The Charleston Blog, by Jim & Maria

While I don't agree with the Stimulus Plan, it is important to know where the money is excepted to go. I only pray that our trusted officials do a much better job this go round.

Right now South Carolina is expected to get $3.2 billion (that is a lot of zeros). Below is the breakdown for the money.

$905.1 million for State Budget Aid

$479.9 million for Highways and Bridges

$34.2 million for Mass Transit

$59.5 million for Waste Water Treatment, Sewers

$6.6 million for Low-income Energy Assistance

$291.4 million for Schools Modernization

$9.9 million for Head Start

$13.9 million for Education Technology Grant

Again, I don't agree with the Stimulus Package. I feel that there are other great ideas and plans out there to help the economy without placing the US deeper in debt. Thanks for your time and attention.

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We proudly serve and sell real estate in and around all of Charleston, SC.  If you are thinking about purchasing or selling your home in Charleston, Johns Island, James Island, Folly Beach, Kiawah Island, Seabrook Island, West Ashley, Mount Pleasant, Isle of Palms, Sullivans Island, North Charleston, Hanahan, Summerville, Goose Creek or other surrounding areas, and more importantly, want to work with a local area expert, contact us at your earliest convenience.

Jim and Maria Hart
Realtors®/ Agent Owned Realty
(843) 364-9845
hart@agentowned.com

 Copyright © 2009 by Jim and Maria Hart (Agent Owned Realty).

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We proudly serve and sell real estate in and around all of Charleston, SC.  If you are thinking about purchasing or selling your home in Charleston, Johns Island, James Island, Folly Beach, Kiawah Island, Seabrook Island, West Ashley, Mount Pleasant, Isle of Palms, Sullivans Island, North Charleston, Hanahan, Summerville, Goose Creek or other surrounding areas, and more importantly, want to work with a local area expert, contact us at your earliest convenience.

Jim and Maria Hart
Realtors®/ Agent Owned Realty
(843) 364-9845
hart@agentowned.com

 Copyright © 2009 by Jim and Maria Hart (Agent Owned Realty).

I just read that the officials in Berkeley County are drawing up an ambitious plan to turn the smelly gas and rotting garbage in the county's giant landfill off U.S. Highway 52 into power and money. 

The project has many puzzle pieces, but if they all fit together, officials said their plan could extend the life of the landfill for decades.  It could also reduce the dump's noxious odors, generate enough electricity to power homes in a small city and earn or save the county hundreds of thousands of dollars a year!

The goal is to take five different wastes - methane, sewage sludge, waste water, food, and yard waste and wood debris - and turn them into power.  This would all be done at the landfill.

Here's how they are proposing to accomplish this:

• Sink pipes into the landfill to extract methane.  Methane would be burned at first, but later wold be captured, cleaned and used to generate electricity or to furl vehicles.  Work on this phase should begin in about three months.
• Build an anaerobic digester, which is a system that would take food and yard waste and turn it into methane and fertilizer.
• Build a 35-megawatt biomass plant that would burn wood debris, sewage sludge, construction waste and raw timber to generate electricity.  This plant would use a process called "fluidized bed combustion," a process that evolved from efforts to find a better way to control air pollutants than traditional incinerator systems.
• Send 1.2 million gallons of treated waste-water to the biomass plant to create a steam to drive the plant's generator, as well as some sewage sludge.
• Build a plant to turn grease, fat and oils from restaurants into fuel that can be burned at the biomass plant or other power generators.

The biomass plant, along with the methane from the digester and landfill, could generate more than 37 megawatts, enough to power between 18,500 and 23,500 homes, which is roughly the combined number of housing units in Goose Creek, Hanahan and Moncks Corner.

The best part is that if the bio-energy complex is built, the landfill's lifespan could be extended for "our children's children and beyond" according to Colin Martin, executive director of Berkeley County Water and Sanitation.

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We proudly serve and sell real estate in and around all of Charleston, SC.  If you are thinking about purchasing or selling your home in Charleston, Johns Island, James Island, Folly Beach, Kiawah Island, Seabrook Island, West Ashley, Mount Pleasant, Isle of Palms, Sullivans Island, North Charleston, Hanahan, Summerville, Goose Creek or other surrounding areas, and more importantly, want to work with a local area expert, contact us at your earliest convenience.

Jim and Maria Hart
Realtors®/ Agent Owned Realty
(843) 364-9845
hart@agentowned.com

 Copyright © 2009 by Jim and Maria Hart (Agent Owned Realty).

Whether you're buying or selling a home, we want to earn your business. We invite you to contact us as we'd be happy to assist you with your important transaction.

In addition, if you have any general questions about buying or selling real estate in South Carolina, please contact us as we're more than willing to help.

Please browse our website, www.JimAndMariaHart.com, for listings, reports and important local real estate information.

Have a Wonderful Day!

Jim & Maria Hart

(843) 364-9845

If you have been thinking about adopting a new pet into your family, then listen up!

Tomorrow, January 24th, three hundred shelters across the USA are holding Change a Pet's Life Day aimed at focusing attention on shelters and rescue groups and enticing potential adopters.

And the best part?  Fees for the first 10 adoptions at each participating shelter will be paid for by Topeka-based Hill's Pet Nutrition, which organized the event!

In addition to reimbursing shelters for the 3,000 pets the adopters won't have to pay for, Hill's is providing free Science Diet pet food and a training/information DVD to all adopters and launching a toll-free number to answer new-pet-owner questions.

What an awesome opportunity for families across America to help so many homeless pets find new, loving homes! 

So if you're in Charleston, then you need to visit Pet Helpers on James Island.  They are one of the three hundred participating shelters in Change a Pet's Life Day.  According to their website, kittens and puppies are not going to be part of this special day, but there are so many other worthy animals ready for you to bring them home.  If you're not in Charleston, then check out the list of other shelters across the country who are participating.

And if you do find your next four-legged family member during Change a Pet's Life Day, then please come back and share your story and a picture with us!