Newspaper Page Text
THE
"M'SLANDER
Published by
Permar Publications
www.theislanderonline.com •
March 15, 2010 Established 1972
ssislander@bellsouth.net
Vol 38 Issue 10
Pier parking spots slated to go
According to the plan for Phase 2 of the renovation of Neptune Park on the south
end of St. Simons Island, this view of Jekyll Island and St. Simons Sound will be partially
blocked by four shade structures that will be constructed as part of a 'plaza 1 immedi
ately to the east of the pier. The plaza will take up 12 existing parking spaces and pier
village merchants are concerned because parking has been an issue in the area for
more than 20 years. Islander Staff Photo - Permar
Pier merchants don't want to give up parking
BOE 'educated'
on tasers
• Police say tasers
effective 'tool'
By Matthew J. Permar
After a controversy ignited
recently about whether Glynn
County school resource officers
(SRO) should carry tasers, the
Glynn Board of Education’s
Safety Committee met with
various law enforcement offi
cials to get the pros and cons of
tasers and their use.
During the Board of Educa
tion's (BOE) regular meeting
on Tuesday, March 9, board
member John Madala, who
chairs the Safety and Disci
pline Committee, announced
that he wanted to put the taser
issue to a board vote at the
March 23 meeting.
Madala met Wednesday
morning March 10 with BOE
chairman Millard Allen, board
members Ruby Robinson and
Jerry Mancil, Superintendent
Howard Mann and attorney
Andy Lakin to discuss the tas
ers with local law enforcement
officials.
Madala stressed that tas
ers, an electronic stem device,
were a safety issue, not a disci
plinary issue.
Madala said that the way
the media has reported on pos
sible taser use in the schools
has caused the controversy.
He said tasers would not be
used on students as a form of
discipline and any notion that
they would be was "simply not
true."
Madala also said tasers
would not be used for crowd
control.
"You're not going to tase
one person out of 500," said
Madala.
This issue first came up last
December when Chief SRO
Ron Lee requested that the
SROs be allowed to carry the
device.
Madala said the BOE has
to also consider the possibility
of lawsuits in instances when
tasers are used.
Turn to Page 5
Tasers
As work on Phase 2 of the
Neptune Park renovation pro
ceeds, a large number of St.
Simons Island pier village mer
chants are concerned over one
aspect of the project that will
eliminate 12 parking spaces at
the end of Mallery St.
While 12 parking spaces
may not seem like much at a
mall or large shopping center,
to Bobbie Davis, the owner
of Roberta’s women’s clothing
store and other merchants
along Mallery St., 12 is a lot.
In an interview with The
Islander last week, Davis said
the merchants were concerned
about a ‘plaza’ that is going to
be built at the end of Mallery
St. just to the right of the fish
ing pier.
According to the architec-
By Matthew J. Permar
tural plans, the plaza will take
up 12 angle parking spaces,
six on each side of Mallery,
and will contain four open air,
roofed structures for shade
with two park benches under
each.
Not only will the plaza take
up the parking spaces, the
structures will block the view
of Jekyll Island and the St.
Simons Sound from vehicles
and pedestrians coming down
Mallery St.
Davis, who was a member
of the original Mallery Park
renovation committee said the
plaza and structures were not
on the original plan that was
developed by an out of town
consultant.
She said the Phase 2 plan
did not come out of the original
group. But it was approved
by the commission, although
she said she’s not sure how
it all happened or when the
vote was taken to approve the
plaza.
According to County Public
Information Officer Candice
Temple, the plaza was in the
original master plan concept
for the park, but was not iden
tified as a 'plaza'.
Temple said that accord
ing to local architect Robert
Ussery, who was on the park
master plan committee and
designed Phase 2, the plaza
concept was in the original
plan but was bigger.
Temple said after Phase 1,
the Fun Zone, was completed,
Turn to Page 6
Fed judge says
'Work it out'
By Matthew J. Permar
Abiding by the recommen
dation of U.S. District Judge
Lisa Godbey Wood, both sides
involved in a civil suit over the
location of the Glynn Comi
ty Detention Center (CDC)
expansion project have agreed
to third party mediation in the
case.
The mediation agreement
was signed on Tuesday, March
9 by attorney Mary Helen
Moses for the plaintiff, Cath
erine Browning, and by Brad
ley Watkins, attorney for the
defendants, County Commis
sioners Howard Lynn, Jerome
Clark, Don Hogan and Tony
Thaw.
Timeline
Browning filed a civil suit
to try to stop the county from
building the jail expansion at
the proposed downtown loca
tion next to the existing CDC
Turn to Page 6
Jail suit
Postal consultant:
Consider 3 days
of delivery
by Jeff Clabaugh
Aflanfa Business
Chronicle
The U.S. Postal Service
may not try to eliminate just
Saturday mail delivery, if it
follows recommendations from
a consulting firm.
Recommendations outlined
at a postal conference in Wash
ington, D.C. by McKinsey &
Co. included more than 50 pos
sible options the Postal Service
could consider to address its
swelling budget shortfall.
Among them was a recom
mendation to scale back mail
delivery to as little as three to
five days a week.
The report also recommends
scaling back the number of
post office locations across the
country, noting the U.S. Postal
Service currently has 36,500
Turn to Page 5
Postal consultant
Pier parking
Surfin’
the
News
Clyde Taylor
Community News
- Pg 2
County-Wide News - Read County-Wide
Creative car
financing
Business News
- Pg 3
Alice in
Wonderland
Movie Review
-Pg 14
Back Talk
Editorial Column
-Pg 20
9A92? 29970
