There was a twister in Lowndes County today.
The only property damage we saw was to this house on Cat Creek Road,
which now has a pine tree draped across it.
The house roof appears undamaged.
There are no reports of anyone being hurt. Everyone is accounted for.
Then the tornado came through the woods to Quarterman Road: Continue reading
While Georgia Power
invokes forty-year-old territoriality laws
to try to prevent you from selling or buying solar power with
whomever you want to,
Drs. Sidney Smith and Pat Godbey continue to open new solar power
installations, this time in Richmond Hill, Georgia last Friday.
Dr. Sidney Smith said the new installation lowers the customer’s electricity rate and doesn’t raise it for two years.
The emailed invitation:Lower Rates for Customers LLC celebrates the second installation of selling power to South Eastern Pathology Associates at 1pm Friday February 17th at the Georgia Skin and Cancer Clinic located at 9665 Ford Avenue Richmond Hill, Georgia 31324.Join us to celebrate the expansion of our company in Bryan County as we lower the power bills for another customer. We will continue to lower our customers electric bills by 1% and fix their rates for two years. We look forward to seeing you. Dr. Sidney Smith and Dr. Pat Godbey |
I don’t think Georgia Power is going to offer that rate, are they? No, I don’t think so.But that’s just the start.
What we’re doing though is we’re creating a system where this communicates with software. What our real goal is is to go to south Georgia farmersHe gave an example.and say put solar panels on your property, and we’ll connect those to the grid. Sell power through the grid, and we’ll give credit to somebody else in the state who wants it.
If you live in Atlanta, you don’t have any property to put solar panels on, do you? I think there’s are a lot of people in Atlanta who would like to rent some property right now, don’t you think?Georgia Power opposes SB 401, which is the bill Dr. Smith was referring to.How about if you could actually, out in the county, have an income that would last forever? That would be an investment that you could make today, that a generation in the future would be able to take advantage of. And the possibility of that happening is real.
The only thing that stands between that happening, and our future being very different, is legislation. They’re actually passing some bills now, that solidify the fact that I can put this on this property.
Georgia Power right now…
If you want SB 401 to pass, you can sign the petition or call your state senator.
Here’s the video: Continue reading
According to Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority (VLCIA), Regional Hub,
Valdosta is a regional hub for eleven Georgia counties and two Florida counties. Valdosta-Lowndes County acts not only as the regional hub for retail, medical, transportation and entertainment. Our community is also the regional hub for employment for five contiguous, predominantly rural Georgia counties and two Florida counties (as indicated in the chart to the right) and supports a thirteen county region referenced from the 2000 Census (see chart attached below).The five Georgia counties are (alphabetically) Brooks, Cook, Echols, Lanier, and Lowndes, and the two Florida counties are Hamilton and Madison. In which of those seven counties is Athens, Georgia?
The thirteen counties, barely legible on VLCIA’s webpage, are: Berrien GA, Brooks GA, Clinch GA, Colquitt GA, Columbia FL, Cook GA, Dougherty GA, Duval FL, Echols GA, Fulton GA, Hamilton FL, Lanier GA, and Madison FL. Fulton County, Georgia? OK, that’s odd. Hm, the table is entitled
“Journeys To and From LOWNDES GA (Threshold = 50)”.It’s about vehicles travelling in and out of Lowndes County. So Fulton makes some sense, due to people travelling between here and Atlanta. Local region, though? Not Fulton. Ditto Duval County, Florida. Jacksonville, local? I think not.
So maybe call it an eleven county region. In which of those eleven or thirteen counties is Athens, Georgia?
-jsq
OK, I commend VLCIA staff and board for trying to save we the taxpayers money.We have identified trees from a nursery, Select Trees, in Athens, Georgia, with a special five year warranty on those trees, that meet our landscape plans for both Miller and Westside Business Park. As we discussed in our last board meeting, there is some cost savings available to us, and the ability for us to select trees now and hold them if we make a deposit.
But isn’t VLCIA supposed to be promoting local business and agriculture? Why is our Industrial Authority outsourcing to a company halfway across the state? Why doesn’t it buy locally, even if it costs a little more?
For that matter, aren’t there plenty of local trees, like sycamores, magnolias, and even longleaf pines that would cost very little to transplant to a local business park? Maybe those are the types of trees they’re buying. We don’t know, because only the board got the list of trees.
For that matter, why didn’t VLCIA put out a public request for bids for the trees?
Here’s the video:
Why doesn’t VLCIA buy locally?
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,
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 17 January 2012.
Videos by John S. Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.
-jsq
They sure did talk about
Miller Business Park
a lot.
Here’s the agenda.
Here’s a playlist:
Videos: Regular Session @ VLCIA 2012 01 17
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,
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 17 January 2012.
Videos by John S. Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.
-jsq
According to what Col. Ricketts said at their most recent regular meeting,
apparently what VLCIA is accepting bids for today is Phase 2, not Phase 1,
of Infrastructure for Westside Business Park.
I still give them credit for at least
posting an announcement of today’s meeting on their website.
The red rectangle indicates the area of clearing and grading
for Phase 1 Infrastructure for Westside Business Park.
Col. Ricketts said that had already been completed.
This is all on Belleville Road near Lake Park.
They had already asked for bids for Phase 2, which is for an internal roadway, storm water and sewer, lighting, paving, etc.
They called for bids on the 24th, so the special called meeting of today (27th) is presumably to accept a final bid for Phase 2.
Here’s the video:
Video: Infrastructure, Westside Business Park @ VLCIA 2012 01 17
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,
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 17 January 2012.
Videos by John S. Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.
-jsq
Notice of a Special Called Meeting of the Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority for the purpose of reviewing bids and awarding a contract for Westside Business Park Phase I Infrastructure Project on Friday, January 27, 2012, 12 Noon at the Authority offices, 2110 N. Patterson St. 229-259-9972.That’s not a link in the middle; they underlined the date and time. Soon, maybe they will discover italics!
Here’s a picture from when they discussed this item at their most recent regular meeting:
Update 12:20 PM 2012 01 27: And here is
video of Col. Ricketts at that 17th January 2012 Regular Session, saying Phase 1 had already been completed and they
had asked for bids for Phase 2. So Phase 2 is presumably what they’re accepting bids for right now. I still give them credit for posting a notice of today’s special called meeting on their website. -jsq
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,
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 17 January 2012.
Picture by John S. Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.
-jsq
In a refreshing changes from “jobs, jobs, jobs” as everything,
Andrea Schruijer,
Executive Director of the Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority (VLCIA),
told the Lowndes County Democratic Party meeting, 5 December 2011,
that it wasn’t her job to create jobs, jobs, jobs; it was her job
to create an environment that let jobs be created.
Towards that end, she announced several new jobs at VLCIA,
including a PR and marketing position.
VLCIA Chairman Roy Copeland also spoke and helped answer questions
from the audience, including about
wages,
workers, and
green industries.
Perhaps not shown is her answer to my question about what does VLCIA do to promote new local industry. I believe she said VLCIA looks to the Chamber of Commerce for incubation, and helps once local businesses are established.
Here’s a playlist:
My job: create environment for jobs —Andrea Schruijer of VLCIA @ LCDP 5 Dec 2011
Andrea Schruijer Executive Director of VLCIA,
Monthly Meeting, Lowndes County Democratic Party (LCDP),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 5 December 2011.
Videos by John S. Quarterman.
-jsq
Hannah Solar installing solar panels at Okra Paradise Farms;
Pictures by John S. Quarterman, 20 December 2011.
Actually, you may not want to try this at home, unless your panels have strong steel supports like these. Still, most solar panels are very sturdy.
More later on what’s going on here.
-jsq
Since we posted the
Reapportionment maps
obtained Tuesday evening,
the county has posted PDF versions
of this same information on their own website.
Copies are
on the LAKE website and appended
below.
I’ve added HTML tables of the statistics.
-jsq