Category Archives: Lowndes County Commission

Gov. Deal celebrates Juneteenth by recommending indentured agricultural labor

Remember 85% of people in the prison system are black,
and Gov. Nathan Deal recommends during the week of Juneteenth celebrations,
according to David Rodock in the VDT today,
Parolees to replace migrants?
Gov. Deal says put probationers in fields



With the recent exodus of undocumented Hispanic migrant workers leaving
Georgia to avoid the consequences of House Bill 87, Gov. Nathan Deal made
a statement on Tuesday suggesting that probationers could potentially fill
the approximately 11,000 open jobs in the state’s agricultural economy.

“Specifically, I asked Department of Corrections Commissioner Brian
Owens and (Department of Agriculture) Commissioner Gary Black to review
the current situation and offer possible options,” said Deal in his
statement. “Commissioner Owens has indicated that there are 100,000
probationers statewide, 8,000 of which are in the Southwest region of
the state and 25 percent of which are unemployed … I believe this
would be a great partial solution to our current status as we continue
to move towards sustainable results with the legal options available.”

The potential move would allow probationers who are unable to find work
to have a source of income, provided they are able to meet employer
standards. Income can then be used to pay probation fines, along with
other state fines that are a requirement of their probation sentence.

This fits right in with Joe Pritchard’s rumored suggestion

to replace animal shelter employees with interns.

Hey, if there’s one thing Georgia is good at, it’s
locking up more people
even while other states realize they can’t afford to do that anymore.

So if probationers don’t want to pick onions, lock ’em up again,
in the new private prison VLCIA wants to build in Lowndes County!
That will benefit private prison executives and investors and not
us in Lowndes County, but hey, that will serve those immigrants right!

-jsq

Transparency and leadership for the local good —John S. Quarterman @ VLCIA 14 June 2011



Noting that I was there on behalf of the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE),
which takes these videos and puts them on the web,
I recommended to the Industrial Authority board that they
put their agendas on the web,
since they give those away at the door
and they don’t contain any of the details that they’re concerned
about revealing to competitors.

Recalling that I had previously had the audacity to

read their own charter to them,
or at least the parts about the general good and welfare of the community,
I reminded them that some areas that had successfully attracted industry,
such as Raleigh, NC, Austin, TX, and Portland, OR had said what kinds of
industry they wanted.
Expanding on the example of Austin, TX, I noted that they emphasized
clean industry, music, and arts, and that helped attract the kinds
of knowledge-based workers that our local Chamber of Commerce wants
for knowledge-based jobs.

Then I noted that I had

complimented Mayor Fretti

Continue reading →

VLCIA land accounting



Chairman Jerry Jennett is asking for an accounting of the land
VLCIA has bought

using their $3 million a year in dedicated 1 mil property tax
and $15 million in bonds that Lowndes County guaranteed for them.
And it seems that much of it is in lots too small to be useful.

While the VLCIA board was approving minutes for their 17 May 2011
regular meeting, Chairman Jennett said this:

On the last page, where we’re talking about the industrial park acreage,
this is real good the way you’ve presented this,
it shows
Azalea West 17 acres
Lake Park 10,
Hahira 10,
[?] 165,
Miller 220,
West Side 155.

Let me ask you that in future you do one more thing.
That you tell me
how many 100 acre sites you have,
how many 50 acre sites you have,
and how many 25 acre sites you have,

[Col. Ricketts made some response.]

Then I’m going to assume that everything else is ones, fives, and tens.
And my point would be that we track those,
and that when someone comes with a project that and they need 200 acres,
we can’t do it.
But I think there might be room for at least one and maybe two 100s.
I think that’s important when we think about people….

It’s good Chairman Jennett is having Col. Ricketts keep track of all this
land VLCIA has acquired.
He started on this project at Brad Lofton’s last board meeting,
when he asked Lofton about lot sizes.
I look forward to the results.

Incidentally, while that list Chairman Jennett read does add up

Continue reading →

How did Lowndes County approve a contract with VLCIA that could force raising taxes?

We’ve seen that
the inter-governmental contract between Lowndes County and the
Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority (VLCIA) could force
the county to raise taxes to pay for VLCIA’s debts.
How did the county pass such a thing?
Apparently in a rush, with little review.

Matt Flumerfelt wrote in the VDT 19 November 2008,

County approves bond issue:



LOWNDES COUNTY — The Lowndes County Commission heard a presentation
Tuesday evening from Glenn Thomson, Alston & Bird LLP regarding a bond
issue the County has entered into for the purpose of providing needed
funding for the Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority.



After the presentation, a vote was taken accepting the issue and Lowndes
County Commission Chairman Rod Casey,


County Attorney Walter Elliott and


County Clerk Paige Dukes adjourned to an adjoining chamber to complete
the signing of the documents that will enable the Industrial Authority
to negotiate for the acquisition of property pursuant to their mission
of attracting manufacturing and other businesses to Lowndes County.

Bond Counsel, Glenn Thomson, stated, “Mr. Chairman and Commission, I
would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your time and brag
on your staff and consultants. Your staff put this transaction together
very quickly. In fact, the underwriter’s counsel remarked that he had
never encountered county employees and staff that had worked so diligently
and that due to their preparedness and hard work, he was able to put his
information together in near record time. Their performance and that of
County Attorney, Walter Elliott, who worked tirelessly on this project
as well, is a tremendous credit to those responsible for managing the
business of the county.”

Why was it necessary to put together a guarantee for a $15 million
dollar bond issue in “near record time”?

Continue reading →

Economic opportunity and cooperation —John Robinson @ VCC 9 June 2011



Discussing the VSEB program, John Robinson remarked:

We need the council up here to show us interest in this program.

He recommended everybody work together, including city and county.

Here’s

the video:




Economic opportunity and cooperation —John Robinson @ VCC 9 June 2011

Regular Meeting, Valdosta City Council (VCC),

Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 4 June 2011.

Videos by Barbara Stratton for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.

-jsq

Industrial Authority debts could force Lowndes County to raise taxes

A mil here, a mil there; soon we’re into real money!


Can the Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority (VLCIA)
commit we the local taxpayers to a $150 million bond issue
for a private company like the

Macon-Bibb County Industrial Authority just did?
Maybe.

VLCIA has already issued $15 million in bonds for which apparently

the Lowndes County Commission has committed the county,
that is, we the taxpayers, to pay the debt service.
That comes out of VLCIA’s one mil of dedicated tax income.
But according to the

intergovernmental contract,
it’s actually not even just from VLCIA’s current millage:


Section 4.4 Security for Contract Payments and for Bonds.

(a) The obligation of the County to make the payments required pursuant
to Section 4.1(a) hereof shall be a general obligation of the County for
which its full faith and credit is pledged, and shall be payable from any
lafully available funds, subject to the Tax Funding Limit. In particular,
the County agrees to levy an annual tax on all taxable property located
within its boundaries, as now existent and as the same may be extended,
at such rate or rates, as limited by the Tax Funding Limit, as and when
it may be necessary to provide the County with sufficient revenues to
make all payments required to be made by the County under this Contract.

The current VLCIA millage is one mil, or about $3 million a year,
collected by the county in property taxes and handed over to VLCIA.

But VLCIA’s charter says (in
Section 5):

Continue reading →

Cat Creek Road closure has slipped a week


Cat Creek Road closure has slipped a week, although lots of people detouring around didn’t know that.

According to

Valdosta-Lowndes Metropolitan Planning Organization:



Update: On Monday June 13, Cat Creek Rd will be closed at Beatty Mill Creek for bridge repairs. Repairs should take approximately 3 days, and a detour route will be established. Motorists are urged to use caution and to pay attention to all traffic control devices while traveling on Cat Creek Rd. If there are any questions or concerns please call the Lowndes Co. Engineering Dept. at 229-671-2424.



VLMPO had that on their facebook page hours before lowndescounty.com
got around to posting it on their own website.
And on lowndescounty.com it’s a a PDF, not a webpage.
Maybe the county will get the hang of this web stuff eventually.

-jsq

Cat Creek Road closed

Found on the Lowndes County website. -gretchen

Update 9:30 PM 6 June 2011:
it’s slipped a week. -gretchen




Date: June 2, 2011 Regarding: Bridge Repairs

PRESS RELEASE County Engineering Division

327 North Ashley Street P. O. Box 1349 Valdosta, GA 31603 Telephone: (229) 671-2424 Fax: (229) 245-5299

On Monday June 6, 2011, Cat Creek Road (CR 777) will be closed at Beatty
Mill Creek for bridge repairs. The construction site is located north of
Old Radar Site Road, between the address points of 4916 Cat Creek Road
and 4989 Cat Creek Road. These repairs should take approximately three
(3) days, and a detour route will be established. Travelling south,
the detour route utilizes New Bethel Road to State Route 125 (Bemiss
Road). Travelling north, the detour route utilizes Radar Site Road to
State Route 125 (Bemiss Road).

Motorists are urged to use caution and to pay attention to road closed
signs and all other traffic control devices while traveling on Cat Creek
Road. If there are any questions or concerns please call the Lowndes
County Engineering Department at 229-671-2424.