Tag Archives: Economy

Transportation and electrical presentations plus officer elections @ VLCIA 2015-07-21

VLMPO’s Corey Hull presents today at 5:30 PM to the Valdosta Development Authority. Their agenda doesn’t say about what, but one can guess about the proposed studies for public transit and for trucking around Valdosta. Don’t forget to go to the VLMPO Open House on 2040 Transportation Vision tomorrow.

Electrical Test Labs of Georgia, located in Lake Park, will talk about themselves.

And the Authority will elect officers, which I predict will be the same ones they’ve got now since that’s what their nominating committee recommended last month, plus the bylaw amendment I predict will be Roy Copeland’s recommendation to extend officer terms to two years.

Valdosta-Lowndes Development Authority
Tuesday, July 21, 2015 5:30 p.m. Continue reading →

Videos: Suwannee-Satilla Water Council @ SSRWPC 2015-06-15

They’re updating the regional water plan. They want to cooperate with neighboring water councils and with similar organizations in Florida. They meet again today at Aniston’s Restaurant, 1404 W. Baker Highway, Douglas, GA. See also: Please join the opposition to the Sabal Trail watershed invader —WWALS to SSRWPC.

Continue reading →

Alabama Power wants more renewable energy due to corporate customer demand

Southern Company’s subsidiaries are all turning to the sun! Even that titanic ship is affected by the tugboats of its corporate customers.

Ari Phillips, ClimateProgress, 16 July 2015, This Massive Utility Wants More Renewable Energy Because Corporations Are Demanding It,

In June, Alabama Power, one of the country’s largest electricity providers, filed a petition with the state’s Public Service Commission to add up to 500 megawatts of renewable energy over the next six years. The utility, which serves over 1.4 million customers in Alabama, cited customer demand as a primary reason for adding all this renewable energy — specifically corporate customers.

“This program was driven by conversations with customers looking to meet renewable mandates pushed down from their headquarters,” said Tony Smoke, Alabama Power vice president of marketing, in a statement announcing the request. “As a service provider, our focus is to make sure we are providing customers access to choices they want.”

It’s like Southern Company CEO Tom Fanning said in May Continue reading →

Airport Authority Budget Request discussed and approved @ LCC 2015-07-14

Not on the agenda, discussed for fifteen minutes, then suddenly approved: more funding for the Airport Authority, at the 14 July 2015 Regular Session of the Lowndes County Commission. Which was similar to the previous morning’s transportation study discussion, except the Commission didn’t vote that time on any possibility of funding that one.

TSA has reduced the amount of money it gives to small airports like Valdosta and in order to have Continue reading →

Transportation explained to Lowndes County Commission @ LCC 2015-07-13

The county asked SGRC a bunch of questions about the $15,957 public transit and trucking studies at yesterday morning’s Work Session that they didn’t ask about the $16,915 they spent two weeks ago to upgrade a water main to subsize a developer. Commissioners seemed to think VLMPO hadn’t involved them in planning the study proposals, when in fact their own Chairman and County Manager and Engineer had been involved all along, plus five county-appointed citizens.

300x225 Corey Hull, in Public Transportation and Trucking Studies Explained, by Gretchen Quarterman, 13 July 2015 County Manager Joe Pritchard said Commissioner Joyce Evans and Chairman Bill Slaughter had asked him to get the Southern Georgia Regional Commission (SGRC) to explain its proposed transportation studies. He also introduced Lisa Crib, whom he said was the new SGRC Executive Director.

Corey Hull spoke for SGRC, saying he first wanted to know their questions. Chairman Bill Slaughter asked: Continue reading →

100% renewable energy for U.S. by 2050

Here’s how to convert everything from air conditioners to trucks 300x170 End-Use U.S. Power Change over Time, in 100% clean and renewable wind, water, and sunlight (WWS) all-sector energy roadmaps for the 50 United States, by Mark Z. Jacobson et al., 27 May 2015 from fossil fuels to 100% renewable sun, wind, and water power by 2050, generating more jobs than would be lost from dirty energy, stopping tens of thousands of premature deaths from pollution, saving about 4% of U.S. GDP, plus saving $3.3 trillion worldwide climate change costs.

That’s 100% as in no coal, oil, natural gas, nuclear, or biomass, just clean solar, wind, and water power: 90% by 2035, 80% by 2030, and 25% by 2025. No new technology required: just existing solar, wind, and water power production with batteries and hydrogen fuel cells for transportation, plus huge efficiency savings both from using electricity directly and through other well-known techniques.

A cleaner, healthier world is within our reach. And when even the country’s most corrupt legislature can unanimously pass and the Georgia governor who took campaign funds from six pipeline companies can sign a solar financing law, while Georgia has already become the fastest-growing solar market in the country, renewable energy is producing the political will to get this done.

Stanford Report, 8 June 2015, Continue reading →

County and landowners still paying for failed 2007 James Road mega-mall boondoggle @ LCC 2015-06-22

Back again: the James Road subsidy for a failed mega-mall that we just keep on paying, eight years later!

Five companies showed up at the May 27th pre-bid meeting, but only one bid for $71,192 was received from Rountree Construction for the Commercial Driveway for Raceway on James Road, said County Engineer Mike Fletcher at the 22 June 2015 Lowndes County Work Session. The Commission at their 23 June 2015 Regular Session approved that yet another fix-up payment caused by the county’s 2009 widening of James Road “from a two-lane local road with ditches to a five-lane road with curb and gutter” for the never-happened Market Street mall and subdivision project. And local elected officials say bus systems need subsidies? Every road and bridge is a subsidy for private developers. And James Road is a subsidy we just keep on paying year after year.

The county spent SPLOST VI funds and $587,000 in GDOT funds on this subsidy for private developers, some of them from Tampa, while requiring local James Road property owners to Continue reading →

Videos: Four board appointments, plus Justice, Water, and Alcohol @ LCC 2015-06-23

$16,915 to upgrade a water main to subsidize a developer, but no approval of $15,957 to study public transportation and truck routing.

Speaking of subsidizing private developers, there’s yet more fallout from the failed 2007 mega-mall-and-subdivision Market Street project; see separate post.

And the Chairman gave an excellent demonstration of why elected officials would benefit by interacting and even debating with citizens, instead of jumping to conclusions and preaching at them.

Here’s the agenda, and the LAKE videos of the previous morning’s Work Session and the budget hearing immediately before the Regular Session. Below are the Regular Session LAKE videos with a few comments, followed by a video playlist. Continue reading →

Videos: Budget Public Hearing #2, Lowndes County @ LCC Budget 2015-06-23

Only one citizen spoke at the second Budget Hearing 5PM 23 June 2015: Gretchen Quarterman asking for approval of the VLMPO request for funding for a public transportation study. The Chairman said they weren’t going to, and shortly afterwards at their Regular Session they didn’t, although they did approve more than that for a water main subsidy for private developers.

The 5PM meeting was billed on the county’s website as Budget Adoption Meeting and the previous morning by the Chairman as a presentation by the Finance Director. Is it a public hearing if it’s never advertised as a public hearing?

At least the proposed budget is on the county’s website, just not where Continue reading →

Videos: Four board appointments, plus Justice, Water, and Alcohol @ LCC 2015-06-22

The Chairman said the Finance Director would make a presentation about the Adoption of the Fiscal Year 2016 Budget Tuesday before they voted; he said nothing about that presentation being the second Public Budget Hearing. See LAKE videos of the first Budget Hearing and of the second budget hearing.

The Commercial Driveway for Raceway on James Road. is yet more fallout from the failed 2007 mega-mall-and-subdivision Market Street project; see separate post. Also five pre-bidders but only one bid, this one from Scruggs Co., for Widening of a Portion of Old US 41 N.

Why is the county paying the cost to Upgrade Water Main at Lake Alapaha Subdivision from 2 inches to 6 inches? At least we found out where and why for the Engineering and Surveying Services for Water and Sewer.

Here’s the agenda. Below are the LAKE videos of the Work Session with a few comments, followed by a video playlist. Continue reading →