Perusing the
Community Assessment for Lowndes County
sponsored by Georgia Power and prepared by Janus Economics
for the Industrial Authority, I noticed on page 28 under Recommendations:
There is a plan for a public transportation system
in Valdosta-Lowndes
County but it currently lacks funding for implementation. Under current
budget constraints it will be difficult to implement such a project,
but businesses in the industrial parks and outlying areas may want to
implement a limited transportation system if they discover that employee
attendance is an issue.
Video of the open forum Tuesday night at Lowndes High School
where the Lowndes County Board of Education thoroughly addressed
new evidence found by both them and CUEE.
Partly through the information they presented at
their previous forum of 4 October,
they provoked dialog with CUEE in the form of several email
messages from consolidation proponents distributed by the Chamber of Commerce.
At Tuesday’s forum the Lowndes board and staff took CUEE’s messages
as questions, looked up the answers (for example, how much did
taxes rise in places where there was school consolidation recently?)
and worked the result into their own computations.
The general answer is still that consolidation wouldn’t improve
education and would raise property taxes to near the state-mandated
cap, yet that wouldn’t be enough to preserve all the existing
school programs, and teachers and staff would also have to be
let go.
So the Lowndes Board and the Valdosta board
(several VBOE members plus Supt. Cason were present, and one repeated point was
that the two school boards and staff talk to each other all the time)
used CUEE’s questions to improve the case
against consolidation while promoting community dialog.
They even managed to criticize specific named individuals
for specific messages
Continue reading →
Update 3:45 PM 3 November 2011: Better transcript and pictures. See also what happened after the meeting.
Dr. Michael Noll, longtime opponent of the Industrial Authority’s formerly
proposed biomass plant, asked that same board at their most recent meeting:
What can we do as a community to better cooperate, to better communicate?
What can we do as a community to better cooperate? –Dr. Noll
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, 18 October 2011.
Videos by John S. Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.
Dr. Noll sent an edited transcript removing some of the repetition
to clarify what he was trying to say:
Continue reading →
Most of the cost of a corporate or personal renewable energy installation
can be funded through federal and state rebates, but the remainder
is what stops most people. Here is what I know about that.
There are many other sources of information.
Federal 30% and Georgia 35% rebates add up to 65% (see below under
DSIRE).
That’s for solar (PV or hot water), wind, and some other related items.
The other 35% is what stops most businesses and people.
35% of a $25,000 house solar system is still $8,750.
People like that it will pay itself off in 9-15 years,
but most people don’t have $8,750 to invest.
That’s a business opportunity for some enterprising local bank or banks.
As
Dr. Noll has explained,
if you pay for that remainder yourself,
the system will pay itself off in about 9 years.
If you get a bank to finance it, more like 15 years.
And local banks currently require collateral other than the system itself
(they like real estate as collateral).
The simplest business opportunity is for a local bank to accept
the solar equipment itself as collateral.
After all, it’s worth 65/35 or 185% of the total loan amount.
Weigh-In at the Hog Show
agriculture, hogs, pigs,
34th Annual Lowndes Area Market Show and Sale, 4H + FFA (Hog Show),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 31 October 2011.
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.
One hundred-thirty youngsters from Echols, Lanier, and Lowndes
counties are registered to exhibit their hogs in the 34th Annual
Lowndes Area Market Show and Sale, to be held on Tuesday, November 1st.
These elementary, middle, and high school students are members of either
local 4H or FFA organizations.
The Show will be held at the Lowndes County Civic Center, with judging
of weight divisions beginning at 5:00 PM. Hogs will be judged according
to market standards for providing the best pork possible. Showmanship
classes will follow, where the students will be evaluated for their
success in exhibiting their animal.
Update 12:55 3 Nov 2011:LCBOE’s own video of their 1 November open forum on Financial Issues of Consolidation is now available on YouTube.
Apparently there are still many people out there who don’t know much
about school consolidation.
A quick yet comprehensive way to find out is to read the
Grassroots Handbook Against School Consolidation
by David Mullis.
See also the statements against consolidation by
both school boards.
Many citizens spoke at the
29 August 2011 VBOE meeting
where all but one Valdosta School Board member
voted for the statement against consolidation.
VBOE then held three open forums:
Continue reading →
This was the first of three forums on school consolidation
hosted by the Valdosta Board of Education.
It was at Valdosta High School on 8 September 2011.
VBOE School Consolidation Forum @ VHS 8 September 2011
education, schools, referendum, consolidation, unification,
Forum at Valdosta High School, Valdosta Board of Education (VBOE),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 9 September 2011.
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.
Commissioner Crawford Powell wanted exemptions or exceptions
to Lowndes County’s travel policy for
“department heads, elected officials, County Manager”.
Commissioner Richard Raines just wanted the limits raised.
Commissioner Joyce Evans preferred they
…make a statement that we should not exceed a certain amount per day.
Chairman Ashley Paulk said exceptions were a problem and indicated they
would be a bad idea.
Powell and Raines are the same Commissioners who thought accepting a
federal grant for NOAA Weather Radios would be “wasteful spending”
of tax dollars and who refused a federal grant for an emergency vehicle.
Spending local taxes seems fine with then when it comes to their travel expenses.
They finally adopted a total of $75/day for meals.
I hate to agree with Frank Barnas, but
GSA standard for trips to Atlanta is $56/day.
At the Monday 24 October 2011 County Commission Work Session,
County Manager Pritchard said the county’s travel policy had been discussed
during their retreat and during budget preparations,
with changes for mileage reimbursement, meal limitations, and use of tax forms.
.
This is the policy we have been acting under since the adoption of the budget.
I just wanted to bring it back before you to make this adoption public.
Joyce Evans expressed a concern about it saying the County Manager or his
designee could approve expenses.
She seemed to want the designee part removed.
Here are videos of the entire Open Forum on education
held by the Valdosta
Board of Education at JL Lomax Elementary School 25 October 2011.
This forum was advertised starting
29 August 2011, almost two months in advance, and was
the third of three forums held by VBOE.
As I asked back back on 1 September,
Where was CUEE at the school board meetings?
One or two showed up at each of the VBOE forums.
Where were the rest of them?
in Valdosta-Lowndes County but it currently lacks funding for implementation. Under current budget constraints it will be difficult to implement such a project, but businesses in the industrial parks and outlying areas may want to implement a limited transportation system if they discover that employee attendance is an issue.
