Yesterday Andrea Schruijer promised to get an agenda for tomorrow’s 2PM Thursday 23 February 2012 Industrial Authority board meeting (101 N. Ashley Street) online. It’s there, and it has content! What it does not have is any mention of anything about Project Excel, or CCA, or the private prison, even though Ms. Schruijer told me yesterday to expect the board to say something about that. You can still express your opinion to them before then. And since this agenda says **TENTATIVE** maybe that item will get added before tomorrow afternoon.

Also missing is any item for the Strategic Planning RFP, even though that RFP says the board will review any responses received by their February board meeting.

What this agenda does have is numerous specific items under the usual broad headers such as Existing Industry/Project Report. So instead of listening to Col. Ricketts and trying to figure out what he’s talking about, you can see such things as “e-Snychronist® Existing Industry Retention and Expansion business information system (BIS)” in writing. You still don’t see names of the “five (5) Prospects” or the “three (3) companies that are developing expansion plans”. Maybe I buy the competitive information argument for the prospects, but I’m not so sure about the three expanding companies, especially if they’re already local. And considering the things VLCIA has tried to sneak in under cover of not mentioning competitive information, such as biomass and a private prison, I’m not sure I buy that argument at all.

Also on the plus side, the agenda includes an actual schedule for bids on a project related to Miller Business Park:

We completed landscape/irrigation installation bid documents, released an Advertisement for Bids, conducted a pre-Bid Meeting and received sealed bids for completion of the project. We’ll present the bids to the VLCIA Board for final review/acceptance and award of the contract on Tuesday, 21 February 2012.

That’s more than the Lowndes County Commission usually does. (Nevermind the date is wrong; the board meeting is really tomorrow, Thursday, 23 February 2012.)

VLCIA staff are acting like they’re taking small businesses seriously:

We met with the Assistant City Manager (Human Resources) and discussed/identified opportunities to improve the Valdosta Small Emerging Business (VSEB) Program and strengthen our partnership in supporting community outreach initiatives to promote the program.

There’s something that Roy Copeland and John Robinson appear to agree on.

And, finally making public something that former Chairman Jerry Jennett asked for back at Brad Lofton’s final board meeting (15 March 2011), this agenda includes an actual list of numbers and acres of tracts of land in the various VLCIA business parks. He’s been following up on that ever since. Congratulations to Jerry Jennett and VLCIA staff for revealing to the public what that $15 million ( or $23.5 million) bond issue went to buy!

Well, most of it. The list in the agenda seems to add up to 494 acres. Where the rest of the 577 acres we’ve been seeing on the agenda for months and months? It’s only 83 acres more….

Oh, and who did you buy it from?

Here’s the agenda. It has the date wrong; the rescheduled date, time, and place are: 2PM Thursday 23 February 2012 at 101 North Ashley Street.

-jsq

**TENTATIVE**
AGENDA SUMMARY
VALDOSTA LOWNDES COUNTY INDUSTRIAL AUTHORITY
REGULAR MEETING
February 21, 2012

Executive Director’s Report-Andrea Schruijer
• Introduce Public Relations/Communications Manager
• VLCIA Board Retreat
• Public Relations/Communications
  • Redeveloping Community Profiles to include: updated Demographic Profile, Quick facts, Retail

    Market reports, Major Employers, Business Incentives

  • Updating property inventory and program upgrade for Prospector, site selector on website.
  • Developed Social Media user guidelines for the Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority Facebook page.
• Existing Industry/Project Report -Allan Ricketts
  • We continued work with three (3) companies that are developing expansion plans to meet emerging customer demand for products/services
  • We are currently in preliminary discussions with five (5) Prospects who are seeking a location in the Southeastern US to relocate or expand manufacturing/logistics/food production operations.
  • We completed work to load and bring online our new e-Snychronist® Existing Industry Retention and Expansion business information system (BIS) online. e-Snychronist® is a powerful economic development tool that will enable us to more effectively partner with existing industries and local, regional and state economic development partners to resolve issues negatively impacting business operations and assist in identifying opportunities in emerging markets for new products/services.
  • We met with the Assistant City Manager (Human Resources) and discussed/identified opportunities to improve the Valdosta Small Emerging Business (VSEB) Program and strengthen our partnership in supporting community outreach initiatives to promote the program.
• Miller Business Park
  • We approved/initiated supplemental work requests to the prime contractor for completion of security fencing at both park entrances and demolition/site clean-up of three (3) small structures on the southern portions of the park fronting US Highway 41 South.
  • We reviewed/approved final installation plans for Phase I entrance/roadway lighting submitted by Georgia Power.
  • We completed landscape/irrigation installation bid documents, released an Advertisement for Bids, conducted a pre-Bid Meeting and received sealed bids for completion of the project. We’ll present the bids to the VLCIA Board for final review/acceptance and award of the contract on Tuesday, 21 February 2012.
• Westside Business Park
  • We received bids, presented the bids to the VLCIA Board for final review/approval and award of a contract for Phase 1 Infrastructure work (water, sanitary sewer, storm sewer, roadway, erosion, sedimentation and pollution control) required to support the Durocky Road, LLC — DuPont Project currently under construction. This work will also prepare three (3) adjacent tracks of land as “site ready” for future project(s).
  • We reviewed/approved final installation plans for entrance/roadway lighting submitted by Georgia Power.
  • We began work to development landscape/irrigation installation bid documents and plan to release the Advertisement for Bids in mid-April 2012.
• Industrial Park Acreage Updates
  • Miller Business Park (currently under development)
    1 -10 acre tract
    1 -15 acre tract
    2 -20 acre tracts
    2 -25 acre tracts
    2 -35 acre tracts
  • Westside Business Park (currently under development)
    1 -100 acre tract
    1 -48 acre tract
  • Buster Bassford Business Park
    1 -6 acre tract
    1 -7 acre tract
    1 -20 acre tract
    
    1 -25 acre tract
    1 -26 acre tract
    1 -40 acre tract
  • Azalea West 17 acres
  • Lake Park 10 acres
  • Hahira 10 acres

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