Tag Archives: Georgia

Precincts for 2012 elections

Polling Places, Lowndes County, Georgia, 2012 According to the Lowndes County Board of Elections, the current voting precincts for Tuesday’s 31 July 2012 Primary Election, including the T-SPLOST referendum, are as listed below.

These are not the same as the precincts for last year’s elections.

Precinct 1 Hahira Historical Society, 116 E. Lawson St., Hahira
Precinct 2 Old Pine Grove Elementary School Gym, 4023 Pine Grove Road, Valdosta
Precinct 3 Trinity Presbyterian Church, 3501 Bemiss Road Valdosta
Precinct 4 Northside Baptist Church Gym, 200 E. Park Avenue, Valdosta
Precinct 5 Jaycee Park Activities Building, 2306 Jaycee Shack Road, Valdosta
Precinct 6 Naylor City Hall, 8753 Georgia Highway 135, Naylor
Precinct 7 Wood Valley Community Center, 1907 Gornto Road, Valdosta
Precinct 8 Rainwater Conference Center, One Meeting Place, Valdosta
Precinct 9 New Clyattville Fire Station, 5080 Madison Highway, Clyattville
Precinct 10 Mildred Hunter Community Center, 509 S. Fry St., Valdosta
Precinct 11 Dasher City Hall, 3686 US Hwy 41 S. Dasher
Precinct 12 South Lowndes Recreation Center, 6440 Ocean Pond Ave, Lake Park


View Lowndes County Polling Places 2012 in a larger map

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Elect Georgia legislators and Public Service Commissioners who will let the sun shine on Georgia!

Solar PV prices have dropped so much they’re competitive with coal, natural gas, and nuclear. The only thing that stops Georgia from leading the country and the world in solar energy is our legislature and Public Service Commission kow-towing to the electric companies instead of serving the public. How about we elect Georgia legislators and PSC members who will change that?

How about if we elect legislators who will stop approving nuclear boondoggles for Southern Company through a stealth tax on Georgia Power customers? How about we elect Georgia Public Service Commissioners who will stop giving Georgia Power a guaranteed profit through charging cost overruns (already $400 million) for the Plant Vogtle boondoggle to Georgia Power customers?

How about instead we fully fund the existing 35% state tax rebate for renewable energy? Last year Georgia legislators did double the money in that fund, but it’s still only $5 million a year and the funding for 2012 has already been used up. $5 million a year for power after it’s installed, while Georgia Power and Southern Company have already run $400 million over budget on nuclear energy that nobody will see for years, if ever! We need Georgia legislators who understand that Moore’s Law for solar means fast growth; growth in jobs, energy independence, and profit for Georgians.

To bring Georgia to the lead in renewable energy in this country and the world, all we really need to do is to pass something like SB 401 to modify that arrogant dinosaur of a 1973 Georgia Territoriality Electric Service Act that prevents you from getting financing to install solar generation and selling it through the grid at a profit, with the electric utility taking a cut and bragging rights.

It is time to let the south Georgia sun break through the clouds of power utility disinformation and regulatory capture. It is time for us to elect Georgia legislators and Georgia Public Service Commissioners who will let the sun shine on us in Georgia!

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Solar PV costs dropped 50% last year: time for south Georgia to lead in solar power

Solar energy continues to grow by leaps and bounds worldwide. Except in Georgia. Maybe we should change that. There’s an election going on right now.

Frank Jordans wrote for AP 11 June 2012, $257 billion invested in renewable energy in 2011,

Global investment in renewable energy reached a record of $257 billion last year, with solar attracting more than half the total spending, according to a U.N. report released Monday.

Investment in solar energy surged to $147 billion in 2011, a year-on-year increase of 52 percent thanks to strong demand for rooftop photovoltaic installations in Germany, Italy, China and Britain.

Large-scale solar thermal installations in Spain and the United States also contributed to growth during a fiercely competitive year for the solar industry. Several large American and German manufacturers fell victim to price pressure from Chinese rivals that helped to halve the cost of photovoltaic modules in 2011.

Lower solar PV module price should mean more people can afford to install solar electricity, which should mean more jobs for people to install it. How much lower? According to the report:

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The rest of the Brooks County Board of Elections meeting 17 July 2012

What happened before the Brooks County Election Supervisor was suspended? See for yourself, in this playlist of videos by George Boston Rhynes of the 17 July 2012 Brooks County Board of Elections. Here’s a list of who is who.

The rest of the Brooks County Board of Elections meeting 17 July 2012
Quitman, Brooks County, Georgia
Videos by George Boston Rhynes for bostongbr on YouTube and K.V.C.I.

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Torresol Energy provides solar energy night and day

We have as much sun in south Georgia as southern Spain, where they’re building industrial scale solar plants.

Tafline Laylin wrote for Inhabitant, 17 July 2011, Spain’s Gemasolar Array is the World’s First 24/7 Solar Power Plant!,

Torresol Energy has overcome one of solar energy’s biggest challenges: operating when the sun doesn’t shine. The 19.9 MW Gemasolar concentrated solar power plant in Spain’s Andalucia province has two tanks of molten salt (MSES) that store heat energy generated throughout the day. Unlike normal plants that have less thermal storage or none at all, this stored energy enables Torresol to satisfy peak summer energy demand long after sunset.

So we already know how to store solar power, even without developing better batteries. There’s more in the article. About that plant:

Characteristics of Gemasolar:
  • Rated electrical power: 19.9 MW
  • Net electrical production expected: 110 GWh/year
  • Solar field: 2,650 heliostats on 185 hectares
  • Heat storage system: the molten salt storage tank permits independent electrical generation for up to 15 hours without any solar feed.

185 hectares is about 457 acres, or about one VLCIA industrial park.

Seville, Spain, is about 37 degrees north latitude. We’re at about 31 degrees. In other words, Seville is about 360 miles north of us. And we get about the same amount of sun as Seville does.

The average insolation (amount of sunlight falling on the surface) in Seville, Spain is about the same as in Valdosta, Georgia: about 4.85 kWh/m2 per day.

Here’s a month-by-month comparison using Solar Electricity Handbook 2012 Edition. They haven’t heard of Valdosta, so I used Macon. You remember Macon, where it was 110 degrees June 30th.

WhenJan Feb Mar Apr May JunJul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Seville 4.16 4.76 5.68 5.81 5.98 6.49 6.90 6.77 6.01 4.78 3.96 3.63
Macon 3.76 4.24 5.03 5.52 5.58 5.16 5.24 5.07 4.84 4.96 4.18 3.73

Some months, Sevilla has a bit more sun. But in part of the fall, we have more sun.

Maybe we should start thinking bigger around here. And if we’ve got the sun for a big solar plant, we’ve got the sun for a lot of little rooftop solar panels. How about if we put Valdosta, Lowndes County, and south Georgia on the solar map so everyone will hear of us?

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Mayor starts walking back gay pride comments on WALB

Rainbow flagsValdosta Mayor John Gayle starts practicing the non-apology apology by saying he’s sorry people aren’t happy while complimenting the content of the anti-bullying proclamation he wouldn’t sign. He continues to provide earned media for the South Georgia Pride Festival.

Lydia Jennings reported for WALB yesterday, Valdosta Mayor denies Gay Pride event proclamation,

Raynae Williams Asst. Director South Georgia Pride “I’m not asking him to proclaim that he’s for gay marriage, I’m not asking any of that. It’s just simply stating that we’re here and we’re apart of the community,” said Williams.

Valdosta Mayor John Gayle “Too many times we give up our strong beliefs to make people happy, and I’m sorry that my decision didn’t make a lot of people happy,” said Gayle.

The Mayor says he compliments the organization for bringing awareness and education to bullying and hate crimes against the gay community. The event will be September 15 at the John W. Saunders Park in Valdosta.

Well, he looks apologetic, and he said he’s sorry, Valdosta banner but he for sure ain’t signin’ that proclamation, which was against bullying and hate crimes not just for the gay community, but “for all sexual orientations, races and religions.” Is he not against bullying other races and religions?

Those rainbow flags seem quite festive, as do those Valdosta banners.

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Agenda, Regular Meeting, Greater Lowndes Planning Commission @ GLPC 2012-07-30

Three City of Valdosta cases (two conditional use and one rezoning) and five Lowndes County rezoning cases at the Greater Lowndes Planning Commission (GLPC) Regular Session Monday 30 July 2012. The agenda was faxed to Gretchen Quarterman of LAKE by GLPC Chairman Bill Slaughter at her request.

The cases are listed below, as nearly as I can transcribe them. You may wonder, as I do, why anyone should need to transcribe them, since they were composed in electronic form in the first place before they were printed and faxed. The answer is: because both the Valdosta City Council and the Lowndes County Commission refuse to make them available online. Gretchen Quarterman and Bill Slaughter are the two candidates running for County Commission Chair, by the way.

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City of Valdosta Cases

FINAL ACTION by the City of Valdosta Mayor-Council
Thursday, August 9, 2012
Valdosta City Hall, 216 E. Central Avenue, Valdosta, Georgia
Council Chambers (2nd Floor)
5:30 p.m.

2. CU-2012-04 Jonathan Kendall
Property Location: 2209 Pineview Drive, Valdosta, GA
Conditional Use Permit (CUP) request for an existing hospital facility in a Residential Professional (R-P) zoning district
3. CU-2012-05 Ombudsman Educational Services
Property Location: 1200 North Ashley Street, Valdosta, GA
Conditional Use Permit (CUP) request for a specialized school facility in a Highway Commercial (C-H) zoning district.
4. VA-2012-09 Jim Sineath
Property Location: 2516 & 2518 Jerry Jones Drive, Valdosta, GA
Request to rezone 1.37 acres from Single-Family Residential (R-15) to Multi-Family Residential (R-M)

Lowndes County Cases

FINAL ACTION by the Lowndes County Board of Commissioners
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
Lowndes County Judicial and Administrative Complex
Commission Chambers, 2nd Floor
327 North Ashley Street, Valdosta, Georgia
5:30 p.m.

5. REX-2012-08 Barrington
Property Location: Bemiss Road, Sara Road, and Mac Road, Valdosta, GA
Request to rezone 12.11 acres from R-A (Residential Agriculture), R-21 (Medium Density Residential), and C-G (General Commercial) to Planned Development (P-D)
6. REZ-2012-10 Cain
Property Location: U.S. Highway 41 North, Hahira, GA
Request to rezone ~22 acres from R-A (Residential Agriculture), R-21 (Medium Density Residential), R-1 (Low Density Residential), and E-A (Estate Agriculture) to Rural Planned Development (PD-R)
7. REZ-2012-11 Stone
Property Location: Old U.S. Highway 41 North, Valdosta, GA
Request to rezone 40 acres from R-1 (Low Density Residential), to R-10 (Suburban Density Residential)
8. REZ-2012-12 Patten
Property Location: Parker Place Road, Hahira, GA
Request to rezone 3.4 acres from E-A (Estate Agriculture) to R-1 (Low Density Residential),
9. REZ-2012-13 Bailey
Property Location: Mulligan Road, Valdosta, GA
Request to rezone 2.88 acres from C-H (Highway Commercial) and C-G (General Commercial) to P-D (Planned Development)

Agenda Page 1:

Page 1

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Agenda Page 2:

Page 2

Page 2

TIF of fax:

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Wind for jobs in Georgia —Senator Mark Udall

Senator Mark Udall spoke 19 July 2012 about extending the wind energy production tax credit to produce jobs in Georgia.

The wind industry in Georgia has quickly multipled over the past few years. Nearly 1,000 wind energy jobs have been created. And equally important there is real potential for significant continued growth. And I want to focus on ZF Wind, which invested nearly $100 million in a manufacturing plant in Gainesville, Georgia, which is located northeast of Atlanta. This new plant will manufacture gearboxes for wind turbines, and that will bring several hundred really good paying jobs to Georgia.

Hm, that sounds like the sort of renewable energy business the Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority says it now is seeking.

Sen. Udall also acknowledged the City Council of Tybee Island for passing a resolution promoting wind energy. Maybe our Lowndes County Commission or one of our local city councils could do that about wind, or about solar power. Tybee City Council Paul Wolff could explain how that’s done.

Here’s the video:

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Jobs at the City of Valdosta

Valdosta City Council James R. Wright reminds us there are jobs open at the City of Valdosta. Here’s the online list, which currently looks like this the table below.

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JobTypeApplication DeadlineSalary
Police Officer Full Time 7/30/2012  $32,042.46
Neighborhood Development Coordinator Full Time 8/10/2012  $35,773.66
Laborer (Streets) PartTime 8/15/2012  $18,068.18
Public Works Director Full Time 8/8/2012  $62,994.88
Operations Superintendent Full Time 8/8/2012  $35,773.66
Automotive Service Worker Full Time Open Until Filled  $21,961.67
Refuse Collection Driver Full Time Open Until Filled  $23,059.92
Heavy Equipment Mechanic Full Time Open Until Filled  $26,694.72
Heavy Equipment Mechanic PartTime Open Until Filled  $12.83/hour
Human Resources Director Full Time Open Until Filled  DOQ

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WCTV T-SPLOST pro and con, 27 July 2012

Greg Gullberg has updated his WCTV story about T-SPLOST with a new video, this time interviewing private citizen John Gayle (for T-SPLOST) sitting at the Valdosta Mayor’s desk, Gretchen Quarterman (against T-SPLOST) at the Lowndes County Extension Office, and some other people.

Vote No T-SPLOST 31 July 2012The major issue driving people to the polls and dividing them is the TSPLOST Transportation tax. The TSPLOST Transportation Tax is a hot issue here in Georgia.. because it effects everybody. Organizers say with an extra penny of sales tax—when you add all those pennies up over the next ten years— that could be almost 20-billion dollars for the state. One side says it will ease your troubled commute. The other says the measure is so flawed it won’t really help at all.

Another excerpt:

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