Tag Archives: LAKE

Special bid review meeting @ VLCIA 2013-10-29

The Industrial Authority’s new office is urgent enough for a special called meeting. Inquiring reporter Gretchen is going to see what the fuss is about.

Maybe it’s just because this office search has had more episodes than Star Wars. Before Roy Copeland was appointed to the VLCIA board, they were considering buying the old Board of Elections site from him. Now he’s even been Chairman twice and given that up, and they still don’t have a new office. Or maybe it’s something to do with who owns 103 Roosevelt Drive.

Interestingly, HG Pinnacle Properties, Inc. also owns the much larger surrounding lot, 2318 N Patterson Street, on which a Valdosta Electric trailer has been parked across from the hospital for so long it shows up on Google Maps.

On VLCIA’s website and facebook page (although oddly not in their current news page:

There will be a Special Called Meeting of the Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority 12 noon Tuesday, October 29, 2013 at the Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority Offices.

The purpose of this meeting is to review bids regarding the renovation and construction of 103 Roosevelt Drive.

-jsq

Videos: Nottinghill tabled, Barrington, Whitewater, New Statenville + VLD * 2 + Dasher + Hahira variance @ GLPC 2013-09-30

In last month’s Planning Commission meeting we learned that developers get agenda items in PDF; yet the county still doesn’t publish agendas or minutes, much less agenda packets, online. Nottinghill (on Orr rather than Cat Creek Road this time) was tabled. Norwood (on Springhill Drive in Valdosta) got recommended denial by 5-4 and was later withdrawn, plus a a Hahira variance (5 to 3 against), a Valdosta conditional use permit (unanimously recommended), a Dasher zoning text amendment (unanimously recommended), and three other rezonings in Lowndes County, on New Statenville Highway, Whitewater Road @ Williams Road, and Barrington Drive @ Bemiss Road.

Here’s the agenda, with links to the videos and a few notes.

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, September 30, 2013* 5:30 P.M. * Public Hearing

Continue reading →

The SPLOST Debate –Tim Carroll

Received 27 October 2013. -jsq

I have had a number of folks contact me about the upcoming SPLOST VII referendum and inquiring about a MOST. Trying to talk about all of this in as few a words as I can is not easy. But to give you some perspective—the city’s general fund budget is $32M. $5.9M of the revenue for this fund comes from property taxes. Based on the city tax digest a mill is worth $1.5M. The experts say 50.2% of the sales tax is paid by out of towners. In the opinion of some folks, it is closer to 30%. Pick the experts or local guesses ….it still is a significant amount. It clearly is very beneficial to the citizens of Valdosta and Lowndes County.

By now many have heard about a MOST or Municipal Option Sales Tax.

In the first part of this year—the city of Valdosta was faced with Continue reading →

U.S. broadband among most expensive worldwide: why?

We don’t have to continue letting the duopoly gouge us for slow and expensive Internet access. We don’t have to wait for Washington or Atlanta, either. We do need our local leaders to stop defining away the issue and get on with doing something about.

Tom Geoghegan wrote for BBC News 27 October 2013, Why is broadband more expensive in the US?

Home broadband in the US costs twice as much as it does in Europe and three times as much as it does in South Korea, according to a new report. Why?

Because we let the duopoly get away with it, as Susan Crawford has been reminding us for a while now. Continue reading →

Fossil fuel divestment fastest

Divestment to Financial Hardship to Change in Conduct Not just faster than apartheid divestment; faster than divestment from tobacco, armaments, and others: fossil fuel divestment. It’s not about direct reduction of market capitalization; it’s about making it socially unacceptable to buy from stigmatized companies, and it works, and it’s working faster than ever for fossil fuels. Oh, and fossil fuel companies are a tiny sliver of university endowments, so ditching them is pain free, especially now that fossil fuel stock prices are not rising while solar stocks skyrocket (and nuclear stocks don’t). Go fossil free, go VSU.

Stranded Assets and the Fossil Fuel Divestment Campaign: What Does Divestment Mean for the Valuation of Fossil Fuel Assets? 8 October 2013 | Authors: Atif Ansar, Ben Caldecott, James Tilbury
Damian Carrington wrote for the Guardian Monday 7 October 2013 Campaign against fossil fuels growing, says study: Investors being persuaded to take their money out of fossil fuel sector, according to University of Oxford study,

A campaign to persuade investors to take their money out of the fossil fuel sector is growing faster than any previous divestment campaign and could cause significant damage to coal, oil and gas companies, according to a study from the University of Oxford.

The report compares the current fossil fuel divestment campaign, which has attracted 41 institutions since 2010, with those against tobacco, apartheid in South Africa, armaments, gambling and pornography. It concludes that the direct financial impact of such campaigns on share prices or the ability to raise funds is small but the reputational damage can still have major financial consequences.

Continue reading →

HA-2013-04 Bert Chancy parcel on north side of Claudia Drive @ GLPC 2013-10-28

Received yesterday. -jsq

Hahira re-zoning issue for land adjacent to Hahira Elementary School intended for apartment construction. Several citizens have expressed concerns for increased traffic in a school area and reduced property values. If you are for or against you need to be at the Planning Commission meeting Monday 10/28/13 and at the Hahira City Council meeting Thursday 11/07/13 to voice your opinion. You do not have to be a city resident to comment and parents of school children can express their traffic & safety concerns if desired.

-Barbara Stratton

Claudia Drive, Chancy Development Company LLC:

Continue reading →

Steward, Chancy, VLCIA, Nottinghill, and Teramore @ GLPC 2013-10-28

Why is the Industrial Authority asking Valdosta to annex and rezone a parcel it apparently does not own? That plus rezonings in Dasher and Hahira (see separate post for more on that one), plus two in Lowndes County: Teramore, and Nottinghill is back.

Here’s the agenda.

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, October 28, 2013* 5:30 P.M. * Public Hearing

Continue reading →

China $375 billion conservation and pollution investment

Fayen Wong and Ruby Lian wrote for Reuters 30 July 2013, China to invest $375 billion on energy conservation, pollution: paper,

China plans to invest 2.3 trillion yuan ($375 billion) in energy saving and emission-reduction projects in the five years through 2015 to clean up its environment, the China Daily newspaper reported on Wednesday, citing a senior government official.

The plan, which has been approved by the State Council, is on top of a 1.85 trillion yuan investment in the renewable energy sector, underscoring the government’s concerns about addressing a key source of social discontent.

China has set a target of reducing its carbon emissions per unit of GDP by 40-45 percent by 2020 from the 2005 level, and raising non-fossil energy consumption to 15 percent of its energy mix, Xie Zhenhua, deputy director of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), was quoted as saying.

The article continues about tiered power pricing for energy intensive industries and carbon trading markets.

Given that most of the world’s increase in energy usage comes from one country, China, according to OECD figures, anything China can do to slow that increase is good.

-jsq

From fracking to pipelines –Michael G. Noll

LTE in the VDT today. I added the images and the links. -jsq

Albert Einstein once said that “the world will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but by those who watch them without doing anything.” This philosophy can be applied to countless social and political issues and speaks of the dangers of apathy. Add to this situation a lack of information and our society is truly in danger, as companies like SPECTRA Energy not only count on our apathy, but will also try to hoodwink us.

The Sabal Trail Pipeline currently discussed in our community is really part of a larger story, a process known as hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. Fracking allows companies like Halliburton to free oil and gas trapped in geologic formations, but in a fashion that is extremely dangerous to our environment (especially groundwater aquifers) and human health. Exempt from the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act and the Safe Drinking Water Act, fracking has created countless problems for communities from Pennsylvania to Texas, and may soon be coming to north Georgia.

The gas pipeline under discussion is literally a tentacle Continue reading →

Third Sabal Trail pipeline route misses Georgia entirely

Andrea Grover of Sabal Trail Transmission has been telling Florida landowners about another proposed pipeline route that completely bypasses Georgia. Received yesterday on Request pipeline town hall –Tim Bland to LCC:

For those that are against having the pipeline run through their property, go to Ocala Star Banner on the web where there is a map with the proposed route for the pipeline from Alabama to Florida. This route barely touches the southwest corner of Georgia (if at all). Why did Sabal change the route? I don’t either. The newspaper is dated October 24, 2013.

-Ronald Kicklighter

Contracts for natural gas pipeline through Florida get initial OK, by Morgan Watkins for Ocala StarBanner picked up a story first run in the Gainesville Sun,

A $3.5 billion, 600-mile natural-gas pipeline system that will stretch from Alabama into Florida is still in the planning stages, but homeowners near the Ichetucknee and Santa Fe rivers are concerned because the routes being proposed might run through their neighborhoods.

 

Landowners in Georgia don’t want it crossing their land or the Flint or Withlacoochee Rivers, either.

Florida Power & Light selected Continue reading →