The Islander. (St. Simons Island, Ga.) 1972-current, March 23, 2009, Image 1

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500 JSLflND€R_ • Dave Barry - 8 Surfin’ • Editorial the News Back Talk -16 • Health - 9 • Movie Review fxr-in The Last House on the Left -11 &md6h$. • Pew News -14 Published by Permar Publications • P.O. Box 20539 • St. Simons Island, Ga. 31522 • 912-265-9654 • ssislander@bellsouth.net March 23, 2009 Established 1972 Vol 37 Issue 12 Glynn County Airport commission expects to receive Stimulus Funds By Pamela Permar Shierling Phase II of the McKin non St. Simons Airport air craft apron rehabilitation will, hopefully, be paid for 100% by approximately $6 million in stimulus funding from the federal government. According to Steve Brian, Executive Director of the Glynn County Airport Com mission, he and his staff are working to get documentation to the federal government that will allow the funds to come to Glynn County. "We were planning to do the apron rehabilitation in sev eral phases over a longer time period," Brian said. "But if we receive the stimulus money we can finish the project in a year." Phase II, which is currently Turn to Page 5 Airport Commission Public comment period still on hold By Matthew J. Permar Glynn County Commission er Bob Coleman (At Large #2) still wants to initiate a public comment period during com mission meetings similar to the one the Glynn Comity Board of Education has, but is having trouble getting it approved by his fellow commissioners. Coleman brought the issue up for a second time at the Thursday, March 19 commis sion meeting, after deferring it at the February 5 meeting in order to address concerns that had been mentioned to him. Last week Coleman offered a list of six guidelines for the comment period, which are included in a sidebar to this article on page 6. He said staff had helped him review and "reword" the guidelines. "Every citizen in the coun ty has the right to step up and speak their mind to this commission for five minutes," Turn to Page 6 Comment period Being prepared - for the worst Correction - B&GC In the front page story titled ‘Teen Center open for summer’ in last week’s edition, the Glynn County Boys and Girls Club’s new teen center was incorrectly named due to reporter error. The correct name for the new teen center is the Eliza beth F. Correll Teen Center, not Terrell as was reported. The Islander regrets any confusion from this mistake. □ A lot going on during the simulated airplane crash disaster drill at the Brunswick Golden Isles Airport last week (top photo). A Glynn County firefighter (far left) puts out 'burning pieces of airplane wreckage. 1 Barrels filled will combustible materials were used to simulate the burning wreckage. A paramedic (center) tends to one of the 38 crash victims while being filmed by a camera crew from the FLETC. Glynn County Police officer Todd Simpson (lower right), a first responder to the scene, takes a preliminary survey of victims. The two men in blue shirts and khaki pants (center and far right) are some of the many observers who watched and critiqued the drill for the airport commission. Airport Commission Executive Director Steve Brian (left - bottom photo) gets a last minute update on safety precautions for the drill from Glynn County Fire Chief Al Thomas. Islander Staff Photos Multi-agency group takes part in local disaster drill By Matthew J. Permar Even when potential disas ters work out for the best, like the recent New York City water landing in which an airline pilot was able to save the lives of everyone on board, more often the worst does occur and emergency management agen cies have to be prepared for such events. The Brunswick Golden Isles Airport (BGIA) may be a mid sized facility but they need and are required by the Fed eral Aviation Administration (FAA) to stay prepared for a plane crash the same as any major metropolitan airport. Last Wednesday, March 18, the BGIA played host to a number of local agencies who all took part in a disaster drill. The drill called for a mock airplane crash of an inbound flight in the northeast comer of the airport grounds short of runway 25. This was a full scale drill that is mandated by the FAA to be held every three years. Turn to Page 5 Disaster drill