Tag Archives: Valdosta

Foxborough vs. McDonalds

I spent a few hours walking around Foxborough Ave. and Amberley Trail this afternoon, just south of North Valdosta Road. Did you know there’s a McDonalds proposed for Foxborough Ave., with a second entrance off of Old US 41? I didn’t until this afternoon.

The only mention of this project I can find in the VDT is this cryptic note by Kay Harris in her June 27, 2010 Business This Week:

The McDonalds project on N. Valdosta Road next to the Foxborough entrance should be finalized soon….

Neighbors immediately to the south of the project say that:

This property has not yet closed. Projected closing is the first week of August. Corporate McDonalds says construction will begin in October.
They also tell me this will be a 24 hour a day 7 day a week fast food restaurant. Numerous residents mentioned safety concerns about the added traffic on the Foxborough Ave. entrance to the subdivision, and about pulling people off of I-75 into their neighborhood.

They’re holding a neighborhood meeting about it tomorrow (Thursday 8 July): Continue reading →

Town Hall Meeting about Biomass Plant

Some concerned citizens met with the Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority on JulyJune 10, 2010 about the proposed biomass plant on Inner Perimeter Road. Not everyone was convinced that it was a good idea.

Pastor Angela Manning of New Life Ministries has organized a Town Hall meeting for tomorrow, Thursday 8 July 2010 at 7PM:

Date:Thursday, July 8th, 2010
Time:7 p.m.
Venue:New Life Ministries
Address: 5651 Inner Perimeter Rd., Valdosta, GA 31606
Here is a PDF of the flyer and related links. The flyer was prepared by Natasha Fast of SAVE.

-jsq

Greyfield Villas

Entrance sign Previously discussing the Glen Laurel subdivision on Old Pine Road near Bemiss, several of the people speaking against at the County Commission meeting mentioned the Greyfield subdivision. That’s Greyfield Villas; see the entrance sign in the picture on the right. It’s in Lowndes County but not in Valdosta; somebody correct me if I’m wrong abo ut that. In that picture it’s hard to read the sign in the background on the north side of North Oak Street Extension. Here’s a closeup:

FOR RENT by Blake Taylor

For Rent. Just inside we see a dumpster with For Rent signs on the houses on either side: Continue reading →

Whole trees as biomass?

Previously I promised to come back to the subject of whole trees. Allan Ricketts asserted in the VLCIA meeting with concerned citizens on 10 June 2010 that the biomass plant Wiregrass LLC proposed for Valdosta will never burn whole trees because it would be economically unfeasible for it to do so. While I have no doubt that Col. Ricketts is acting on the best information given to him, there are reasons to be sceptical about what will happen in the future. Continue reading →

Parks and Rec. Appointment, Lowndes County, Georgia

Previously, the Valdosta City Council appointed City Council member Robert Yost to the Valdosta-Lowndes County Parks & Recreation Authority (VLPRA). The Lowndes County Board of Commissioners debated appointing a Commissioner to the VLPRA at their June 8 meeting:

They decided to appoint their chairman, Ashley Paulk, to the VLPRA. Chairman Paulk said he would serve, but as a private citizen. I wonder then what the point was of appointing him, rather than someone else.

When Valdosta appointed Yost, Ashley Paulk provided this statement to the VDT: Continue reading →

Sunset Hill Cemetery Interactive Map

Heard about this through the Valdosta Planners Post: Sunset Hill Interactive Web Site.
In April 2009, the City of Valdosta was awarded a Georgia Historic Preservation Fund grant by the Historic Preservation Division, Georgia Department of Natural Resources, to produce a Geographic Information Systems (GIS)-enabled web site to be used by family members, historians, genealogists, and anyone interested in learning about the generations of Valdostans laid to rest at the city-owned Sunset Hill Cemetery.
You can search for people by name, and it will show you birth date, death date, lot number, and pan to the correct location on a map. Quite a difference from when aunt Jane and I used to have to try to guess when the caretaker would be in to look up who was buried where, or just stomp around until we found the marker.

What’s Sunset Hill, you may wonder? About Sunset Hill Cemetery: Continue reading →

Biomass Permit Expected Fortnightly

The VDT published on May 18 Projects in the works: Industrial Authority reviews and discuss items at meeting, by Kara Ramos, in which there is this paragraph:
WIREGRASS POWER, LLC

The project should be approved and issued an air quality operating permit in the next 14 days, according to Lofton. A power purchase agreement should also be complete by June 1, 2010. The VLCIA granted an eight month extension for the project to begin construction.

(VLCIA is the Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority. Brad Lofton is its executive director.)

We know from previous reports that this wood and sewage sludge incinerator is expected to produce a maximum of 25 long-term jobs. Many questions were asked at the air quality hearing about particulates, CO2, mercury, and other pollutants. The answers ranged from “we don’t monitor that” to Continue reading →

100 Black Men, Valdosta, 15 May 2010

Movie: Johnny Ball gives award to Helen Jackson, Educator (40M) At the annual Black Tie Banquet of 100 Black Men of Valdosta on May 15, Johnny P. Ball, III gave Community Service awards
  • to Helen Jackson, a guidance counselor at Valdosta High School,
  • to Percy Chastang, a youth development coordinator at the South Health District, also involved in Poetic Magic,
  • and to Pastor Angela Manning of New Life Ministries.
Kwame Holder played the saxophone and the food was by Antoine’s Flavor of New Orleans.

Here is MC Donald Williams introducing the evening: Continue reading →

LHS Jazz Band at Valdosta Brown Bag Lunch

Lowndes High School Jazz Ensemble (LHS Jazz Band) playing at the daily Valdosta Brown Bag concerts at the Lowndes County Courthouse:

Brown bag lunch with LHS Jazz Band

Video of people eating lunch and listening to jazz: Continue reading →