Newspaper Page Text
Friday, March 1,2013
Tribune & Georgian
3A
Bridge Pointe owners still seeking answers
Jocelyn Brumbaugh
jocelyn@tribune-georgian.com
About 15 people who own
lots in Bridge Pointe at Jekyll
Sound showed up to Tuesday
night’s Camden County
Board of Commissioners
meeting seeking answers
about when they can call
southeast Georgia home.
The subdivision, which
went through a series of de
veloper bankruptcies, fraudu
lent bonds and negotiations
gone bad, is still an undevel
oped area on Dover Bluff
Road.
The county accepted more
than 200 lots in the subdivi
sion as collateral while Bridge
Pointe at Jekyll Sound Invest
ments LLC negotiated bonds.
The bonds never came
through, and now land that
was bought for around
$100,000 is valued at just
$11,000.
John King, a lot owner
from Los Angeles, Calif., flew
in for Tuesday’s meeting to
ask the board, who he said
“seem to be honorable,” to
help out lot owners who have
been wronged in the failed
development of Bridge
Pointe.
“We’re looking for a reso
lution, not a fight,” he said,
before referencing the
Golden Rule and challenging
them to apply it to the Bridge
Pointe situation.
Conrad Bishop of Roswell
said he visited the subdivision
earlier that day with his
brother, who also owns a lot,
and said he had the same feel
ing as he did when he saw the
“beautiful” site for the first
time a few years ago.
“If y’all are not working on
this issue, what are you work
ing on?” he asked the board.
Michael Dargus from Palm
Coast, Fla., cited the board’s
strategic plan, its mission
statement and values, saying
they were “worth nothing
more than the paper they’re
written on” if no action is
taken in the situation.
Habiba Doyle, who cur
rently lives on $t. $imons Is
land, said that the
development halt has delayed
her retirement, given her two
mortgage payments and af
fected her health.
“It has cost more than
money,” she said. “Much,
much more. We will never
give up. We urge you to do
the right thing.”
Richard Garrison, who has
spoken at several commission
meetings, expressed frustra
tion that the board has said it
wishes to resolve the issue but
seems to have taken no action.
He said he has made multiple
requests for meetings with
board members with no re
sponse and questioned their
reasoning.
“There’s a constant lack of
affirmative action towards a
resolvement of this case,” he
said. “There is no enjoyment
in my ownership.”
Garrison said he struggles
being a taxpayer and
landowner in Camden
County but not being able to
have a vote to elect those who
will represent him and work
toward a solution at Bridge
Pointe. He said the entire
process has caused him “noth
ing but heartache” and bills.
“$even years where I
haven’t had a voice where I
pay taxes,” he said. “I will
never have a vote here. Be
cause I’ll never get to build
here.”
Board chairman Chip
Keene interrupted the public
comment section of the meet
ing to assure all the landown
ers that, while the situation is
“relatively complicated,” the
board, its attorney and county
administrator are “looking at
all available options right
now.” Keene also urged those
who spoke to continue to be
patient during the process.
Other business
The board also discussed
and approved paying $66,000
for materials, labor and re
pairs made to the Temple
Landing boat dock. In August
2012, the dock was damaged
by flooding in the days after a
storm, making it ineligible for
storm insurance coverage. Be
cause no flood damage insur
ance was carried on the dock,
it is the county’s responsibility
to take bids for repairs and in
stallations of new structure at
the dock, which is owned by
the county but run by the
Public $ervice Authority
(PSA).
Commissioner Jimmy $tar-
line said that he thought
William Brunson, director of
the P$A, overstepped his
boundaries by entering into a
contract and accepting a bid
for materials and labor.
“I don’t like coming in here
and being told I owe $60,000
or $70,000 for something I
didn’t have a voice in,” he
said.
County administrator $teve
Howard said there was some
confusion in the situation and
that he has been in communi
cation with Brunson about it.
Before the board approved
the payment that was owed,
commissioner Chuck Clark,
who serves on the authority,
said he would do his best to
correct the situation and sim
ilar ones in the future.
During the rest of the
meeting, the following was
addressed:
• The board voted to allow
Keene to execute the enforce
ment of the Cross $afe pro
gram, which will include the
installation of cameras on
county school buses in an ef
fort to catch violators who
speed by buses when children
are getting on or off the bus.
Keene said his only concern
in the agreement is if the fines
collected from violators will
be enough to cover the court
costs accrued from those
charged. County attorney
Brent Green said he would
check into this matter and
communicate his findings.
• The board approved
moving forward with seeking
government grants for up to
$500,000 toward technical as
sistance in the development of
the spaceport project pro
posed for the old Bayer Crop-
$cience site on Union
Carbide Road. Howard said
that he strongly recommends
working with the Joint Devel
opment Authority on the
project.
• Approval was granted to a
resolution that authorized the
Americus and $umter County
Hospital Authority to issue
bonds in the refinancing of
the Magnolia Manor facilities.
Hudson receives Super Lawyer award
Emily Heglund
editorl@tds.net
Georgia Press Association
attorney David E. Hudson is
one of only five chosen as
Georgia $uper Lawyers in
2013.
The research team at
$uper Lawyers, a Thomson
Reuters business that rates
lawyers from more than 70
practice areas, makes the se
lections. The process in
cludes a statewide survey of
lawyers, independent evalu
ation of candidates and peer
reviews by practice area.
Recipients are published
in $uper Lawyers magazines
and in leading regional
magazines across the coun
try.
Hudson, a business litiga
tion attorney with Augusta-
based Hull Barrett, PC, is
also the attorney for the
Georgia Press Association.
As a GPA member, the Trib
une & Georgian relies on
Hudson's advice in matters
relating to open meetings
laws, open records laws and
others.
The press association re
cently named a Freedom of
Information award after
Hudson to acknowledge his
years of service to GPA
members and his extensive
knowledge of both sunshine
laws and resulting case law
in Georgia, where he is
widely considered an expert
on open meetings and open
records laws.
Joining Hudson in the
$uper Lawyer category are
attorneys from such areas as
employment and labor; civil
litigation defense; personal
injury defense: medical mal
practice and general litiga
tion.
The Hull Barrett firm in
cludes 28 attorneys in Au
gusta and Evans and in
Aiken, 8.C.
Hudson
★ VOTE ★ MARCH 19 ★