We previously discovered who was on the Valdosta-Lowndes County
Land Bank Authority (VLCPRA) (VLCLBA)
because the state publishes that information.
Lowndes County has reappointed Joyce Evans and Frank Morman.
Maybe the county will also put some information about that Authority online?
Joyce Evans and Frank Morman reappointed to Land Bank Authority
Regular Session, Lowndes County Commission (LCC),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 27 March 2012.
Video by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE).
The Lowndes County Commission appointed
Edward Rawls, retired professional engineer and
Blake Waagner, owner of Valdosta Bike Center
to the Valdosta-Lowndes County Metropolitan Planning Organization (VLMPO)
Citizens Advisory Committee.
Commissioner Crawford Powell surprisingly said:
I think the perspective from the bicycle group would be interesting
on the MPO.
Interesting development!
Also, the Commission continued the tradition which I believe was
started by Commissioner Joyce Evans of attempting to get all
applicants for appointed boards to introduce themselves.
I think that’s a good thing.
Bicycles noted in appointment to VLMPO Citizens Advisory Committee
Regular Session, Lowndes County Commission (LCC),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 27 March 2012.
Video by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE).
What does a city with clean industry and clean energy do to attract more of it?
One such city planted a solar sunflower array along its
main interstate corridor.
A retail lot in Austin, Texas recently sprouted a stunning field of
solar sunflowers that soak up the sun’s rays to provide shade while
generating a steady stream of renewable energy. Designed by public
art team Harries/Heder, the installation consists of 15 flower-like
solar photovoltaic panels located on a pedestrian and bike path
between the village of Mueller and Austin’s highway I-35. According
to Harries/Heder, the flowers are “an icon for the
sustainable, LEED certified Mueller Development and a highly visible
metaphor for the energy conscious City of Austin.”
Are these solar sunflowers practically profitable?
Perhaps:
In addition to providing shade for walkers and bikers, the solar
flowers collect energy during the day to power the installation’s
blue LED lights at night. Leftover power is sent to the grid to
offset the cost of maintaining the installation.
But practicality of this particular field of solar flowers is not the point.
A little reading in local histories of the area or talking to people
who were involved even a generation or two back indicates that Lowndes
County has always been a cliquish sort of place, mostly run by old boys,
for reasons that made some sense in the early days (lack of resources,
mainly), but doesn’t so much anymore in these days of I-75 and I-10,
airport, railroads that still go everywhere, Moody AFB, VSU as a regional university, technical and community colleges,
two hospitals and medical industry, TitleTown, Grand Bay WMA, Wild Adventures,
and south Georgia sunshine we can export to Atlanta and points north.
Here are a few books about the old days, all available in local libraries
and possibly in local bookstores:
Continue reading →
A negative externality occurs when an individual or firm making a
decision does not have to pay the full cost of the decision. If a good has a negative externality, then the cost to society is greater than the cost consumer is paying for it. Since consumers make a decision based on where their marginal cost equals their marginal benefit, and since they don’t take into account the cost of the negative externality, negative externalities result in market inefficiencies unless proper action is taken.
When a negative externality exists in an unregulated market, producers don’t take responsibility for external costs that exist—these are passed on to society.
And that’s what the County Commission is doing: privatizing the profits of trash pickup and socializing the losses onto landowners (who have to pay for fences and gates), onto the general public (who have to pay for law enforcement to catch dumpers), and onto those who can’t afford to pay for private dump fees (who will get stuck with fines instead). That is indeed, as Barbara says, “redistribution of wealth”: redistribution from the rest of us to the private waste pickup companies.
The Commission is ducking its responsibility to find an equitable solution that everyone can afford. Funny how they can deal with special tax lighting districts for subdivisions but they claim they can’t come up with a way to publicly fund waste collection. Could it be because all the voting Commissioners are town-dwellers who don’t understand that rural people don’t have exactly the same needs or resources as city people?
There are many injustices of socialism and redistribution of wealth (or garbage) and I’m glad to see you recognize this in the shifting of illegal dumping costs to landowners. I am also glad to see that at least the county is talking about privatization and not public/private partnerships (so far). When Hahira almost succeeded in placing a regional waste transfer station on city owned property
REZ-2007-32 City of Hahira, 0028 027 6751 Union Road, 2 lots, R-21 to M-2, DRI
I was concerned that the county was complacent in this because the Lowndes Board of Commissioners November 2007 meeting minutes showed they agreed to rezone the property for the purpose of the transfer station against the recommendations of the county planner, Jason Davenport. That rezoning action replaced a DRI (Development of Regional Impact) request for waste transfer station rezoning so it was easy to assume the county and possibly the region had a mutual agenda for the transfer station. During a recent discussion on the dangers of regional government with Valdosta mayor, Larry Hanson, I asked if the transfer station was a regional interest. He assured me the City of Valdosta had no knowledge and no interest in that transfer station prior to articles in the Valdosta Daily Times. I’ve not had an opportunity to discuss the possibility of mutual agenda with the county and if it comes up again in the future I am assuming proper procedures will be followed which mandate public meetings and input into the planning before a third DRI is entered, not after.
I worked a contract for the IT of a Pensacola, FL software company that had waste management software contracts all over the US. It was my job to be
Did you know about the Lowndes County Commission retreat this weekend? It wasn’t mentioned at their recent regular meetings, it’s not on their website calendar, and there’s no agenda posted, either. Fortunately, the VDT at least has been informed about it.
The Lowndes County Commissioners and staff are attending the annual planning retreat this weekend, but are not spending any county funds doing so.
Chairman Ashley Paulk invited the county to hold the retreat at his farm, and he’s doing all the cooking for their meals, at no charge to the county.
It’s good Ashley Paulk wants to contribute to the public good in that way.
However, this is a public meeting of an elected body, and the public has not been informed of where it is, for example, at which of Ashley Paulk’s farms? Maybe they’ll at least keep good minutes.
These are videos of the Work Session, Lowndes County Commission (LCC), Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 26 March 2012. They vote at their regular session tonight, 5:30 PM.
Here’s a playlist of everything except the above two special presentations.
Videos Work Session, Lowndes County Commission (LCC), Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 26 March 2012. Video by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE).
George Page, Executive Director of the Valdosta-Lowndes County Parks and Recreational Authority (VLPRA), gave a presentation to the Lowndes County Commission Work Session, 26 March 2012.
Parks and Rec Work Session, Lowndes County Commission (LCC), Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 26 March 2012. Video by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE).
County Planner Jason Davenport described the problem, which came up in a request to rezone a piece of property that was partly zoned RA (Residential Agriculture) and partly Conservation:
We did get help from the clerk’s office to try to clear up when this property was zoned and why it was zoned conservation. I just don’t have anything [unintelligible]. We have minutes that say one thing and a zoning map that says another.
He said they had had limited time to investigate, and had not been able to resolve this issue.
That issue is still on the table. I would just remind you that in the grand scheme it is a minor issue.
Commissioner Richard Raines made the motion:
For my part I’m for rezoning the entire property RA and eliminating the conservation.
And that’s what they did. Which raises issues of what we should do.
Conservation records Regular Session, Lowndes County Commission (LCC), Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 28 February 2012 13 March 2012. Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE).