The Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority’s Regular Monthly
Meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, December 18, 2012, 5:30 PM at the
Industrial Authority Conference Room, 2110 N. Patterson Street.
I mentioned to a VLCIA board member Friday that the agendas never changed,
except for the dates for minutes of previous meetings and of financial statements.
I really must apologize!
This one also differs from last month’s agenda in three more ways:
old Executive Director’s Report-Allan Ricketts on behalf of Andrea Schruijer
new Executive Director’s Report- Andrea Schruijer
old Adjourn General Meeting into Executive Session
old Adjourn Executive Session into General Meeting
old Adjoujrn General Meeting
new Adjourn General Meeting
That’s right: apparently Andrea Schruijer is in town this time,
there’s no scheduled Executive Session, and a typo is fixed.
However, they didn’t change any of the lists of existing or prospective
businesses, or meetings attended, or changes to the website, or acreage owned.
Because the agenda never lists any of those things, nor anything else of substance.
While that sort of secrecy was perhaps useful in trying to sneak
in a private prison and a biomass plant, I wonder if it really helps
attract high tech business like Richmond County
or
attract a solar park like Decatur County?
If Lowndes County owed $0 (zero dollars) on the county palace in November 2010,
why are we paying on
$8,965,000 in bonds for it in December 2012?
If that palace was “100% Paid by SPLOST” in 2010,
why in 2012 is the county pledging our property tax dollars to pay those bonds?
In November 2010:
$22,380,000
Judicial Building Cost
$6,728,000
Administrative Building Cost
100%
Paid by SPLOST
$0
Balance Owed
So says a double-page flyer about “the Lowndes County Judicial &
Administrative Complex”
produced by the Valdosta Daily Times for Lowndes
County in 2010 and signed “Highest regards, Joe Pritchard, County Manager”.
There’s no dateline, but it invites the public to a dedication of the Complex
“on Friday, November 12, 2010.”
The Bonds are payable solely from payments to be made by Lowndes County,
Georgia (the “County”) pursuant to an Intergovernmental Contract,
dated as of December 1, 2012 (the “Contract”), between the Issuer
and the County. Under the Contract, the County has agreed to levy and
collect an annual tax on all taxable property located within the County
as may be necessary to produce in each year revenues which are sufficient
to make the payments required by the Contract.
The city of Valdosta was approved for a CWSRF loan of $18,500,000 to
finance phase two of the Mud Creek Water Pollution Control Plant
project, which includes increasing capacity from 3.2 million gallons
per day (GPD) to 5.7 million GPD, and additional improvements and
modifications to the facility. Valdosta will also design a new
solids treatment system. The city of Valdosta will pay 3 percent
interest on the 20-year loan for $18,500,000.
So why is the County of Lowndes having to float bonds?
And are bonds on the commercial
bond market really a better financial deal for the county?
More than a million dollars will be saved by refinancing county bonds,
the Chairman and staff indicated at
yesterday morning’s
Lowndes County Commission Work Session.
Congratulations!
But who is this shadowy Lowndes County Public Facilities Authority
that is responsible for that?
8.i. Refunding Revenue Bonds
County Manager Joe Pritchard said
the county was refinancing two bond packages, for the
Public Facilities Authority
and for the
Central Valdosta Development Authority.
County Attorney Walter Elliott said the
Public Facilities Authority was meeting 4PM tomorrow (now today 11 Dec 2012)
to approve an ordinance similar to what the County Commission was
being asked to approve Tuesday night.
There’s also a purchase agreement with the underwriter,
in the packet only the board gets to see.
Chairman Ashley Paulk said he spoke Friday to somebody named Mr.
Bucky Kensey(?) who wouldn’t tell him a number but said the
bond market had moved in the county’s favor.
The Chairman also said:
I want the public to understand these are not new bonds
these are old bonds that are at a higher interest rate
that are going to be refinanced at a lower rate,
and I believe the last savings was close to a million dollars.
The Chairman indicated Mr. Kensey(?) thought there would be a pleasant
surprise with even more savings than that.
The Commissioners reappointed Antonio Henderson and Harry Sullivan
to the Lowndes County Public Facilities Authority. Their terms will
expire May 31, 2010. Joseph Stevens was appointed, and his term will
expire May 31, 2009.
The primary purpose of the meeting is for the Authority to consider
a Bond Resolution to provide for the issuance of Refunding Revenue
Bonds for the purpose of refunding in part Public Facilities Authority
Revenue Bonds (Lowndes County Water and Sewerage Project), Series 2005,
and Central Valdosta Development Authority Revenue Bonds (Lowndes County
Judicial/Administrative Complex), Series 2003, to authorize and approve
the execution and delivery of an Intergovernmental Contract with Lowndes
County, and related purposes. The meeting will be open to the public in
accordance with the Georgia Open Meetings Act.
NEW YORK, November 15, 2012 —Moody’s Investors Service has
assigned a Aa2 rating and a stable outlook to Lowndes County’s (GA)
$9.1 million Refunding Revenue Bonds (Lowndes County
Judicial/Administration Complex), Series 2012 and $7.2 million
Refunding Revenue Bonds (Lowndes County Water and Sewerage Project),
Series 2013, both issued by the
Lowndes County Public Facilities Authority.
At this time, Moody’s has also affirmed the Aa2 ratings
to $15.5 million of general obligation bonds and $193.7 million of
bonds issued through the Hospital Authority of Valdosta and Lowndes
County, the Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority, the
Central Valdosta Development Authority and the Lowndes County Public
Facilities Authority…
You know, the county could just tell us all this stuff, so we wouldn’t
have to try to google it.
It is our tax money they are spending, after all.
Refinancing Bonds and the Public Facilities Authority
Work Session, Lowndes County Commission (LCC),
Video by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE), Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 10 December 2012.
Actually, that’s not entirely fair.
They did change the order of a few items on
the agenda.
And their
facebook page
(but not their
website)
has the snazzy new logo they approved last time.
-jsq
Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority
Agenda
Tuesday, October 16, 2012 5:30 p.m.
Industrial Authority Conference Room
2110 N. Patterson Street
Valdosta Lowndes County Industrial Authority
Thanks Mr. Quaterman,
The meeting agenda is the same as posted on the website. I'll update
the date in the morning, working on our new & improved website
project now. Can't wait to unveil our new site. See you tomorrow
evening!
While I commend VLCIA (I'm guessing by way of S. Meghan Duke)
for responding to an inquiry (even if she didn't get my name right),
I do wonder whether, while they're updating the website format,
maybe they could add some content to their agendas.
Meanwhile, the one she's referring to is the one
quoted for last month's meeting.
The Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority Monthly Meeting for
September Has Been Rescheduled For Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2012 5:30pm
Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority Offices
That’s at
2110 N. Patterson Street, Valdosta.
They also posted this notice on
their facebook page yesterday.
No agenda is posted yet.
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, Tom Davis, CPA, Allan Ricketts, Project ManagerS. Meghan Duke, Public Relations & Marketing Manager, Lu Williams, Operations Manager,
Videos by John S. Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE), Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 21 August 2012.
Dario Orlando, CEO of
Steeda Manufacturing,
which currently makes performance parts for Mustangs,
told the Industrial Authority at its
21 August 2012 Regular Session
that Steeda
is moving into making medical parts, plus selling to GM,
and into new geographical markets.
Video by John S. Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE), Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 21 August 2012.
Allan Ricketts, VLCIA Project Manager, explained that
Steeda had requested a second extension, and an amendment to reduce
the requirement of number of jobs from 40 to 30.
We certainly think that is justified in the very difficult economic climate
and conditions that we’ve had over the past couple of years,
and certainly acknowledging that in that very challenging economic time,
we’ve had steady continued growth by Steeda.
And so now we’re up to about 23 employees there.
I think it is also significant to note […] that
Steeda has now moved its entire manufacturing operation to Valdosta.
That move represents about a million five investment in the community.
Actually specifically it is $1,480,950
in some very unique manufacturing equipment.
I think it is important to understand
that some of this manufacturing equipment provides a great resource here
that two of the current projects that we are chasing are very interested in.
Video by John S. Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE), Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 21 August 2012.
Dario Orlando then remarked that things were going very well, and:
We’re expanding into other markets
like I’d mentioned before the commencement of the meeting.
We’re moving into medical manufacturing because we do have the most advanced
manufacturing capabilities here in Valdosta.
Furthermore, we’re starting to supply General Motors
with performance parts,
the GM performance brand.
We opened up another company here in Valdosta called LSR Performance.
I was telling Allan this morning… that we’re all going to be looking back at this day.
I plan to have a couple of hundred employees here in the next five years.
I’d heard a rumor that some sort of lawsuit about the biomass site
was the subject of some of the Industrial Authority executive
sessions for real estate discussions.
VLCIA has finally said in public what their position is.
The Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority plans to send a
petition to Lowndes County Superior Court to sue Wiregrass Power,
LLC, for a clear title on the land purchased for the development of
a biomass energy plant.
The Authority believes Wiregrass defaulted on a lease agreement to
build the plant, placing ownership of the 22.22-acre tract back in
their hands, but Wiregrass denies the allegations. This denial casts
“a cloud” of suspicion on the Authority that may prevent
it from re-marketing the property, according to the petition,
leading to the suit.
Sounds like they’re publicizing their intent
to try to scare Sterling off without having to sue.
I’m for that.
The Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority’s Regular Monthly Meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, December 18, 2012, 5:30 PM at the Industrial Authority Conference Room, 2110 N. Patterson Street.
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