Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 20, SEPTEMBER 21, 2009, THE ISLANDER
We were so close
By Pamela P. Shierlling
Last Thursday evening Glynn
Comity Commissioners had the oppor
tunity to take a positive step forward in
humane animal treatment.
The County removed from the agen
da Dr. Bill Disque's proposal for a low
cost spay/neuter program. The vote on
this program was deferred until the
next meeting so there is still hope.
The proposal was deferred because
local veterinarians are opposed to a
low cost spay neuter program operated
by the county. I agree that the county
should not be in competition with pri
vate business.
However, the county is in the busi
ness of picking up, warehousing and
killing animals. Glynn County eutha
nizes 67% of the animals, cats and
dogs, that come through its doors. In
hard numbers we kill about 2,400 ani
mals per year in Glynn and most of
them are healthy animals.
Low cost spay/neuter programs do
address one of the causes of animal
overpopulation. All we are doing right
now in Glynn County is trying to deal
with the symptoms of animal over
population. And it isn't working. The
number of stray, unwanted animals
grows each year. And the number of
animals put to death each year contin
ues to grow.
I do not want the competition of a
low cost spay/neuter program to harm
our local veterinarians' business in any
way. But I would like to see the killing
slow down.
So what is the answer?
A possibility is a user license fee.
If a pet owner wants to keep his/her
animal intact, then he/she pays a fee to
the county. This was discussed by the
Glynn County Animal Services Advi
sory board several years ago but the
Pamela Permar Shierling
Editor
idea did not make it to the full County
Commission.
I trust that Commission members
will meet with the veterinarians and
come up with a solution that fits every
one's needs including the animals'
needs. “I
Jekyll Island earns
national recognition for
wildfire preparedness
Because of its efforts to reduce the
vulnerability of homes and landscapes
to wildfire, Jekyll Island has earned
Firewise Communities/USA recogni
tion from the National Firewise Com
munities Program.
The public is invited to attend the
recognition ceremony to be held Thurs
day, October 8 from 1:00 p.m. until 3:00
p.mm at the Jekyll Island Fire/EMS
Department on Stable Road.
Firewise Communities/USA as
represented by Slauson will present
a plaque commending Jekyll Island
to Jones Hooks, Jekyll Island Execu
tive Director. In addition, a community
road sign will be presented to Jason
Richardson, Jekyll Island Public Safety
Director.
After the ceremony the public is
invited to share in barbecue provided
by the Jekyll Island Fire/EMS Depart
ment. The United Way will be selling
baked goods.
Jekyll Island is the only community
in Glynn County to be recognized as
a Firewise Communities/USA, joining
many other communities nationwide
that have been recognized since the
program's inception in 2002.
To receive Firewise Communities/
USA recognition Jekyll Island met a
rigorous set of requirements over the
past three years.
"Achieving Firewise recognition is
not a quick or easy process. Jekyll
Island has done an outstanding job of
creating a local Firewise Task Force
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EDITORIAL
Monkey Wrench
Continued from Page 6
Rd., Phillips said the engineering has
not been done yet because Beaufait
was waiting to see if the rezoning was
approved first.
Phillips said once the engineering
was done they would know if the bicy
cle shop would need to be a "right turn
in, right turn out only" driveway.
Commissioner Howard Lynn (Dist.
4) said he did not see where traffic
problems from the past had been recti
fied.
"There's a bank right across the
street from this location where there's
already a traffic problem," said Lynn,
"Shouldn't this be rectified first?"
Philllips explained that the bank
that originally wanted to go on this lot
had three drive through windows that
would have generated a lot of traffic.
"The bike shop will have much less,"
and implementing Firewise principles,"
said Jim Smalley, manager of the
Firewise Communities program. "By
preparing homes, structures and land
scapes before a wildfire occurs, Jekyll
Island has dramatically increased the
chance that homes and structures will
be protected when a wildfire occurs."
Working through the National Asso
ciation of State Foresters (NASF), state
forestry agencies support the Firewise
said Phillips, "Traffic flow, a function
of design, will be dealt with when the
access lanes are designed."
Lynn replied, "But that's a county
responsibility. We should have a rec
ommendation from our traffic engi
neer."
Phillips said the everything was in
compliance with county ordinances and
that the traffic department had signed
off on the rezoning as compliant.
"Shouldn't a traffic study be done
first?" asked Lynn.
Phillips said, "In my opinion the
analysis that has been done is enough
to show that this rezoning and land use
will work in this location. Some other
changes may be necessary, but those
have not been engineered yet."
After the discussion, Island Com
missioner Tom Sublett (Dist. 2) made
the motion to approve the rezoning,
which passed unanimously. “I
Communities/USA recognition effort.
Mark McClellan, Chief Ranger/Forest
er, Glynn Comity Unit of the Georgia
Forestry Commission was instrumen
tal in helping Jekyll Island achieve
Firewise recognition.
The program is a nationwide initia
tive that recognizes communities for
taking action to protect people and
properties from the risk of fire in the
wildland/urban interface. “I
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