And a City Council Retreat Presentation.
Valdosta-Lowndes Development AuthorityContinue reading
Tuesday, January 20, 2015 5:30 p.m.
Development Authority Conference Room
103 Roosevelt Drive
Monthly Meeting Agenda
Category Archives: Economy
Expanded agenda, VLDA appointment, jail, taxes, water @ LCC 2015-01-12
Whose terms are up and who’s being considered for
appointment (Teri Lupo for VLDA again),
who
bid and how much (including
showers and
roofing
for the jail),
and some detail about
two
tax
rates:
these are all big improvements to the agenda!
I do wonder where the agenda item for the Water Trail resolution is.
However, there’s room for improvement. Even though you get this same extended agenda when you select “packet” for download, it is not the complete board packet. For example, each agenda item has a one or more page agenda item form, and each proposed agreement or contract typically is include in the paper packets the Commissioners get. There are no rezoning cases on this agenda, but when there are, those always contain several maps in the board packet, and often other information. There’s an HTML version of the agenda, in addition to PDF: that’s another big improvement! The HTML code includes this at the end of each item:
<div class="documents"> </div>
So it looks like the website software the county is using is prepared to include such documents. Maybe the county will actually include them soon.
Here’s the agenda in HTML and in PDF on the county’s website, and I’ve also included it inline below. Continue reading
Solar boom charts
When a power source grows 66% a year on average people start taking notice. Few had heard of the Internet in 1993: now it’s in your pocket. In less than a decade, by 2023, solar power will generate more energy than any other U.S. source. To keep Georgia from being left behind, this is the year to change a 1973 law.
If charts like this one aren’t familiar yet, they will be in the next year or two:
Tim McDonnell, Mother Jones, 7 November 2014,
Here Comes the Sun: America’s Solar Boom, in Charts:
It’s been a bit player, but solar power is about to shine.
At 66% more per year, solar power’s current 1% of U.S. electricity next year will be 1.66%, then 2.76%, then Continue reading
Housing, paving, appointments, solar, packets, wells, pipeline, and trash! @ Town Hall Meeting 2014-12-15
Very respectable turnout and impressive interaction
at the first-ever Town Hall by an individual Lowndes County Commissioner:
Demarcus Marshall, Super District 4, 15 December 2014.
See and read his
State of District 4 address.
You can read his
summary of issues and concerns,
and you can watch citizens express those concerns in
the
LAKE video playlist: Continue reading
Topics and Highlights @ Town Hall Meeting 2014-12-15
“ There were overwhelming complaints about Advance Disposal Sanitation customer service.” Many other issues and concerns are listed in this text published by Demarcus Marshall (PDF) of feedback received and and LAKE videos of the Town Hall Meeting 5 December 2014. -jsq
Lowndes County Board of Commissioners
Commissioner Demarcus Marshall
Super District 4
Post Office Box 1349 ● Valdosta, Georgia 31603-1349 ● Phone (229) 671-2400 ● Fax (229) 245-522Super District 4 and Concerned Citizens,
I want to thank those who came to my Town Hall Meeting on December 15, 2014. It was a pleasure to hear from you. Your presence made the event a success and I look forward to another one in the near future. I have listed the “Topics and Highlights” addressed at the Town Hall Meeting below for your review. As well, I have released my State of the District Address for the public. It is my sincere hope that you will remain actively involved in our local community. In the meantime, I want to wish everyone Happy Holidays and a blessed New Year!
Sincerely,
[signed] Demarcus A. Marshall Continue reading
State of District 4 Address –Demarcus Marshall @ Town Hall Meeting 2014-12-15
Text published by Demarcus Marshall (PDF)
and LAKE video of his address at the
Town Hall Meeting 15 December 2014. -jsq
For those unaware, Super District 4 was a newly created district in Lowndes County two years ago. I assumed this office without a predecessor to this district seat. It was my understanding of this district to compliment the other districts by adding more responsiveness and accountability for the citizens of Lowndes County.
Upon being elected and occupying the seat, I inherited a wonderful staff; however, the county faced several challenges. The economy was Continue reading
Zero percent down solar installations for Georgia? Change a 1973 law first
Who would pass up cutting their monthly electric and transportation costs by 60%? Well, people in Georgia will get passed by unless we change an antique 1973 law.
Chris Mooney wrote for Washington Post 24 December 2014, How solar power and electric cars could make suburban living awesome again,
…the solar-EV combo may just be too good for suburbanites to pass up — no matter their political ideology. Strikingly, the new paper estimates that for a household that buys an electric vehicle and also owns a solar panel system generating enough power for both the home and the electric car, the monthly cost might be just $89 per month — compared with $255 per month for a household driving a regular car without any solar panels.
Georgia Power can’t get a schedule from its own contractors for Vogtle nuclear project
After two years of no integrated project schedule (IPS), Georgia Power tried to get the the elected Public Service Commissioners to tell it how to enforce a contract for Plant Vogtle that Georgia Power brought to them. This video clip ends with formerly staunch pro-nuclear Commissioner H. Doug Everett saying any company that did that probably would be imprudent. And Everett also said:
We haven’t seen any results.
Georgia Power’s representative, I think Rob Trokey, said:
We have agreed haven’t we that the company does not manage this project. They oversee it, they may report to this commission the status of it, but it does not manage this project.
Answer from the Commission:
It doesn’t.
So who does? According to Georgia Power: Continue reading
No Development Authority meeting today @ VLCIA 2014-12-16
According to their Meeting Schedule.
The Valdosta-Lowndes County Development Authority’s Regular monthly meeting scheduled for Tuesday, December 16, 2014, 5:30 pm at the Development Authority Conference Room, 103 Roosevelt Drive has been cancelled. The next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, January 20, 2015.
Happy Holidays!
-jsq
Videos: Pipeline, Tourism + KLVB appointments + flowers @ LCC 2014-12-09
The vote was unanimous for
the resolution against the Sabal Trail pipeline
at the Lowndes County Commission Tuesday,
to be followed tonight by the Valdosta City Council voting on
their resolution of support for Lowndes County against Sabal Trail,
including
an additional clause about protecting our drinking water in the Floridan Aquifer.
This follows a long string of
county and city resolutions against that unnecessary,
destructive, and hazardous pipeline boondoggle.
Speaking of boondoggles, Continue reading