About The Islander. (St. Simons Island, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (July 8, 2013)
50<t THE ^SLANDER Published by Permar Publications www.theislanderonline.com ssislander@bellsouth.net July 8, 2013 Established in 1972 Vol 41 Issue 27 It's official \!N COU lUiSbis 1 Monday, July 1 was the day Glynn County’s single-county library system, Marshes of Glynn Libraries came into existence. And first thing that morning Glynn County Facilities Management Dept. Supervisor Ben Mauney had two of his employees at the Brunswick Glynn County Library in downtown Brunswick removing the letters from the sign designating the building as the headquarters of the Three Rivers Regional Library System. Photo by and courtesy of Brunswick Library Manager Lori Lasson Marshes of Glynn Libraries open for business • Employees get pay increase; furlough days eliminated AG rules on Jekyll 65/35 land delineation Georgia Attorney General Sam Olens has released an Official Opinion responding to a request from the Jekyll Island Authority (JIA) on the question of whether the rec ommendation of the “65-35 Task Force” can be legally considered by the JIA in de termining the total land area of the island. Under a 1971 law, develop ment on Jekyll Island is lim ited to “not more than 35 per cent of the land area of Jekyll Island which lies above water at mean high tide.” This is commonly referred to as the 65/35 law. The 65/35 Task Force, com posed of volunteers and JIA staff, was asked among other things to make a recommen dation for measuring the is land that would assure com pliance with the Georgia law requiring that only 35% of the land area of Jekyll Island be available for development and that 65% of the land area re main undeveloped. In 2012 the JIA began the process of developing a new master plan. The current master plan was created in 1995, adopted by the JIA in 1996 and updated in 2004. The Carl Vinson Institute of the University of Georgia was hired by the JIA to develop the new Jekyll Island Master Plan. Several task forces were created to help collect public input, including Task Forces on Sustainability, Land Use, Transportation, Infrastruc ture, Historical & Cultural Assets, and the Environment. Task force work was infor mal; and recommendations are not binding, especially if they contradict current law, but will be considered as the Jekyll Island Master Plan process moves forward. In its proposal for Turn to Page 5 Jekyll Island The staff at the Brunswick- Glynn and St. Simons Island Libraries were a little happier last week after they reached the July 1 deadline for with drawal from the Three Riv ers Regional Library System (TRRLS). No longer part of the TRRLS, the two libraries now make up the new, single-coun ty system, Marshes of Glynn Libraries (MOGL). The new system is gov erned solely by a nine-mem ber Board of Trustees ap pointed by the Glynn County Commission. Glynn County is currently the sole local fund ing source for the libraries. By Pamela Permar Shierling In the past, the City of Brunswick and the Glynn County Board of Education provided a portion of the fund ing for the libraries, but that has been eliminated in recent years due to budget cuts. The main reason for the positive feeling last week was, as Glynn County employees, all staff members will now receive a pay increase, which will bring them up to equal pay with other county employ ees based on job classification. In addition, there will be no more mandated furlough days. The last several years the Brunswick Glynn Li braries Board of Trustees has had to include employee furlough days due to budget constraints. Now, all full-time employ ees will work their standard 40-hour work week meaning the libraries will return to their regular business hours. While patrons at the St. Simons Library saw no glitch es in the Monday morning change over, the Brunswick Library did suffer some com puter issues after the TRRLS disconnected their routers in preparation for their move to new offices in Jesup. Turn to Page 4 MOGL Surfin’ the McNeill inducted into Navy League Hall of Fame Community News - Pg 2 County-Wide News - Read County-Wide Pew News Dalis exhibit at Church News Goodyear Cottage -Pg 14 Jl- Pg 4 Back Talk Editorial Column -Pg 16 Public safety seeks radio system upgrade By Matthew J. Permar According to local public safety officials, the Brunswick Glynn Comity Joint Public Safety Communications De partment’s (JPSCD) radio sys tem is outdated and needs to be replaced and upgraded. Speaking on behalf of the JPSCD at a county commis sion work session last month, Glynn County Fire Chief A1 Thomas made the pitch for the new system which includes a move from the current analog, 800 mega hertz (MHz) radio system to a 700 MHz digital system. One of the main problems with the current system, which cost the county approxi mately $6 million about 11 years ago, is that it has been phased out of production and Turn to Page 6 JPSCD JWSC considers Vinson Institute proposal By Pamela Permar Shierling The Brunswick-Glynn County Joint Water & Sewer Commission (JWSC) is con sidering a proposal for tech nical assistance from the University of Georgia’s Carl Vinson Institute of Govern ment (CVI). The JWSC discussed the CVI proposal was discussed at a June 25 meeting but de ferred final action until the July 18 meeting. The JWSC agreed to see if Georgia Tech or Georgia Southern University offered the same type of service and if so, how much each would charge. The CVI proposal carries a $33,000 price tag. Turn to Page 6 CVI proposal 0 9492229970 3
