About The Islander. (St. Simons Island, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 14, 2019)
Page 2, January 14, 2019, The Islander 3 AG IE 2 N Coleman's indicted after investigation Last week a Glynn County Grand Jury returned indictments on multi ple counts of insurance fraud against two long-time Brunswick insurance agents, Bob and Sherry Coleman. Bob Coleman is also the Glynn County Commissioner at Large Post 2. According to Enforcement Division Director, Stan Bexley, the Colemans were indicted on 15 (felony counts of violation of the Georgia Insurance Code on Wednesday, January 9, 2019. The Colemans have been charged with defrauding customers who paid the pair for workers’ compensation insurance as well as other lines of in surance. The indictment handed down includes 10 separate victims. The case is still under active investigation and there is the possibility of additional victims and charges. If any business owner has pur chased workers’ compensation insur ance through the Coleman Insurance Agency or if you are a general contrac tor that has received a certificate of insurance for workers’ compensation coverage from the Coleman Agency in the past two years, you are asked to contact the State Board of Workers’ Compensation’s Enforcement Division at (404) 657-7285 or (800) 533-0682. Plan underway to remove sunken tug in Jekyll Creek A plan to remove a tug boat that sank Dec. 19, 2018, in Jekyll Creek west of Jekyll island, is underway. The tug may be removed by a salvage team sometime within the next two to three weeks if weather and other cir cumstances permit. The 56-foot tug Miss Addison was surveyed last week by the Coastal Resources Division (CRD) of Georgia Department of Natural Resources (DNR), the U.S. Coast Guard’s Marine Safety Unit of Savannah, the Jekyll Island Authority, Able Bodied Marine Surveyors of Jacksonville, Fla., the Rhode Island-based environmental remediation company Safe Harbor Pollution Insurance and the vessel’s owner, Salonen Marine of Yulee, Fla. Salonen Marine’s insurance com pany, Continental Insurance, is in the bidding process to select a salvage company to remove the Miss Addison. A contract for the removal is expect ed to be awarded after the insurance company completes its due diligence, likely sometime in the next few days. Once the contract is awarded, it will likely take about a week to mo bilize equipment, including the neces sary crane barges to salvage the Miss Addison. The salvage effort will prob ably take about three days to complete once equipment is in place. Photo courtesy Sam LaBarba/Georgia Department of Natural Resources. The Miss Addison’s owner intends to refloat the vessel and tow it to Fernandina Beach, Fla., for repairs. During the removal, crews will use containment booms and a skimmer boat to insure pollution is mitigated. The U.S. Coast Guard will notify boat ers if navigability of Jekyll Creek is temporarily impacted by the salvage operation. The Miss Addison did not appear to be leaking any fuel when observed to day. Safe Harbor Pollution Insurance installed containment booms around the vessel following the sinking and 2,265 gallons of diesel fuel was safely pumped off the tug. It does not appear any fuel is remaining. The U.S. Coast Guard is responsible for respond ing to pollution spills in navigable waterways. It is unclear why the vessel sank and the U.S. Coast Guard is investigating. No one was injured in the sinking, which happened at about 6 p.m., an hour before high tide. The vessel was traveling at about 7 knots when the sinking oc curred, which took only a matter of minutes. The Miss Addison is cur rently sitting on its port side in about five feet of water west of the main channel of Jekyll Creek. The waterway is still navigable, but boat ers should use caution when passing the Miss Addison, as the containment booms are anchored to the water bottom. NEWS • TALK • SPORTS WGIG 1440 AM WGIG NEWS TALK SPORTS Listen to Scott Ryfiin weekdays from 7 a.m. until 10 a.m. on WGIG 98.7 FM AND 1440 AM iHeartRadio Big Green Egg The Ultimate Cooking Experience' bh oreen eub Unleash Your Backyard Gourmet! No other outdoor cooker can match the quality and versatility of a Big Green Egg. Grilling, Roasting, Baking or Smoking - it truly is The Ultimate Cooking Experience! ’ BigGreenEgg.com HT BIG GREEN EGG ICC . Island JCE Hardware 1701 Frederica Road • St. Simons Island • 912-638-3800
