Tag Archives: Remerton

Kickoff speeches @ SPLOST 2012-09-28

Apparently WCTV’s “at the South Georgia Medical Center Parking Garage”> meant actually in the nearby parking lot, because that’s where we found some city and county employees and a few volunteers standing in the shade of a Valdosta Police van. An invocation and six speeches from five speakers ensued, all in support of SPLOST VII, the Special Local Option Sales Tax on the November ballot. Several of the speakers were not so positive off the podium about the library and auditorium projects, and nobody from the library board spoke.

Here are videos of all of the speeches.

Also the VDT was there, and Jason Schaefer wrote for the VDT yesterday, Committee kicks off SPLOST campaign,

The major theme of the event was a firm reminder that SPLOST VII is not a new tax, just a continuation of a penny sales tax that has been in place since 1987.

Fair enough. However, Sam Allen’s second talk summed up what’s wrong with SPLOST VII: Continue reading →

SPLOST VII project totals don’t match

It would be easier for people to vote for SPLOST VII if they knew what they were getting. So far, that’s difficult to tell from what’s been published. Many questions remain to be answered.

We’ve already seen the WCTV story that quotes a total of $35 million for SPLOST VII. And Jason Schaefer wrote for the VDT 5 August 2012, SPLOST project list released: Renewed sales tax would build library, auditorium

The county projects penny sales tax collections through SPLOST VII to total at least $150 million during a six-year period, a sum that could fund a library complex, an auditorium, the installation of a mandated public safety radio system, an array of municipal water and sewage improvements, new equipment for police officers and firefighters, and road maintenance projects.

There is not adequate funding for these projects if the SPLOST referendum does not pass, according to city and county planners.

$150 million is not $35 million. $150 million divided by six is $25 million, not $35 million.

The mystery deepens.

Continue reading →

Yes VDT, but —Save Strickland Mill

On facebook, Save Strickland Mill just posted a critique of certain parts of the VDT’s writeup on the Remerton City Council’s Strickland Mill vote. -jsq

Valdosta Daily Times, September 12, 2012
Mill to come down: Buildings to be razed, historic tower to remain
by Quinten Plummer

VALDOSTA — The iconic smoke stack will still tower over the City of Remerton, according to local officials, but the majority of the historic Remerton Mill complex will be demolished and converted into a park after the City Council gave the mill’s owners the go-ahead for demolition during Monday evening’s regular session.

This is not a factual statement: the city council’s motion is as follows: Councilman Bill Wetherington made the following motion which was unanimously voted in by the council members present that night (note that councilman Sam Flemming was not in attendance)

“I move to approve the certificate of appropriateness 2012-04 for 1853 W. Gordon to be issued and effective as of October 25th 2012 for a period of one year from that date with the condition that the cotton mill smokestack remains intact and shall continue to remain intact in accordance with title 18 of the code of City of Remerton.”

The mill’s ownership group simply wants relief from its obligations to the property, and Remerton Mayor Cornelius Holsendolph said the restoration of the mill is just too large of a project for a city of Remerton’s size.

That is the reason why

Continue reading →

Citizens plead for Strickland Mill, then a surprise offer @ RCC 2012-09-10

Haley Hyatt videoed yesterday’s Remerton City Council decision about Strickland Mill. Citizens pled, unsuccessfully, for it to be saved. Then the owners made a surprise offer.

Here’s Part 1 of 3:

The final plea was made by Celine H. Gladwin.

Continue reading →

Remerton City Council votes today @ RCC 2012-09-10

Strickland Mill For Sale Tonight the Remerton City Council votes on the old Strickland Mill at 1853 West Gordon Street, same item as discussed 4 June 2012 and postponed 11 June 2012. Also, Remerton doesn’t play mysterious about the Haven. All that plus signs, water, and alcohol.

I will be there for about half an hour, after which I have to go video something else. Could someone else video the rest of tonight’s Remerton City Council meeting?

City Clerk Rachel Tate Here’s the agenda, which for some reason (I’m guessing City Clerk Rachel Tate not being available) is a scan instead of a text-extractable PDF. I’ve transcribed it below this time.

CITY OF REMERTON
REGULAR SESSION AGENDA
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2012
COUNCIL CHAMBERS
5:30 PM

Continue reading →

Who are the owners of the Remerton Mill?

Somebody asked:

Who are the owners of the Remerton Mill?
Remerton Mill Map by Lowndes County Tax Assessor database It’s not a secret; some of them are usually at the Remerton City Council meetings that discuss the mill.

According to the Lowndes County Tax Assessor’s database, the owner of the property at 1853 W Gordon Street (aka Old Mill Site) is Remerton Mills, LLC. According to Georgia Secretary of State’s corporation database, the registered agent is Joseph H. Tillman, Sr., its articles were filed by Barry Chapman, and the LLC’s management consists of Richard J. Nijem, Joseph H. Tillman, Sr., Jesse L. Maranville, J. Glenn Gregory, and Eric M. Tillman.

According to the Tax Assessor’s Database, the adjoining property at 1415 Baytree Road is owned by Richard J. Nijem, Jesse L. Maranville, Eric M. Tillman, Joseph H. Tillman, and J. Glenn Gregory: the same people as Remerton Mill, LLC.

-jsq

Save the Remerton Mill! —Ransom Gladwin

LTE in the VDT yesterday. -jsq

Part of my teaching load as a professor consists of supervising student teachers at schools throughout Valdosta State University’s 46-county service area. I have traveled many South Georgia back roads. What was once a charming rural landscape of unique little towns has slowly morphed into sameness. Chain-brand retail stores, fast food, and gas stations are interrupted by strip malls and storage units. The region’s character has receded in the face of nationalization and globalization. However, historical features, be they a restored courthouse or a crumbling tobacco barn, light this bleakness. They give character, history, and pride to communities. One such structure is Remerton’s Strickland Mill, now in danger of complete destruction.

As a member of the Save the Strickland Mill Committee of the Valdosta Heritage Foundation, we recently toured the mill, with the approval of the owners and accompanied by Remerton officials. The original mill is structurally solid. The 1899 structure reflects

Continue reading →

LOST Lawsuits Ahead?

Looks like history may repeat itself like last decade, now that LOST negotiations between the cities and the county have failed. Except this time apparently the law has changed so they can’t sue each other directly. Gretchen on LOST Instead next it goes to Superior Court “baseball arbitration”. However, I bet that still involves lawyers at taxpayer expense, not to mention the Court’s time.

Greg Gullberg reported for WCTV yesterday, Tax Negotiations Hit Another Dead End In Lowndes County, and asked Gretchen down at the County Extension, who said,

It’s sort of sad because it is a waste, if you will, of taxpayer dollars. That the elected officials can’t get together and come to some agreement to say that they all understand how the money has to be divided up Yeah, it’s sad that more money has to go to lawyers insted of being spent on services.

I continue to think the local governments could spend their time together better trying to increase the size of the pie instead of squabbling over slices of it.

-jsq

“It’s almost like they are out to take advantage of the rubes,” —an economist

Do big box stores count as development? Are they worth millions in tax incentives and bond investments? Maybe we can find something better for local industry and jobs.

Rumors have been flying for years about a Bass Pro store coming to Valdosta, like this one on a Georgia Outdoor News forum:

01-22-2008, 09:05 PM, bear-229
ive heard the land has been bought. very close to the new toyota lot but it has not made it to the “new locations” on the web site

That’s on James Road, in that huge proposed development that Lowndes County approved around that time.

Scott Reeder wrote for The Atlantic 13 August 2012, Why Have So Many Cities and Towns Given Away So Much Money to Bass Pro Shops and Cabela’s?,

Both Bass Pro Shops and its archrival, Cabela’s, sell hunting and fishing gear in cathedral-like stores featuring taxidermied wildlife, gigantic fresh-water aquarium exhibits and elaborate outdoor reproductions within the stores. The stores are billed as job generators by both companies when they are fishing for development dollars. But the firms’ economic benefits are minimal and costs to taxpayers are great.

An exhaustive investigation conducted by the Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity found that the two competing firms together have received or are promised more than $2.2 billion from American taxpayers over the past 15 years.

Where does all that money come from? Bonds, usually. Which is yet another reason why last legislature’s HB 475 to give unelected bodies bond issuing privatizing power would be a bad idea.

What does all that money go for?

Continue reading →

Results so far in contested Lowndes County Commission primaries, 7:45 PM 2012–07-31

It’s not over ’till it’s over, but so far, here’s what the Secretary of State election results page shows 45 minutes after poll closing time on this primary election day:

Results from GA Secretary of State

Results from GA Secretary of State
Screenshot by John S. Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE), Lowndes County, Georgia, 31 July 2012.

Allen Lane and Demarcus Marshall are neck and neck for District 4 (East) for Lowndes County Commission in the Democratic primary, while John Gates is ahead of Jamew Warren III in the Republican primary.

For District 5 (West), Jody Hall is ahead, followed by John Page in the Republican primary, and it looks like they’ll be in a runoff.

-jsq