Tag Archives: VLCIA

Dublin ahead of us again: solar street lights

Dublin, Georgia already got MAGE Solar and car part manufacturer Erdrich Umformtechnik. Now Dublin is ahead of us again, with solar street lights.

Austin Lewis wrote for 13WMAZ yesterday, Dublin Sets Up Solar Street Lights,

Dublin has started putting up Solar street lights on South Jefferson near the city's downtown. This project got federal funding from the federal government administered by the Georgia's Department of Transportation.

And grant supported! If anybody around here had applied, maybe we would have gotten such a grant.

Instead, it's another first for Dublin:

"This is the first transportation corridor that has solar lighting in the state of Georgia so it's just very exciting for us, first to have a solar industry in Dublin, now to have the first state roadway lit by solar lighting," said Tim Lake, of T. Lake Environmental Design.

Bragging rights and practical, too:

Lake said the cost of these street lights is about $11,000 and that the standard street lights cost just over $7,600. But the typical street light have other costs like a leasing fee and monthly energy costs that go to the electric company.

He said because the solar street lights are powered by the sun, they will end up saving taxpayers about $500 dollars a month or $15 per street lamp.

"The first is return on investment happens very quickly, 3.7 months for the city to get a return on investment on these lamps," said Lake.

All that plus this:

The solar panels were also made in Dublin by MAGE Solar. Lake said this was a truly collaborative project.

Collaboration. Maybe our Industrial Authority should try it.

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Video Playlist @ VLCIA 2012-05-22

The first 100% VSEB contract, local industry expansion, new prospects, a bank lost a bond, and new Georgia sunshine laws require attention. Here are videos of the entire 22 May 2012 meeting of the Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority (VLCIA) board. Here’s the agenda.

Guests included a camera crew from VSU, one of whom was Cameron Copeland, Chairman Roy Copeland’s son.

CPA Tom Davis said the county told him revenues were flat, so VLCIA would get about the same amount as last year. Tom Call asked if revenues would catch up over 6 months or 8 months. Call said they would eventually.

Tom Call reported for the budget committee and said expenses were projected to be down for the coming year, plus the budget would be more specific about where revenues were being spent.

Meghan Duke reported they had gotten an article in the newspaper, and they had held an OSHA training meeting at Wiregrass Tech. They plan to hold further courses and will send out a survey about that. She also expected updates to the land-searching Valdosta Prospector website to be ready in a few weeks. She and Andrea Schruijer had selected 3 finalists out of 10 proposals to redo the VLCIA website. Her only stated criterion for picking one was

“I just have to go with my gut.”

Website completion had been scheduled for September, but had been deferred. Roy Copeland wanted to know when. Continue reading →

New Georgia sunshine laws explained by VLCIA lawyer @ VLCIA 2012-05-22

New Georgia sunshine law explained by VLCIA attorney J. Stephen Gupton. Some highlights include:

  • Open meetings now include any time a quorum discusses business,
  • even if there was no scheduled meeting.
  • Committees now fall under open meetings.
  • Executive sessions have specific requirements.
  • Increased penalties from $500 to $100 for violating open meetings, plus potential criminal penalties up to $2,500.
  • A custodian of records needs to be appointed so people will know who is responsbile for satisfying open records requests.

Here’s the video:

New Georgia sunshine laws explained by VLCIA lawyer
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, Tom Davis, CPA, Lu Williams, Operations Manager, S. Meghan Duke, Public Relations & Marketing Manager,
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 22 May 2012.
Video by John S. Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE).

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Internet speed and access —John S. Quarterman @ LCC 2012-05-08

At a recent Lowndes County Commission meeting, I said:

I was interested to learn two weeks ago that my neighbor Timothy Nessmith was interested in getting DSL on Hambrick Road.

He said you can get it as close to him as Quarterman Road. I can attest to that because I have 3 megabit per second DSL, due to being just close enough to Bellsouth’s DSL box on Cat Creek Road, but most of Quarterman Road can’t get DSL due to distance. There are some other land-line possibilties, involving cables in the ground or wires on poles.

Then there are wireless possibilities, including EVDO, available from Verizon, with 750 kilobit per second (0.75 Mbps) wide area access from cell phone towers.

Verizon’s towers could also be used for WIFI antennas, for up to 8 Mbps Internet access, over a wide scale.

Then there’s metropolitan-area Internet. Chattanooga has the fastest such network, with 1 Gbps (1,000 Mbps). But hundreds of communities around the country have such networks, including (continued after the video)…

Internet speed and access —John S. Quarterman
Regular Session, Lowndes County Commission (LCC),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 8 May 2012.
Video by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE).

…Lafayette, Louisiana, Bowling Green, Kentucky, Lagrange, Georgia, and Thomasville, Georgia. They use it for public safety, education (Wiregrass Tech, VSU), and

It attracts new industry. If you want knowledge-based industry, they’re going to be expecting Internet access not just at work, but at home, whereever they live.

Other uses include Continue reading →

VLCIA Focus Group meeting 20 June 2012

Today I received an invitation from the Industrial Authority to attend a focus group interview for input to their Competitive Assessment and their Economic Development Strategy. So, dear readers, what do you think I should say to them? Don’t worry; I have some ideas already, but I’m all ears for more.

You may recall VLCIA has been put out an RFP early this year for an organization to do a Strategic Plan process. They selected Market Street Services of Atlanta, and they said in April they were preparing to do focus groups. Now apparently they’ve sent out invitation letters for a focus group on 20 June 2012. I have no idea who else they have invited; I was rather surprised to find they invited me.

What would you say to them?

Invitation from Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority (VLCIA)
to a focus group interview 20 June 2012
Wiregrass Georgia Technical College, Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 1 June 2012.
Scanned by John S. Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE).

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Why did old US 41 N increase from $8 M to $12 M? —John S. Quarterman @ SGRC 2011-09-19

I asked why the Old US 41 North widening project changed from $8 million on the unconstrained list to $12 million on the constrained list, an increase of $4 million or 50% when the description did not change? The answer indicates GDOT and local governments want to drive development north in the county, leaving pedestrians and bicyclists stranded yet having to pay.

Corey Hull responded:

Halfway through we received new cost estimates….

GDOT did the cost estimates, in cooperation with the local government that was responsible for that.

A state employee told me after the meeting that GDOT raised some estimates because it thought the local government, in this case the Lowndes County Commission and staff, didn’t put in enough to cover the project. I don’t know whether GDOT was figuring by Atlanta costs or not…. At least the cost didn’t go up further in the final project list; I just checked and it’s still $12 million.

Corey elaborated that some projects increased and some decreased. I asked him which ones did which. He said he’d have to go back and compare. Later he helped me produce a list of comparisons of costs of Lowndes County projects, which shows that one went down by 30% and three went up by 50% or more. One, RC11-000099 St. Augustine at Norman Intersection Improvements, went up by 131.5%.

That $12 million for widening less than 3 miles of one road is more than one item that was in the unconstrained list but cut from the constrained list: $7.5 million for a bus system, with three bus lines that would connect Wiregrass Tech, Five Points, Downtown, Moody, East Side, South Side, West Side, and the Mall. A bus system recommended by the Industrial Authority’s Community Assessment to aid in employee attendance, industry recruitment, and workforce.

You could probably even start up a substantial commuter rail system using existing freight line tracks for less than $12 million. Even though GDOT apparently only believes in roads and bridges, busses and trains are actually more cost-effective, especially for lower-income people. The same lower-income people who will be disproportionately taxed by T-SPLOST as a percentage of their income.

Instead, the description for the Old US 41 North project admits the county is driving Continue reading →

“Industrial”: Positive or Negative? Videos @ VLCIA 2012-04-17

Market study advisory panel forming up! Chairman Roy Copeland asked whether “Industrial” in VLCIA’s name is positive or negative for PR? Executive Director Andrea Schruijer made sure to announce a date change for a board meeting a month in advance. All that and much more!

Here are videos of the entire 17 April 2012 regular meeting of the Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority (VLCIA). Here’s the agenda.

VLCIA Executive Director Andrea Schruijer said they had shown contractor Market Street Services the area so they could go back and start working up data for a market study. In May an advisory panel of 10-13 individuals plus focus groups will meet with Market Street.

They went to the Industrial Asset Management Council (IAMC) spring forum in Austin, Texas, and they moved their May meeting a week later than usual.

New PR and Marketing person S. Meghan Duke gave an update on her area. Chairman Roy Copeland flustered her by asking whether the word “industrial” in VLCIA’s name reflected positively or negatively? She fell back on saying they were doing a survey towards a unique identity.

I’ll answer: as long as VLCIA includes as “industry” boondoggles like a health-threatening biomass plant and a job-destroying private prison, why yes, “industrial” reflects negatively on VLCIA. But a mere name change through a D.B.A. won’t fix that problem. Only a change in behavior will fix that problem. Changes such as doing some due diligence so they know when a private prison company is playing them along by saying they’re the primary site. Changes such as weighing the community’s health when considering potential jobs. And especially changes such as listening to people outside the VLCIA and Chamber bubble when others do useful and important research. The community can be an asset for VLCIA, providing research and contacts VLCIA either does not have the resources to do or might not think of to do, if VLCIA will listen to the community.

There’s more in the videos. Gretchen took these videos, as Chairman Roy Copeland welcomed guests, “even those with cameras.” Here’s a video playlist:

Videos
Regular Meeting, Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority (VLCIA),
Norman Bennett, Tom Call, Roy Copeland chairman, Mary Gooding, Jerry Jennett,
Tom Davis CPA, Allan Ricketts Project Manager,
S. Meghan Duke Public Relations & Marketing Manager, Lu Williams Operations Manager,
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 17 April 2012.
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE).

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Industrial Authority next Tuesday @ VLCIA 2012-05-22

VLCIA has announced a meeting date change (to next Tuesday) in multiple places, and has already posted an agenda!

According to their facebook site and meetings webpage:

Notice: The Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority Regular Meeting has been rescheduled for the month of May. The meeting date will be Tuesday, May 22, 2011, 5:30 P.M. in the Industrial Authority Conference Room.

That’s at 2110 N. Patterson Street, Valdosta, GA.

Their facebook page has a new logo on it (shown on the right above). Also this snazzy cover image:

Both the new logo and the cover image are legible (unlike their old swoosh logo, still on their website, and seen to the right here). And the cover image has useful information, like what VLCIA is about and how to reach them!

However, I note that of those

3 THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT VALDOSTA BUSINESS
  1. Major Transportation Network
  2. Competitive Incentives
  3. Pro-Business Attitude

none of them is clean solar energy or fast Internet access. (Also, why are they SHOUTING?)

Here’s the agenda, which is back to their old content-free style. They don’t even say what the executive session is for. (Is it legal for them not to say?)

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Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority
Agenda
Tuesday, May 22, 2012 5:30 p.m.
Industrial Authority Conference Room
2110 N. Patterson Street
Continue reading →

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).

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100 broadband municipal networks: where’s ours?

Instead of arbitrating a fixed-size LOST pie, what if Lowndes County and the local cities worked on increasing the size of the pie through broadband? It’s not just Chattanooga, 100 other municipalities have done it.

Christopher Mitchell wrote for Planetizen 30 April 2012, Should Your City Build Its Own Broadband Network?

Chattanooga is not alone; more than 100 cities and towns have built their own broadband networks. The city of Lafayette, Louisiana offers probably the best deal for broadband in the nation: ten megabits symmetrical for less than $30/month. For non-geek readers, it is actually faster than my home Comcast connection at less than half the price. The Institute for Local Self-Reliance has just released a new report detailing how Chattanooga and Lafayette built their networks.

Hm, Valdosta and Lowndes County don’t seem to be on that map. Yet. We don’t have to wait for VLCIA to organize this; there are other ways.

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