Tag Archives: Andrea Schruijer Executive Director

VLCIA and local counties

In which of these five, seven, eleven, or thirteen counties
is
Athens, Georgia?

According to
Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority (VLCIA),

Regional Hub,

Valdosta is a regional hub for eleven Georgia counties and two Florida
counties.
Valdosta-Lowndes County acts not only as the regional hub for retail,
medical, transportation and entertainment. Our community is also the
regional hub for employment for five contiguous, predominantly rural
Georgia counties and two Florida counties (as indicated in the chart
to the right) and supports a thirteen county region referenced from
the 2000 Census (see chart attached below).

The five Georgia counties are (alphabetically)
Brooks,
Cook,
Echols,
Lanier,
and
Lowndes,
and the
two Florida counties are Hamilton and Madison.
In which of those seven counties is Athens, Georgia?


The thirteen counties, barely legible on VLCIA’s webpage, are:
Berrien GA,
Brooks GA,
Clinch GA,
Colquitt GA,
Columbia FL,
Cook GA,
Dougherty GA,
Duval FL,
Echols GA,
Fulton GA,
Hamilton FL,
Lanier GA,
and
Madison FL.
Fulton County, Georgia?
OK, that’s odd.
Hm, the table is entitled

“Journeys To and From LOWNDES GA (Threshold = 50)”.

It’s about vehicles travelling in and out of Lowndes County.
So Fulton makes some sense, due to people travelling between here and Atlanta.
Local region, though?
Not Fulton.
Ditto Duval County, Florida. Jacksonville, local? I think not.

So maybe call it an eleven county region.
In which of those eleven or thirteen counties is Athens, Georgia?

-jsq

Why doesn’t VLCIA buy locally?

Col. Ricketts reminded VLCIA board members at their most recent
regular meeting (2012 01 17) that he had asked
them for input about trees for Miller and Westside Business Parks.



We have identified trees from a nursery,
Select Trees, in
Athens, Georgia,
with a special five year warranty on those trees,
that meet our landscape plans for both Miller and Westside Business Park.
As we discussed in our last board meeting, there is some cost savings
available to us, and the ability for us to
select trees now and hold them if we make a deposit.

OK, I commend VLCIA staff and board for trying to save we the taxpayers money.

But isn’t VLCIA supposed to be promoting local business and agriculture?
Why is our Industrial Authority outsourcing to a company halfway across
the state?
Why doesn’t it buy locally, even if it costs a little more?

For that matter, aren’t there plenty of local trees, like sycamores,
magnolias, and even longleaf pines that would cost very little to
transplant to a local business park?
Maybe those are the types of trees they’re buying.
We don’t know, because only the board got the list of trees.

For that matter, why didn’t VLCIA put out a public request for bids for the trees?

Here’s

the video:




Why doesn’t VLCIA buy locally?

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.

-jsq

Videos of VLCIA Regular Meeting 2012 01 17



They sure did talk about

Miller Business Park
a lot.

Here’s

the agenda.

Here’s

a playlist:




Videos: Regular Session @ 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.

-jsq

Video: Infrastructure, Westside Business Park @ VLCIA 2012 01 17



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.

They called for bids on the 24th, so

the special called meeting of today (27th)
is presumably to accept a final bid for Phase 2.

Here’s

the video:




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.

-jsq

Special Industrial Authority meeting today at noon

At least this time it’s

on their website
(under “RECENT NEWS”):

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!

Here’s a picture from when they discussed this item at
their most recent regular meeting:



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.

-jsq

I only got the answering machine —Michael G. Noll

Received today on

Industrial Authority held unannounced meeting last night. -jsq

Unfortunately I missed this meeting as well, and not by choice.

I vaguely remembered that Roy Copeland mentioned after the October


meeting that the December date might be changed to December 6. Thus,
I called Tuesday shortly after 5pm to verify if a meeting was indeed
scheduled. I only got the answering machine (indicating to me that the
office was closed) and the IA website (as so often) was no help.

Thus I, too, was assuming the meeting would be later this month … only
to find out the next day in the VDT that there had been a meeting
after all.

Our community has gone through so much these past couple of months,


highlighting more than ever the need to communicate and cooperate.

I was hoping after all this that we could finally start working together,
despite any differences we might have. That would, however, not only
require a certain amount of transparency but also communication of
such simple matters as meeting agendas and calendars. How difficult can
that be?

Communication is, and always will be, the key to success. Whether this
is about your children’s education, such matters as energy efficiency
and energy conservation, or a Strategic Planning Process which can only
benefit the community … if that very community (not just the same old
status quo) is actually included in the process.

Michael G. Noll, President

Wiregrass Activists for Clean Energy (WACE)

After the VLCIA meeting: brain storming sessions —Dr. Noll

Dr. Noll sent this postscript to

What can we do as a community to better cooperate? -jsq

I was approached after the meeting and informed that the


Industrial Authority intends to invite communal leaders like
myself to brain storming sessions in the future, although I
do not know yet the design for such a forum, nor have I
received any invitations as of today. Still, if there is one
thing that has again become clear in the context of the
consolidation issue, our community desperately needs
structures that a) allow for more transparency and b) forums
in which we can take advantage of the creative energy that
exist in our community, INSTEAD of trying to shut people
out, to hide information from them, or to push through
divisive agendas.

It is my hope that the leaders of the Industrial Authority,
as well as the City Council, the Lowndes County Commission,
and the Chamber of Commerce for that matter, understand the
opportunity we have: to turn a weakness (as exposed by the
way we handled biomass, and are currently handling the
consolidation issue) into a strength … via communication
and cooperation … as is appropriate for a true community.

-Michael.

What can we do as a community to better cooperate? —Dr. Noll

Update 3:45 PM 3 November 2011: Better transcript and pictures. See also what happened after the meeting.

Dr. Michael Noll, longtime opponent of the Industrial Authority’s formerly
proposed biomass plant, asked that same board at their most recent meeting:

What can we do as a community to better cooperate, to better communicate?

He also referred to the

school consolidation issue and to the

nuclear vs. renewable energy issue
among the reasons he gave,
along with some suggestions on how to proceed, and said he would take
the same message to other bodies.

Here’s

the video, and a transcript is appended.




What can we do as a community to better cooperate? –Dr. Noll

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, 18 October 2011.

Videos by John S. Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.

Dr. Noll sent an edited transcript removing some of the repetition
to clarify what he was trying to say:

Continue reading →

I live in the shadow of … the biomass plant —protester @ VLCIA 19 July 2011



A protester I hadn’t seen before:

I live in the shadows of where they were talking about building it.
So I’m a little sceptical when they tell me that, you know, it’s safe.

They told me the same about Agent Organge before I went to Vietnam.
It turned out it was dangerous to us.

He told me his name, but my memory for names is like, er, what was I saying?
Somebody please help identify him.

Here’s

the video:

Continue reading →

Industrial Park Acreage —Andrea Schruijer @ VLCIA 19 July 2011



Apparently VLCIA has few or no tracts of 200 acres or up
out of their 577 acres.

New Executive Director Andrea Schruijer said:

We’re looking at having prospects in,
or existing industries are looking to come here,
we don’t actually look like we have a 577 acre tract that we can market.
It’s actually a lot smaller than that.
So when a company comes in and wants 200 acres
that’s something we have a gap in.

She’s following up on former chairman Jerry Jennett’s request.
Jennett remarked at this meeting

Continue reading →