Newspaper Page Text
Page 2B
^Reporter
January 5, 2022
Macon man
unhurt in
1-475 wreck
A 55-year-old Macon man escaped injuries on New Years
Day around 5:26 p.m. after driving his 1994 Dodge Stealth
off the road and striking a tree while traveling south on 1-475
near mile marker 11, just inside Monroe County near the Bibb
line. According to the accident report, Edward Burke Veader
told deputy Larry Sullivan he swerved his car to avoid collision
with another vehicle moving into his lane from the left. He said
he then lost control and left the road.
City planning board approves Bitcoin mine
By Diane Glidewell
news@mymcr.net
Forsyth may soon be
home to a Bitcoin-type
processing farm that will
be profitable to the city, but
neighbors of other such
farms say they come with a
headache of constant noise.
Four of the five members
of the Forsyth Planning &
Zoning Commission heard
presentations from two en
tities requesting changes at
a called meeting on Thurs
day, Dec. 30. Planning &
Zoning recommended a
change in zoning for 1.83
acres on Berner Avenue
from Residential Multi-
Family to Manufacturing/
Industrial and recom
mended annexation with
Residential-1 zoning for 35
acres planned as the Manor
at Montpelier subdivision.
The applicants will take
their requests to Forsyth
city council on Feb. 7 with
the recommendations from
Planning & Zoning after
the changes are advertised
for input from citizens as
legally required.
Plans for the Berner
Avenue property are for
a cryptocurrency mining
farm, an operation related
to cryptocurrencies, such
at Bitcoin. The operation
would only employ three
people locally but would
generate substantial rev
enue for the city through
the sale of the electricity it
will require.
City manager Janice Hall
said the company is inter
ested in the site because
it is adjacent to the city’s
electric substation. The
property owner said the
city referred the company
as a prospect for buying the
property.
Forsyth partnered with
six other cities associated
with MEAG (Munici
pal Electric Authority of
Georgia) in mid 2019 to
provided electricity to
Blockstream, a cryptocur
rency mining farm in Adel
(Cook County), Ga. The
venture posed some risk
initially but has proved
very profitable for Forsyth
and its partner cities. The
Blockstream operation in
Adel uses about 270 mega
watts of power compared
to about 24-25 megawatts
for the whole city of Adel.
Neighbors of the Block-
stream project haven’t been
as happy with the com
pany as the cities provid
ing power, however. Some
are disturbed by the noise
generated 24/7 by the fans
that cool the massive com
puter operation, describing
it as like living next to an
airport runway.
Nathaniel Persky of
Brooklyn, N.Y. gave a
presentation for the Plan
ning & Zoning Commis
sion on cryptocurrency
mining and answered
questions about his plans
for the Berner Avenue
property. The plan is to put
eight modified shipping
containers (gross square
footage of2,560) to house
specialized computers and
servers. He plans to put the
operation at the back of the
property and leave as much
of the pine tree woods on
the front of the property
as possible for a buffer. A
long driveway from East
Main Street will access the
operation.
Planning & Zoning
chair Steve Coleman said
Persky was knowledgeable
about the operation and
eager to explain it, but he
urged him to focus on the
information the Planning
& Zoning Commission
needed to decide whether
to recommend re-zoning
the property. Coleman said
although there are some
houses near the site, much
of the surrounding prop
erty is industrial/manufac-
turing. He said as well as
the electrical substation,
it touches the old Vaughn
mill. Persky said he may
offer to buy another vacant
lot nearby.
Planning & Zoning
vice chair Martin Presley
agreed with Coleman that
in spite of Persky’s detailed
explanation, cryptocur
rency mining isn’t easy
to understand. He said if
Persky hadn’t come to the
meeting, he would have
asked to table the zoning
change until he could do
more research on it. He
said he plans to learn as
much as he can because he
knows he will get questions
from other citizens.
Presley said that when
asked about noise, Persky
said that the computer pro
cessing operation makes a
humming-type sound but
that it shouldn’t be very
loud (maybe 80 decibels)
and would be muted by the
buffer of trees.
Coleman said Persky
said there would be noise
from the fans, but the noise
wouldn’t be loud at any of
the residences. The nearest
house is across the street.
Coleman said the pines on
the property are thick.
A check online about
Bitcoin processing and
noise finds an interview on
Dec. 7,2021 with Roland
Tiveron, who lives near
Blockstream in Adel. The
interview was conducted
by reporter Hayward Fowl
er to gain information as a
cryptocurrency processing
operation is proposed near
Tifton.
Tiveron said in spite of
efforts to soundproof his
house and wear ear plugs
whenever outside, the
constant noise has affected
his quality of life and his
hearing. He said it is very
difficult to have a conversa
tion in his yard because of
the noise, and the sound
even generates ripples
across his pond as it gets
louder during off-peak
ROZIER
Continued from page 1 B
lery, and rockets. Using ad
vanced software, it quickly
triangulates the originating
point of any incoming indi
rect fire so that U.S. forces
can return fire and destroy
the enemy. After her time
in Oklahoma, Alissa had
one final hurdle - para
trooper training at Fort
Benning, Ga.
Rozier reported to
Airborne School in late
November for the 3-week
training. The first week
of jump school is called
Ground Week, and just
what it implies, you spend
a lot of time on the ground
- as in practicing parachute
landing falls (PLF). Stu
dents jump from platforms
of various heights into
sawdust pits, each time
trying to execute a good
PLF - which are practiced
again and again and again.
The second week is Tower
Week with training moved
to a 34-foot tower in which
students jump from a mock
aircraft and swing down
a zip-line device - that
simulates jumping from
an actual aircraft. When
not jumping from the 34-
foot tower, the “black hat”
instructors have students
practicing more PLFs.
Training culminates in
week three - Jump Week
where the students make
five parachute jumps from
an Air Force aircraft, usu
ally a C-130. The final jump
is a full combat equipment
(100 lbs+), night time
jump.
Rozier said the hardest
part of Airborne School
was the 5-mile runs; make
the runs or you’re out.
Asked about her parachute
jumps, she said, “It was fun.
I wasn’t really scared. My
adrenaline was pumping
like crazy. When I was in
the air, I was really focused
on making sure all my
equipment was in good
condition. My combat
jumps, the landing was
pretty hard.” Having com
pleted jump school, Rozier
is assigned to the famous
82nd Airborne Division at
Fort Bragg, NC.
The U.S. military is able
to project force around the
world. The Air Force has
strategic bombers, the Navy
has aircraft carriers, and
the Army has Ranger units
and the 82nd Airborne.
Our adversaries know our
capabilities and because of
that, we are seldom tested.
If we are, units like the
82nd can deploy thousands
of paratroopers to all parts
of the world, within hours,
to defend our nation’s
interests. Those of us here
in central Georgia can sleep
better knowing that brave
soldiers like Pvt Rozier are
ready, able, and willing to
put their life on the line to
insure our freedoms. Wel
come to the brotherhood
of arms. Keep your feet and
knees together.
Sloan Oliver is a retired
U.S. Army officer. He writes
monthly articles about the
Bolingbroke community for
the Reporter. Email him at
sloanoliver@earthlink. net.
electricity hours. He said
the operations should be
built far away from any
residences.
Besides numerous articles
about the noise of the
Blockstream operation in
Adel, including one by the
Wall Street Journal on Nov.
12,2021, there are articles
about noise complaints
from neighbors of crypto
currency processing cen
ters in Tennessee, North
Carolina and other states.
One describes the sound as
like a giant dentist drill.
Mayor Eric Wilson said
the cryptocurrency com
pany, which isn’t associated
with Blockstream, worked
with consultants to evalu
ate several cities before
deciding it would like to
locate in Forsyth. It then
sought property as close
to an electric substation
as possible and made an
offer to the owner. Wilson
said the city will learn as
much as possible about the
project, including possible
noise problems, before ap
proving it.
“We’re working through
the process and doing our
due diligence,” said Wilson.
He noted that the
planned cryptocurrency
processing farm for For
syth is much smaller than
Blockstream in Adele.
He said the city may set
decibel noise limits and the
company should find ways
to mitigate noise.
In other business, the
Planning & Zoning Com
mission recommended
approval of annexing the
35 acres where the Manor
at Montpelier subdivision
is planned, but voted 3-1
to recommend R-1 zon
ing rather than R-3 zoning
requested for the annexed
land. Coleman explained
the difference is that R-l
requires larger lots for
houses; R-l requires 1-acre
lots, while R-3 requires
one-third acre lots, the
smallest allowed in the city.
Planning & Zoning
members Hal Clarke,
Phillip English and Presley
voted for the R-3 zoning
while Coleman cast the
dissenting vote. Member
Kathy Rowland wasn’t
present. Coleman said that
other subdivisions in the
area, including one built in
the 1970’s and the earlier
phases of the Manor at
Montpelier, have smaller
lots. He thinks it may not
be feasible to build a sub
division on the property
if 1-acre lots are required
because of the wetlands as
sociated with two creeks on
it. He said other members
expressed concern about
traffic and congestion
from more houses on the
property.
Three Oaks Development
of Macon planned 10.4
acres of open space and
56 lots (1.6 lots per acre)
on the 35 acres. Steven
Rowland of Rowland Engi
neering presented the plans
to the Planning & Zoning
Commission.
Northwestern Mutual
== Wealth Management Company
Mark Holloway, Financial Advisor
478.365.0382
mark.holloway@nm.com
www. ma rkhol loway. nm .com
The Pregnancy Center 1
0 f %*ro' Co^U
OPEN HOUSE &
SILENT AUCTION
You are invited
lIF
to come see our
C £
new facility!
• Take a tour
c*,
• Hear about our
vision for the future
• Participate in a
silent auction
m 1
i /
1 i r KP'" :: ]
• Partner with us in
our mission
*Baby born to one of our
clients in November 2021.
January 22, 2022
Drop In from 10am-2pm
562 N. Lee St. Forsyth, GA 51029
©@ @pregnancy.center.monroeco