I asked Washington EMC Chair Mike McCoy today after their monthly board
meeting what their budget is for 2012 and this boondoggle. They haven’t
got a budget. They are meeting next week with the four remaining co-ops
(assuming some don’t peel off before then) and they will work on a
budget then.
You can check my blog out for more of the hair raising and mind boggling
details of what they are doing in the “best interests” of the owner
members and community.
According to what Col. Ricketts said at their most recent regular meeting,
apparently what VLCIA is accepting bids for today is Phase 2, not Phase 1,
of Infrastructure for Westside Business Park.
I still give them credit for at least
posting an announcement of today’s meeting on their website.
The red rectangle indicates the area of clearing and grading
for Phase 1 Infrastructure for Westside Business Park.
Col. Ricketts said that had already been completed.
This is all on Belleville Road near Lake Park.
They had already asked for bids for Phase 2, which is
for an internal roadway, storm water and sewer, lighting, paving, etc.
Video: Infrastructure, Westside Business Park @ VLCIA 2012 01 17
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, 17 January 2012.
Videos by John S. Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.
Notice of a Special Called Meeting of the Valdosta-Lowndes County
Industrial Authority for the purpose of reviewing bids and awarding
a contract for Westside Business Park Phase I Infrastructure Project
on
Friday, January 27, 2012, 12 Noon at the Authority offices, 2110
N. Patterson St. 229-259-9972.
That’s not a link in the middle; they underlined the date and time.
Soon, maybe they will discover italics!
Update 12:20 PM 2012 01 27: And here is
video of Col. Ricketts at that 17th January 2012 Regular Session, saying Phase 1 had already been completed and they
had asked for bids for Phase 2. So Phase 2 is presumably what they’re accepting bids for right now. I still give them credit for posting a notice of today’s special called meeting on their website. -jsq
Westside Business Park Phase 1 Infrastructure (Clear/Grading)
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, 17 January 2012.
Picture by John S. Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.
We still don’t know what the county is going to do about
that cost overrun for the Moody AFB gate.
Nobody said at the work session yesterday morning; maybe they’ll say
at the regular session tonight when they vote on a contract with
some sort of revised dollar figures in it.
County Manager Mike Fletcher waved around a copy of the revised
contract with Scruggs Company for the new Moody AFB gate,
but said he had not provided it to the Commissioners.
I wonder if they’ll see it before they vote tonight?
He said it was 226 pages long, but most of that was DOT boilerplate,
and only something like 20 pages was the actual county contract.
Seems like they could read that much by tonight.
So could we, the public, if it was somewhere we could see it.
He also didn’t say what happened to the
$128,497.05 cost overrun.
The Commissioners asked no questions.
Commission had not seen Moody AFB gate contract with Scruggs before Work Session @ LCC 2012 01 23
Work Session, Lowndes County Commission (LCC),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 23 January 2012.
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.
LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, JANUARY 23, 2012, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, JANUARY 24, 2012, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor
Staff presented the
agenda item
“7.b. Entrance Gate at Davidson and Roberts Roads”:
Lowndes County received
a $2M grant from the Federal Highway Administration
for construction of a new Moody AFB entrance gate,
the gate to be located located at the intersection of
Davidson and Roberts Roads.
$477,991 of this money has already been taken for the
railroad crossing improvements,
leaving a balance of $1.52 million.
The low bid is from Scruggs Company, $1,648,497.05.
Wait, what?
The low bid is for more than the funds available?
Surely somebody will explain that?
Nope, no discussion. Instead, Commissioner Crawford Powell said:
I’ll make a motion we approve the bid as presented by staff.
Commissioner Evans seconded, and they all voted for it.
Hey, what $128,497.05 discrepancy?
Commission voted for $128,497.05 road cost overrun without discussion @ LCC 2012 Jan 10 Part 1 of 2:
Regular Session, Lowndes County Commission (LCC),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 10 January 2012.
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.
If we look at the previous morning’s work session (9 January 2012),
we do find a bit more information.
The grant was presented as involving both the Federal Highway Administration
and Homeland Security, and:
Who is on the Tourism Authority Board, and why do they have
such rapid changeover in executive directors?
The Commissioners considered Monday 9 January and made Tuesday 10 January
three appointments to the Tourism Authority:
Commissioner Joyce Evans (reappointment),
Jerome “Andy” Anderson (reappointment),
and Greg Charbeneau apparently to replace
Linda Jenson (who had been appointed to fill a vacancy for ? Montgomery).
5.a. Valdosta/Lowndes County Conference Center and Tourism Authority
County Manager Joe Pritchard said at the Tuesday Regular Session that
Greg Charbeneau is a Vice President at Wild Adventures.
Here’s
video of that session:
3 Appointments to VLC Conference Center and Tourism Authority LCC 2012 Jan 10
Regular Session, Lowndes County Commission (LCC),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 10 January 2012.
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.
We learned a little more at the Monday Work Session, but not much.
Here’s
video:
3 Appointments to VLC Conference Center and Tourism Authority LCC 2012 Jan 9
Work Session, Lowndes County Commission (LCC),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 9 January 2012.
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.
Videos of 9 Jan 2012 LCC Work Session
Work Session, Lowndes County Commission (LCC),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 9 January 2012.
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.
CCA inadvertently rehabilitated former prisoner Alex Friedmann
and gave him a new career, lobbying against prison privatization.
He says:
In my view, the worst thing
is that they have normalized the notion of incarcerating people for profit.
Basically commodifying people, seeing them
as nothing more than a revenue stream….
If you incarcerate more people and you put more people in
your private prisons you make more money.
Which provides perverse incentives against reforming our justice system.
And increasing the number of people we’re putting in prison,
whether they need to be there or not, just to generate corporate profit.
I think that’s incredibly immoral and unethical,
I think that’s the worst aspect of our private prison industry.
1.) In 2010 permission was given by Bullard to Allgreen, the mayor’s
employer, to store Allgreen equipment on city property, 6571 Union Road
Dumpsite, without bringing the issue before the City Council.
HEC decided that while he shouldn’t have done it, the Hahira City Council
already met on that subject and he already agreed not to do it again,
so there was nothing more for the ethics commission to do on that complaint,
although the City Council could take it up again if it wanted to.
I asked Washington EMC Chair Mike McCoy today after their monthly board meeting what their budget is for 2012 and this boondoggle. They haven’t got a budget. They are meeting next week with the four remaining co-ops (assuming some don’t peel off before then) and they will work on a budget then.
