Lowndes County would be a T-SPLOST donor county: it would put more money into T-SPLOST than it would get back for projects.
Somebody (I think it was Robert Yost) asked whether Lowndes County would be a donor county for T-SPLOST. Corey Hull said yes, that was the case. Someone else noted:
Atkinson County that's been coming over here spending our money all these years, gets a little of it back.
And the smaller counties get penalized a lot more if they vote against T-SPLOST, because they depend much more on LMIG.
So T-SPLOST among other downsides is a scheme to pit smaller counties against larger ones in the T-SPLOST region.
Lowndes County donor county T-SPLOST Public Meeting, Southern Georgia Regional Commission (SGRC), Corey Hull, Nolen Cox, Gretchen Quarterman, Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 19 September 2011. Video by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE).
Corey Hull explained what the state of Georgia has in store for us if we vote down T-SPLOST:
If the voters do not approve the referendum, then all local governments must match their LMIG funds a rate of 30%. And then we have to wait 24 months to start the process over again. And when I say start the process over again, I mean start the process over to enact this tax.
Nolen Cox, Chairman of the Lowndes County Republican Party (LCRP), remarked:
Is that commonly called a stick?
Gretchen Quarterman, Chairman of the Lowndes County Democratic Party (LCDP), observed:
It looks like a baseball bat.
Now I doubt either were speaking in an official capacity, but I know from talking to them that both individuals oppose this tax, and I'm pretty sure most people in their local parties do, too.
T-SPLOST: stick or baseball bat?
T-SPLOST Public Meeting, Southern Georgia Regional Commission (SGRC), Corey Hull, Nolen Cox, Gretchen Quarterman, Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 19 September 2011. Video by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE).
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
Major Transportation Network
Competitive Incentives
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?)
-jsq
Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority Agenda Tuesday, May 22, 2012 5:30 p.m. Industrial Authority Conference Room 2110 N. Patterson Street
Here's some hard evidence of
FERC Chairman Jon Wellinghoff's assertion back in 2009
that baseload is outdated, we don't need any new nukes or coal,
because we can get all the new power we need from sun and wind.
This study from North Carolina goes further:
we don't need coal or nukes at all.
Takoma Park, Maryland, and Durham, North Carolina, March 4, 2010:
Solar and wind power can supply the vast majority of North
Carolina's electricity needs, according to a major report released
today. Combined with generation from hydroelectric and other
renewable sources, such as landfill gas, only six percent of
electricity would have to be purchased from outside the system or
produced at conventional plants.
Hourly Power Generation and Load for a sample day in July
"Even though the wind does not blow nor the sun shine all the time,
careful management, readily available storage and other renewable
sources, can produce nearly all the electricity North Carolinians
consume," explained Dr. John Blackburn, the study's author. Dr.
Blackburn is Professor Emeritus of Economics and former Chancellor
at Duke University.
"Critics of renewable power point out that solar and wind sources
are intermittent," Dr. Blackburn continued. "The truth is that solar
and wind are complementary in North Carolina. Wind speeds are
usually higher at night than in the daytime. They also blow faster
in winter than summer. Solar generation, on the other hand, takes
place in the daytime. Sunlight is only half as strong in winter as
in summertime. Drawing wind power from different areas — the
coast, mountains, the sounds or the ocean — reduces variations
in generation. Using wind and solar in tandem is even more reliable.
Together, they can generate three-fourths of the state's
electricity. When hydroelectric and other renewable sources are
added, the gap to be filled is surprisingly small. Only six percent
of North Carolina's electricity would have to come from conventional
power plants or from other systems."
Six percent is a small number.
That means most coal plants could be shut down,
and no nukes are needed.
Oddly, the City of Valdosta doesn't seem to have such a map anywhere on its web pages, nor does the Valdosta-Lowndes County Parks and Recreation Authority (VLPRA).
Here are videos of the entire approximately eight minute 7 May 2012 Work Session of the Lowndes County Commission. They vote in Regular Session tonight at 5:30PM. Here's the agenda.
See other post about "5. Appointments - Lowndes County Development Authority".
Two weeks ago they decided to hold a public hearing about abandoning part of the Right of Way of old US 41 South, but this time it's on the agenda as a Resolution, and it appears part of the request has been withdrawn, and some people would be left landlocked with no access to a public road, so it seems the Resolution will be to table at least part of it to an undetermined future date. Yet the County Engineer seemed to reccomend going ahead with the rest of the abandonment. Where's the public hearing?
Two rezonings had no comments. The third, just north of Hahira, got opposition at the Planning Commission; see the other post on that.
On Saturday, May 12, 2012 the Valdosta Bike Co-op will host its first community ride on the Azalea City Trail. The ride will begin at the start of the trail near Vallotton Park and will finish at the end of the trail near the Craig Center. This will be a family-friendly ride and will keep a reasonable pace. The ride will begin at 1 PM following a brief bike safety lesson.
The ride will begin with a proclamation by a local leader of the City of Valdosta appointed by Mayor John Gayle. The proclamation will officially declare May as National Bike Month in the City of Valdosta. Riders will then follow the nearly 3 mile trail through beautiful Central Valdosta.
The goal of this ride is to promote the use of the bike and pedestrian trail as well as to promote National Bike Month. The members of the Valdosta Bike Co-op would like to invite the entire community to join us in the fun, healthy, and safe community ride.
Here are videos of the entire 11:11 minute 24 April 2012 Regular Session of the Lowndes County Commission. They time at 0:57 (before call to order; doesn't count), 0:42 (mostly dead air), 0:33 (invocation and pledge: not business), 0:29, 0:37, 0:40, 0:10, 0:46, 1:09, 0:46, 0:53, 1:22, 2:08, 1:30, and 0:08: eleven minutes and eleven seconds total. And that's including the invocation and pledge and the two citizens who spoke (3:38 for those last two). It would seem a good guess that the Commissioners and staff discussed more in the previous morning's work session, but not really; you can see for yourself.
A Commissioner asked a question! Before they accepted a bid for mowing Bemiss Road, Joyce Evans wanted an explanation of the timeframe of the cutting of the grass. Public Works Director Robin English wanted to know work time or response time? County Manager Joe Pritchard and somebody else simultaneously said "response time". Hm, how did they know that? In what open meeting was that question previously raised? Also, Pritchard demonstrated he could speak into the microphone and be heard when he wanted to. English clarified the response times quoted by the bidders, and Evans moved to go with the low bidder, which the Commissioners approved, unanimously as usual.
Videos, Regular Session Regular Session, Lowndes County Commission (LCC), Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 24 April 2012. Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE).
Here are videos of the entire ten and a half minute 23 April 2012 Work Session of the Lowndes County Commission. As you can see, these videos time at 1:01, 0:33, 0:44, 1:07, 1:45, 1:40, 0:33, 2:59, and 0:10, and that's with a camera that stops and starts almost instantaneously. Those times add up to 10 minutes and 32 seconds. Is that adequate discussion for the county's business?
Finance Director Stephanie Black said the county sent out an RFP for banking services to local banks. Three responded, and one was incomplete. The two complete bids were Regions Bank and SunTrust. Regions will waive charges with $6M balance; SunTrust will waive charges $2.8M balance.
On the FDIC charge, Regions will charge .135 per thousand dollars; SunTrust is waiving that.
She said that was currently about $3500 or $4500 per month. Commissioner Powell asked who they were currently using. Answer: Regions. There's more in the video, and there was a written report the Commissioners were looking at.
Apparently the county's own water isn't good enough for Commissioners and staff,
Please find attached a press release to announcing a public comment period for the Draft Transportation Improvement Program for the Valdosta-Lowndes Metropolitan Planning Organization.
The Transportation Improvement Program, or TIP, is the short-range plan approved by the VLMPO Policy Committee that allows federal funds to be spent on various transportation projects in the region. The projects are selected from the 2035 Transportation Plan that was adopted in September 2010. Projects in this year's draft TIP include: the construction of an overpass on West Hill Avenue, the widening of Forrest Street, from Park Avenue to Bemiss Road, and the purchase of right-of-way at several I-75 interchanges ahead of future construction activities.
VLMPO will be accepting comments by phone, email, or fax all the month of May.
The VLMPO staff will also host an Open House on May 22, 2012 from 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. at the Southern Georgia Regional Commission office located at 327 W. Savannah Ave. in Valdosta. Hull says, “VLMPO staff will be on hand to answer questions from the public about their transportation concerns. The open house format allows people to quickly get their questions answered without having to sit through a long meeting.”
the blog of LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange
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