Tag Archives: Economy

LCDP Cash Mob at Stan’s Quality Meats 2015-03-03

At 12:30 PM Tuesday (tomorrow)


LCDP Chair Tom Hochschild will be there with signs and supporters,
he tells me.
Plus in addition to supporting this local business he recommends
people make a small donation to the Lowndes County Food Bank
for those less fortunate. -jsq

LCDP PR 26 February 2015,

LCDP Cash Mob at Stan’s Quality Meats & Grocery Outlet,

The Lowndes County Democratic Party’s
first-ever Cash Mob! 8AM to 8PM next Tuesday March 3, in line with our

March Monday 2 meeting topic,
“Democratic Party Values: Supporting Local Business”.
facebook event.

For this Cash Mob, we are asking Continue reading →

Videos: ESPLOST V kickoff meeting @ ESPLOST 2015-02-24



Co-Chair Jerome Tucker emphasized that ESPLOST helping
public schools also helps economic development.
See below for who we now know are the
committee members for the Educational Special Local Option Sales Tax (ESPLOST).
It’s mysterious why that information wasn’t in

the PR before the meeting,
but now we know, since Gretchen went and took the videos
and collected the flyers you’ll find below.

Early voting already started that same day and continues through March 13th,
with the final Election Day 17 March 2015.


600x450 Crowd picture, in ESPLOST Kickoff and Press Conference, by Gretchen Quarterman, 24 February 2015

Lowndes/Valdosta Citizens for Excellence in Education

Education Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax

For Lowndes County Schools and Valdosta City Schools Continue reading →

Videos: 1 commercial, 1 subdivision @ GLPC 2015-02-23



In the briefest Planning Commission meeting I can recall,
Stovall got her

rezoning of 5.84 acres to General Commercial on Oak Street Extension
recommended unanimously Monday 23 February 2015.
Ivy Gate subdivision’s second phase

to rezone 10.33 acres to R-10 on Cat Creek Road
at

4088 Cat Creek Road
was also recommended unanimously.
Nobody spoke for or against either rezoning,
and there was no discussion from Commissioners,
other than a recommendation by Commissioner Wildes that all lots
face interior roads for Ivy Gate.

After the rezonings,

Commissioners joked that with a meeting so brief they might catch
up with the County Commission.
County Chairman Bill Slaughter responded, “Actually, we just showed up
to show you how to run a quick meeting.”
The difference is GLPC actually does discuss when there’s something to discuss.
These cases will show up on the County Commission agenda for March 10th,
so we’ll see who takes longer on them then.

Here’s
the agenda,
and below are links to the videos, followed by a video playlist. Continue reading →

1 commercial, 1 subdivision @ GLPC 2015-02-23



Stovall wants

to rezone 5.84 acres to General Commercial on Oak Street Extension
and
Ivy Gate subdivision wants a second phase

to rezone 10.33 acres to R-10 on Cat Creek Road.
The existing Ivy Gate Subdivision is on Bowen Way.
The only nearby property on Cat Creek Road is

4088 Cat Creek Road, across the road,
owned by James Arthur Kutzli.

Thanks to Lowndes County for starting to

post Planning Commission agendas
including

this one.

Greater Lowndes Planning Commission

Lowndes County City of Valdosta City of Dasher City of Hahira City of Lake Park


REGULAR MONTHLY MEETING

AGENDA


Lowndes County South Health District Administrative Office

325 West Savannah Avenue


Monday, February 23, 2015 * 5:30 P.M. * Public Hearing

Continue reading →

What does conversion of the Land Bank Authority mean? @ ESPLOST VLCLBA 2015-02-25

What does “conversion of the Land Bank Authority” mean?
What are they converting this Authority to?
Or do they mean the Authority is voting on converting some real estate
from non-taxable to taxable?

Valdosta News, City of Valdosta, 23 February 2015,

In The City This Week, Feb. 23-28,



Feb. 25: Land Bank Authority Meets. Members of the Valdosta-Lowndes
County Land Bank Authority will hold a meeting on Wednesday, Feb.
25, at 9 a.m., in the Neighborhood Development Conference Room (Room
202, Valdosta City Hall Annex). This meeting is being held to vote
on the conversion of the Land Bank Authority. The Land Bank
Authority exists to foster the public purpose of returning property
which is in a non-revenue generating, non-tax producing status to
effective utilization status in order to provide housing, new
industry and jobs for citizens. For information, call (229)
671-3617.

Even the state doesn’t have up to date information about this
board.
According to the Continue reading →

ESPLOST V kickoff meeting today @ ESPLOST 2015-02-24

A committee of unknown members is holding a kickoff meeting today
for the Educational Special Local Option Sales Tax.


Various local news media carry the announcement below,
but none of them seem to have the names of the committee members
beyond one co-chair.
I guess we’ll find out from the videos Gretchen is going there now to take.

In the City of Valdosta’s

In The City This Week, Feb. 23-28,

Feb. 24: ESPLOST V Campaign. The ESPLOST joint committee will host a
campaign kickoff on Tuesday, Feb. 24, at 5 p.m., in the Valdosta
City Hall Annex Multi-Purpose Room. At the meeting, committee
members will share proposed projects for Lowndes County and Valdosta
City Schools with citizens. Early voting runs Feb. 23 through March
13. The final opportunity to vote will be on the official Election
Day, March 17. For more information, email Co-Chair John Eunice at
jleunice@yahoo.com.

-jsq

Minnesota follows Austin with Value of Solar Tariff: better than net metering, or not?

Yes, it’s better than the unequal “net metering” Georgia has now,
where your one-and-only utility pays you a rate they determine,
typically their “avoided” rate of not generating energy by some
other means, which is usually a lot less than what you pay your utility.
Is it better than real one-to-one net metering?
That’s a harder question, because even if it pays more now, it’s
less predictable.
In any case VOST has spread

from Austin to Minnesota.

Herman K. Trabish, GreenTechMedia, 10 April 2014,

A Rising Tension: ‘Value-of-Solar’ Tariff Versus Net Metering,




Source: Institute for Local Self Reliance

The Alliance for Solar Choice, a group made up of Continue reading →

Georgia Power buys 99MW in two Georgia solar projects

Decatur County scores two big solar projects.
When will Lowndes County get a move on in solar?
How about some projects like this at your empty industrial parks,
Valdosta-Lowndes Development Authority?
Now that even Southern Company CEO Tom Fanning is bragging about renewable
energy, maybe the solar sun is shining enough for other local governments
to see it.

Southern Company PR, PRnewsWire, 20 February 2015,

Southern Company subsidiary acquires two Georgia solar projects totaling 99 megawatts,



Southern Company subsidiary Southern Power today announced the
acquisition of two photovoltaic (PV) solar projects totaling 99
megawatts (MW) in Georgia — the 80-MW

Decatur Parkway Solar
Project and the 19-MW

Decatur County Solar Project — from
Tradewind Energy, Inc.

The projects were proposed by Continue reading →

Tesla opening market for home solar batteries


Elon Musk’s recent reminder that Tesla is working on a house-sized battery
has caused quite a stir, but not enough. Tesla alone isn’t the significant part:
Tesla opening a market for inexpensive home solar storage methods is.
And not all those methods will be batteries: also coming are capacitors,
organic vats, compressed air, and water pumped up towers,
for storage to car- and house- size to municipal- and utility-scale,
all of which will drive solar and wind deployment even faster.

John McDuling, QZ, 30 July 2014,

How solar energy storage could make Tesla much more than an automaker,

How lucrative could the solar energy storage business be for Tesla?
Almost as lucrative as selling cars.

That’s according to Morgan Stanley, which this week Continue reading →

Quail Hunt @ VLCIA 2015-02-17



Cold Weld Greensleeve Tire Bakeries:
be there or wonder what is this stuff in their

agenda.

Valdosta-Lowndes Development Authority

Tuesday, February 17, 2015 5:30 p.m.

Development Authority Conference Room

103 Roosevelt Drive

Monthly Meeting Agenda

Continue reading →