Tag Archives: Hahira

Hahira Third Thursday 5-8PM 19 July 2012

Tomorrow is Third Thursday in Hahira, the monthly outside get-together with food and fun. According to the signs they hang up on the streets, it starts at 5PM and ends at 8PM. According to the Hahira Happenings facebook page:

July 19th 3rd Thursday.. Movie night ( Mirror, Mirror) really cute and funny movie!!

That facebook page also says:

Any framers or anyone who has veggies, fruits can set up in front of the red caboose on saturdays or third thursday.

Also:

If you know anyone who would be intrested in market days please have them call 229-794-2567!

I plan to be there with okra and other vegetables for sale. Looking forward to getting a call-back from that number….

See you at the red caboose. That picture is from last year's Hahira Honeybee Festival, 11 October 2011.

-jsq

 

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SPLOST with Lowndes County and the cities @ SPLOST 2012-06-11

The second of two meetings on the Lowndes County Commission According to the calendar for Monday morning, 11 June 2011, is about SPLOST, and also involves all the cities in the county.

SPLOST Meeting/ (6/11/2012)

The Lowndes County Board of Commissioners along with the City of Valdosta, City of Hahira, City of Dasher, City of Lake Park and City of Remerton will be holding a SPLOST meeting on Monday, June 11, 2012, at 9:30 a.m. in the Multi-Purpose Room on the 2nd floor of the Administration Building.

SPLOST is not to be confused with LOST (created by the legislature), nor with ESPLOST for educational purposes, and certainly not with T-SPLOST for transportation.

Unlike the work session, which has no description of what it's about, there is at least a link on the county Quick Links for SPLOST, which says:

Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST)

As of July 1, 1985, Georgia law enabled local jurisdictions to use SPLOST proceeds for capital improvement projects that would otherwise be paid for with General Fund or property tax revenues. SPLOST stands for Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax. This is a one-cent sales tax, which the State of Georgia allows counties to collect to fund specific improvement projects. SPLOST must be approved by voters in a general referendum in order to be enacted and last for a maximum of 60 months (five years) or until the total amount of revenue specified in the referendum is reached. The SPLOST projects and the amount of money raised by SPLOST were identified prior to voting on the SPLOST referendum. The proceeds of the tax must be spent for capital (non-operating) items by the county government and participating municipalities within the county.

That page also includes a list of SPLOST projects completed by January 2010.

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Rezoning density outside of Hahira @ LCC 2012 05 07

Two rezonings had no comments. The third, just north of Hahira, got opposition at the Planning Commission, which recommended a qualification, which County Planner Jason Davenport interpreted as trying to limit the density of development of the property.

At the Lowndes County Commission at its 7 May 2012 Work Session during the discussion on

7.c. REZ-2012-07 McNeal Property, McNeal Road E-A to R-A, Well & Septic, 25 acres

Crawford Powell, Commissioner for District 3, which is the south end of the county, asked a question, while Richard Raines, Commissioner for District 2, which is the north end of the county including Hahira, sat silent, although he did nod his head.

A neighbor sent a letter with details of opposition. I wonder what’s in it? If you want to know, you can submit an open records request to the county. Of course, with the three day time limit for the county to respond, the Commission will have already voted on it this evening before you find out what’s in the letter.

Here’s the video:

Rezoning density outside of Hahira
Work Session, Lowndes County Commission (LCC),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 7 May 2012.
Video by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE).

-jsq

Videos of Mayors and County in Hahira @ LOST 2012 05 02

The five local cities (Valdosta, Hahira, Remerton, Dasher, and Lake Park) presented their case in terms of changed demographics from the 2000 to the 2010 census. Much of the presentation was explained by Hahira City Manager Jonathan Sumner.

Lowndes County wasn’t interested in discussing, and is waiting for arbitration, which will happen in 60 days (presumably from when they started negotiating). The VDT writeup protrays that as a surprise, but it’s what County Chairman Ashley Paulk has been saying since before these negotiations began.

I would have preferred to hear what services the cities do now or could with more tax revenue provide that would benefit the entire county.

Even more, I think the local governments could spend their time together better talking about how to increase the pie, for example through solar energy for municipal revenue or through county-wide fast Internet broadband access, either of which would help attract knowledge-based jobs, which would provide employment and increased tax revenue.

However, I salute the cities and the county for being transparent about their positions, as you can see in these videos.

Here’s a playlist:

Videos of Mayors and County in Hahira
LOST Negotiation,
Mayors and County in Hahira, Lowndes County Commission (LOST),
Hahira, Lowndes County, Georgia, 2 May 2012.
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE).

-jsq

Austin Energy changed from anti-solar to pro-solar in one year

At the end of 2003, Austin Energy (AE) suddenly went from very anti-solar to very pro-solar. Formerly coal-smoking Cobb EMC is doing it right now. If AE and Cobb EMC can do it, so can Georgia Power: change in one year from opposed to aggressively promoting solar power.

Mike Clark-Madison wrote for the Austin Chronicle 5 December 2003, AE drops a solar bomb,

In a near-complete turnaround from its public position just a week ago, Austin Energy has announced plans to adopt specific, highly ambitious, and undeniably expensive goals for adding solar energy to the Austin electric and economic mix. At a town hall meeting held Tuesday night to discuss the AE plan — also the subject of a public hearing at City Council today (Thursday) — AE’s Roger Duncan announced the utility’s commitment to develop 15 megawatts of solar generating capacity by 2007, escalating to 100 megawatts by 2020. The AE plan also calls for a study of the “comprehensive value” of solar power — putting a dollar amount on the economic and environmental benefits to Austin, in addition to the cost of solar-generated electricity itself. This would determine the price Austin Energy would pay for electricity generated by privately owned solar installations, just as AE now buys wind power from third parties.

Georgians tend to think Georgia Power’s foot-dragging and disinformation campaign about solar is so entrenched it will never change. But I’ve seen it happen, and it happened despite people’s expectations set by the power utility, and it happened very quickly and very big:

Continue reading →

LOST again in Hahira 9AM 2 May 2012

The local cities want more LOST money from the county. Imagine if they and the county spent this much effort bringing in new industry such as solar to increase the pie!

David Rodock wrote for the VDT 17 April 2012, County’s LOST proposal declined: Cities want more money; negotiations to begin in May. Well, that about sums it up. Looks like this is going to end up in another round of litigation after a lot of talking past each other.

So there will be LOST again, this time in Hahira, 9AM 2 May 2012 at the Hahira Community Center, 215 Randall Street.

They could spend their time talking together more productively.

-jsq

Parks and Rec citizen meeting tonight in Hahira

Following up on something I heard last night, I called Valdosta-Lowndes County Parks & Recreation Authority and determined they’re having a citizens meeting tonight in Hahira:

Who: Lose & Associates presentation
What: will ask questions and take community input
Where: Courthouse, 305 W. Main Street, Hahira, GA
When: 6-7PM 18 April 2012

Image by Old Shoe Woman

There was one of these yesterday at Mildred Hunter in south Valdosta. For unknown reasons these events were not posted on VLPRA’s website, which is odd considering this earlier report:

In March there will be about six public meetings concerning the master plan. According to Mr. Page the meetings will be advertised on the VLPRA website, in the Valdosta Daily Times, and by word of mouth.

I heard by word of mouth there was a notice in the VDT yesterday, so that’s two out of three.

-jsq

April 2012 LAKE meeting: China 1, Hahira

See the owl use chopsticks! Come to Hahira Tuesday.

What: Monthly LAKE Meeting
When: 7 PM, Tuesday 17 April 2012
Where: China 1
205 South Church Street
(one block south of Main or GA 122)
(don’t believe google maps)
Hahira, GA 31632

If you follow the LAKE blog, On the LAKE Front, you know what we cover, from elections to gardening, connecting the dots. What else do you want to investigate?

If you’re on Facebook, please Like the LAKE facebook page. You can sign up for the meeting event there, Or just come as you are.

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