The Islander. (St. Simons Island, Ga.) 1972-current, September 09, 2013, Image 1

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Newspaper Page Text50<t THE ^SLANDER Published by Permar Publications Back this week: On the Ball w/ Jeff Lane - Pg. 6 Coming next week: the Record Room - music w/ Matthew Permar www.theislanderonline.com ssislander@bellsouth.net September 9, 20UT Established in 1972 Vol 41 Issue 36 K-9 unit makes comeback Above: The Brunswick City Police Department’s newest K-9 Patrol member, Brax, gets his public debut during ■ . downtown Brunswick’s First Friday event last week. Here Brax and his handler, Officer Don Babbin greet First Friday goers in front of the Ritz Theater. Right: Brax relaxes at home. Islander Staff Photos - Permar (top), Shierling (right). " ;v. ' ' C- ■ • ** ft • v^c.r-- _ . •* - K-9 Officers joining the City Police force By Cynthia Robinson JWSC hears options for building upgrade By Matthew J. Permar Last week architect Larry Bryson presented the Joint Water and Sewer Commis sion with five cost options for to renovate the Gloucester St. building they are currently renting from businessman Ben Slade. The estimates were very close ranging from $921,000 to $1.35 million. The reason for tight cost range is the heating and air conditioning (HV/AC) system was the only variable. The site work and building renovation were the same in all five options. The HV/AC options ranged from cleaning and repairing the existing system to replac ing parts of it, to replacing the whole thing to changing over to a heat pump system. One decision that will have to be made regardless of which option is chosen, will be what to do with the chiller that is on top of the building next door. Bryson’s recommendation was to install a heat pump sys tem, while leaving the chiller on the roof next door to service the second floor of the JWSC building. The second floor is under a long term rental by the federal government. With the most expensive being first, Bryson’s recom mendation came in fourth on the cost list. As far as the building’s interior layout the biggest changes were the relocation of the JWSC meeting room from the third floor to the first. Bryson proposed a large meeting room with seating for about 100. While the JWSC meetings rarely if ever need that kind of space, it was pointed out the large room could be used for other things like employ ee meetings and town hall Turn to Page 3 JWSC While the Brunswick Po lice Department’s newest recruit won’t be officially hit ting the streets for another six months, he made his public debut at the Sept. 6 First Fri day celebration in downtown Brunswick. According to his handler, Officer Don Babbin, the event was all part of getting Brax, the department’s new K-9 offi cer socialized. “Socialization is an important part of training,” says Babin, a K-9 officer since 2007 who has received most of his training in Savannah. While Babbin has been working with Brax at his home as part of his initial training, his official months of extensive training to sniff out heroin, cocaine, ecstasy and methamphetamines, along with training to assist with arrests and searches, are just about to begin. Brax, a gangly six-month- old Belgian Malinois, was do nated by the Covington, Geor gia Police Department after Brunswick’s two police dogs died two years ago - Brett was killed in the line of duty and Max died of kidney failure. Babbin says police dogs are Turn to Page 4 Brax Land Trust Community News - Pg 2 County-Wide News - Read County-Wide Pew News Church News -Pg 14 Football Contest Week 3 - Pg 10-11 Back Talk Editorial Column -Pg 16 Cason opposes redevelopment plan for city By Pamela Permar Shierling ‘We need to do something along the lines of the Ogletho rpe Hotel, nothing less.” This was City Commis sioner Johnny Cason’s senti ment during the discussion of the Oglethorpe Hotel property site at the City’s Wednesday, September 4 commission meeting. What prompted Commis sioner Cason’s remarks was a presentation of the Second Amendment of the City’s Ur ban Redevelopment Plan by City Planner Arne Glaeser. The Brunswick Urban Re development plan provides an outline for redevelopment of blighted or threatened areas of Brunswick. The Plan was Turn to Page 9 City plan County board participation limited to one • Commission exempts themselves from new law By Matthew J. Permar One of Glynn County’s as sets is its large population of retired people who have knowledge and experience in many fields and are willing to volunteer their time to a vast array of public service activi ties from charities to elected and appointed offices. Last week one of the main outlets for local volunteers, the Glynn County Commis sion, limited citizen participa tion on commission-appointed boards. Citizens may now only serve on one county board at a time. After discussion during a recent county commission Turn to Page 4 Limits 0 9492229970 3

Georgia Historic Newspapers

The Islander. (St. Simons Island, Ga.) 1972-current, September 09, 2013, Image 1