Our high schools and college graduates mostly have to go somewhere else, because jobs here are few and many of them don’t pay enough for a decent living. Should we not care enough about our families and our community to come up with strategies that grow existing businesses and attract new ones that will employ local people?
We need discussions and strategies that involve the whole community, going beyond just the usual planning professionals, to include all groups and individuals with information or opinions, whether they got here generations ago or last week: for fairness and for freedom.
The Industrial Authority focus group meeting I attended Wednesday was refreshing, because their consultants asked the opinions of people some of whom previously had to picket outside. The previous day, VLCIA Chairman Roy Copeland said this strategic planning process was a long time coming. I agree, and while nobody can say what will come of it at this point, I hope it does produce a real Economic Development Strategy.
The times, they are a-changin'. The Millard Fillmore-Gates story is further evidence. The days when power brokers decided what was best behind closed boardroom doors, then tried to shove it down the community's throat, are mercifully ending. Break out the champagne.
The fallout from years of stalled projects and misfired magic bullets, and the emergence of more-enlightened power brokers, has adjusted boardroom attitudes. The altered mindset is —from the waterfront, to a reviving downtown, to whatever happens with Millard Fillmore Hospital —paving a path to happier endings, with less drama and fewer hard feelings. I think we could get used to this.
Faced with the eventuality of a massive, empty hospital bordering a prime neighborhood, Kaleida scheduled public forums and called in the cavalry of the renowned Urban Land Institute. What once was unthinkable in corporate boardrooms now is becoming reflexive.
“We learned from other examples that had not gone well…that we needed to involve the community, be transparent and collaborate,” said Kaleida's Ted Walsh. “All of that will help us to reach a better decision.”
The old boys actually listening to the community pays off! Hey, we could try that! Actually, VLCIA maybe has, with its strategic planning process. We shall see.
Dublin has started putting up Solar street lights on South Jefferson near the city's downtown. This project got federal funding from the federal government administered by the Georgia's Department of Transportation.
And grant supported! If anybody around here had applied, maybe we would have gotten such a grant.
Instead, it's another first for Dublin:
"This is the first transportation corridor that has solar lighting in the state of Georgia so it's just very exciting for us, first to have a solar industry in Dublin, now to have the first state roadway lit by solar lighting," said Tim Lake, of T. Lake Environmental Design.
Bragging rights and practical, too:
Lake said the cost of these street lights is about $11,000 and that the standard street lights cost just over $7,600. But the typical street light have other costs like a leasing fee and monthly energy costs that go to the electric company.
He said because the solar street lights are powered by the sun, they will end up saving taxpayers about $500 dollars a month or $15 per street lamp.
"The first is return on investment happens very quickly, 3.7 months for the city to get a return on investment on these lamps," said Lake.
All that plus this:
The solar panels were also made in Dublin by MAGE Solar. Lake said this was a truly collaborative project.
Collaboration. Maybe our Industrial Authority should try it.
Ankle monitoring is fully funded this coming fiscal year, with a 2% increase,
and the Sheriff’s office accounts for 35% of the county’s budget,
yet the Public Defender had to beg for more funds. The state-imposed property tax assessment cap has expired, but no increases in the tax digest are yet expected. Sales tax revenues are gradually increasing. The state is fiddling with motor vehicle license fees, and nobody can predict the effect of that. The Industrial Authority and Parks and Rec are now shown in the Lowndes County budget; they and other transfers out account for about 15% of the budget, specifically about 6% VLCIA and 7% VLPRA. All that and more at Tuesday’s budget hearing.
Chairman Ashley Paulk was not there. Commissioner Crawford Powell chaired the meeting instead.
Parks and Rec’s 1.25 mil and
Industrial Authority’s 1 mil
are now shown along with the county’s 7.31 mils of property tax
and integrated into the budget charts.
They and other transfers out account for about
15% of general fund expenditures.
The first 100% VSEB contract, local industry expansion, new prospects,
a bank lost a bond, and new Georgia sunshine laws require attention.
Here are videos of the entire 22 May 2012 meeting
of the Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority (VLCIA) board.
Here’s
the agenda.
Guests included
a camera crew from VSU, one of whom was Cameron Copeland,
Chairman Roy Copeland’s son.
CPA Tom Davis
said the county told him revenues were flat, so VLCIA would get about
the same amount as last year.
Tom Call asked if revenues would catch up over 6 months or 8 months.
Call said they would eventually.
Tom Call reported for the budget committee and said
expenses were projected to be down for the coming year,
plus the budget would be more specific about where revenues
were being spent.
Meghan Duke
reported
they had gotten an article in the newspaper,
and they had held an OSHA training meeting at Wiregrass Tech.
They plan to hold further courses and will send out a survey about that.
She also
expected updates to the land-searching
Valdosta Prospector website
to be ready in a few weeks.
She and Andrea Schruijer had
selected 3 finalists
out of 10 proposals to redo the VLCIA website.
Her only stated criterion for picking one was
New Georgia sunshine laws explained by VLCIA lawyer
Regular Meeting, Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority (VLCIA),
Norman Bennett, Tom Call, Roy Copeland chairman, Mary Gooding, Jerry Jennett,
Andrea Schruijer Executive Director, J. Stephen Gupton attorney, Allan Ricketts Project Manager, Tom Davis, CPA, Lu Williams, Operations Manager, S. Meghan Duke, Public Relations & Marketing Manager,
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 22 May 2012.
Video by John S. Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE).
The very first 100% VSEB contract!
In a welcome change of pace, Allan Ricketts announced at the 22 May 2012
Industrial Authority meeting that staff had accepted a proposal to
have local conctractors plant native local grasses as part of
landscaping Westside Business Park.
VSEB is the
Valdosta Small Emerging Business program.
He identified the grass as Little Bluefield.
Later he said that was the same as
Little Bluestem,
which is a well known native warm season bunchgrass (Schizachyrium scoparium).
Local grass and 100% VSEB local contractors for landscaping Westside Business Park
Regular Meeting, Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority (VLCIA),
Norman Bennett, Tom Call, Roy Copeland chairman, Mary Gooding, Jerry Jennett,
Andrea Schruijer Executive Director, J. Stephen Gupton attorney, Allan Ricketts Project Manager, Tom Davis, CPA, Lu Williams, Operations Manager, S. Meghan Duke, Public Relations & Marketing Manager,
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 22 May 2012.
Video by John S. Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE).
VLCIA is even posting notices of committee meetings now!
According to their
website,
the Industrial Authority has two meetings today:
Committee Meeting Notice The Nominating Committee for the Valdosta
Lowndes County Industrial Authority will meet Tuesday, June 19,
2012, 1:00 PM at the Industrial Authority Conference Room, 2110 N.
Patterson Street.
The Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority’s Regular Monthly
Meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, June 19, 2012, 5:30 PM at the
Industrial Authority Conference Room, 2110 N. Patterson Street.
The nominating committee is for officers; they elect new ones annually.
Here’s
the agenda.
It has no content, but at least they post one.
Unlike their minutes.
-jsq
Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority
Agenda
Tuesday, June 19, 2012 5:30 p.m.
Industrial Authority Conference Room
2110 N. Patterson Street
He said you can get it as close to him as Quarterman Road.
I can attest to that because I have 3 megabit per second DSL,
due to being just close enough to Bellsouth’s DSL box on Cat Creek Road,
but most of Quarterman Road can’t get DSL due to distance.
There are some other land-line possibilties, involving cables in the ground
or wires on poles.
Then there are wireless possibilities, including EVDO, available from Verizon,
with 750 kilobit per second (0.75 Mbps) wide area access from cell phone towers.
Verizon’s towers could also be used for WIFI antennas,
for up to 8 Mbps Internet access, over a wide scale.
Internet speed and access —John S. Quarterman
Regular Session, Lowndes County Commission (LCC),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 8 May 2012.
Video by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE).
…Lafayette, Louisiana,
Bowling Green, Kentucky,
Lagrange, Georgia,
and
Thomasville, Georgia.
They use it for
public safety,
education (Wiregrass Tech, VSU),
and
It attracts new industry.
If you want knowledge-based industry,
they’re going to be expecting Internet access not just at work,
but at home, whereever they live.
Today I received an invitation from the Industrial Authority to attend a focus group interview for input to their Competitive Assessment and their Economic Development Strategy. So, dear readers, what do you think I should say to them? Don’t worry; I have some ideas already, but I’m all ears for more.
Invitation from Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority (VLCIA) to a focus group interview 20 June 2012 Wiregrass Georgia Technical College, Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 1 June 2012. Scanned by John S. Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE).
else, because jobs here are few and many of them don’t pay enough for a decent living. Should we not care enough about our families and our community to come up with strategies that grow existing businesses and attract new ones that will employ local people?
going beyond just the usual planning professionals, to include all groups and individuals with information or opinions, whether they got here generations ago or last week: for fairness and for freedom.
How do we go beyond opposing things and move on to sustainable strategies that build clean industry?
of whom previously had to picket outside. The previous day, VLCIA Chairman Roy Copeland said this strategic planning process was a long time coming. I agree, and while nobody can say what will come of it at this point, I hope it does produce a real Economic Development Strategy.
