About Tribune & Georgian (Athens, Ga) 2002-current | View Entire Issue (March 16, 2023)
Thursday, March 16,2022 Tribune & Georgian 5A Zone D Zone A St Marys Fernandlna Baabjj Hilliard Submitted photo The Camden County Board of Commissioners approved new hurricane evacuation zones at its March 7 regular meeting. Commissioners approve hurricane zones At its March 7 regular meeting, the Camden Coun ty Board of Commission ers approved new hurricane evacuation zones for Cam den County. The county now features four zones to better reflect risk and evacu ation management. “We plan for worst case, not best case,” Emergen cy Management Director Chuck White said. “The up dated storm surge modeling allows us to right-size our evacuation zones based on storm surge levels potentially impacting the county.” The new hurricane evac uation zones are the first updates since 2013 and use the Sea, Lake and Overland Surges from Hurricanes (SLOSH) model from the National Hurricane Center. Storm surge risk areas were identified using the Maximums of Maximums water levels to determine the updated zone boundaries. Zone A consists of Cam den County’s barrier islands, including Cumberland Is land and Little Cumberland Island. Zone B includes most of the county east of Inter state 95, with the exception of Zone C and the barrier islands. Zone C consists of an area between 1-95 and the intersection of Colerain Road/Laurel Island Parkway and St. Marys Road. Zone D is all of Camden County west of 1-95. The new hurricane evac uation zones were devel oped in concert with data developed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers with co ordination from the Georgia Emergency Management Agency, Federal Emergency Management Agency and the National Oceanic and Atmo spheric Administration. While there are new evac uation zones, it is important to note the evacuation routes have not changed. More information, includ ing links to maps and evacu ation routes, is available on the Camden County web site at camdencountyga.gov/ Evacuation. Submitted by the Camden County Board of Commissioners Letters from page 4A The second trend is that local law enforcement of ficers are often used for traffic enforcement, where training aimed at stopping violent crimes in progress can be misapplied. This is exacerbated in Georgia where most traffic violations are misdemeanors rather than infractions, giving Georgia law enforcement officers enormous power to escalate routine traffic stops into dangerous high-speed chases or violent in-person encounters, with little or no consequence. Thus, Officer Thornton was put on leave with out pay for only five days for violating KPD policy against chasing a driver for a traffic violation in unsafe conditions on July 27. And Officer Wilkinson did not even have his judgment questioned for calling in a Camden County Sheriff’s Office K-9 officer at a traf fic stop for speeding that he made on July 17, 2022, and then standing by passively as Christine Newman and then Alex Watson escalat ed the encounter into the violent arrest of the car’s Black passenger. Similarly, while Newman got a warn ing about her “language” in this encounter, Watson did not get even that for inflicting a concussion when he slammed the passen ger’s head into the hood of Wilkinson’s patrol car. We invite all to join in our work to adapt the reforms in the resolution locally. Timothy Bessent Sr. President NAACP Camden Branch Police officer hire a mistake Dear Editor, After reading the article in the March 9 Tribune & Georgian, I’m amazed by our local government’s deci sion-making. With so many driving in fractions, violation of King- sland Police Department policy and what appears to be a blatant disregard for public safety, why would St. Marys Police Department even interview this guy, much less hire him? It is just one more thing in a long list of bonehead decisions by our local and county governing bodies. How are we as citizens of St. Marys and Camden County expected to have any confidence in our lead ership? Richard Dickerson St. Marys NOTICE OF INTENTION TO INTRODUCE LOCAL LEGISLATION Notice is given that there will be introduced at the 2023 regular session of the General Assembly of Georgia a bill to authorize the governing author ity of Camden County to levy an excise tax pursuant to subsection (b) of Code Section 48-13-51 of the O.C.G.A.; and for other purposes. 78673 ccboc 031623 Don’t Gamble With Your Home Termites Can Turn Your Home Into A House of Cards Termites cause more damage to homes each year than fire, floods, and storms combined. Don’t try your luck with termites. Call us. Don’t let termites stack the deck against your life’s largest investment. Yates-Astro Termite & Pest Control 912-882-3118 www.Yates-Astro.com $1 billion tax rebate passes State Senate Dave Williams Capitol Beat News Service ATLANTA - The Georgia Senate over whelmingly passed a $1 billion one-time state in come tax rebate Tuesday, sending it to Gov. Brian Kemp’s desk for his signa ture. The 46-7 Senate vote followed House passage of the legislation last month by a vote of 170-2. The tax rebate will yield $250 to single taxpayers, $375 to heads of house holds and $500 to married couples filing jointly. Kemp and the General Assembly have provided income tax rebates two years in row, using por tions of a budget surplus that has reached more than $6 billion. The only dif ference between this year’s bill and the 2022 version is that the rebate also will go to students listed as de pendents on their parents’ tax form but who worked during the last tax year. The rebate fulfills a promise Kemp made on the campaign trail last year. “We’re sending money back to the people because they know how to use it,” the governor said Monday during a signing ceremo ny for the mid-year state budget. But the rebate received pushback on the $enate floor Tuesday from Dem ocrats who argued it isn’t the best use of the state’s surplus revenue. $en. Josh McLaurin, D-$andy $prings, who voted for the bill, said he was doing so only be cause Georgia voters have come to expect tax rebates when the state builds up a large surplus. He said the money should be used to address the state’s serious workforce shortage. Kemp signs $32.5B mid-year state budget Dave Williams Capitol Beat News Service ATLANTA - Gov. Brian Kemp has signed a $32.5 billion mid-year state bud get that includes proper ty tax relief for Georgia homeowners and securi ty grants for every public school in the state. “It delivers on the prom ises I made last year,” Kemp, who won a second term in office last November, said Monday during a ceremo ny celebrating the spending plan he signed last Friday. The General Assembly had given the mid-year budget final passage the day before. The mid-year budget, which covers state spending through the end of June, provides $950 million in property tax relief, down slightly from the $1 billion Kemp requested in January. It will save Georgia home- owners roughly $500 on their property tax bills. The legislature sup ported the governor’s rec ommendation of $115.7 million for school security grants, with $50,000 going to each school. The Geor gia House had increased the individual grants to $60,000, but the $enate went back to Kemp’s orig inal proposal. 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