Category Archives: Economy

Guess what you missed: Lowndes County Budget Hearing

Asking the full Commission and staff in a public meeting wasn’t enough to get an alert on the budget meeting that was held Tuesday:

Lowndes County Budget Meeting (6/17/2014)

Lowndes County Board of Commissioners
327 N. Ashley St – Commission Chambers, 2nd Floor Administration Building
Valdosta, GA
5:30 p.m.

Apparently everyone is really supposed to watch the county’s website every day. They did send email to department heads about that meeting. They could have also sent that to interested parties. But they didn’t. And almost nobody showed up.

There’s another one Tuesday: Continue reading →

Thousands of solar jobs a thousand miles north of here: SolarCity buys Silevo

An Economic Development Council in snowy Buffalo has landed a solar manufacturer with suddenly even deeper pockets, while our Industrial Authority didn’t even meet this month. Maybe instead of supporting an unnecessary fracked methane pipeline that diverts resources we could get on with real solar industry here in sunny south Georgia?

WIVB.com wrote yesterday, Purchase of company coming to Buffalo could be boon for WNY,

Silevo, a company that had planned to set up shop at Buffalo’s Riverbend site, has been bought out by SolarCity, and the plan could mean thousands of jobs for Western New York.

Silevo is Continue reading →

USACE presentation online at City of Valdosta

Emily Davenport, Valdosta Stormwater Manager, sent a letter 2 June 2014 to attendees of the 6 May 2014 Army Corps of Engineers presentations, with paper materials attached, and a note that they are also online at Stormwater Division, Regional Flooding. [Not there anymore, but see updated first bullet item below. 2018-01-28 -jsq]

Videos: appointments, well, events, annexation @ LCC 2014-06-09

They vote tonight on their opaque selection of auditing services and to buy an unnamed firewall replacement among other things for unknown amounts not revealed in yesterday morning’s Work Session. Maybe somebody should bring that up at the not-yet-scheduled county Budget Hearings. They will also vote on their Luke Bryan musical neighbor balancing act and on reappointing Lonnie Denton for a sixth five-year term to the Lowndes Division of Family and Children Services (he will speak tonight) and reappointing Willie Houseal and Gretchen Quarterman each to a third three-year term to the ZBOA (they spoke yesterday morning as you can see in these videos). Also Public Hearings for well and septic and a special events change to the ULDC. The Hahira annexation recommended against by the Planning Commission is still waiting for signatures from the applicants under For Consideration, along with a request from Finance to declare items surplus and several purchase requests from Finance and IT.

Here’s the agenda, with links to the videos and a few notes. See also the videos of the 27 May 2014 Planning Commission meeting.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, JUNE 9, 2014, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, JUNE 10, 2014, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street — 2nd Floor
Continue reading →

Simon Solar Farm ribbon cutting in Social Circle, Georgia

A ribbon cutting for 30+ MW of solar power in Social Circle, Georgia, with no media coverage, other than a Georgia Power docket update buried at GA PSC. Claudia Musleve Collier says she made this first quote from email to her, and wants it shared.

Bryan Casey, with Greenavations Power sent me these photos of the recent [13 May 2014] ribbon cutting of their 38 MW solar project in middle Georgia[, Simon Solar in Social Circle]. PSC “Bubba” McDonald was present to flip the switch!

Continue reading →

Lowndes millage rate still low compared to other counties

What’s the county’s current millage, and how does it compare to other counties? Indeed county employees are mostly underpaid, but are none overpaid? And where’s that employee compensation study the county paid for? Three curious omissions in an otherwise excellent VDT story.

Matthew Woody wrote for the VDT 28 May 2014, Lowndes County weighs tax increase,

Lowndes County Commission weighed the likelihood of raising the millage rate Tuesday — the first such tax increase in 15 years.

During the past few years, Continue reading →

Valdosta Budget Hearings @ VCC 2014-06-11

He also called to be sure LAKE got this, and the Public Hearings Tuesday and Wednesday at 5:30 PM are in the City of Valdosta’s online calendar, plus there’s a much briefer story in the VDT today, and see the millage table from last year’s budget hearings. -jsq

From: Tim Carroll <tcarroll@valdostacity.com>
Date: Wed, 4 Jun 2014 14:33:35 +0000
Subject: FY 2015 Budget

Hey everyone,

It is that time of year when your city government prepares its’ budget for the upcoming fiscal year. As we have experienced over the past four years, this year’s budget presents many challenges. Revenues continue to decline while expenses keep going up. Fuel alone for the city now runs around $1.7M per year and the power bill to run the city for a year is now at $3.4M. Like you have seen in your homes and businesses, these and other costs continue to rise. Major revenue sources such as the LOST tax (our largest revenue source for the General Fund) continue to decline. And the list goes on. The city has now tapped over the past several years all the reserve funds in or der to balance the budget. Those reserve funds are now gone.

I say all this to illuminate the difficult choices that are present in this year’s proposed budget. While Continue reading →

Reappointments and no annexation in Regular Session @ LCC 2014-05-27 @ LCC 2014-05-27

The Hahira Annexation request was actually heard at the Planning Commission meeting that started at the same time. All the incumbents were reappointed to the Hospital Authority and the shadowy Lowndes County Public Facilities Authority. Both the road abandonments were approved, of Old Statenville Road and of Excess Right of Way on James Road and Riverside Road. All that plus a GEMA Sheltering Memorandum of Agreement and a beer license, plus Poll Manager Recognition.

The blank page Budget Session was at 9:30 AM after the Work Session, all the same day as this Regular Session. See also my question about Budget Public Hearings.

Here’s the agenda. See the videos from the Work Session of the same morning and the videos from the previous Regular Session of May 13th for context on the Public Hearings and on the James Road Subsidence.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, TUESDAY, MAY 27, 2014, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, MAY 27, 2014, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street — 2nd Floor
Continue reading →

When are the two Budget Public Hearings? –John S. Quarterman @ LCC 2014-05-27

We can’t see the draft budget before the Public Hearings, said the Chairman, answering my question after the Lowndes County Commission Regular Session of 27 May 2014.

When are the 2 Budget Public Hearings? CWTBH --John S. Quarterman

Video. After congratulating the Chairman on recognizing the poll workers, Crawford Powell for recusing himself on an appointment of himself, and the Commission for the recent Budget Sessions, I asked:

  1. When are the two Public Hearings required by state law before adoption of the budget?
  2. When is the second Budget Session mentioned in the Budget Session held earlier that same day?
  3. Where is the draft budget on the county’s website so the public can see it before the public hearings?

Chairman Bill Slaughter’s answers to me after the meeting adjourned: Continue reading →

Two arrest warrants issued for $1 mllion landfill scam

Interesting things sometimes turn up when a landfill is investigated.

Taylor West wrote for the AJC 5 June 2014, Police: Arrest warrants issued in connection with $1 million scam,

Robert Stevens (Fulton County Sheriff’s Office) Multiple arrest warrants have been issued in relation to a trail of criminal activity resulting in the theft of more than $1 million from a Fulton County business, authorities said.

Police began an investigation in mid-April when Waste Management Inc. made a complaint regarding Willow Oak Landfill, which it owns, following an anonymous tip and a private investigation, according to the Palmetto Police Department today.

In this case it was the landfill operator that filed a complaint. Waste Management is one of the two largest solid waste companies in the U.S.; the other is ADS.

The complaint alleged Continue reading →