Video, 15 May, 2017, Municipal Court - Alternative Sentencing Judge Grider Presentation

Scottsboro City Hall, photo by G. Morgan

Important issues Monday evening at City Hall discussed: Agenda item 3 - Energy conservation issue discussed regarding installation of LED lighting. If approved, the Police Department would probably be the first area. Including labor and installation the contract was for $15K plus. Agenda item 8 - alternative sentencing issue, Judge Ralph Grider, Scottsboro Municipal Judge made presentation to the City Council regarding the problems encountered with sentenced individuals paying fines for their transgressions. Judge Grider commented that the large majority of sentenced individuals do not have the money to pay for court fines, many are unemployed. Note Judge Grider's presentation in part 2 of the videos.  

Mayor Robin Shelton brought up in the reports section of the meeting that Ms. Judy Weaver, Director of the Heritage Center will be retiring on June 1, 2017.

AGENDA

VIDEOS

Part 1

                                            Part 2

TVA Board of Directors Meeting, 2nd Quarter, at MTSU Campus, Murfreesboro, Tennessee

TVA Chair V. Lynn Evans 

AGENDA

(Click on image for an expanded view.)

TVA Board of Directors page https://www.tva.gov/About-TVA/Our-Leadership/Board-of-Directors

TVA Presentations, Reports and Finances Page - http://www.snl.com/IRW/Presentations/4063363

VIDEOS

Selected Citizen Presentations, Listening Session

 CEO, CFO, Exec. VP of Operations and Power Generation Reports/Requests

Jackson County Commission Regular Session May 8, 2017

Jackson County Courthouse, South Entrance, photo by G. Morgan

AGENDA

VIDEO

Scottsboro City Council Meeting, Breast Cancer Awareness May 8, 2017

Scottsboro City Hall, photo by G. Morgan

AGENDA

My apologies, the first half of the below video is missing due to a technical error, operator malfunction, Please refer to the agenda, all items were approved.

(Click on image for an expanded view.)

City Council held an Executive Session for the purpose of discussion of a real estate transaction. 

Mr. Smith announced he will not be running for city council in the 2018 election.

Big Wigs - Think Pink - Breast Cancer Awareness

Susan G. Komen - North Central Alabama

Breast Cancer Awareness and Prevention

www.info-komen.org/bigwigs

                                              City Council Video

Scottsboro Board of Education, Regular Session, May 4th, 2017. Open Meetings Law Problem - Improperly Announced Work Session Prior to Meeting

Scottsboro Board of Education, Page Administration Building, photo by the Scottsboro Board of Education, Fair Use for non-profit news reporting and commentary.

Prior to the Regular meeting there was a work-session meeting regarding the Superintendent selection. This was related to Item VI-Superintendent Discussion on the Regular Agenda. Inquiries disclosed by persons at the meeting, including the Daily Sentinel and the Clarion, stated they received an email notice of this meeting on Monday May, 1, 2017 or there abouts. There was no posting of the Special Call Meeting on the doors of the Board of Education or at the Front desk area. There is no public notices bulletin board available to the public at the Board of Education Office. 

The superintendent replied that there was a notice at the boards front desk, I looked there was none visible. I have been on the School Board web-site checking on meeting dates and times 3 times during this week to insure there was no change in the schedule for the May 4th Board Meeting. There was no indication of a special call meeting at this site:  http://www.scottsboroschools.net/school_board/board_meetings/schedule/

The board secretary and President informed me it was posted on the main school board page. I went there, there was no indication of any notice when I searched the page at this link:  http://www.scottsboroschools.net/  If the notice was taken down the day of the meeting, I would suggest leaving the notice intact the entire day in which the meeting occurs.

A Special Call work Session Meeting is scheduled for May 9, 2017 at 2:30 PM at the Scottsboro Board of Education Board Room.This notice was made at the school board link above.

Per the laws of the State of Alabama, "Code of Alabama - Section 36-25A-3  (4) A local school board shall post notice of each meeting on a bulletin board at a place convenient to the public in the central administrative office of the board." There is no visible bulletin board at the school board office for such public postings. An alternative posting place would be the inside on the glass door entry ways of the west and south main entrances to the school board office. These suggestions were made to the Superintendent, Board President and Secretary to insure the requirements of the open meetings laws are met for the benefit of public notification.

Specific information regarding the Alabama Open Meetings Act and changes may be found at the Secretary of State site: https://www.openmeetings.alabama.gov/generalpublic/publicdefault.aspx

Mrs. Gentry was elected as the President of the School Board, Ms. Stewart as the President Pro-Tem.  

AGENDA

VIDEO Part 1

                                             VIDEO Part 2

NRC, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 2016 Performance Evaluation of TVA's Browns Ferry Nuclear Facility near Tanner, Alabama

Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant, 3 GE Mark 1 Nuclear Reactors near Tanner, Alabama

(photo by TVA, Fair Use for non-profit news and commentary)

NRC Open House Public Meeting for the 2016 Performance Evaluation at Calhoun College's Aerospace Center near Tanner, Alabama May 3, 2017 from 6PM to 7PM. 

NRC ANNOUNCEMENT ON TVA's BROWNS FERRY NUCLEAR FACILITY (in part)

Under the NRC’s Reactor Oversight Process, the agency assesses plant performance through the use of color-coded inspection findings and performance indicators, which are statistical measurements of plant performance that can trigger additional oversight if exceeded. Any inspection findings or performance indicators that are greater than green (very low safety significance) trigger increased NRC oversight. Routine inspections are performed by resident inspectors assigned to the plant. Reviews are also carried out at the sites by specialist inspectors assigned to the agency’s Region II office in Atlanta. The annual assessment letter for Browns Ferry, as well as the notice for the meeting, are available on the NRC website. Current performance information for Unit 1, Unit 2 and Unit 3 is also available.

Unit 1 Performance: https://www.nrc.gov/reactors/operating/oversight/bf1/bf1-chart.html

Unit 2 Performance: https://www.nrc.gov/reactors/operating/oversight/bf2/bf2-chart.html

Unit 3 Performance: https://www.nrc.gov/reactors/operating/oversight/bf3/bf3-chart.html

Assessment Letter: https://www.nrc.gov/reactors/operating/oversight/letters/bf_2016q4.pdf

VIDEO

Scottsboro City Council Work Session, May 1, 2017 - Agenda Item 4 - MUNICIPAL INTERCEPT SERVICES, a problem for joint tax return filers?

Scottsboro City Council photo by G. Morgan

Agenda Item 4 - MUNICIPAL INTERCEPT SERVICES

City of Scottsboro discusses hiring a collection service for individual owed debt, such as delinquent Court Fines. This is an extension of the same law where those who owe Child Support has their income taxes are withheld.

"In 2014 the Alabama State Legislature enacted an amendment allowing municipalities and counties to attempt to collect delinquent debts owed to them by collecting this debt from an individual's State tax refund. This is a process that has been in force for many years for several State agencies but until 2014, was not possible for municipalities or counties. As part of this amendment, the Alabama Department of Revenue agreed to process these debts through only two clearinghouse entities: the Alabama League of Municipalities (ALM) for municipal entities and the Association of County Commissions of Alabama (ACCA) for county entities. In 2015 the Alabama League of Municipalities formed Municipal Intercept Services, LLC (MIS) as its clearinghouse entity to act as a conduit between participating Alabama municipalities and the Alabama Department of Revenue (ADOR). See the Statute HERE. " 

PROBLEMS IN THE MAKING REGARDING, JOINT TAX RETURNS

In the case of a joint tax return, the party where no debt is owed is discriminated against, as such, the party where no debt is owed is also responsible for submitting an appeal. How will the government agency resolve this problem? 

Quote: "Code of Alabama 40-18-103(d) In the case of a joint return or a joint refund, the notice shall also state the name of the taxpayer named in the return, if any, against whom no debt is claimed, the fact that a debt is not claimed against such taxpayer, the fact that such taxpayer is entitled to receive a refund if it is due him or her regardless of the debt asserted against his or her spouse, and that in order to obtain a refund due, such taxpayer must apply, in writing, for a hearing with the claimant county or municipality named in the notice within 30 days of the date of the mailing of the notice. If a taxpayer fails to apply in writing for such a hearing within 30 days of the mailing of such notice, the taxpayer will have waived the opportunity to contest the setoff." 

There is no description of the appeals process nor the composition of a board, or if a board is necessary, regarding how an appeal will be heard once the appeal process is set in motion. 

Video Tutorials on the system - http://alintercept.org/video-tutorials

AGENDA

Click on image for an expanded view.

VIDEO

Jackson County Commission, Work Session May 1, 2017

Jackson County Courthouse south side,, photo by G. Morgan

Thursday, May 4 at 10 AM there will be a Ribbon cutting Ceremony at the Jackson County Park for the new cabins.

AGENDA

Click on image for an expanded view.

VIDEO