About The Islander. (St. Simons Island, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (March 4, 2019)
THE ^ISLANDER Published by Permar Publications www.theislanderonline.com ssislander@bellsouth.net March 4, 2019 Established in 1972 Vol 47 Issue 9 Headed to Atlanta During a going away party of sorts, former Glynn County Chief Magistrate Judge Alex Atwood (left) took a moment to pose with his family, wife Cynthia, (left to right) mother Louise and father James Atwood. The former judge, who also served as state representative, has been appointed to a state job by Governor Brian Kemp. Islander Staff Photo - Shierling Magistrate Court Judge Alex Atwood resigns to accept state position By Pamela Permar Shierling Historic Society presents final beach park plan By Matthew J. Permar Sherri Jones, Executive Di rector of the Coastal Georgia Historical Society (CGHS) and Scott McQuade, Executive Di rector of the Golden Isles Con vention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) presented the draft of the “final master plan” for the Coast Guard Station Beach Park and parking lot at the Glynn County Board of Com missioners (BOC) work ses sion late last month. The original concept for the beach park master plan was approved May 3, 2018 by the BOC. A few changes have been made since the plan was pre sented to the BOC at a previ ous work session. Noting the area was “eight acres of valuable, premier beach access,” Jones said since getting the go-ahead last May the two groups, CGHS and CVB, have completed the fi nal design, which includes re scaled building locations and footprints to best serve com munity needs. They also included a mod ern lifesaving station that will be located close to the beach on the southern portion of the property. It will be tall in or der to give life guards a much wider range of vision than they currently have at ground level. Note: In a recent presen tation to the BOC by Glynn County Parks and Recreation Manager Lisa Gurganus, she also supported the idea of a central life guard station at the Coast Guard Station beach. Jones said, “We have worked cooperatively with Glynn County staff to enhance the final site plan and ensure complete compliance with all local and state laws.” Also since the plan was Turn to Page 12 Coast Guard beach park Last week in front of fam ily and friends, Glynn County Chief Magistrate Court Judge Alex Atwood announced he was resigning his judgeship to accept a senior executive position offered by Gov. Brian Kemp. Judge Atwood was ap pointed Commissioner of the Georgia Department of Ad ministrative Services (DOAS) by Gov. Kemp last week. The DOAS oversees busi ness services in Georgia in cluding Risk Management, State Purchasing, Fleet Management, Surplus Prop erty, and Human Resources Administration. Judge Atwood has had distinguished careers in law enforcement, the military, le gal profession, and as a state representative. His wife, Cynthia, shared a story about his dedication as a public servant. After the most recent hurri cane to skirt the Golden Isles, there was only one way out of the Atwood’s home and that road was blocked by water as well as a tree. Judge Atwood got a call from local law enforcement asking if he was available to sign a warrant. He said yes but told the of ficer there was water and a tree in the way but, “meet me at the tree.” The story goes the judge, wearing shorts and waders, waded to the tree and signed the warrant so the officer could go about his business. Judge Atwood made it clear that he was not leaving Glynn County. “Glynn is my home,” he said. “I have lived here longer than I have lived anywhere. I will always be a resident of Glynn County.” Judge Atwood graduated from Georgia State Univer sity with a Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice. He went on to earn his Mas ters of Arts degree in Interna tional Relations, followed by a Juris Doctorate in Law (Cum Laude). He was elected to the Geor gia House of Representa tives in 2010, representing the citizens of House District 179 which includes parts of Glynn County, Brunswick, St. Simons Island and Jekyll Island. He spent his early profes sional years serving with the Atlanta Police Department, Turn to Page 5 Atwood Impact fee info given to new BOC members By Matthew J. Permar Last year Bill Ross of the Ross & Associates consulting firm gave the Glynn Coun ty Board of Commissioners (BOC) a review of the “Nuts and Bolts” of development im pact fees. He made the same presen tation to the BOC again for the benefit of the two fresh men commissioners, David O’Quinn (At Large #1) and Wayne Neal (Dist. 3), during the February 9 work session. Ross explained that his firm was involved in compre hensive planning, zoning and land use codes and implemen tation and financing for such things as capital improvement programs; impact fees; water and sewer connection fees; and community improvement Turn to Page 6 Impact fees Oyster farming bills pass senate & house committees By Pamela Permar Shierling Last week Rep. Jeff Jones (Dist. 167) removed his name from all legislation he was sponsoring including an oys ter mariculture bill (HB 450) which he has been working on since June 2018. The oyster mariculture bill, now called HB 501, was presented by Rep. Jesse Pe- trea (Dist. 166) to the House Game, Fish and Parks Com mittee Thursday. The commit tee voted to move it along. HB 501 verbiage is the same as HB 450 however the bill sponsors have changed so the bill number was changed. Wild oyster harvesting is already legal and regulated Turn to Page 11 Oyster legislation County-Wide News - Read County-Wide Page 2 - Soccer group balks at park fees Page 3 - First Kia Telluride crosses Brunswick docks Page 4 - Paper ballot system cost $224 million Page 8 - Christ Church Tour of Homes Page 14 - Pew News Page 15 - 7th Annual Plein Air Affair Page 16- Back Talk 0 94922 29970 3
