Category Archives: Georgia Power

Videos: Georgia Power, Rotary, Tires @ VLCIA 2014-08-19



They (maybe) finally settled on their new name:
Valdosta-Lowndes County Development Authority; see
Minutes.
Interesting discussion about
Express Scripts,
and some details about presenters at the next day’s

Community Economic Development meeting.
I talked about the Alapaha River Water Trail.

And they are talking about

spec[ulative] building,
such as they liked when they saw it in Douglas and Valdosta Mayor Gayle liked in
Vidalia.

Here’s

the agenda, with a few notes, and links to the videos.


300x225 VLCIA, in VLCIA, by John S. Quarterman, 19 August 2014

Valdosta-Lowndes Development Authority

Tuesday, August 19, 2014 5:30 p.m.

Development Authority Conference Room

103 Roosevelt Drive

Monthly Meeting Agenda

Continue reading →

Solar Parking v. accessory structure in Valdosta LDR @ ZBOA 2014-08-05



Both of
Dr. Urbonas’ solar parking lot
variance cases
were tabled by ZBOA for a month so he could figure out a revised way to do it,
probably involving connecting the supports to the building so
they wouldn’t be accessory structures.
Plus some sentiment that Valdosta City Council needed to address this
issue that solar parking shouldn’t be classed as accessory structures.
This was at the

5 August 2014 Regular Meeting of the Valdosta-Lowndes County Zoning Board of Appeals.



  1. APP-2014-07 — Arunas Urbonas


    (2922 N. Oak Street)

    Variance to LDR Section 218-7 as it
    pertains to the location and setback distance for accessory structures



    Video.

    Arunas Urbonas is a doctor     with an office at 3564 N Crossing Street.
    My guess (some sort of addition to his offices) was wrong.
    He wants to upgrade his solar panel structures,
    to shade parking lots.
    TRC recommended denial because of canopy oak trees that would get
    bigger, probably shading the panels, and were not permitted to be removed. ZBOA found many more issues pro and con than that. Continue reading →

Videos: ULDC Lake Alapaha, house, design; LDR solar parking lot @ ZBOA 2014-08-05



ZBOA postponed

Lowndes County’s Lake Alapaha water treatment plant variance
so the county could think about it some more,
presumably related to that
no-bid contract for equipment upgrade..
Two other county
Lowndes County
variances (
minimum side yard setbacks (approved),

lot access (denied).
Both of

Dr. Urbonas’ solar parking lot
Valdosta cases
were tabled for a month so he could figure out a revised way to do it,
probably involving connecting the supports to the building so
they wouldn’t be accessory structures.
Plus some sentiment that Valdosta City Council needed to address this
issue that solar parking shouldn’t be classed as accessory structures.

The county cases are variances from the
Unified Land Development Code (ULDC)
and the city cases are variances from Valdosta’s
Land Development Regulations (LDR),
and both the ULDC and LDR are supposed to be consistent with the

Comprehensive Plan.



Here’s

the agenda with links into the videos and some notes.
All ZBOA members were present: Paul Alvarado, Laverne Gaskins, Nancy Hobby, Dr. Willie Houseal,
Mac McCall, Scott Orenstein, Gretchen Quarterman, and Chairman Allan Strickland.
The City of Valdosta puts ZBOA agendas and minutes

online in real PDFs.

Valdosta -Lowndes County Zoning Board of Appeals

Continue reading →

Power, Rotary, Tires @ VLCIA 2014-08-19



I’ll give them an A for effort, including branching out:
from tires to agribusiness this month, and Valdosta North Rotary today, too.
That Community Ecomomic Developmeent Meeting is still on for tomorrow,
at
the Conference Center.

And they are talking about

spec[ulative] building,
such as they liked when they saw it in Douglas and Valdosta Mayor Gayle liked in
Vidalia.

Here’s

the agenda. Continue reading →

10 MW solar power at Robins Air Force Base



Somebody got a jump on Georgia Power for Air Force base solar installation.

Wayne Crenshaw wrote for The Telegraph 23 July 2014,

Air Force signs deal for solar array at Robins,

The Air Force has inked a deal with a company that plans to build a
50-acre solar array at Robins Air Force Base.

New Generation Power has signed Continue reading →

Fourth solar military project by Georgia Power: Kings Bay Submarine Base


Like the three Army bases before it, solar power from the Navy Base at Kings Bay
will go into Georgia Power’s grid.
How about Air Force bases next, such as Moody AFB?
And how about start building 30 MW solar farms throughout the state?

Curiously, there’s no press release by either Georgia Power or the Navy
about this project.

Dave Williams wrote for the Atlanta Business Journal 14 August 2014,

Georgia Power to build solar project at naval base,

The U.S. Navy is working with Georgia Power Co. to build a solar
energy project at Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base near St. Marys, a
Georgia Power executive announced Thursday.

Continue reading →

Videos: New name, new member @ VLCIA 2014-07-15



They’re aiming at

20 August 2014 for a meeting with local educational
and business leaders.
After mulling it over for more than two years,
VLCIA waited until somebody in Atlanta told them to, and finally

added a trading name of Valdosta-Lowndes Development Authority (VLDA),
which two board members immediately said wrong.
Still, much actual thought, discussion, investigation and potential
courses of action was presented, especially in the
Executive Director’s Report
and in the answers to

Alvin Payton’s questions.

Only three board members attended
VLCIA’s first meeting in its new office near the hospital:
Roy Copeland, Vice-Chairman Jerry Jennett (presiding), and new member
Georgia Power VP Terri Lupo, who

was just appointed to VLCIA by the Lowndes County Commission.
They did not have the
expected officer nominating committee report, because
Chairman Mary Gooding and Tom Call were not there;
they barely had a quorum with 3 out of 5 board members.
Also attending were Lowndes County Chairman

Bill Slaughter,
Valdosta Mayor

John Gayle, and Valdosta City Council

Alvin Payton.
All three spoke in Citizens To Be Heard, as did I, delivering

the traditional welcome gift.

This move uptown leaves their old building to

Sabal Trail and its proposed fracked methane pipeline.
Has VLCIA ever developed an opinion on

that boondoggle?

Here’s

the agenda, with links to the videos, followed by
a video playlist.

Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority

Tuesday, July 15, 2014 5:30 p.m.

Industrial Authority Conference Room

103 Roosevelt Drive

Monthly Meeting Agenda

Continue reading →

Climate Rally and EPA Hearings next week in Atlanta



High noon rally Tuesday and 9AM to 8PM hearings Monday and Tuesday 29-30 July 2014
at the
Sam Nunn Atlanta Federal Center, Main Tower Bridge Conference Area, Conference Room B, 61 Forsyth Street, SW, Atlanta, GA.
Plus you can comment online, maybe about

mercury from coal Plant Scherer
in the Alapaha River and how shifting to “natural” gas just promotes
more fracked methane pipelines like that

Sabal Trail boondoggle.
EPA could take a second step on methane, and we can get on with
faster, cheaper, cleaner, and far more environmentally beneficial

solar power in the sunny southeast.
For details see the

Sierra Club
or
WWALS
or
SpectraBusters postings.

-jsq

New place, new member, new officers, new name? @ VLCIA 2014-07-15




Six years in the making!
Finally VLCIA meets in its new office near the hospital.
Georgia Power VP Terri Lupo

was just appointed to VLCIA by the Lowndes County Commission
(without ever showing up and speaking).
On this VLCIA agenda is the annually expected officer nominating committee report.
Plus “Proposed VLCIA Name Change”.
How about SolarTown?

Hm, this move uptown leaves their old building to

Sabal Trail and its proposed fracked methane pipeline.
Has VLCIA ever developed an opinion on that boondoggle?

Here’s

the agenda. Continue reading →

Thousands of solar jobs a thousand miles north of here: SolarCity buys Silevo

An Economic Development Council in snowy Buffalo has
landed a solar manufacturer with suddenly even deeper pockets,
while our Industrial Authority didn’t even meet this month.
Maybe instead of supporting an unnecessary fracked methane
pipeline that diverts resources we could get on with
real solar industry here in sunny south Georgia?

WIVB.com wrote yesterday,

Purchase of company coming to Buffalo could be boon for WNY,




Silevo, a company that had planned to set up shop at Buffalo’s
Riverbend site, has been bought out by SolarCity, and the plan could
mean thousands of jobs for Western New York.

Silevo is Continue reading →