-jsq“Venture Beat reports that a study (PDF) by Berkeley National Labs has found that homes sold in California earned a premium for solar panels. The benefit ranged from $3900 to $6400 per kW of capacity. An earlier study found that proximity to solar or wind power may also raise home values.
PS: Hats off to Cheryl Ann Fillekes for this one.
Continue readingI was at the last LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS MEETING when Chairman Ashley Paulk shared information about the Biomass Project extension being denied and the alleged secrecy surrounding keeping the general public ignorant.
“Because certain people won’t share with you and I think it’s unfair. We were approached about three weeks ago, Mr. (Joe) Pritchard (County Manager) was, by the Industrial Authority, and we were tentatively asked to make a move to ask that they not extend the contract.” (Chairman Paulk!)Chairman Paulk words prove that there is an apparent pattern and practice
The member who hardly ever speaks at board meetings makes a strong case for openness.
Tom Call called me back about the biomass plant, and we talked about a number of other matters. He remarked that he was not an appointed spokesperson for the Industrial Authority, so this is just him talking.
I asked him about Ashley Paulk’s remarks in the 26 April 2011 Lowndes County Commission meeting. Tom Call said VLCIA was not standing behind any other body, and he clarified what had happened.
He said the biomass plant had been brought to the Industrial Authority by Continue reading
Roy Copeland referred me to VLCIA Chairman Jerry Jennett
for an update about the present status of the biomass plant.
He also had many good things to say about the activism in the community, including this:
Because people in the community are concerned, that makes us better. And sometimes there are good things that come out of disagreement.This opinion is not new from him: he told me many of the same positive things about activism months ago after a VLCIA board meeting. We discussed that there were other things VLCIA does that were worth supporting.
He also said he is in favor of putting the minutes online, Continue reading
He said that Jerry Jennett took the biomass vote off the agenda at last Industrial Authority meeting (April 19) even though Mary Gooding and Roy Copeland wanted the vote to be taken ( a vote that was to oppose an extension of the biomass contract since the biomass incinerator had not met timeline benchmarks like having a buyer, etc). He said that Allan Ricketts, Industrial Authority attorney Steve Gupton, and Jerry Jennett went up to Atlanta to meet with Wiregrass officials and that’s when he (Chairman Paulk) got a call telling him all this and he said he wouldn’t keep quiet about it. He said the three men asked Wiregrass LLC officials to rescind their letter asking VLCIA for an extension on their contract and to substitute a new letter saying they were withdrawing their request for extension (or not going forward to ask for extension).This is in addition to what you can see him on video saying during the meeting. More after this picture of the cast of characters: Continue reading
At the Lowndes County Commission meeting last night, Chairman Paulk discussed the biomass plant with Dr. Noll, and said:
There’s more in the video.Certain people won’t share it with you, and I don’t think it’s fair.
We were approached … almost three weeks ago by the Industrial Authority and we were asked to … ask them not to extend the contract. Well, it’s not our contract; we could do that, but … we didn’t.
And then last week the Tuesday of their meeting, I received a call … on my way back fromm Atlanta and they had gone up there to talk to Wiregrass Power, because they’d written a letter asking for an extension.
My understanding was that they asked Wiregrass to write another letter to remove that extension request.
These are things, I think should be public knowledge.
Regular meeting of the Lowndes County Commission, Lowndes County, Georgia, 26 April 2011
Video by Alex Rowell for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.
He told me several weeks ago about the commission being asked to vote not to extend. Continue reading
Georgia passes anti-immigrant law that benefits private prison companies.
Seth Freed Wessler wrote 15 April 2011, Welcome to the Wild, Wild South: Georgia Passes SB 1070 Copycat Bill
Many worry about the financial costs of the bill. Though these are surely not the greatest concerns for immigrant communities who would be most impacted if Georgia’s bill is enacted, many business groups are anxious. A national boycott of Arizona cost the state an estimated $250 million in lost taxes, tourism and other revenue, according to the Center for American Progress.Most states that have had this bill introduced have had the good sense to get rid of it. Continue readingEven before the Georgia bill passed, a group of organizations across the country threatened to wage a boycott of the state of Georgia if it enacts the legislation.
Financing is the biggest hurdle I hear local people cite
as stopping them from going solar.
There are companies that lower that hurdle.
Like SolarCity in California and Oregon, Mosaic, also in California, handles financing. Mosaic has some interesting additional community wrinkles. No, not just their heavy use of facebook and other social networking. Also this:
Together we all go solar. from Solar Mosaic on Vimeo.
Also ways for individuals and groups to buy into panels Continue reading
Found on IEDC for 18 April 2011 and also on SEDC with no date, this job posting:
Executive Director, Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority (Valdosta, GA)Digging around on cb-asso.com finds this detailed job description. It’s four GIF images (copies here) of a VLCIA logo and three pages of a four-page flyer.
A very exciting opportunity with a successful industrial authority with numerous assets.
Greater Valdosta is the business, cultural, educational, medical, leisure, and retail hub for thirteen South Georgia and North Florida counties and more than 1.2 million citizens. Valdosta and Lowndes County are quickly becoming the fastest growing area in Georgia and are home to Moody Air Force Base; two Regional Medical Centers; and Valdosta State University, a regional university with over 13,000 students.
Starting salary $100,000 to $125,000, DOQ.
See cb-asso.com for a complete Position Profile.
The Authority’s website is www.industrialauthority.com
Brief excerpts: Continue reading
Downtown Valdosta Farm Days begin two weeks from tomorrow:
Bringing the best of the country to the heart of the City!There’s a calendar on their website, along with how to become a vendor.Downtown Valdosta Farm Days is a bi-weekly farmers’ market featuring local farmers and artisans and also serves to educate the community about eating local, nutrition and food choices.
Downtown Farmers Market
First and Third Saturdays from May to September
9:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m.
Lowndes County Courthouse Square, Downtown Valdosta
More on this story as it develops.
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