Tag Archives: Allan Ricketts

Special bid review meeting @ VLCIA 2013-10-29

The Industrial Authority’s new office is urgent enough for a special called meeting. Inquiring reporter Gretchen is going to see what the fuss is about.

Maybe it’s just because this office search has had more episodes than Star Wars. Before Roy Copeland was appointed to the VLCIA board, they were considering buying the old Board of Elections site from him. Now he’s even been Chairman twice and given that up, and they still don’t have a new office. Or maybe it’s something to do with who owns 103 Roosevelt Drive.

Interestingly, HG Pinnacle Properties, Inc. also owns the much larger surrounding lot, 2318 N Patterson Street, on which a Valdosta Electric trailer has been parked across from the hospital for so long it shows up on Google Maps.

On VLCIA’s website and facebook page (although oddly not in their current news page:

There will be a Special Called Meeting of the Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority 12 noon Tuesday, October 29, 2013 at the Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority Offices.

The purpose of this meeting is to review bids regarding the renovation and construction of 103 Roosevelt Drive.

-jsq

Logistics, Ports, and Partnerships @ VLCIA 2013-10-15

More good news at Valdosta’s other wastewater treatment plant, Mud Creek, where more solar is being installed; more about that at tonight’s meeting of the Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority. Mud Creek was already upgraded in 2012 to handle expected wastewater flow.

Here’s tonight’s agenda:

Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority
Tuesday, October 15, 2013 5:00 p.m.
Industrial Authority Conference Room
2110 N. Patterson Street
Agenda
Continue reading

PR and Marketing materials, ads, and trips @ VLCIA 2013-08-20

One hopes all this PR and marketing pays off in jobs. Remember, the Industrial Authority has kept its cushy 1 mil of property tax throughout the economic downturn. Four new industry projects are on the agenda this time, plus more solar power at Valdosta’s Mud Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant. Much better PR than Valdosta Fire Dept. helping put out Perma-Fix on fire.

Here’s the agenda in a slightly broken PDF on the VLCIA website and extracted below.

Continue reading

AT&T 4G LTE now in Valdosta @ VLCIA 2013-07-16

Verizon won’t be the only 4G LTE access in Valdosta anymore: AT&T has turned theirs on. It’s not clear how far out of town that extends (looks to me like I still need to go stand by my west gate if I want on), but at least it’s a start of competition, and maybe T will get around to increasing its coverage (see next post). If Softbank + Sprint + Clearwire comes here, as well, maybe we’ll see something like a competitive market. It’s not clear even that will be enough to get fast affordable access everywhere in south Georgia. For that, maybe our local elected and appointed officials will continue with the advocacy they started back in February.

Andrea Schruijer and the AT&T 4G LTE PR As mentioned at the Industrial Authority yesterday evening by Executive Director Andrea Schruijer (video to come), here’s AT&T’s PR of 2 July 2013, AT&T 4G LTE Available In Valdosta: Customers to benefit from nation’s fastest 4G LTE network on the latest devices,

VALDOSTA, Ga., July 2, 2013 /PRNewswire/ — AT&T* has turned on the nation’s fastest 4G LTE network** in Valdosta, bringing customers the latest generation of wireless network technology. Watch here to see several of the benefits AT&T 4G LTE provides, including:

  • Faster speeds. LTE technology is capable of delivering mobile Internet speeds up to 10 times faster than 3G***. Customers can stream, download, upload and game faster than ever before.
  • Cool new devices. AT&T offers several LTE-compatible devices, including new AT&T 4G LTE smartphones and tablets.
  • Faster response time. LTE technology offers lower latency, or the processing time it takes to move data through a network, such as how long it takes to start downloading a webpage or file once you’ve sent the request. Lower latency helps to improve services like mobile gaming, two-way video calling and telemedicine.
  • More efficient use of spectrum. Wireless spectrum is a finite resource, and LTE uses spectrum more efficiently than other technologies, creating more space to carry data traffic and services and to deliver a better network experience.

“Wireless infrastructure investment is critical to Georgia’s future and I am very pleased to see AT&T investing in Valdosta and Lowndes County and bringing LTE service to our community,” said Andrea Schruijer, Executive Director of the Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority. “Advanced technology like LTE will help stimulate our economy and provide new tools and services that we need to compete for business.”

“We continue Continue reading

More solar at VLCIA tonight? @ VLCIA 2013-07-16

Will the recent increase in solar requirements by GA PSC on Georgia Power produce any more solar projects in Valdosta? And what’s in the VLCIA annual report? Maybe a list of jobs created?

Here’s the agenda.

Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority
Agenda, Tuesday July 16, 2013 5:30 p.m.
Industrial Authority Conference Room
2110 N. Patterson Street
Continue reading

Nine projects in the pipeline @ VLCIA 2013-06-18

Content two months running in VLCIA agendas! And the potential project list is up from six to nine.

Here’s the agenda:

Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority
Agenda, Tuesday June 18, 2013 5:30 p.m.
Industrial Authority Conference Room
2110 N. Patterson Street
Continue reading

Content in today’s Industrial Authority agenda! @ VLCIA 2013-05-21

Names of projects! Lists of PR and marketing items! Is this a new trend from our Industrial Authority? Or will it be like the last time I complimented them on an agenda with content and was told later that one was an accident.

Here’s the agenda. Sure, the project names are codewords, but that’s how they talk to prospective companies without revealing all their cards to the competition. And this one has a name:

Maybe we’ll hear more about those two megawatts of solar power. Maybe even more are scheduled for Lowndes County.

Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority
Agenda, Tuesday, May 21, 2013 5:30 p.m.
Industrial Authority Conference Room
2110 N. Patterson Street
Continue reading

Videos: audit, solar, office, and more @ VLCIA 2013-04-16

Interesting stuff (audit and internal controls, many meetings, 2 megawatts of solar power, searching for and finances of a new office from a mysterious seller) in the items missing from the posted agenda yet presented anyway, while two staff were elsewhere.

Here’s the agenda with a few notes and some links to the videos. * marks items that were not in the posted agenda.

Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority
Agenda
Tuesday, April 16, 2013 5:30 p.m.
Industrial Authority Conference Room
2110 N. Patterson Street
Continue reading

Arsenic, Outings, and Flooding: WWALS Watershed Coalition @ VLCIA 2013-04-16

Water issues strongly affect economic development, so I talked about the new WWALS Watershed Coalition at the 16 April 2013 Board Meeting of the Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority.

The VDT declined to speak, so I did. After apologizing for no okra today, I commended the Authority for talking about the missing agenda items and for mentioning due diligence and flood control.

Mostly I talked about the new WWALS Watershed Coalition, www.wwals.net, incorporated in June 2012, which is about watershed issues such as flooding, water quality, and invasive species related to the Withlacoochee, Willacoochee, Alapaha, and Little River System. I mentioned arsenic in some local well water, which the Department of Health has finally said should be tested, three years after Janet McMahan discovered it was a problem. I invited VLCIA board and staff to two upcoming WWALS events: Continue reading

A New Home! Year Six @ VLCIA 2013-04-16

The Industrial Authority was very forthcoming about everything about their new office purchase except who they were buying it from; this was at the 16 April 2013 Board Meeting of the Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority. The seller turns out to be a household name hereabouts.

New Office –Roy Copeland

Chairman Roy Copeland talked about the at least five year process for finding “a new home” for VLCIA. 103 Roosevelt Drive He noted that before he joined the board they were considering buying a property he and his wife own. He and former Lowndes County Chairman Ashley Paulk looked at another property near the Courthouse. VLCIA even toured the historic Lowndes County Courthouse but concluded it couldn’t be renovated for their purposes. Jerry Jennett noted the search had gone on even longer than five years. Copeland said the parameters they had set were, as far as he recalled, Continue reading