About The Islander. (St. Simons Island, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (April 13, 2009)
PAGE 6, APRIL 13, 2009, THE ISLANDER Legislation canned Continued from Page 2 It gives the JWSC 30 days from the time they receive the claim to consider and act on it. According to JWSC legal counsel Desiree Watson, the sovereign immu nity and ante litem issues are standard operating procedure with all govern ment agencies. Watson said, "This legislation is designed to protect the public purse. It gives us the ability to resolve legal issues without litigation, without going to court." After the JWSC submitted the legis lation to the general assembly, Senator Jeff Chapman (Dist. 3) added another section of his own that the JWSC felt was too burdensome and created the potential for situations that would make it difficult for them to conduct their business. Chapman's amendment stated that whenever the JWSC recommends, requests or approves any increase in rates, fees, tolls or charge, two public hearings must be held, one on the mainland and one on St. Simons Island, in different weeks. Advertisements for the hearings must be placed in the county's legal organ for two successive weeks at least 30 days before the first hearing. The ads cannot be placed with other legal notices in the Classified Ads section of the newspaper, but "shall be a promi nently displayed advertisement or news article", which is substantially more expensive than the Classified Ad page. The notice must also be placed at least once in JWSC customer's bills one billing cycle before the first hearing. Chapman's amendment would supersede any local ordinance's provi sion for public hearings and how they are advertised. Currently, Glynn County's ordinance requires one notice and one public hearing for rate increases. Brunswick has no such ordinance and requires neither the notice or the hearing. The public hearing notice must con tain the date, time, location, subject matter, financial justification for the increase, a five year projection of oper ating revenues and expenses (with or without an increase) and a five year history of dates and amounts of previ ous increases. JWSC has issues The JWSC discussed a number of issues and problems they believed Chapman's amendment would create, making it difficult for them to do busi ness. • Chapman's amendment expands the public hearing requirement beyond just a rate increase and includes "fees, tolls and charges." First, the JWSC has no tolls. Second the way it is written, this amendment would trigger the notice-public hearing procedure if the JWSC decided to insti tute something relatively minor, like a $5 bad check fee. • It means there would be a 31 day minimum before they could increase rates or request an increase from the city and comity commissions. For example, this would have caused problems with the recent rate increase the JWSC needed to cover the bond issue for the Exit 29 Wastewater Treat ment Plant expansion project. This issue was that some of the bonds need ed to be obtained in 2008 and some in 2009 in order to get the lowest interest rates. • The rate or increase may not be based on a "financial" justification. The justification could be environmental. It could be due to state or federal man dates. Or it could be based on a compli ■ REAL ESTATE and YOU <ppmR By Susan Hardwick v7v AL tv , N (.^/ • St. Simons Island ABR, CRS, E-PRO, GRI Service • Commitment • Results WOW YOUR PROSPECTIVE BUYERS! Sellers may feel the despair of not getting as many showings as they want; knowing that the inventory is great right now. But, the real key today is to enhance your property to make it stand out to increase your chance for a successful sale. Clearing clutter; removing personal photos; applying fresh coats of paint; making the minor repairs needed and keeping a pleasant aroma are the basic techniques to make your home more appealing. However, industry experts agree that spending remodeling money in five areas can add to your home’s “wow” factor. This includes going green. Use energy efficient products and household goods that are attractive to buyers. Choose better insulation; replace old windows; do some caulking; add skylights. Other items to consider: add crown molding and wider baseboards; frame windows and doorways to complete the look of a room. Use textured paint; choose colors and textures wisely. Improve your flooring. Wood, tile and new carpet can make a huge difference. Finally, consider adding a deck — its one of the pluses that you can enjoy now and the new owner later! For the best in professional service contact Susan Hardwick, 638-6660 office,- or 1-877-638-6660, Ext. 625. 638-8782 home,- 912-222-0392 mobile,- e-mail: susanhardwick@bellsouth.net,web: www.seapalmsrealty.com ance issues or litigation costs. • The five year projection of revenue and expenses and the five year history of rate increases were also burdensome to the JWSC. It would take many costly man hours of work to create the information. The JWSC's master plan is not com plete, so it would be difficult to deter mine five year projections. Plus, the projections would be speculative and of not much value, according to the JWSC. The JWSC has not been in existence for five years, so they cannot produce a five year history of rate increases. And perhaps the most interesting of the issues associated with the five year projections and history - accord ing to attorney Desiree Watson, this in not required of any other entity in the State of Georgia. Watson said, "I did the research. I searched through the state statutes and no one else in the state has to com ply with this." • The JWSC says the costs to run two display ads large enough to contain all the financial projections and history would be excessive. • Finally, in superseding the local ordinance, Chapman's amendment would invalidate a Glynn County ordinance without any input from the comity commission or administration on the subject. During the discussion at the JWSC meeting, chairman Tony Sammons said, "We sent this to Atlanta and it came back with this amendment put in by Senator Chapman. There is just a lot of overkill to it. I do not disagree with Senator Chapman that accountability is necessary, but this goes far beyond the scope of accountability. It encum bers this commission far too much." JWSC member Tony Thaw asked if the JWSC's amendment had gone to the State House prior to going to the Senate and Sammons said, "Yes, it had." "Was there any disagreement there?," asked Thaw. "No," replied Sammons, "My sug gestion is to postpone this for the time being and try again later. If this (both the JWSC's and Chapman's amend ments) is approved, it would be one step forward and four steps backwards." Thaw made the motion to defer any action on the request for legislation. Calendar Thursday, April 16, 6:30 p.m. Glynn County Eagle Club hosts GSU Defen sive Coordinator Ashley Anders and Assistant Coach Jeff Koonz. Home of Joan Harris, St. Simons Island. Low Country boil dinner. Tickets $10. 912- 638-2228; 912-571-1937. Saturday, April 18 noon to 3 p.m. 8th annual 'Spring Fling' for Disabled Citizens. Mary Ross Park in Downtown Brunswick. Free. 912-267-7613. Saturday, April 18, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., Scottish ceilidh. Ashantilly Center in Darien. $15. 912-437-4770 or 912-437- 4473. □ Property Sales on St. Simons and Sea Island are brought to you weekly as a courtesy of Elizabeth Johnson REALTOR FOX RUN t£) 912-230-3236 • 912-265-0147 ejohnson@foxmnproperties.com Transfer Seller Buyer Location/Legal Tax Description/Address St Simons $ 75.00 Harper, Jerry W; Squire, Catherine Storey & Lot 23, West Point Plantation Hartman, J Benedict; Helen Whittle Katz Trust; ETAL Stephen J $ 180.00 Johnson, Gale E Herman, John Timothy & Unit 922, Courtside Villas Muriel Lynn Condos, **922 Wimbledon Dr $ 202.50 Powell, Johnny H Smith, E Steven & Linda M Unit 301 Bldg 1, Shadow Brooke Village, **107 Shady Brooke Cir #301 $ 215.00 Bank of New York; Guyett, Courtney L; Hayes, Unit 122, Harbour Oaks Bank of New York Patsy B Condos, **122 S Harbour Mellon; Bear Stearns Alt A Trust; ETAL Oaks $ 331.00 Polineni, Shalini D & Harris, Julie K Lot 26, Ph II, Village Creek Srinivasa R Way, **114 Village Creek Way $ 349.90 Malcolm, James A; Endicott, Craig; Halverstadt, Unit 705-B, Beach House Ragland, David M Hugh; Venite Partnership Condos $ 399.90 Sea Palms St Simons Bickley, Alton M & Teresa D Unit 1301, Grand View @ Island LLC Sea Palms $ 521.00 Hicks, David G Jr & Johnson, Craig W & Rebecca Lot 9, Blk C, Ph I, Sea Palms Lori L R Golf & Country Club, **119 N Windward Dr $ 1,000.00 Baranco, Gregory T & Sea Island Co Lot 232, Ph 4, Frederica Juanita P Township 9 Warranty Deeds for Sea Island & St. Simons for week ending 4/3/2009
