PUBLISHED by the MOBILE PRESS REGISTER
Beach town partnering with USA scientists to make biodiesel
Sunday, July 27, 2008
By RYAN DEZEMBER Staff Reporter
ORANGE BEACH — Though most have relegated dollar-a-gallon gas to nostalgia, some in this south Baldwin County resort city are batting around the phrase in the future tense.
City officials have teamed up with University of South Alabama researchers on a project to convert used cooking oils into biodiesel in hopes of reducing clogs in Orange Beach's sewer system, lessening the carbon emissions of municipal vehicles and saving taxpayers thousands of dollars a year in fuel costs.
Though Orange Beach and its partners at South Alabama's Chemical Engineering Department are still waiting to see if the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs funds its $128,000 grant request, the $15,000 reactor needed to make biodie sel is not out of the reach for the city considering the potential savings, municipal officials said.
The biggest factor in the program's success will be residents', and restaurants', willingness to provide the used cooking oil. To that end, City Hall plans to provide one-gallon containers to residents so they can collect and deliver their old oil to the Public Works Department starting next month.
If the state grant is awarded, Orange Beach must begin making biodiesel by October, so city officials are trying to ensure they have a batch to cook when the equipment is assembled and ready to go, said Coastal Resources Manager Phillip West.
Though the city is working to establish cooking-oil collection points throughout the city, grease will initially have to be taken to the Public Works office on William Silvers Parkway. West said Orange Beach is ready with a 750-gallon reservoir for the grease, and, according to the city's grant application, the machinery it plans to use can churn out biodiesel in 50-gallon batches.
Orange Beach is largely basing its efforts on a biodiesel program that has been run successfully for the past few years by Daphne Utilities, West said. The utility has told the Baldwin Register that by collecting about 100 gallons of grease a week they're able to reduce sewer spills by 40 percent and save about $10,000 a year on diesel.
Officials at the county-managed Magnolia Landfill have also started experimenting with biodiesel production in hopes of cutting into the fuel costs at the facility, which uses about 7,500 gallons of diesel every 10 days.
With 92 diesel engines — be they in trucks, tractors, generators or heavy equipment — Orange Beach burns upward of 50,000 gallons of diesel a year, said Coastal Resources Planner Nicole Woerner. Last year's diesel bill, she said, came to $116,257.30 for 49,311 gallons, a price of about $2.36 a gallon.
Prices have soared since last year, though, making $1-per-gallon biodiesel — which is about what Daphne Utilities pays to make fuel — all the more alluring. At the moment the city is paying about $4.15 per gallon, Public Works Director Tim Tucker said.
If, for example, Orange Beach can brew 5,000 gallons of biodiesel at $1 a gallon, it would represent a savings of $15,750, assuming the cost of diesel holds at $4.15 a gallon.
Besides the savings, the plan fits into Orange Beach's goal to clean up the local environment, an initiative that has seen Orange Beach start programs to pick up recyclables curbside, purchase equipment to rake litter from the beach, collect used motor oil for recycling and sell the tens of thousands of pounds of abandoned beach chairs and tents to a Pensacola scrap dealer.
"Hopefully we'll remove a lot of cooking oil from our sewer system," West said. "And the emissions from biodiesel are much cleaner."
Of biodiesel's three ingredients, the city would have to buy methanol and either sodium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide, said Srinivas Palanki, the chair of South Alabama's Chemical Engineering Department who is advising Orange Beach on the project.
The lone byproduct of biodiesel manufacturing is glycerin, which can easily be turned into decorative soaps used to promote the effort, or fed to the bacteria at the city's wastewater treatment plant, Palanki and Woerner said.
Much of the grant proceeds, should the city win them, will be used to pay the university to supply faculty and graduate students to help set up, tweak and study Orange Beach's efforts. Eventually, Palanki said, the process could be replicated in other area cities and school systems.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Friday, November 16, 2007
Sewer Land Swap will proceed in Orange Beach
Orange Beach also restarts negotiations to lease Josephine area lines
Friday, November 16, 2007
By RYAN DEZEMBER Staff Reporter
ORANGE BEACH -- After a nearly 18-month delay, the city and Alabama conservation officials have set a date later this month to finalize a land swap that will allow construction of a new $20 million municipal sewer treatment plant, Mayor Pete Blalock said Tuesday.
The two sides plan to close the transaction Nov. 27, which will give Orange Beach 40 acres south of the city's current treatment facility on Canal Road while the state will get 46 acres of maritime forest to be added to the Gulf State Park.
The trade had been delayed first because of problems with appraisals used in the deal, and later because of a disagreement between the state and the federal government over whether the state land could leave Alabama's hands.
But Blalock said those issues have been resolved and the city, as soon as the swap is finalized, plans to begin building a plant that can treat 10 million gallons per day with the ability to be expanded to handle 15 million gallons daily. The current plant can treat 5.5 million gallons a day.
Last month, with the future of the new plant still up in the air, the City Council voted to stop promising wastewater treatment service to large developments for 180 days. The fear was that with the delays in building the new plant, the current facility might be overloaded by new condos and shopping centers.
Councilman Jeff Silvers said the city has contractors already lined up to clear the site, and that construction will likely take 18 months.
Also Tuesday, the city officials said that after putting the brakes on negotiations to lease its Josephine-area sewer lines to a private company, it would resume working out a short-term deal with Alabama Utility Services LLC.
Orange Beach now bills 817 customers in the area north of the Intracoastal Waterway that the company seeks to take over. Each of those customers is charged, like city residents, $20 per month.
The Pell City sewer company, which is building a treatment plant in the Lillian area, seeks to lease those lines from the city for the first few years it's open. That would not only give the company some business to start with, but it would provide the city's sewer system some relief until the new plant is finished, city officials have said.
The city would then be able to reclaim the lines when its plant is completed.
City Administrator Jeff Moon said that after the company's initial proposal last month, three council members expressed hesitancy to lease the lines because the company said that it would likely need to raise rates for existing customers.
Council members said a recent 68 percent rate hike by Baldwin County Sewer Service, a separate private provider, caused them some pause in dealing with a private company.
But Alabama Utility Services has now offered to keep rates level for existing customers while charging a separate city regulated rate to customers it hooks up to the lines, its lawyer David Whetstone said Tuesday.
"We can assure you that it would be in the $30 to $40 range, which I think is a very competitive rate," Whetstone said.
Whetstone, who is Gulf Shores' city attorney and a former Baldwin County district attorney, said the company will adhere to city building standards when adding on to the lines and would allow the council to regulate its rates for all customers.
"It will bring a new competitor to the area and I think a competitor is good for everyone," Whetstone said. "I think competition leads to lower prices."
Council members, without taking an official vote, gave City Attorney Wanda Cochran permission to restart negotiations with the sewer company.
Friday, November 16, 2007
By RYAN DEZEMBER Staff Reporter
ORANGE BEACH -- After a nearly 18-month delay, the city and Alabama conservation officials have set a date later this month to finalize a land swap that will allow construction of a new $20 million municipal sewer treatment plant, Mayor Pete Blalock said Tuesday.
The two sides plan to close the transaction Nov. 27, which will give Orange Beach 40 acres south of the city's current treatment facility on Canal Road while the state will get 46 acres of maritime forest to be added to the Gulf State Park.
The trade had been delayed first because of problems with appraisals used in the deal, and later because of a disagreement between the state and the federal government over whether the state land could leave Alabama's hands.
But Blalock said those issues have been resolved and the city, as soon as the swap is finalized, plans to begin building a plant that can treat 10 million gallons per day with the ability to be expanded to handle 15 million gallons daily. The current plant can treat 5.5 million gallons a day.
Last month, with the future of the new plant still up in the air, the City Council voted to stop promising wastewater treatment service to large developments for 180 days. The fear was that with the delays in building the new plant, the current facility might be overloaded by new condos and shopping centers.
Councilman Jeff Silvers said the city has contractors already lined up to clear the site, and that construction will likely take 18 months.
Also Tuesday, the city officials said that after putting the brakes on negotiations to lease its Josephine-area sewer lines to a private company, it would resume working out a short-term deal with Alabama Utility Services LLC.
Orange Beach now bills 817 customers in the area north of the Intracoastal Waterway that the company seeks to take over. Each of those customers is charged, like city residents, $20 per month.
The Pell City sewer company, which is building a treatment plant in the Lillian area, seeks to lease those lines from the city for the first few years it's open. That would not only give the company some business to start with, but it would provide the city's sewer system some relief until the new plant is finished, city officials have said.
The city would then be able to reclaim the lines when its plant is completed.
City Administrator Jeff Moon said that after the company's initial proposal last month, three council members expressed hesitancy to lease the lines because the company said that it would likely need to raise rates for existing customers.
Council members said a recent 68 percent rate hike by Baldwin County Sewer Service, a separate private provider, caused them some pause in dealing with a private company.
But Alabama Utility Services has now offered to keep rates level for existing customers while charging a separate city regulated rate to customers it hooks up to the lines, its lawyer David Whetstone said Tuesday.
"We can assure you that it would be in the $30 to $40 range, which I think is a very competitive rate," Whetstone said.
Whetstone, who is Gulf Shores' city attorney and a former Baldwin County district attorney, said the company will adhere to city building standards when adding on to the lines and would allow the council to regulate its rates for all customers.
"It will bring a new competitor to the area and I think a competitor is good for everyone," Whetstone said. "I think competition leads to lower prices."
Council members, without taking an official vote, gave City Attorney Wanda Cochran permission to restart negotiations with the sewer company.
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Smart growth' improves quality of life
Originally Published by the Mobile Press Register
Wednesday, November 07, 2007
According to the U.S. Census, more than half of the population of the U.S. lives in a coastal county, and this number is expected to continue to grow.
As residents of a coastal area, we are aware of the sensitive ecosystems that exist in coastal areas, and the natural hazards that face them. As coastal areas continue to grow, they can protect natural resources by implementing land use policies known as "smart growth."
The term "smart growth" can be defined in many ways. For the most part, however, smart growth can be described as being sustainable growth: the planned development of a community that discourages sprawl and encourages open space and the preservation of natural areas -- basically, a balance of development and growth with conservation and natural resources, all leading to an improved quality of life for residents and a healthy community.
According to the Smart Growth Network, there are several major principles that a community may practice to achieve smart growth. These are:
Create walkable communities.
Create a range of housing opportunities and choices.
Encourage community collaboration in the planning process.
Foster distinct, attractive places with a strong sense of place.
Make development decisions predictable, fair and cost effective.
Mix land uses.
Preserve open space, farmland, natural beauty and critical environmental areas.
Provide a variety of transportation choices.
Strengthen and direct development toward existing communities.
Take advantage of compact building design.
Many communities in Mobile and Baldwin counties are currently implementing principles of smart growth and are working to incorporate more of these principles.
For more information on smart growth, visit the Smart Growth Network online at http://www.smartgrowth.org/.
(Jody A. Thompson is an environmental extension associate at Auburn University Marine Extension and Research Center. Sea Grant writers may be contacted at 438-5690. )
Wednesday, November 07, 2007
According to the U.S. Census, more than half of the population of the U.S. lives in a coastal county, and this number is expected to continue to grow.
As residents of a coastal area, we are aware of the sensitive ecosystems that exist in coastal areas, and the natural hazards that face them. As coastal areas continue to grow, they can protect natural resources by implementing land use policies known as "smart growth."
The term "smart growth" can be defined in many ways. For the most part, however, smart growth can be described as being sustainable growth: the planned development of a community that discourages sprawl and encourages open space and the preservation of natural areas -- basically, a balance of development and growth with conservation and natural resources, all leading to an improved quality of life for residents and a healthy community.
According to the Smart Growth Network, there are several major principles that a community may practice to achieve smart growth. These are:
Create walkable communities.
Create a range of housing opportunities and choices.
Encourage community collaboration in the planning process.
Foster distinct, attractive places with a strong sense of place.
Make development decisions predictable, fair and cost effective.
Mix land uses.
Preserve open space, farmland, natural beauty and critical environmental areas.
Provide a variety of transportation choices.
Strengthen and direct development toward existing communities.
Take advantage of compact building design.
Many communities in Mobile and Baldwin counties are currently implementing principles of smart growth and are working to incorporate more of these principles.
For more information on smart growth, visit the Smart Growth Network online at http://www.smartgrowth.org/.
(Jody A. Thompson is an environmental extension associate at Auburn University Marine Extension and Research Center. Sea Grant writers may be contacted at 438-5690. )
State: Keep Perdido Key building cap
Originally Published by the Pensacola News Journal
November, 7, 2007
DCA disagrees with county plan
By Jamie Page
For the second time in two years, the Florida Department of Community Affairs is objecting to Escambia County's proposal to remove the building cap on Perdido Key.
A maximum of 7,150 dwelling units (houses or condominiums) and 1,000 lodging units (hotels or motels) are allowed on the Key.
But the county has proposed an amendment to the comprehensive land-use plan to allow development to the fullest extent allowable under the proposed zoning ? about 12,000 dwelling units and 2,500 lodging units.
In its recent review of the county's proposed amendment, the DCA recommended the change not be adopted for some of the same reasons the agency cited in 2006.
Mike McDaniel, chief of the DCA's Office of Comprehensive Planning, wrote in a recent letter to county commissioners that the DCA was concerned with the potential impact on coastal evacuation, facilities and services, and natural resources.
"The DCA must review the amendment before it can move forward to public hearings. Escambia County submitted a similar amendment to the DCA in 2005 to remove the cap, and in 2006 it was rejected. So the county rescinded the amendment and hired a firm to help address the DCA's objections and submitted a new one in August.
Commissioner Gene Valentino, who represents the Key, said he's surprised by the objections.He said the county is likely to submit a third revised amendment, and he's confident the DCA's objections can be addressed.
The Perdido Key Association has opposed removing the cap, fearing it would promote irresponsible growth."I wasn't surprised at all with their objections, not in the least," said Ann Griffin, president of the Perdido Key Association. "It's not environmentally responsible, it's not fiscally responsible, it's just not a good idea. They are basically telling them the same thing they did the last go around but telling them even stronger.
"There are about 3,400 residential units on Perdido Key and no lodging units. The remaining 3,750 units that can be built under the current cap have been reserved by developers. About 66 percent of land on the Key is in public ownership, and protected from development by government.
Commission Chairman Kevin White, who is "not surprised by anything DCA does," said commissioners could consider adopting the change anyway, without the DCA's support.
"But I have to find out what the down sides are," White said. "I do not like arbitrary caps. By removing the caps you are going to what zoning allows.
"Commissioners have said they thought the amendment would encourage more commercial growth to support the anticipated increase in residential property.
More than 700 families on the Key represented by the Perdido Key Association have said they don't want the cap removed.
"This further illustrates the huge disconnect between our county commissioners and the residents of Perdido Key who fought this plan change," said Kelly Robertson, vice president of the association. "First, there was the proposed change of 2006, next the challenge to the (tax-increment financing) funding for Perdido Key Drive, now this.
"On Sept. 6, the Florida Supreme Court said tax-increment financing deals that depend on revenue from property taxes must be approved by voters. The decision invalidated a bond for widening Perdido Key Drive.
White said part of the DCA's concern about adequate sewer systems, roads and other infrastructure not being able to support removal of the cap was going to be addressed with the widening of Perdido Key Drive to four lanes. That is, until the court shot it down.
Said White: "The Perdido Key Association is always going to be opposite of whatever Escambia County wants. I believe it's because of a no-growth mentality. They've got theirs and don't want anybody else to have any."Alison Davenport, a real estate broker on the Key, supports commissioners' move to lift the cap.
"Concurrency polices growth on its own; why does it need an additional cap?" said Davenport, founder of the nonprofit Promote Perdido. "It doesn't matter what a property is zoned for if you cannot prove the infrastructure is there to support it. The cap is an additional layer that's punitive to property owners."
November, 7, 2007
DCA disagrees with county plan
By Jamie Page
For the second time in two years, the Florida Department of Community Affairs is objecting to Escambia County's proposal to remove the building cap on Perdido Key.
A maximum of 7,150 dwelling units (houses or condominiums) and 1,000 lodging units (hotels or motels) are allowed on the Key.
But the county has proposed an amendment to the comprehensive land-use plan to allow development to the fullest extent allowable under the proposed zoning ? about 12,000 dwelling units and 2,500 lodging units.
In its recent review of the county's proposed amendment, the DCA recommended the change not be adopted for some of the same reasons the agency cited in 2006.
Mike McDaniel, chief of the DCA's Office of Comprehensive Planning, wrote in a recent letter to county commissioners that the DCA was concerned with the potential impact on coastal evacuation, facilities and services, and natural resources.
"The DCA must review the amendment before it can move forward to public hearings. Escambia County submitted a similar amendment to the DCA in 2005 to remove the cap, and in 2006 it was rejected. So the county rescinded the amendment and hired a firm to help address the DCA's objections and submitted a new one in August.
Commissioner Gene Valentino, who represents the Key, said he's surprised by the objections.He said the county is likely to submit a third revised amendment, and he's confident the DCA's objections can be addressed.
The Perdido Key Association has opposed removing the cap, fearing it would promote irresponsible growth."I wasn't surprised at all with their objections, not in the least," said Ann Griffin, president of the Perdido Key Association. "It's not environmentally responsible, it's not fiscally responsible, it's just not a good idea. They are basically telling them the same thing they did the last go around but telling them even stronger.
"There are about 3,400 residential units on Perdido Key and no lodging units. The remaining 3,750 units that can be built under the current cap have been reserved by developers. About 66 percent of land on the Key is in public ownership, and protected from development by government.
Commission Chairman Kevin White, who is "not surprised by anything DCA does," said commissioners could consider adopting the change anyway, without the DCA's support.
"But I have to find out what the down sides are," White said. "I do not like arbitrary caps. By removing the caps you are going to what zoning allows.
"Commissioners have said they thought the amendment would encourage more commercial growth to support the anticipated increase in residential property.
More than 700 families on the Key represented by the Perdido Key Association have said they don't want the cap removed.
"This further illustrates the huge disconnect between our county commissioners and the residents of Perdido Key who fought this plan change," said Kelly Robertson, vice president of the association. "First, there was the proposed change of 2006, next the challenge to the (tax-increment financing) funding for Perdido Key Drive, now this.
"On Sept. 6, the Florida Supreme Court said tax-increment financing deals that depend on revenue from property taxes must be approved by voters. The decision invalidated a bond for widening Perdido Key Drive.
White said part of the DCA's concern about adequate sewer systems, roads and other infrastructure not being able to support removal of the cap was going to be addressed with the widening of Perdido Key Drive to four lanes. That is, until the court shot it down.
Said White: "The Perdido Key Association is always going to be opposite of whatever Escambia County wants. I believe it's because of a no-growth mentality. They've got theirs and don't want anybody else to have any."Alison Davenport, a real estate broker on the Key, supports commissioners' move to lift the cap.
"Concurrency polices growth on its own; why does it need an additional cap?" said Davenport, founder of the nonprofit Promote Perdido. "It doesn't matter what a property is zoned for if you cannot prove the infrastructure is there to support it. The cap is an additional layer that's punitive to property owners."
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Orange Beach puts hold on sewer service pledges
Originally Published by the Mobile Press Register
Amid delays in new plant construction, Orange Beach negotiating lease of lines north of waterway
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
By RYAN DEZEMBERStaff Reporter
ORANGE BEACH -- With its plans for a new sewage-treatment plant in limbo, the City Council on Monday voted unanimously to put a hold on promises of wastewater service to developers.
In addition, the council began negotiations to lease municipal sewerage north of the Intracoastal Waterway to a private company that is building a treatment plant north of Lillian.
Besides saving Orange Beach money in servicing lines well outside the city's limits and relieving some pressure on the aging municipal system, it would give Alabama Utility Services LLC's burgeoning Blackwater Wastewater Treatment Facility an initial customer base to build from, city officials said.
"They need capacity and we need relief," City Administrator Jeff Moon said. "It really works out well in the short term."
Most of the details in the lease agreement have yet to be worked out, but both sides are considering a three-year deal in which Pell City-based Alabama Utility Services would take control of all of Orange Beach's lines north of the Intracoastal Waterway, excluding customers along the Foley Beach Express.
Though the private company would collect money from customers on those lines, be responsible for repairs and have the ability to add customers and extend the lines, the city would still own the sewerage and would have control over how much the company charges customers, city officials said.
Orange Beach bills 817 customers in the area that the company would take over. Like those living within the city, residential sewer customers there pay $20 a month.
Mayor Pete Blalock said that because of the cost of maintaining lines outside the city limits, Orange Beach will probably have to slightly raise rates for outlying customers even if the lease is not approved.
Alabama Utility Services owner Chris Matthews said that the rate he seeks will have a lot to do with how much the city charges in the lease agreement, but that, "Our rates are going to be in that $30 to $40 window."
City officials said they'd probably seek $5 per customer per month from the company. That would net Orange Beach about $49,000 annually.
Orange Beach obtained the lines, which extend in places into Elberta and Foley, when the city cobbled together its municipal sewer system by buying multiple private concerns.
Blalock said that the council will insist on strict controls over the rates Matthews can charge from the onset and may force him to get the council's approval for any hike in excess of annual changes to the consumer price index, a common gauge of inflation.
On Monday, Matthews and his lawyers, which include former Baldwin County District Attorney and current Gulf Shores City Attorney David Whetstone, met with Orange Beach officials for about 1½ hours to go over the arrangement before handing it off to their lawyers to iron out particulars of the deal. Besides the monetary and regulatory issues, both sides need to figure out what happens to customers and pipes that are added to the lines under Matthews' management.
Orange Beach has its own plans for a new facility capable of treating up to 10 million gallons of sewage each day, up from the 5.5 million gallons the city's Canal Road plant can handle each day.
Though the money for that $20 million project was obtained through a 2006 bond issue, construction has been delayed more than 18 months because the federal government has taken issue with a land swap between Orange Beach and the state that would provide the city with the 40 acres required for the new plant.
Blalock said that federal regulators in Atlanta are working with Alabama to clear up paperwork that will enable the property swap and said that a resolution could come this week, but city officials are considering alternative sites.
In the meantime, the city will not promise sewer service to any developers for up to 180 days.
Projects in the pipeline at City Hall won't be effected by the moratorium and neither will those wishing to build single-family homes, Moon said.
They need capacity and we need relief. It really works out well in the short term.-- City Administrator Jeff Moon
Amid delays in new plant construction, Orange Beach negotiating lease of lines north of waterway
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
By RYAN DEZEMBERStaff Reporter
ORANGE BEACH -- With its plans for a new sewage-treatment plant in limbo, the City Council on Monday voted unanimously to put a hold on promises of wastewater service to developers.
In addition, the council began negotiations to lease municipal sewerage north of the Intracoastal Waterway to a private company that is building a treatment plant north of Lillian.
Besides saving Orange Beach money in servicing lines well outside the city's limits and relieving some pressure on the aging municipal system, it would give Alabama Utility Services LLC's burgeoning Blackwater Wastewater Treatment Facility an initial customer base to build from, city officials said.
"They need capacity and we need relief," City Administrator Jeff Moon said. "It really works out well in the short term."
Most of the details in the lease agreement have yet to be worked out, but both sides are considering a three-year deal in which Pell City-based Alabama Utility Services would take control of all of Orange Beach's lines north of the Intracoastal Waterway, excluding customers along the Foley Beach Express.
Though the private company would collect money from customers on those lines, be responsible for repairs and have the ability to add customers and extend the lines, the city would still own the sewerage and would have control over how much the company charges customers, city officials said.
Orange Beach bills 817 customers in the area that the company would take over. Like those living within the city, residential sewer customers there pay $20 a month.
Mayor Pete Blalock said that because of the cost of maintaining lines outside the city limits, Orange Beach will probably have to slightly raise rates for outlying customers even if the lease is not approved.
Alabama Utility Services owner Chris Matthews said that the rate he seeks will have a lot to do with how much the city charges in the lease agreement, but that, "Our rates are going to be in that $30 to $40 window."
City officials said they'd probably seek $5 per customer per month from the company. That would net Orange Beach about $49,000 annually.
Orange Beach obtained the lines, which extend in places into Elberta and Foley, when the city cobbled together its municipal sewer system by buying multiple private concerns.
Blalock said that the council will insist on strict controls over the rates Matthews can charge from the onset and may force him to get the council's approval for any hike in excess of annual changes to the consumer price index, a common gauge of inflation.
On Monday, Matthews and his lawyers, which include former Baldwin County District Attorney and current Gulf Shores City Attorney David Whetstone, met with Orange Beach officials for about 1½ hours to go over the arrangement before handing it off to their lawyers to iron out particulars of the deal. Besides the monetary and regulatory issues, both sides need to figure out what happens to customers and pipes that are added to the lines under Matthews' management.
Orange Beach has its own plans for a new facility capable of treating up to 10 million gallons of sewage each day, up from the 5.5 million gallons the city's Canal Road plant can handle each day.
Though the money for that $20 million project was obtained through a 2006 bond issue, construction has been delayed more than 18 months because the federal government has taken issue with a land swap between Orange Beach and the state that would provide the city with the 40 acres required for the new plant.
Blalock said that federal regulators in Atlanta are working with Alabama to clear up paperwork that will enable the property swap and said that a resolution could come this week, but city officials are considering alternative sites.
In the meantime, the city will not promise sewer service to any developers for up to 180 days.
Projects in the pipeline at City Hall won't be effected by the moratorium and neither will those wishing to build single-family homes, Moon said.
They need capacity and we need relief. It really works out well in the short term.-- City Administrator Jeff Moon
Friday, October 5, 2007
Bird-banding event to be held at Fort Morgan
Originally published by the Mobile Press Register
Friday, October 05, 2007
Submitted by Kim Shumack
A fall bird-banding session will be held Saturday through Oct. 19 at the Fort Morgan Historic Site in Gulf Shores, organized by the Hummer/Bird Study Group.
The Alabama Gulf Coast hosts thousands of winged travelers each year since the area serves as the last stop in the continental United States for these migratory birds heading to their winter homes in Central and South America.
While the banding will began just before dawn and end around noon each day, the best hours are in early morning. Guests are reminded to bring a lawn chair and insect repellent but to leave pets at home. Although the public is welcome to this free event, they must pay the fort admission to gain access to banding station.
In October 2006, the Hummer/Bird Study Group recorded 2,930 birds representing 73 different species. Interestingly, this nonprofit group founded by Bob and Martha Sargent holds a high number of all the required hummingbird banding permits in the world. This group gathers valuable information about the health, behavior and habitat of these migratory birds in addition to giving visitors the chance to touch, hold and release the birds.
For more information about the banding session, visit www.hummingbirdsplus.org.
Bird Study Group founder Bob Sargent teaches children about one of the migratory birds captured in the group's nets. The group will lead a fall bird-banding session Saturday through Oct. 19 at the Fort Morgan Historic Site in Gulf Shores.
Friday, October 05, 2007
Submitted by Kim Shumack
A fall bird-banding session will be held Saturday through Oct. 19 at the Fort Morgan Historic Site in Gulf Shores, organized by the Hummer/Bird Study Group.
The Alabama Gulf Coast hosts thousands of winged travelers each year since the area serves as the last stop in the continental United States for these migratory birds heading to their winter homes in Central and South America.
While the banding will began just before dawn and end around noon each day, the best hours are in early morning. Guests are reminded to bring a lawn chair and insect repellent but to leave pets at home. Although the public is welcome to this free event, they must pay the fort admission to gain access to banding station.
In October 2006, the Hummer/Bird Study Group recorded 2,930 birds representing 73 different species. Interestingly, this nonprofit group founded by Bob and Martha Sargent holds a high number of all the required hummingbird banding permits in the world. This group gathers valuable information about the health, behavior and habitat of these migratory birds in addition to giving visitors the chance to touch, hold and release the birds.
For more information about the banding session, visit www.hummingbirdsplus.org.
Bird Study Group founder Bob Sargent teaches children about one of the migratory birds captured in the group's nets. The group will lead a fall bird-banding session Saturday through Oct. 19 at the Fort Morgan Historic Site in Gulf Shores.
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Spotted Australian Jellyfish return to Area Waters
Published by the Mobile Press Register
Spotted jelly invaders return
Thursday, August 16, 2007
By BEN RAINESStaff Reporter
The basketball-sized Australian spotted jellyfish that swarmed Mississippi Sound in 2000 have made "a vigorous reappearance" in area waters and have also been sighted along the Atlantic Coast as far north as the Carolinas.
Scientists do not believe the local population will be large enough to present any problems for shrimpers or commercial fishermen this year, as they did in 2000, when shrimping became impossible in places. But they said the East Coast sightings raise the possibility that the jellyfish could become established along both the Gulf and Atlantic coasts.
While the invasive spotted jellies (Phyllorhiza punctata) do not sting, other stinging species common in Alabama waters are especially thick this year due to the higher salinity levels resulting from drought conditions throughout the state, according to Dauphin Island Sea Lab scientist Monty Graham, one of a handful of jellyfish experts in the world.
Unless hurricanes or tropical storms visit the area, it is likely jellyfish numbers will remain uncomfortably high through October, Graham said.
When the spotted jellyfish was first seen in Mobile Bay in 2000, scientists believed that an aberration in the Gulf's loop current had moved tens of thousands of the animals from the Caribbean and deposited them along Alabama's coast.
Since then, genetic work performed at the Dauphin Island Sea Lab by Keith Bayha has shown that the animals along the Gulf coast were genetically different from those in the Caribbean, and scientists have discovered that the species is reproducing along the Louisiana coast, particularly near Port Fourchon. The animals in Alabama this year and those that showed up in 2000 appear to come from that Louisiana population.
Graham said the jellies that first turned up in July were about the size of a man's fist. They have been growing ever since, and ultimately may get up to about 25 pounds. He believes far fewer jellies were deposited here by the current this year compared to 2000, and said it was unlikely they would present a problem for shrimpers or be a threat to larval fish and shrimp populations.
In 2000, the animals were so numerous in Mississippi Sound that scientists worried they would cause lasting damage to area fish and shellfish populations. It is unclear if the jellies have started reproducing off Alabama's coast.
"If they are, it's a small population. I suspect they probably are here somewhere, but I think the core of the population is around Port Fouchon," Graham said, adding that the hundreds of rigs around the port, which is in the heart of the Gulf's oil field, provide the hard surfaces jellies require for spawning.
Beachgoers and boaters are encouraged to report their sightings of these exotic jellies to the Dauphin Island Sea Lab's jellyfish Web site, http://dockwatch.disl.org.
Spotted jelly invaders return
Thursday, August 16, 2007
By BEN RAINESStaff Reporter
The basketball-sized Australian spotted jellyfish that swarmed Mississippi Sound in 2000 have made "a vigorous reappearance" in area waters and have also been sighted along the Atlantic Coast as far north as the Carolinas.
Scientists do not believe the local population will be large enough to present any problems for shrimpers or commercial fishermen this year, as they did in 2000, when shrimping became impossible in places. But they said the East Coast sightings raise the possibility that the jellyfish could become established along both the Gulf and Atlantic coasts.
While the invasive spotted jellies (Phyllorhiza punctata) do not sting, other stinging species common in Alabama waters are especially thick this year due to the higher salinity levels resulting from drought conditions throughout the state, according to Dauphin Island Sea Lab scientist Monty Graham, one of a handful of jellyfish experts in the world.
Unless hurricanes or tropical storms visit the area, it is likely jellyfish numbers will remain uncomfortably high through October, Graham said.
When the spotted jellyfish was first seen in Mobile Bay in 2000, scientists believed that an aberration in the Gulf's loop current had moved tens of thousands of the animals from the Caribbean and deposited them along Alabama's coast.
Since then, genetic work performed at the Dauphin Island Sea Lab by Keith Bayha has shown that the animals along the Gulf coast were genetically different from those in the Caribbean, and scientists have discovered that the species is reproducing along the Louisiana coast, particularly near Port Fourchon. The animals in Alabama this year and those that showed up in 2000 appear to come from that Louisiana population.
Graham said the jellies that first turned up in July were about the size of a man's fist. They have been growing ever since, and ultimately may get up to about 25 pounds. He believes far fewer jellies were deposited here by the current this year compared to 2000, and said it was unlikely they would present a problem for shrimpers or be a threat to larval fish and shrimp populations.
In 2000, the animals were so numerous in Mississippi Sound that scientists worried they would cause lasting damage to area fish and shellfish populations. It is unclear if the jellies have started reproducing off Alabama's coast.
"If they are, it's a small population. I suspect they probably are here somewhere, but I think the core of the population is around Port Fouchon," Graham said, adding that the hundreds of rigs around the port, which is in the heart of the Gulf's oil field, provide the hard surfaces jellies require for spawning.
Beachgoers and boaters are encouraged to report their sightings of these exotic jellies to the Dauphin Island Sea Lab's jellyfish Web site, http://dockwatch.disl.org.
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