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Published by Permar Publications • P.O. Box 20539 • St. Simons Island, Ga. 31522 • 912-265-9654 • www.theislanderonline.com • ssislander@bellsouth.net
September 7, 2009 Established 1972 Vol 37 Issue 36
College Park floods again
Above: A College Park resi
dent has to drive his truck
through water up to his
bumper to get out of his
neighborhood after last
week's rain storm.
Left: Red Cross volunteers
Brooke Thompson and
Buddy Baker (seated left)
get ready to admit College
Park residents, who were
flooded out of their homes,
to the emergency shelter
at Selden Park.
Islander Staff Photos
Residents blame city for lack of action
By Matthew J. Permar
Red Cross sets up shelter in Selden Park gym
Glynn's (almost)
hidden treasure
By Pamela Permar
Shierling
When controversy sur
rounds something, it becomes
easy to lose sight of what you
are actually looking at.
The fact that Glynn Coun
ty's Altamaha Park is a true
treasure has been somewhat
lost in the scuffle over who
should manage the park and
the perception that the park is
reserved for only a special few.
Altamaha Park is in the
northern part of Glynn Coun
ty and affords the only public
access to the Altamaha River
in Glynn County.
The first piece of Park prop
erty was conveyed to Glynn
County by Timber Lands, Inc.
in September 1951. Two tracts
were recorded on the deed:
3.12 acres on the northwest
side of the railroad (Seaboard
Air Line Railroad at that time)
and 1.45 acres on the south
east side of the railroad.
The deed states that the
conveyance is made upon
condition that the property....
shall be used and maintained
by Glynn County as a public
park and for that purpose only.
The property would revert to
Timber Lands, Inc. if it ceased
to be used or maintained by
the county as a public park or
if the county failed to prevent
the creation of public nuisanc
es, illegal operations or unde
sirable enterprises within the
park property or property in
the vicinity.
In August 1958 Brunswick
Pulp and Paper Company
deeded to the county an addi
tional 4.3 acres with the same
stipulation that it be used as a
public park.
In November 1960 Bruns
wick Pulp and Paper deeded
one acre abutting the north
west boundary of Park prop
erty with the same stipula
tions plus the property would
be used for the benefit of the
Glynn County Police Depart
ment and a recreation area for
the School Boy Patrol.
In June 2004 the Park went
from a little under 10 acres to
75 acres with little notice from
the public.
Turn to Page 5
Altamaha Park
College Park resident Caro
line Massey had tears in her
eyes.
Standing near the edge of a
puddle of backed up rain water
that flooded the majority of her
neighborhood, unable to get to
her house, Massey explained
her distress at last week’s
unusually heavy rains.
“I’ve lived here since 1974,”
said Massey, “The neighbor
hood flooded like this in 2005
and water got all inside my
house, in a lot of our houses.
My husband and I had to gut
the whole house and then take
another mortgage to have it
repaired.”
With the last mortgage
still hanging over their heads,
Massey wonders how they will
pay for water damage repairs
this time.
The residents’ frustration
comes from the fact that they
believe the city of Brunswick
could have done something to
prevent the flooding.
The residents say the flood
ing is due to the city not clean
ing the storm water drains and
drainage ditches that service
the area.
Several residents also said
commercial development
around the Brunswick Mall
dumps water into their drain
age system overloading it.
“The area around the mall
drains to here. They built
those buildings up higher than
the neighborhood, so the water
drains here, the drains and
ditches plug up and the water
backs up and we get no offer
of help,” said one unidentified
resident.
“When Mayor (Bryan)
Thompson was elected, he
Turn to Page 6
College Park
No I St.
for Glynn
By Matthew J. Permar
After voting more than a
year ago unofficially to aban
don a one block stretch of I St.
in downtown Brunswick to the
Glynn County Commission for
the proposed jail expansion,
the Brunswick City Commis
sion has changed their mind.
Last week, during their
Wednesday, Sept. 2 meeting
the city commission voted to
withdraw their offer to aban
don I St.
Originally, when the city
agreed, with a motion and vote
at a public meeting, to aban
don the one block portion of I
St. it was with the stipulation
that the county must acquire
all the property needed for the
jail expansion before the aban
donment would occur.
The county is currently in
Appeals Court trying to get
the last two pieces of property,
owned by Brunswick business
man, Bob Torras, by eminent
Turn to Page 6
I Street
Mother Nature 7”
Gateway project 0
By Matthew J. Permar
Originally the St. Simons
Island Gateway road project
was supposed to be done by
early November.
But thanks to Mother
Nature, that time frame is now
highly unlikely.
According to Glynn County
Engineer Jim Bruner, “After
this last week of rain, we’re
going to have to re-evaluate the
project. And when we recover,
we’ll have to see where we are
and where we’ve got to go as
far as a completion date.”
Prior to what has been
called an “unprecedented rain
event” last week, Bruner said
that Southern Development
Co. of Jacksonville, Fla., the
Gateway project contractor,
was confident the job would be
completed on time, but after
several weeks of rain the origi
nal time frame will have to be
pushed back.
Speaking with The Islander
last Thursday morning Sept. 3,
Turn to Page 17
Gateway update