Tag Archives: Economy

Riverview development next to Withlacoochee River? @ GLPC 2014-07-28



A flood plain rezoning next to the Withlacoochee river came back from 2011,
at the

28 July 2014 Planning Commission meeting,
which voted unanimously for, as did the Valdosta City Council later.


7. VA-2014-05 Riverview Development LLC

Video.
This is

parcel 0074 088 on North Valdosta Road behind Music Funeral Home,
next to Langdale Park,
on the other side of the Withlacoochee River from Foxborough.

City Planner Matt Martin said only a tiny part of the property was
in the floodplain of the Withlacoochee River. Continue reading →

Family Dollar on Roger Budd property near Francis Lake in Lake Park? @ GLPC 2014-07-28



Opposition started arising to Roger Budd’s request to rezone
to put another Family Dollar near Francis Lake in Lake Park,
at the

28 July 2014 Planning Commission meeting,
which voted 5 to 2 with one abstention to recommend a compromise solution.


6. REZ-2014-14 Roger Budd Jr

Video.
County Planner Jason Davenport said he had received no indications of any opposition.
And one GLPC member asked the developer’s presenter whether residents
of Francis Lake had been notified.

Yet J.D. Carroll spoke against, Continue reading →

Construction Board, Nelson Hill, and Creekwood @ LCC 2014-08-11



Water, water, construction, subdivisions, and alcohol:
Nelson Hill and Roger Budd are back,

like at the 28 July 2014 Planning Commission.
The first board appointment from

the list of ones to fill this year
is for the

Valdosta-Lowndes County Construction Board of Adjustments and Appeals.
The Lowndes County Commission
already met yesterday morning for the Work Session, and they meet
tonight at 5:30 PM to vote in the Regular Session.

Here’s
the agenda. Continue reading →

Videos: New name, new member @ VLCIA 2014-07-15



They’re aiming at

20 August 2014 for a meeting with local educational
and business leaders.
After mulling it over for more than two years,
VLCIA waited until somebody in Atlanta told them to, and finally

added a trading name of Valdosta-Lowndes Development Authority (VLDA),
which two board members immediately said wrong.
Still, much actual thought, discussion, investigation and potential
courses of action was presented, especially in the
Executive Director’s Report
and in the answers to

Alvin Payton’s questions.

Only three board members attended
VLCIA’s first meeting in its new office near the hospital:
Roy Copeland, Vice-Chairman Jerry Jennett (presiding), and new member
Georgia Power VP Terri Lupo, who

was just appointed to VLCIA by the Lowndes County Commission.
They did not have the
expected officer nominating committee report, because
Chairman Mary Gooding and Tom Call were not there;
they barely had a quorum with 3 out of 5 board members.
Also attending were Lowndes County Chairman

Bill Slaughter,
Valdosta Mayor

John Gayle, and Valdosta City Council

Alvin Payton.
All three spoke in Citizens To Be Heard, as did I, delivering

the traditional welcome gift.

This move uptown leaves their old building to

Sabal Trail and its proposed fracked methane pipeline.
Has VLCIA ever developed an opinion on

that boondoggle?

Here’s

the agenda, with links to the videos, followed by
a video playlist.

Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority

Tuesday, July 15, 2014 5:30 p.m.

Industrial Authority Conference Room

103 Roosevelt Drive

Monthly Meeting Agenda

Continue reading →

EPA hearings in AJC: where’s the second step about natural gas?



AJC on the

EPA hearings this week:
they didn’t print my proposed second step for natural gas,
but they did quote Sierra Club on efficiency.

Kristina Torres wrote for the AJC today,

EPA brings ‘clean power’ plan to Atlanta. Will it hurt Georgia? Continue reading →

Climate Rally and EPA Hearings next week in Atlanta



High noon rally Tuesday and 9AM to 8PM hearings Monday and Tuesday 29-30 July 2014
at the
Sam Nunn Atlanta Federal Center, Main Tower Bridge Conference Area, Conference Room B, 61 Forsyth Street, SW, Atlanta, GA.
Plus you can comment online, maybe about

mercury from coal Plant Scherer
in the Alapaha River and how shifting to “natural” gas just promotes
more fracked methane pipelines like that

Sabal Trail boondoggle.
EPA could take a second step on methane, and we can get on with
faster, cheaper, cleaner, and far more environmentally beneficial

solar power in the sunny southeast.
For details see the

Sierra Club
or
WWALS
or
SpectraBusters postings.

-jsq

Brad Lofton leaving Myrtle Beach, SC



Looks like Horry County, SC stuck to its
initial three-year offer, both for Lofton, and for millage
to fund his development authority there.
There are things the

newly-renamed Valdosta-Lowndes Development Authority
could do to let sunshine turn Lofton’s local land legacy green.

Jason M. Rodriguez and Amanda Kelley wrote for Myrtle Beach Online yesterday,

Brad Lofton leaving Myrtle Beach Regional Economic Development Corporation,

Membership to the EDC increased earlier this year, but revenue from
the membership decreased by nearly $60,000, impacting the
organization’s marketing services and more.

Loton has had many projects succeed, and met some challenges during
his time in Horry County.

Earlier this month Continue reading →

5PM Tuesday: Central Valdosta Development Authority @ CVDA 2014-07-22



No idea what this is about, piled onto an evening already full of meetings.
CVDA published today, picked up by

AP
and
VDT.

There will be a special called meeting of the Central Valdosta
Development Authority (CVDA) Board of Directors at 5 p.m. on
Tuesday, June 22. The meeting will be held in the Multi-Purpose Room
in the City Hall Annex, located at 300 N. Lee Street.

Please contact the Valdosta Main Street Office at (229) 259-3577 if
you have any questions in regard to this information.

What is that board, anyway?
According to

the City of Valdosta: Continue reading →

Precinct budget finger-pointing @ LCC Millage 2014-07-16



It’s still not clear why the Board of Elections couldn’t afford to keep precincts open,
instead of
closing more of them every year.
But after several days of finger pointing
this week, it looks like there will be funding to keep all the current
precincts open.
That’s good news, but if the fix was so easy, why was there ever a problem?

Oldest first, here’s a timeline of highlights.

Back on 10 March 2014,

Deb Cox spoke to the Lowndes County Commission
about the

Board of Elections budget.
I just listened to that video again.
She did ask for more money for poll workers,

and there were comments about how early voting wasn’t revenue-neutral.
But I don’t see that she asked for money to keep precincts open,
or ever mentioned precincts closing.

27 June 2014 I happened to see Continue reading →

Sparsely attended millage hearing @ LCC Millage 2014-07-16



To raise or not to raise, that is the millage question,
and what to spend it on,
but not many people showed up to ask.

This 6PM Wednesday 16 July 2014 millage hearing
was one of the most lively,
juding by
his report, from which you can see that
VDT political reporter Matthew Woody’s report on both hearings of
last Wednesday,
and that’s not saying much.
In this evening hearing,

Dennis Marks
spoke for res publica, the rule of the public, for the public good.
The other three commenters seemed to be against the millage increase.

One more milllage hearing (8:30AM) and an adoption meeting (9AM), both

Wednesday 23 July 2014. Continue reading →